Ogdon, John (Andrew Howard)
Ogdon, John (Andrew Howard)
Ogdon, John (Andrew Howard), remarkable English pianist; b. Manchester, Jan. 27, 1937; d. London, Aug. 1, 1989. He studied with Iso Elinson at the Royal Manchester Coll. of Music (1945), and then pursued training with Denis Matthews, Egon Petri, and Ilona Kabos. He began his career while still a student, premiering works by Goehr and Maxwell Davies; made his London debut as soloist in the Busoni Piano Concerto (1958). After winning joint first prize (with Ashkenazy) at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1962), he pursued a far-flung international career. He also taught at the Ind. Univ. School of Music in Bloomington (1976–80). His extraordinary talent and success were marred by the tragedy of his life, acute schizophrenia. His father, Howard Ogdon, who also had the disease, described his misfortunes in Kingdom of the Lost. His wife also wrote a book, Virtuoso: The Story of John Ogdon (London, 1981), in which she described in detail Ogdon’s suffering. Physically he presented a picture of astute well-being, being large of body, powerful of manual dexterity, and sporting a spectacular triangular beard. Despite numerous stays in sanatoriums, electric shock and drug treatment, and suicide attempts, he continued to appear as a concert artist. He maintained a vast repertory. His death at the age of 52 was mourned by a multitude of friends and admirers.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire