The world lost two of its finest musicians recently, with the deaths of Ruth Laredo and Grant Johannesen. Both had recorded for PianoDisc’s Artist Series.
Ruth Laredo was called “America’s First Lady of Piano,” a title she earned with a long and brilliant career marked by many awards and achievements, including three Grammy nominations. She is best known for her recordings of the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff and the piano sonatas of Scriabin, both made in the 1970s and re-issued in recent years.
Born in Detroit, Laredo graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1960. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Orchestra and conductor Leopold Stowkowski. Other career highlights include performances at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and the White House. For the past several years, Ms. Laredo gave a series of very popular recitals at the Metropolitan Museum. Called “Concerts with Commentary,” each program focused on a master composer, with Laredo performing thier works and offering fascinating narration. Laredo’s presentations were so popular she began performing them around the country. Laredo also played around the world, notably in an extensive tour of Russia and the Ukraine, with concerts in Moscow, Odessa and St. Petersburg.
Ms. Laredo was also the author of The Ruth Laredo Becoming A Musician Book and worked as editor of the complete Rachmaninoff Preludes for Piano. Her book and recordings can be found at all major music and book retailers, and her PianoDisc recording, Artist Series: Ruth Laredo – Bach to Rach (PD/CD 3030) can be found in our Classical category.
Grant Johannesen, whom the NY Times described as, “...one who stands among the truly distinguished masters of his instrument," is best known for his interpretations of the music of French composers. His recordings of works by Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud and Gabriel Faure are considered definitive, and Johannesen was, in fact, the first artist to record Faure's complete piano works.
Johannesen was born July 30, 1921, in Salt Lake City. At the age of 17, he went to New York to study with pianist and composer Robert Casadesus. He also studied with Egon Petri at Cornell University and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Mr. Johannesen made his New York debut at Town Hall in 1944. His fame grew with international tours with the New York Philharmonic under Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. Johannesen also made solo tours of Europe, and over the years appeared in virtually every important music festival in the U.S. and abroad.
Mr. Johannesen also had the distinction of being the most frequent guest soloist to appear on the “Bell Telephone Hour”, the now-legendary series of television programs that featured performances by the world’s greatest musicians. Highlights of that series were released on DVD several years ago. “Great Pianists From The Bell Telephone Hour” features Johannesen's performance of Gershwin’s Concerto In F (from a 1959 broadcast) and Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16, 1st Movement (from a 1962 broadcast). Also appearing on the DVD are such giants of the piano as Van Cliburn, Jorge Bolet and Byron Janis, and two who are also PianoDisc artists, Lorin Hollander and Philippe Entremont.
From 1977 to 1985, Mr. Johannesen served as the president of the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was a frequent judge at prestigious international piano competitions, and was also a busy recitalist who had his own long-running series at the New York Public Library.
Throughout his life, Johannesen maintained close ties with his hometown, appearing as a soloist with the Utah Symphony over 30 times. One of the last projects Johannesen completed was "Mormoniana," a piano suite by 16 composers who share roots in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He arranged the very dissimilar compositions in sequence and recorded them.
Grant Johannesen recorded two projects for PianoDisc: Artist Series: Grant Johannesen (PD/CD 3024) and Artist Series: Grant Johannesen Plays Debussy (PD/CD 3026) in our Classical category.
“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of these two extraordinary pianists,” commented PianoDisc’s Artist Director Jan Glazier. “They were both wonderful musicians and people—elegant players with impeccable taste and the true love of music guiding their lives and careers. We’re proud to have known them, and honored to have recorded their artistry for PianoDisc. We will miss them both very much.”