Whom_the_Gods_Love.....Richard_Farrell

WHOM THE GODS LOVE….. Richard Farrell 
(born, Wellington, New Zealand,1926: died, Arundel, Sussex, England,1958) Article by Peter Mechen Had fate not intervened on the night of May 27th 1958, on a country road in Sussex, England, when a car unaccountably left the road and hit a tree, killing all three of the vehicle's occupants, the year 2006 might well have been a year in which the musical world celebrated New Zealand-born Richard Farrell's 80th birthday, and a career which would almost certainly have brought him acclaim as one of the world's great pianists. As Farrell was, sadly, a passenger in that car, there are now few tangible remains of that promise - some recordings (none of which are commercially available at present), collections of programmes and press-cuttings testifying to the young pianist's wide range of repertoire and the extent of critical response to his playing, and a body of memorabilia in various forms - letters, photographs, people's personal reminiscences, an out-of-print 1986 "memoir" which purports to be a biography of sorts (1), a street in Auckland's Remuera which bears his name, and a neglected grave in St.Pancras's Cemetery, in London. Farrell was one of a number of prodigiously talented young musicians who prematurely lost their lives through accident or disease during the 1950s - among them fellow-pianists Dinu Lipatti and William Kapell, conductors Guido Cantelli and Ataulfo Argenta, horn-player Dennis Brain and singer Kathleen Ferrier. Mentioned in such company his name seems the least well-known at present, but his association with William Kapell bears examination, as it indicates the extent to which his talent made an impression upon a colleague considered by many to be heading for greatness at the time of his own tragic death (like Farrell who was five years his junior, Kapell was killed at the age of thirty-one). It was Kapell who, on a tour of Australia in 1945, heard Farrell play in Sydney (Kapell had actually been told about Farrell by none other than Eugene Ormandy, maestro of the Philadelphia Orchestra , who, on an earlier visit to Australia had also heard the youngster play), and who immediately contacted his teacher, the renowned Olga Samaroff at the famous Juilliard School of Music in New York, with a view to getting Farrell into her piano class. When one considers that Madame Samaroff - Juilliard's most respected piano pedagogue, with students in her class of the likes of Kapell, Rosalyn Tureck, Eugene List and Alexis Weissenberg - was able to be persuaded to accept an unknown into this elite group without audition and well past the closing date for such an acceptance, one begins to understand the phenomenal force of the impression Farrell must have made upon Kapell. And in the short while he was with Samaroff (she died just two years after Farrell became her pupil) he seemed to fulfil every bit of the promise his playing had demonstrated to both Ormandy and Kapell in Australia. In fact, Samaroff went on record as saying that Farrell was the best pupil she ever had, though the cynically-minded might qualify such praise by questioning the idea of a pupil fulfilling a teacher's aspirations as a definition of artistic achievement. Within a year of joining Samaroff's class, and prompted by the encouragement and continuing friendship of Kapell, Farrell was to sign up with Columbia Artists, an organisation which sent promising young musicians on contractual tours of American cities, playing up to six concerts a week as part of a highly-regarded "Community Concerts" scheme. In 1948 he made the first of a number of return visits to New Zealand, playing on this occasion an astonishing range of repertoire which included music from Bach to Copland, and "big" works such as the "Appassionata" and E-flat Major Op.7 Sonatas by Beethoven, the Chopin B Minor Sonata, the Schumann C-Major Fantasia, the Prokofiev Seventh Sonata, and the 1941 Copland Sonata already referred to, as well as the Hindemith Sonata No.2, plus two concertos, the Beethoven G Major and the Tchaikovsky B_flat Minor (2). This visit preluded his Carnegie Hall debut back in the United States later that same year, an occasion which inspired fulsomely-worded notices of praise from the hard-bitten New York critics, such as that which appeared in the Herald-Tribune: "Among his qualities is a real connection with music as a living value." (3). And no less a person than Artur Rubinstein declared Farrell, along with himself and William Kapell, to be "one of only three pianists in the world" (4), a further example of the youngster's impression-making charisma as a performer. Given that Farrell's piano playing