Noel Mewton-Wood plays Weber Sonata no. 2 (1/3)

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernest von Weber (1786 - 1826): Piano Sonata no. 2 opus 39 in A flat major (1816) 1. Allegro moderato, con spirito ed assai legato (until recapitulation) Noel Mewton-Wood, piano recorded in 1941. Noel Mewton-Wood (November 20, 1922 - December 5, 1953) was an Australian-born concert pianist who achieved some fame during his short life. Born in Melbourne, he studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium until the age of fourteen. After further studies at London's Royal Academy of Music, Mewton-Wood spent time with Artur Schnabel in Italy. In March 1940, he returned to London for his debut performance at Queen's Hall, performing Beethoven's third piano concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham. He later performed in France, Germany, South Africa, Poland, Turkey and Australia. At the age of thirty-one, Mewton-Wood committed suicide by drinking prussic acid, apparently blaming himself for the death of a friend. He had an enormous repertoire ranging from Weber to Stravinsky. He had a particular interest in Feruccio Busoni's music and performed the five-movement piano concerto on three occasions - twice under Beecham. Arthur Blisss Sonata for Piano was composed for Noel Mewton-Wood in 1952. After a Noel Mewton-Wood performance of Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis, Dame Myra Hess exclaimed: "The boy is truly remarkable, and what shall he be like at 40-odd?". Glowing testimonials to his genius (Sir Malcolm Sargent) from Beecham, Schnabel, Bliss, Hindemith and Britten were countered by indifference from the major record labels and concert managements. To read the article on his death: http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lagna.org.uk/images/mewton-wood_cutting.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lagna.org.uk/archive/noel-mewton-wood&h=1010&w=578&sz=198&hl=nl&start=1&sig2=PVrCfZ2M6Bf57QKkg4d-2Q&um=1&usg=__oK5DDQYROTOgnZhpugjYgLBwnSY=&tbnid=YgdDNL7RdaPrQM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=86&ei=0CQESePYG43k1gbXq_2eDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmewton-wood%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dnl%26rls%3DGGIC,GGIC:2006-50,GGIC:nl%26sa%3DN Sheet music: http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/2/26/IMSLP04407-Weber_-_Piano_Sonata_No2.pdf