ENGLISH PIANIST

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31159, 8 September 1966, Page 13

ENGLISH PIANIST

The celebrated English pianist, Moura Lympany, who last visited New Zealand in 1948, will give a recital in Christchurch on Saturday, September 17.

Moura Lympany is one of the world's outstanding woman pianists and is well known as a recording artist. Born in Cornwall, Moura Lympany gave her first concert at the age of 12 in Harrogate. At this early age she made a concert tour of England, appearing in most of the important cities and fulfilled a number of engagements for the 8.8. C. At 13 she was awarded the Ada Lewis Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London and two years later ♦ on the Challen Gold Medal, awarded to the best student of the year, and the Hine Gift for composition.

A period of intensive study in Vienna under Paul Weingarten followed then more study back in England before, in 1938 she was runner-up to the famous Russian pianist Erail Gilels in the Ysaye Pianoforte Competition at Brussels. Artur Rubinstein was one of the judges and recommended the 18-year-old English girl so highly to his Paris manager that Miss Lympany was immediately engaged for tours of Holland, France, Belgium and South Amenca.

Her debut in the United States in 1948 was highly successful and she has toured there many times since. As well as giving recitals at Carnegie Hall, she has appeared as concerto soloist with many of the leading orchestras.

FIRST PERFORMANCES In Europe and the United States Moura Lympany has

given first performances of a number of works by English composers and she introduced the Khachaturian Piano Concerto to London, Paris, Brussels and Milan. During her present New Zealand tour she will play the Khachaturian concerto with the N.Z.B.C. Symphony Orchestra in Wellington and Auckland. Besides her regular concert tours, she has represented Britain on a number of cultural missions to Eastern Europe. On the London Philharmonic’s tour of the Soviet

Union in 1956, Moura Lympany accompanied the orchestra as soloist. She also performed with the London! Philharmonic at its 25th anni-! versary concert in London in 1957. Among her other special [ concert appearances have been several performances at! the Prague Spring Festival and engagements at the Festival of Two Worlds at Spoleto in Italy. Miss Lympany, who is 50, has been married twice. Her only son died.