John Ogdon

[Zhiliang]

Dear all,

I did a search on John Ogdon, and could not yield any recent results on this forum. Anyone like his playing and could recommend some good recordings he released? I personally like his Alkan Concerto For Solo Piano.

[head-case]

Dear all,

I did a search on John Ogdon, and could not yield any recent results on this forum. Anyone like his playing and could recommend some good recordings he released? I personally like his Alkan Concerto For Solo Piano.

The only one I have heard is his Scriabin Sonatas, which was very good, I thought.  He went nuts, I remember reading somewhere.  Probably those two facts are correlated.

[Zhiliang]

The only one I have heard is his Scriabin Sonatas, which was very good, I thought.  He went nuts, I remember reading somewhere.  Probably those two facts are correlated.

Haha, i in fact have just made an order of his Scriabin Sonatas online. Was deciding between his Liszt or Scriabin. I believed it was 1973 where he suffered a breakdown, but he came back to the concert scene and even recorded Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum. Anyone heard that?

[bhodges]

Looking through Ogdon's discography, I think the only recording I have is of the Busoni Piano Concerto, with Daniel Revenaugh and the RPO (on EMI).  Haven't heard it in awhile.  It was my first encounter with the piece, which I like, and I don't recall any complaints with Ogdon's playing. 

--Bruce

[George]

Dear all,

I did a search on John Ogdon, and could not yield any recent results on this forum. Anyone like his playing and could recommend some good recordings he released? I personally like his Alkan Concerto For Solo Piano.

http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=6783

[Todd]

I enjoy Ogdon, though his playing is hit and miss, like everyone else's.  His Scriabin recordings are really superb and well worth the small outlay.  The two Great Pianists sets devoted to him (if you can find them) have some nice things in them, including Alkan and Busoni and Rachmaninov.  His take on the Liszt concertos on BBC Legends is worth hearing for fans of the works.  One of his last recordings was of some of Alwyn's solo piano music, on Chandos, and he manages to play the music pretty well.  It's not the greatest solo piano music, but it was recorded in the 80s, long after his breakdown, so one can hear how he sounded afterward.  Somewhat against expectation, I didn't really care for his and his wife's take on Messiaen's Visions De L'Amen, though I'd still like to hear his Vingt Regards.

[springrite]

I enjoy Ogdon, though his playing is hit and miss, like everyone else's.  ... One of his last recordings was of some of Alwyn's solo piano music, on Chandos, and he manages to play the music pretty well.  It's not the greatest solo piano music, but it was recorded in the 80s, long after his breakdown, so one can hear how he sounded afterward.

Never a big Ogdon fan overall, but his Alwyn recording is very good. Of all the recordings I have of Ogdon, it is the one I listen to the most, even though the music is arguably the least significant.