Beecham conducts Busoni

Noel Mewton-Wood was born in Melbourne in 1922 and came to London in 1937 to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Artur Schnabel. Soon afterwards, he came to the attention of Sir Thomas Beecham who gave Mewton-Wood his first real concert opportunity, engaging him to play the Beethoven Piano Concerto in C mInor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the Queen's Hall on 31st March 1940.

Mewton-Wood had an enormous repertoire ranging from Weber to Stravinsky. He had a particular interest in Busoni's music and performed the five-movement piano concerto on three occasins - twice under Beecham and a year later with Norman del Mar. He took his own life in 1953, at the age of 31.

This CD is released in collaboration with the Sir Thomas Beecham Trust in support of the Scholarship Fund.