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Philip Levi
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on July 17, 2023, 5:25 pm
Going through some old reel-to-reel tapes I came across a performance of the Hummel A minor concerto which I recorded from the radio; the pianist was Philip Levi. A little research (and memories of discussing the piece with the music master at school) leads me to the conclusion that this was a Music of the Masters BBC programme given on 30th October 1962 with the BBC Welsh Orchestra conducted by Rae Jenkins. Looking through the old Radio Times listings I find that Philip Levi was a regular BBC broadcaster from the late 1930s into the 1960s; he seems to have been something of a Busoni specialist - indeed I remember listening to a broadcast of the Concerto he gave- but there were also programmes of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and other composers of the standard repertoire.
In spite of all this worthy activity -the Hummel concerto shows him to have been a fine pianist- I cannot find a mention of him in books, on the internet (apart from the BBC listings) or anywhere.
Do any of the older MWI contributors remember Philip Levi or know anything about him?
Re: Philip Levi
Posted by Eric Schissel on July 27, 2023, 2:11 pm, in reply to "Philip Levi"
An article by Marc-André Roberge (online) quotes Sorabji praising Levi’s Busoni as early as 1930, indeed (though I may misread and it’s only the music, not the performer, being praised…)
Previous Message
Going through some old reel-to-reel tapes I came across a performance of the Hummel A minor concerto which I recorded from the radio; the pianist was Philip Levi. A little research (and memories of discussing the piece with the music master at school) leads me to the conclusion that this was a Music of the Masters BBC programme given on 30th October 1962 with the BBC Welsh Orchestra conducted by Rae Jenkins. Looking through the old Radio Times listings I find that Philip Levi was a regular BBC broadcaster from the late 1930s into the 1960s; he seems to have been something of a Busoni specialist - indeed I remember listening to a broadcast of the Concerto he gave- but there were also programmes of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and other composers of the standard repertoire.
In spite of all this worthy activity -the Hummel concerto shows him to have been a fine pianist- I cannot find a mention of him in books, on the internet (apart from the BBC listings) or anywhere.
Do any of the older MWI contributors remember Philip Levi or know anything about him?
Re: Philip Levi
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on July 27, 2023, 4:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Philip Levi"
Thankyou for this. I didn't manage to find the passage you referred to but I did find this:
"cant, humbug, democracy, egalitarianism, systematised mass education, cultural trendiness, sentimentality, linguistic imprecision, obscurantism, received opinion purveyors and busybodies are his bêtes noires. One who damns so-called “Musical Appreciation” classes as training in “how to obtain the highest rate of investment return from Beethoven” and the science of educational psychology as “the drawing of obscurity from fools” is arguably a preternatural controversialist; one who displays unfailing emotional and intellectual precision, pansophy and heroic sanctity in commending beaux idéaux to his readership is surely an instinctive and radiant communicator: one who does both is, uniquely and inevitably, Sorabji." Which is a passage I find about as impenetrable as much of Sorabji's own music !
I did once look at a score of one of Sorabji's Piano Concertos in the offices of a music publisher; it was dedicated to Alfred Cortot. I don't think Cortot - or Philip Levi - ever played it but perhaps this was due to Sorabji banning public performance of his music for a large part of his life.
Previous Message
An article by Marc-André Roberge (online) quotes Sorabji praising Levi’s Busoni as early as 1930, indeed (though I may misread and it’s only the music, not the performer, being praised…)
Previous Message
Going through some old reel-to-reel tapes I came across a performance of the Hummel A minor concerto which I recorded from the radio; the pianist was Philip Levi. A little research (and memories of discussing the piece with the music master at school) leads me to the conclusion that this was a Music of the Masters BBC programme given on 30th October 1962 with the BBC Welsh Orchestra conducted by Rae Jenkins. Looking through the old Radio Times listings I find that Philip Levi was a regular BBC broadcaster from the late 1930s into the 1960s; he seems to have been something of a Busoni specialist - indeed I remember listening to a broadcast of the Concerto he gave- but there were also programmes of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and other composers of the standard repertoire.