appeared to receive the kind of instant acclaim which greets many a rising talent in the world of music, one might reasonably have entertained the possibility that the young man's impact would be short-lived once the initial excitement of his appearance wore off, a fate experienced by many artists whose career profiles, however brilliantly launched, eventually seem to subside unnoticed into a sea of relative anonymity. That such wasn't the case with Farrell is borne out by the regularity with which his subsequent appearances, on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in New Zealand and Australia, received what amounted to "rave" notices. In 1950, two years after his Carnegie Hall debut, his playing inspired comments such as "a highly gifted pianist " (London Times), "an enviable, natural-seeming command of the keyboard" (London Daily Telegraph), "….mastery of the piano" (New York Times), and "…both virtuosity and brilliance of sound" (New York Herald Tribune) (5). In 1953 a Royal Festival Hall programme of a concert in which he appeared with George Weldon and the Philharmonia Orchestra, described Farrell as the "world-renowned pianist" (6), and a 1954 programme of a Royal Albert Hall concert, in which Farrell played the Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto with (amazingly!) Sir Thomas Beecham and his Royal Philharmonic (what one wouldn't have given to have heard THAT concert!), spoke of "The Return of the Distinguished New Zealand Pianist", referring to Farrell's recent tour of Australia and appearance at a Royal Concert in Dunedin before the young Queen Elizabeth (7). A 1954 Melbourne subscription concerts brochure advertised Farrell's scheduled appearance in the series with a summary of his recent activities: - "He (Farrell) has been in demand for recitals on BBC Television, besides playing with leading British orchestras, including the Philharmonia and the Halle. His recitals in The Hague and Amsterdam last year (1953) were so successful that he has been invited for a further tour of Holland. A Festival Hall appearance with (Walter) Susskind last year led to a recording contract." (8). It was obviously a career that was in full swing, although Farrell always took his opportunities to come back to his New Zealand homeland and give concerts, invariably to rapturous public acclaim, despite suggestions made from official sources of overexposure towards the end. Like the singer Frances Alda many years before him, he always insisted upon calling himself a New Zealander, despite spending at least half of his boyhood in Sydney. By the time his last tour of New Zealand was made in 1956 he was traversing some of the pinnacles of the pianistic repertoire in his programmes - things like the Brahms F Minor Sonata and the "Handel" Variations, Ravel's "Gaspard de la Nuit", Chopin's Op.10 Etudes, and some Liszt transcriptions, as well as things he had played here before, such as the "Appassionata", Chopin's "Barcarolle", Brahms's Op.119 Pieces, and Prokofiev's Seventh Sonata (9). In addition, with the National Orchestra, whose work he praised, he played the "Emperor" Concerto and the Ravel Left-Hand Concerto (an amusing story has been documented regarding a bit of right-handed decoration by Farrell during his performance of the latter concerto that drew some comment from his conductor, James Robertson). By this time Farrell had commenced what seemed a highly promising recording career with Pye Records, beginning with a coupling of the Grieg and Liszt E-flat concerti in which his exciting playing was superbly accompanied by the Halle under George Weldon (Pye CCL 30104). These performances, along with some of the Grieg "Lyric Pieces" from a later LP (Pye CCL 30107), and, on a separate disc, a collection of his Chopin recordings which were first issued on various EPs, had a tantalisingly short life on two EMI Phoenixa CDs in the early 1990s before being deleted - the Grieg/Liszt recording on EMI CDM 7 63778-2, and the Chopin recital (sharing a disc with another pianist who recorded for Pye Records, Iso Elison) on EMI CDM 7 64136-2. To this writer's knowledge nothing else has commercially appeared since the deletion of those two CDs, while, of course, the LPs and Extended Play recordings languish either in private collections or among piles of mostly unwanted vinyl in second-hand shops. These contain many beautiful, revelatory performances whose reissue would certainly reconfirm Farrell's world standing as a pianist and musician. My own favourites are the Brahms recording containing the "Handel" Variations and the four Op.119 piano pieces (Pye CCL 30109), and the last recording he made, just a few weeks before his