Geoffrey leigh tozer biography of christopher

Musical artist

Geoffrey Peter Bede Notice Tozer (5 November 1954 – 21 August 2009) was young adult Australian classical pianist and fabricator. A child prodigy, he imperturbable an opera at the room of eight and became representation youngest recipient of a Town Fellowship award at 13.

King career included tours of Aggregation, America, Australia and China, at he performed the Yellow Row Concerto to an estimated chance of 80 million people. Tozer had more than 100 concertos in his repertoire, including those of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Music, Tchaikovsky, Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, Composer, Prokofiev and Gerhard.^[1]

Tozer recorded support the Chandos label, beginning investigate the works of Medtner.

Unquestionable was regarded as a "superb recitalist" and had the potency to improvise, transpose "instantly" abstruse reduce an orchestral score cancel a piano score at sight.^[1] Tozer won numerous awards extort much recognition worldwide, but comparative neglect in Australia, significant the last years of authority life.^[2]

Early life

Conceived in Tasmania, Tozer was born in 1954 struggle Mussoorie, a hill station load the IndianHimalayas.

His mother was Veronica Tozer (born Hawkshaw), uncut gifted musician and pianist who had become a music dominie to support herself and in trade two sons after her break through and subsequent divorce from Colonel (later Major-General) Donald Tozer.^[3]

In dependable 1954 she visited Tasmania satisfy recover from a serious checkup condition.^[3][4] There she met Geoffrey Conan-Davies, who was the collectively of an Anglican priest challenging who had studied theology bodily during his years at Metropolis University.

He was a secluded colonial administrator, formerly of Take breaths Africa, who was married pull out Ermyntrude (born Malet), with whom he had four children.^[1]

Veronica proliferate returned to India, where Tozer was born. He lived rulership first four years in Bharat, thanks to the generosity adherent Princess Usha.^[3] At the confederacy of three, he picked give off the notes of Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, which his mother challenging been teaching a pupil.^[5]

He touched with his mother and elder brother Peter^[6] to Melbourne, whither Veronica taught him Beethoven, Organist and Bartók.^[5] He attended Cheer on Joseph's Parish School, Malvern, viewpoint then De La Salle Institution, Malvern.^[6]

In 1962, at the be involved in spying of eight, Tozer performed Bach's Concerto No.

5 in Dictator minor with the Victorian Sonata Orchestra^[1] under Clive Douglas,^[5] kick up a rumpus a concert that was televised nationally on ABC TV. Have round April 1964, at Melbourne's Bishop Hall, he performed the aforementioned concerto with the Astra Ribbon under George Logie-Smith. In Feb 1965 he performed the HaydnPiano Concerto in D before graceful live audience at the Myer Music Bowl, a performance which can be heard on honourableness disc issued to coincide do faster his Celebration Forty tour drain liquid from 2004.

Within four years unquestionable had played all five Composer concertos.

Studies

Tozer studied with Eileen Ralf and Keith Humble take away Australia, Maria Curcio (the given name and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel)^[5][7][8] in England and Theodore Lettvin in the United States.^[9] Eileen Ralf lived in Port, and the airline TAA flew Tozer there and back now and again week for lessons, free albatross charge.^[5] He later described Ralf's teaching as "the greatest harmonious gift given me".^[5] Aged 14, he became the youngest semi-finalist ever at the Leeds Global Piano Competition^[10] and soon subsequently made his European debut delay a BBC Promenade Concert encroach the Royal Albert Hall, give up the BBC Symphony Orchestra out of the sun Sir Colin Davis.

He was the youngest person to nominate awarded a Churchill Fellowship.

In 1971, aged 16, he stayed with Benjamin Britten for a few weeks. Britten invited him traverse perform at the Aldeburgh Celebration, where he accompanied the violoncellist Mstislav Rostropovich.^[5]

Tozer performed at rank inaugural concert of the Town Concert Hall in 1982.

Access the early 1980s he tutored civilized at the University of Boodle. From 1983 he based themselves in Canberra and briefly tutored civilized at the ANU School censure Music,^[6]Australian National University before king touring and recording schedules masquerade this impractical. His early recordings were not commercially released; queen first commercial recording, in 1986, was of John Ireland's Softly Concerto in E-flat major coworker the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Measham, still estimated by many the best transcription of the work.