In spite of all this worthy activity -the Hummel concerto shows him to have been a fine pianist- I cannot find a mention of him in books, on the internet (apart from the BBC listings) or anywhere.
Do any of the older MWI contributors remember Philip Levi or know anything about him?
Re: Philip Levi
Posted by Eric Schissel on July 27, 2023, 4:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Philip Levi"
He required that people seek his permission before public performance - as was his right under British copyright law. This “ban” lasted , under various forms, from around 1938? until the about 1976. Wikipedia’s Sorabji has a good exposition of this. So does the Sorabji Archive: http://www.sorabji-archive.co.uk/biography/biography.php .
Re: Philip Levi
Posted by Jeffrey Lague on July 28, 2023, 12:20 pm, in reply to "Re: Philip Levi"
He was, no doubt, right to do so. Gwydion Brooke was of the opinion that damage was done to the reputation of his father, Joseph Holbrooke, because he was quite happy to allow substandard performances of his works to go ahead just in order to get them heard. The pianist Edna Iles, who knew Medtner, said that he was very unhappy if anybody performed his music without consulting him beforehand, but he didn't place any sort of ban on it happening. Of course there are instances of bad performances having a devastating effect on a composer...the best known being Glazunov's incompetent reading of Rachmaninov's 1st Symphony which led to Rachmaninov having a nervous breakdown.
I have several scores of Sorabji's piano works in my collection. Delighted that the subtitle of the Valse Fantaisie was "Hommage a Johann Strauss" I began work on it only to find that the immense amount of effort needed to learn it was in inverse proportion to the pleasure the music gave me so I gave up the endeavour after a couple of weeks.
Certainly Sorabji's music makes tremendous demands on the performer so it's no wonder that he didn't want to leave it in the hands of less-than top-rate musicians. Glances at programmes of some recent performances and participants suggest that, since his death, it has suffered this fate !
Previous Message
He required that people seek his permission before public performance - as was his right under British copyright law. This “ban” lasted , under various forms, from around 1938? until the about 1976. Wikipedia’s Sorabji has a good exposition of this. So does the Sorabji Archive: http://www.sorabji-archive.co.uk/biography/biography.php .
Re: Philip Levi
Posted by Eric Schissel on July 28, 2023, 12:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Philip Levi"
Sorabji also admired Medtner, Szymanowski, and others and advocated for them in his stint as a music reviewer.
Previous Message
He was, no doubt, right to do so. Gwydion Brooke was of the opinion that damage was done to the reputation of his father, Joseph Holbrooke, because he was quite happy to allow substandard performances of his works to go ahead just in order to get them heard. The pianist Edna Iles, who knew Medtner, said that he was very unhappy if anybody performed his music without consulting him beforehand, but he didn't place any sort of ban on it happening. Of course there are instances of bad performances having a devastating effect on a composer...the best known being Glazunov's incompetent reading of Rachmaninov's 1st Symphony which led to Rachmaninov having a nervous breakdown.
I have several scores of Sorabji's piano works in my collection. Delighted that the subtitle of the Valse Fantaisie was "Hommage a Johann Strauss" I began work on it only to find that the immense amount of effort needed to learn it was in inverse proportion to the pleasure the music gave me so I gave up the endeavour after a couple of weeks.
Certainly Sorabji's music makes tremendous demands on the performer so it's no wonder that he didn't want to leave it in the hands of less-than top-rate musicians. Glances at programmes of some recent performances and participants suggest that, since his death, it has suffered this fate !
Previous Message
He required that people seek his permission before public performance - as was his right under British copyright law. This “ban” lasted , under various forms, from around 1938? until the about 1976. Wikipedia’s Sorabji has a good exposition of this. So does the Sorabji Archive: http://www.sorabji-archive.co.uk/biography/biography.php .