death in 1958, a Rachmaninov recital (Pye CCL 30138) featuring the "Variations on a Theme by Corelli, Op.42", and six of the composer's Preludes, including, (of course!) "the" Prelude (in C-sharp Minor). Given that Farrell generates plenty of excitement in the bravura pieces, it's in the playing of the quieter, more lyrical works, such as the Rachmaninov D Major Op.23 No.4 and G Major Op.32 No.5 Preludes, that one most readily recognises and warms to the voice of a natural musician, who never has to force, squeeze or inflate his tone to create whole vistas of lyricism around an unfailingly eloquent singing line. Other studio recordings feature the Grieg G Minor Ballade (coupled with the Lyric Pieces on Pye CCL 30107), the Brahms Waltzes and Op.10 Ballades (Pye CCL 30136) and collections of music by Chopin and Liszt, as well as pieces by Granados, Debussy, Mendelssohn and Schumann, on various EP discs (11). Besides this there appears to be a small but fascinating legacy of broadcast material from various sources, including a performance of the Schumann Piano Quartet which Farrell made in Switzerland with the quartet he had formed, thus preserving an example of his activities as a chamber musician (he had previously performed all of the Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano in London's Wigmore Hall). From New Zealand there are two concerto performances, both with a couple of bars missing, due, presumably, to misadventure by broadcasting, from separate concerts in Auckland in 1948 - the Tchaikovsky B-flat (12) and the Beethoven G Major (13), both with Anderson Tyrer and the New Zealand National Orchestra. There's also a tantalising glimpse of Farrell's Liszt playing at that time, an exerpt from the "Sonetto 104 del Petrarca" from the Italian "Annees de Pelerinage" set, which preludes a 1ZB Auckland "Radio Review" interview (14). The exerpt made me realise how "right-handed" by comparison are most pianists who play much of this repertoire - Farrell held me spellbound with the way his left hand worked in partnership with the melody line, bringing so many inner voices to bear on the musical argument, and emphasising the multi-stranded interactiveness of it all. The only other significant sound-record of his playing I know of is a 1956 2ZB Wellington Sunday Showcase presentation (15) in which Farrell introduces and plays three of Liszt's most famous solo piano works - his operatic transcriptions and paraphrases of the Waltz from Gounod's "Faust" and of Verdi's "Rigoletto", as well as his Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody. No trace exists as sound of his acclaimed performance in New Zealand of that Everest of the romantic concerto literature, the Rachmaninov D Minor - perhaps by some miracle the BBC will turn up something of Farrell's playing in their recently-begun archival series, though it would be too much to hope that 1954 Royal Albert Hall performance with Beecham of the same Rachmaninov concerto might have been preserved. From the various sound-interviews with and about Farrell from the archives one gleans an initial impression of a man and musician very much at ease with himself and his world, someone who was content to let his artistry speak for itself without the slightest vestige of showmanship or hype. Conductor James Robertson, who was Farrell's accompanist with the National Orchestra during his last New Zealand tour in 1956, recalled many years later in a commemorative 50th anniversary radio programme about the pianist, that Farrell didn't seek to publicise himself in any way except through his playing (18). And his New Zealand "minder" on his first trip home as a performing artist, Broadcasting Service Concerts Manager Jim Hartstonge, spoke of Farrell's natural, ego-free manner making him an easy person to like, with people everywhere going out of their way to do things for him (19)). However, Wellington-based writer Laurence Jenkins, currently researching material for a proposed book about Farrell, suggests that, especially towards the end, the pressure of constant concert work, of providing for his parents' continuing needs, and of indifferent health often brought Farrell to the point of physical exhaustion and caused much mental stress. Jenkins cites a less-than-enthusiastic response by the ABC to some radio recordings made by Farrell on his last visit to Australia in 1957, indicating that the playing was not up to his usual impeccable standards, for whatever reason (20). Perhaps Farrell's career as a pianist was indeed losing its attraction by that stage, to the point that he was looking elsewhere for fulfilment - apparently he had studied conducting at Juilliard with no less a figure