Dame Myra Hess: Ford Sunday Evening Hour Broadcast (1937)

An upload in celebration of Dame Myra Hess's 130th birthday:

British pianist Dame Myra Hess's March 7, 1937 broadcast recording on the Ford Sunday Evening Hour, in which she played the first movement of the Grieg Piano Concerto, two Chopin Etudes, and a Bach Gigue.

When in discussions to finalize the terms of the broadcast, Hess was offered the sum of $3000. She was stunned that the fee should be so high, and said 'Why, that's ridiculous!' Misinterpreting the tone of her surprise, the agent responded, 'All right, then. Make it $4000!'

After a challenging rehearsal, the broadcast itself almost turned into a disaster. Hess had booked an elegant hotel room thanks to her high fee, but the door to her suite got jammed. She eventually got out and made it to the hall on time, and was seated on a chair on the stage while the first work on the programme was played. As she started to walk across the stage, the tympani roll of the opening of the Grieg Concerto started - evidently conductor Victor Kolar had not waited for her to seat herself at the piano - and she is said to have made 'a running dive for the keyboard,' managing to get there just in time to play the opening chords. All things considered, it's remarkable how well she played!

Most of the works in this broadcast are not in her commercial discography: while she had recorded the Schumann A Minor Concerto (twice), she never set down the Grieg, and there are no Chopin Etudes amongst her studio recordings either (the Bach Gigue is the only work played here that she had recorded).

0:00 Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor Op.16 - 1st mvt
with Victor Kolar/Detroit Symphony Orchestra
11:41 Chopin Etude in A-Flat Major Op.25 No.1
14:28 Chopin Etude in F Major Op.25 No.3
16:25 Bach French Suite No.5 in G Major BWV 816: VII. Gigue

Available on APR: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical...

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