His forgotton depth of artistry

[Elie FM]

What I find so maddening and upsetting is how quickly people seem to forget or lose interest in John Ogdon and this was of course the case at the time that he became ill and during the years of his improved health.

For me his role in my musical development was and will always be hugely significant and his role in the musical world must continue to be appreciated. Perhaps in some ways, even when he was in good health, his gifts were not fully appreciated. I was always irritated by the comments that people made, which though complementary, were nevertheless referring to the more shallow (though astounding) aspects of John's musicianship, such as his sight-reading abilities and seemingly effortless technical wizardary. These are not the aspects that I feel should be so associated with John, for it was his depth, his ability to connect on such a fundamental level with what the music was saying and his ability to then convey that depth to an audience: these were his true gifts in my opinion. Sight-reading and technical abilities are things that can, if necesssary, be learnt - depth is something instinctive and is a true gift - you either have it or you don't. This is the true John Ogdon I feel.

[Metronome]

I confess that sight reading and piano technique have never been easy learning for me but I take your point about possessing instinctive depth of musical communication.

Forgotton - yes - it is inevitable I suppose that past masters get sidelined by the next generation, and media interest falls away. Apart from Islamey, broadcast on Radio 3 the day he died, I regret I never actually heard Ogdon properly until the recent Performance on 3 series.

Let's hope 2007, his 70th anniversary year, inspires renewed public interest.