than Serge Koussevitsky (21), and may well have gone on to emulate a number of such famous instrumentalists who took up the conductor's baton either on a part-time or full-time basis. Although Farrell would arguably have brought distinction to whatever activity he chose to pursue, one would have regretted any decision he might have made to forgo the achievements of his soloist's career, in view of the extraordinary talent and innate musicianship he had displayed up to the time of his death. Family and other considerations might not have allowed him the luxury of withdrawing from the musical world for a period of rest and consolidation, given that he may not have needed to disappear from the scene to the extent that people like Van Cliburn or Maurizio Pollini did. Whatever might have happened next, of course, belongs to the realms of conjecture; and fate has decreed that Farrell's place in both New Zealand's and the world's musical history is cast firmly in the die of his brilliant, though short-lived achievements at the keyboard. That time and neglect have relegated this impression to near-obscurity is surely cause for alarm - every group of people and sphere of human activity needs its stellar figures, and it would be a tragedy to pass over one such whose star shone so brightly. But, as Laurence Jenkins points out, where are the memorials, the scholarships, the trust organisations perpetuating his name' (22) And what about the neglect of those regrettably few recordings which would, at least, bring his playing to the attention of new generations of music-lovers' In conclusion I would like to refer again to Jim Hartstonge, who in his capacity of Concert Manager of New Zealand Broadcasting spent many hours in Farrell's company, both as his "minder" on at least two of his recital tours of his homeland, and as a friend afterwards (Farrell actually wanted Hartstonge as his manager, as the logistical demands of the pianist's European career began to burgeon towards the end.). Interviewed many years afterwards, Hartstonge recalled meeting Sir Thomas Beecham during the interval of that 1954 Royal Albert Hall concert in which Farrell and Beecham collaborated in the Rachmaninov D Minor concerto, and being told by the venerable maestro that "this young man is going to go right to the top!" (23). Given that such golden promise was to remain largely unfulfilled, it seems too harsh a thing to leave what Farrell did manage to achieve in his short life languishing in the dark realm of near-forgotten things. Even at this stage, almost fifty years on, his memory ought to be celebrated with some kind of lasting memorial, and for the sakes of lovers of the piano as well as his own, the recordings he did leave behind given their proper due. Author's note: 
(I wish to thank Laurence Jenkins for his help in providing for my use many treasured items and documents containing information regarding Farrell, as well as his permission to draw generally from his various published commemorative articles. Information regarding Farrell's commercially released Pye recordings was kindly provided upon request by both Rod Hamilton of the British Library Sound Archive, and by Richard Bradburn of EMI Classics, while Rachel Lord at the New Zealand Sound Archive/Nga Taonga Korero was equally helpful regarding recordings of interviews and performances held by the Archive.) David Jillett, "Farrell", Benton Ross, Auckland 1986 "Richard Farrell in New Zealand" - article by Laurence Jenkins in "Music New Zealand (Summer 1999-2000)" Coronation Festival Series programme, Royal Festival Hall, 1953 David Jillett, "Farrell" Columbia Artists Management Advertising Leaflet 1950 Coronation Festival Series Programme, 1953 International Celebrity Concerts programme, Royal Albert Hall, 1954 Australian Broadcasting Commission "Visiting Celebrities" leaflet, 1954 Laurence Jenkins, "Mus.NZ" "Richard Farrell - Forgotten Pianist" - article by Laurence Jenkins in NZSO "Symphony Quarterly (January-March 1999)" Pye Records catalogue, 1960, courtesy British Library National Sound Archive Sound Archives/Nga Taonga Korero - SA/NTK TX 3249 (14/09/48) SA/NTK TX 3250 (16/09/48) Richard Farrell interviewed by an un-named 1ZB Auckland broadcaster, June 1948 - Radio New Zealand Sound Archives D 6895 SA/NTK TX 2164-65 (8/07/56) National Film Unit Archive 1948 (from video "Toogood Tales", Memory Line, 1994) New Zealand Mirror No.14 (1952) - National Archive SA/NTK T7846 (30/08/76) Jim Hartstonge interviewed by Laurence Jenkins (5/10/98) Laurence Jenkins, "Mus. NZ" Laurence Jenkins, "Mus. NZ" "New Zealand pianist - Richard Farrell" - article by Laurence Jenkins in "Memories" Jim Hartstonge interview (5/10/98)