Gerald Moore
Gerald Moore is widely regarded as the finest recital accompanist of the 20th century. Known for his great sensitivity in adapting to and drawing the best from his various musical partners, he was in constant demand for decades, and his discography amply represents his talents.
Born on July 30, 1899, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, Moore began taking lessons with Wallis Bandey at the local Watford School of Music. He had perfect pitch. Moore was a reluctant student who had to be dragged to the piano by his parents. He stated that he did not feel truly immersed in music until his middle twenties. The family moved to Canada in 1913, and Moore studied with Michael Hambourg. For a time, he worked as a movie theater accompanist. His family did not envision this as a musical career, however, and sent him back to England. There, he studied with Michael Hambourg's son Mark and began to make solo appearances.
In 1921, Moore signed with EMI, accompanying violinist Renée Chemet on a recording, and he remained on that label for his entire six-decade recording career. Landon Ronald of the Guildhall School of Music noticed Moore's talent as an accompanist and urged him to focus on that field. In 1925, tenor John Coates recruited Moore as his permanent accompanist, and Moore accepted, working with Coates for five years. Moore mostly declined permanent arrangements of this sort but pointed to his work with Coates as a major influence. Other singers noted Moore's gifts, and soon he was in demand as an accompanist. By the late '30s, he was well known and was able to give lectures at Britain's National Gallery on the art of accompaniment, notable in that the accompanist had always previously been considered a secondary figure. He continued to lecture after World War II, and in this capacity, he became a draw even internationally. In 1943, he published a book, The Unashamed Accompanist, which gained popularity despite its arcane subject with its variously instructive and anecdotal style, and he went on to write seven more books, including an accompanist's edition of Schubert's song cycles. In 1986, Moore's various memoir writings were collected into a single volume entitled Am I Too Loud?
Moore often worked with singers Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Victoria de los Angeles, and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and he was a major influence in propelling the popularity on recordings of tenor Aksel Schiøtz. Most of his work was with singers, but he also accompanied cellist Pablo Casals and other major instrumentalists. He cultivated a distinctive style marked by exceptional legato and a variety of tonal shades generated by subtle but significant use of pedals. He spoke disdainfully of those who considered it the accompanist's job to recede into the background. Moore, however, was a supremely empathetic artist who meshed deeply with musical personalities of his partners. The song recital was Moore's specialty, and he knew the repertory of German lieder deeply. He induced his recital partners to explore lesser-known songs of Schubert, Hugo Wolf, and Richard Strauss, and there are few works by those composers not included somewhere in his large discography. Moore also taught master classes in song interpretation. In 1967, Moore retired from the concert stage, bowing out with a recital at Royal Festival Hall in London that concluded with him playing the piano solo, but he remained active in recordings until 1975. He is widely credited with having raised the status of the accompanist to that of a true partner in the vocal recital. Moore died at his home in Penn, Buckinghamshire, England, on March 13, 1987. Some 450 CD reissues exist that capture some aspect of his work, but a full survey of his importance and influence is lacking.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Artistes similaires
-
Schubert : Goethe Lieder
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jörg Demus, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 1 janv. 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Victoria de los Ángeles in Concert (Live, Royal Festival Hall, 1964)
Gerald Moore, Victoria de los Angeles
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 1 janv. 1979
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder (Vol. 1)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 1 janv. 1970
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Vocal Quartets
Elly Ameling, (Dame) Janet Baker, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 26 août 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Sicilienne, Op. 78, Papillon, Op. 77 & Élégie, Op. 24 (Mono Version)
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Duets
(Dame) Janet Baker, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore, Rias Kammerchor
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 26 août 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder (Vol. 3)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 22 juil. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Trios
Elly Ameling, Horst Laubenthal, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 26 août 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hans Hotter - Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 1 janv. 1987
Discothèque Idéale Qobuz16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Homage to Gerald Moore (Live at Royal Festival Hall, 1967)
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 1 avr. 1967
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder
(Dame) Janet Baker, Gerald Moore, Geoffrey Parsons
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 6 janv. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs You Love
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 30 août 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lieder von Franz Schubert - Lied-Edition Vol. 2
Hermann Prey, Karl Engel, Gerald Moore, Leonard Hokanson, Wolfgang Sawallisch
Classique - Paru chez Decca le 1 janv. 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Schwanengesang; Lieder
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 1 janv. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : 21 Lieder
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Lieder (Allemagne) - Paru chez Warner Classics le 1 janv. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sanit- Saëns Le cygne
Musique de chambre - Paru chez Artemisia le 2 juin 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Homage to Gerald Moore & Tribute to Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 8 avr. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Deutsche Volkslieder
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 6 oct. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: The Complete Songs
Boris Christoff, Georges Tzipine, Alexandre Labinsky, Gerald Moore, French National Radio Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Andromeda le 14 août 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Die schöne Müllerin D795
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 8 juin 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs You Love
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 3 juil. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo