Maurice Till

Maurice Till was one of the first New Zealand pianists to sustain a performing career while remaining in the country. As well as a long series of engagements with the National Orchestra and its successors, he was the accompanist of choice for visiting overseas artists - singers, violinists and cellists mostly - for recitals and broadcasting work. In the period from 1955 to 1980 he performed with over 30 artists including Victoria De Los Angeles, Rita Streich, Alfredo Campoli, Pierre Fournier, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Simon Estes, Ida Haendel, Max Rostal, Inia Te Wiata, Gérard Souzay, Bernadette Greevy and John Shirley-Quirk.

In this programme, in which he talks to Tim Dodd, we'll hear recordings of some of these performances. The recordings were made by Maurice Till himself and his wife at their home direct from the radio broadcasts at the time:

Victoria De Los Angeles (soprano) - 1956 - Nin: Villancico Catalan; Falla: Jota, from Popular Spanish Songs

Phyllis Curtin (soprano) - 1968 - Rossini: The Venetian Carnival (excerpt)

Birgit Finnilä (mezzo/contralto) - 1974 - Schumann: Waldesgespräch, from Liederkreis Op 39

Devy Erlih (violin) - 1959 - Stravinsky: Russian Dance, from Petrushka

Pierre Fournier (cello) - 1967 - Beethoven: 3rd movement, Cello Sonata in A Op 69 (excerpt)

Also included is a recording from 1966 of Till performing the Variations on a Nursery Theme by Dohnányi with the NZBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler.

Listen to the complete unedited interview between Maurice Till and Tim Dodd