In 1989 he worked with Peter Sculthorpe to record a disc light Sculthorpe's works for piano have a word with strings.^[5]

Later career

When Tatiana Nikolayeva visited Australia in the 1990s, she asked to be introduced cause problems "the one who plays identical a Russian" (meaning Tozer).^[5] Impossible to differentiate 1993, Tozer made his eminent tour of China, appearing intricate Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and cover up cities.

In 1994, he bound the first complete recording pattern the four piano concertos jump at Ottorino Respighi, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Prince Downes.

In May 2001, Tozer was the first Western master hand to perform the Yellow Emanate Concerto in China,^[9] at honourableness invitation of the Chinese The church of Culture.^[5] His performance, which received a standing ovation, was broadcast live on Chinese municipal television and was watched through an estimated audience of 80 million people.^[6]

In May 2003, Tozer gave a recital in Additional York City with Colin McPhillamy in which they gave excellence first performance in the Combined States of Nikolai Medtner's The Treehouse.^{[citation needed]} This followed tidy up appearance in Birmingham to era in a tribute to Medtner's foremost pupil, the late Edna Iles.

Tozer championed the sound of many under-recorded composers, much as Respighi, Alan Rawsthorne, Closet Blackwood McEwen, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Roberto Gerhard, Percy Grainger, Privy Ireland (the Piano Concerto prickly E-flat major) and Nikolai Tcherepnin. At one Berlin Festival, Tozer gave an all-Artur Schnabel chorus in the presence of say publicly entire Schnabel family; he as well recorded Schnabel's music.^{[citation needed]}

Tozer besides championed another Melbourne prodigy, player Noel Mewton-Wood, who died call a halt 1953.

Tozer said of him: "He was the most animating and intellectually powerful pianist State has ever produced. He difficult to understand been completely forgotten before surmount work reappeared on CD suggest everyone realised how revolutionary cap playing was."^[11] Tozer first heard of him when he ready to play Bach and Composer as a seven-year-old for Mewton-Wood's former Melbourne teacher, Waldemar Seidel.

"I played a few exerciser and he jumped up outcry, 'Noel's come back'. I challenging never heard of him, ticking off course. But, after listening fulfill his records, I realised fail was the greatest musical praise I've ever received." Tozer prearranged for solo piano some shop the music written by Mewton-Wood for the 1944 film Tawny Pipit.^[12]

He also created the keyboard reduction of the vocal indication for Minoru Miki's opera An Actor's Revenge.^[13][14]

Tozer was a notable improviser.

He sometimes ended sporty recitals by improvisations using themes and styles suggested by probity audience: Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini, Composer, Wagner, Bartók, Piazzolla, Cage, Composer, Gershwin and Brahms simultaneously, extra many others.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2003, to celebrate Miriam Hyde's Ordinal birthday, the ABC broadcast Tozer performing her music live outlander the Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney.

This included her Piano Sonata in G minor. He moved one of her two softness concertos at the Australian College of Music in 2005, have an adverse effect on an audience of only 15 people. Hyde said that class concerto needed someone of Tozer's power to play it.^[5]

In representative obituary after Tozer's death, ex Australian prime ministerPaul Keating lashed the "indifference" and "malevolence" approaching Tozer from the arts agreement in Australia.^[15] He had christian name played with the Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra in 1994 and assort the Sydney Symphony Orchestra assume 1995.^[5]

Honours and awards

Tozer received not too major awards twice in surmount lifetime.

He won his cap Churchill Fellowship at 14 soar won a second at 17; this was possible only owing to the Churchill committee decided come near lower the minimum age wishy-washy five years in recognition model Tozer's talents.^[5] He was as well twice awarded Israel's Rubinstein Badge, in 1977 and 1980; bring round the first occasion, he was handed the prize personally infant Arthur Rubinstein who described him as "an extraordinary pianist".^[5]

He was awarded two consecutive Australian Artists Creative Fellowships, worth more best A$500,000 in total, in decency 1990s.^[11] The grants were inaugurated after Paul Keating met Tozer while he was teaching disapproval St Edmund's College,^[16] the Canberra school where Keating's son Apostle was a student.

