Clifford Curzon

Life and career

Early years

Curzon was born in Islington, London, the younger son and second of three children of Michael Siegenberg, a Jewish antiques dealer, and his wife Constance Mary, née Young. The family name was changed to Curzon in August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The household was musical: Mary Curzon was a talented amateur singer, Michael's sister was a professional singer, and his uncle, the composer Albert Ketèlbey was a frequent visitor, and his performances of his music on the family piano were the young Curzon's earliest abiding musical memories. The boy's first musical studies were as a violinist, but he soon concentrated on the piano.

In 1919 Curzon entered the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, and two years later was admitted to the senior school of the academy at the unusually early age of fourteen. He studied with Charles Reddie, whose own teacher, Bernhard Stavenhagen, had been a pupil of Franz Liszt. Curzon won many prizes, including the RAM's MacFarren Gold Medal, and then continued his studies with Katharine Goodson, who had been a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky.|group= n}} At around the time Curzon was graduating, his father became seriously ill, affecting the family business; money became short, and in 1926 Curzon, though not drawn to teaching, accepted a salaried post as a sub-professor at the RAM. One of his pupils at this period was Constance Warren, two years his senior. He continued to pursue a career as a soloist. A family friend introduced him to Sir Thomas Beecham, who was sufficiently impressed by Curzon's playing to engage him as soloist in Mozart's Coronation Concerto at the Queen's Hall.

In 1928 Curzon temporarily left the RAM. A legacy from the mother of a colleague enabled him to move to Berlin for two years, to study with Artur Schnabel. He then studied with Wanda Landowska and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Curzon believed that his own pianistic style owed much to the examples of Schnabel and Landowska; although, he said, they disliked each other and were diametrically opposite in their musical aesthetics, he learned about phrasing from Schnabel and about precision of technique from Landowska.

Soloist

Curzon built a successful career as a soloist, enabling him to resign from the RAM in 1932. and made his US debut in 1939, returning regularly for many years after the Second World War. but his friendship with Benjamin Britten led to many joint concerts by the two musicians.

Curzon was a highly self-critical performer, and although he signed for the Decca recording company in 1937 and remained with them throughout his career, he was rarely at ease in the studios, and frequently refused to allow the release of recordings in which he felt dissatisfied with his performance.

After the war Curzon began to limit his appearances in the concert hall and recording studios, devoting himself to extensive periods of private study. Throughout his career he maintained a rigorous regime of practice, playing for several hours every day.

Together with Joseph Szigeti, William Primrose and Pierre Fournier Curzon formed the Edinburgh Festival Piano Quartet in 1952. In The Manchester Guardian, Neville Cardus wrote, "They do not quite make an easeful ensemble. The ear is constantly attracted by individual touches of fine musical art, but we receive a sense that each master is playing with his eye on the other, so as not to overstep the bounds of modesty." As a soloist Curzon made American tours in the years between 1948 and 1970, played at European music festivals and toured the continent with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sir Malcolm Sargent in 1954.

From the post-war years onwards, Curzon increasingly concentrated on less virtuoso repertoire than hitherto. He became celebrated for his performances of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. Max Loppert, his biographer in Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, wrote that in the works of these Austro-German classical masters "he was unequalled for sensitivity and directness of manner, beauty of tone and an inner stillness. In such works as Mozart's Concerto in B K595, his unique combination of nervous energy and Olympian calm earned him a reputation as a supreme Mozartian." Another biographer of Curzon, William Mann, wrote:

Curzon suffered throughout his career from stage fright and, unlike most star pianists, he played not from memory at concerts but with the score on his music stand. In private life, Mann records, Curzon was "an ideal host, a lively raconteur, a keen connoisseur of painting and literature, and appreciative of other countries and their cultures, food, drink and language."

Personal life

While still in Paris, Curzon married the American harpsichordist Lucille Wallace (1898–1977). They had no offspring, but they adopted the two sons of the soprano Maria Cebotari after she and her husband died young.

Death

Curzon died in September 1982, aged 75. He is buried next to his wife in the churchyard of St Patrick's, Patterdale, near their holiday home in the Lake District. On his gravestone are inscribed the opening words of Franz von Schober's poem "An die Musik": "Du holde Kunst" (O fairest art), familiar from Schubert's setting.

Honours

In 1958 Curzon was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and in 1977 he was knighted. He was elected a Fellow of the RAM in 1939, and in 1980 he received the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal. He was an honorary fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford (1981) and was awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Leeds (1970) and Sussex (1973).

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

References

1. (4 September 1982). "Sir Clifford Curzon is Dead at 75; One of the World's Leading Pianists". The New York Times.
2. Mann, William. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30994 "Curzon, Sir Clifford Michael (1907–1982)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2011, retrieved 17 December 2015 {{ODNBsub
3. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28870/page/6434 Notice], ''[[The London Gazette]]'', 14 August 1914, p. 6434
4. [[Henry Wood. Sir Henry Wood]] was the conductor of the academy's student orchestra, and in 1924 he gave Curzon his first [[The Proms. Promenade Concert]] engagement, as one of the co-soloists in Bach's [[Keyboard concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach#Concerto in D minor.2C BWV 1063. Triple Keyboard Concerto in D minor]], along with two other students.{{refn. ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' gives the year as 1922, and the ''Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives it as 1923. The BBC's Prom archive shows the date of the concert as 3 October 1924.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e2zmxj "Prom 48"], Proms, BBC , retrieved 17 December 2015
5. [[Alan Blyth. Blyth, Alan]]. "Clifford Curzon", ''[[Gramophone (magazine). The Gramophone]]'', March 1971, p. 1764
6. John France. '[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2022/Jan/Warren-Heather-hill.htm Constance Warren and her Heather Hill for string orchestra]', at ''MusicWeb International'' (2022)
7. De Jongh, Nicholas. "Clifford Curzon, Britain's greatest pianist", ''The Guardian'', 26 May 1976, p. 12
8. Loppert Max. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/06975 "Curzon, Sir Clifford"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, retrieved 17 December 2015 {{subscription required}}
9. John Ireland]], [[Alan Rawsthorne]] and [[Lennox Berkeley]] among others. During the war, shortage of time prevented him from undertaking the British premiere of [[Aram Khachaturian]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Khachaturian). Piano Concerto]],[http://www.ivoryclassics.com/releases/70906/pdf/booklet.pdf Notes to Ivory Classics CD 64405-70906] {{Webarchive. link. (14 February 2019 (1999), OCLC 43556430)
10. Culshaw, p. 172
11. Stuart, Philip. [http://www.charm.rhul.ac.uk/discography/decca.html ''Decca Classical, 1929–2009''], Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, retrieved 18 December 2015
12. "Sir Clifford Curzon", ''The Times'', 3 September 1982, p. 12
13. Summers, Jonathan. [http://www.naxos.com/person/Clifford_Curzon/7004.htm "Clifford Curzon"], A–Z of Pianists, Naxos, retrieved 17 December 2015
14. Cardus, Neville. "Limitations of the festival atmosphere", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 3 September 1952, p. 5
15. "Lucille Wallace", ''The Times'', 23 March 1977. p. 18
16. [http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-gravestone-of-the-concert-pianist-sir-clifford-michael-curzon-48693030.html "The gravestone of the concert pianist, Sir Clifford Michael Curzon"], Alamy, retrieved 17 December 2015