Wood Works

Was this Australian pianist another William Kapell? In both cases these young musicians blazed all too briefly across the musical firmament before dying far too soon (in Mewton-Wood’s case, tragically, by his own hand). Both left us tantalisingly few recordings which show what they had achieved in what should have been the early years of their careers – and which hint at what might have been. This CD is issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Mewton-Wood’s death, in December 1953. Unlike Kapell, Noel Mewton-Wood was never really taken up by a major record company (something which he found very frustrating) and the three performances which appear here were all made for the small Concert Hall label. All credit to that label for recording him in less familiar repertoire....