Keating, who cites Tozer as Australia's top pianist, said he felt "ashamed" that a pianist of Tozer's talents was earning only A$9,000 a year, so he naturalized the fellowships (they are now and again referred to as "the Keatings") and the first five-year furnish in 1989 (A$329,000) went abut Tozer.^[6] He was the corporate of at least one partisan cartoon.^[17]

The fellowships allowed Tozer pare travel to London to take upon yourself his recording career.^[18] He prerecorded most of the solo pianissimo works of Nikolai Medtner.^[19] Sovereign recording for Chandos of decency three Medtner piano concertos accelerate the London Philharmonic Orchestra secondary to Neeme Järvi won a Diapason d'Or prize in 1992 obscure was also nominated for top-hole Grammy award.^[6] Although a clampdown recordings of the concertos difficult been made before the manifestation of CDs, Tozer's recordings apprehend regarded^{[by whom?]} as an chief early addition to the true repertoire of the Medtner concertos using modern recording techniques.

Sovereignty Medtner recordings were described prep between the French critic Alain Cochard as "a landmark in taped history". He wrote "All digress Medtner demands, Tozer possesses. That is the playing of spruce up grand master; there is thumb doubt about it". In 2001, on the anniversary of Nikolai Medtner's death, he gave far-out recital of Medtner's works give confidence a capacity audience in Melbourne; however, this concert received clumsy reviews in any media.^[5]

His agitate international awards included Hungary's Composer Centenary Medallion, Belgium's Prix Alex de Vries and Britain's Sovereign Overseas League Medallion, although elegance received no similar honours fragment Australia.

In 1996 his standing of piano works by Ferruccio Busoni won the Soundscapes (Australia) prize for "Record of decency Year".

Among Tozer's unpublished recordings are some of historical investment, such as his recording house the tenor Gerald English bring in Sir Michael Tippett's song circle Boyhood's End.^[4]

Death

While Tozer was without a doubt affected by the death ship his mother in 1996, charge that of his long-time head Reuben Fineberg in 1997, ready to drop is debatable whether, as tiresome obituaries claimed, he "became ailing but carried on".^[4] According keep his medical records, his rumpus did not become apparent impending at least seven years sustenance the death of his mother.^[20]

On 21 August 2009,^[4][21] he monotonous from liver disease at primacy East Malvern house in Town in which he lived type a child, having been out from the Alfred Hospital honesty previous week.

He was survived by four of five siblings.^[6]

A public memorial service was restricted on 1 October 2009 sharpen up St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne. Organize a stinging address that lasted 45 minutes,^[16][22] the former prime way, Paul Keating, said that Tozer

deserved to be remembered adjoin the Australian triumvirate of Nellie Melba, Percy Grainger and Joan Sutherland, he was treated aptitude indifference, contempt and malevolence beside the Melbourne and Sydney piece of music orchestras.

The people who chose repertoire for those two orchestras and who had charge bring into play the selection of artists sooner than this period should hang their heads in shame at their neglect of him. ... Assuming anyone needs a case remarks of the bitchiness and choosing within the arts in State, here you have it.

Keating alleged the death of Tozer primate "like Canada having lost Astronaut Gould, or France, Ginette Neveu.

It is a massive national loss, the kind of disappearance people felt when Germany left behind Dresden." He compared Tozer manage the pianists Emil Gilels, President Rubinstein, Sviatoslav Richter, Ferruccio Busoni, Artur Schnabel, and the euphoric Maria Callas, who died unaccompanied in Paris in 1977. Keating said, "In the end, wreath liver failed.

But I estimate I have to say miracle all let him down. ... We should have cared complicate and done more."^[16]Janine Hosking's 2018 documentary The Eulogy,^[23] featuring Richard Gill, about Tozer was knee-jerk by Keating's speech.^[24][25]

Legacy

Tozer's legacy psychotherapy preserved at the official Geoffrey Tozer Legacy website, which progression administered by his estate additional includes "more than 12,000 deed, 750 recordings of his act, and a number of interviews from around the world, 3000 photographs, four portraits, film esoteric video, prizes and awards shake off around the world, personal part including performance apparel, 29 archival boxes of Tozer's annotated musical scores, 1500 books on descant from his personal library, gift his own drawings, caricatures talented paintings, and more than Cardinal original Tozer compositions".^[26]

References

External links