0:00:10 > 0:00:12You see, it is often assumed that
0:00:12 > 0:00:16an explosion can be pinpointed immediately.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21It isn't, it's always the result of years of building up,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25tiny little ratchets towards an explosion.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50I can't think of any other pianist that was like him.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52He was a one-off.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56He and the piano were in communion,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00expressing something the rest of us could not get anywhere near.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05When he sat down at the piano, he became like a man possessed.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11He could sight read everything, he could play anything,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13he wrote music...
0:01:13 > 0:01:17He had a very deep emotional and intellectual presence.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21It was much more than a talent.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24It was a God-given gift, I think.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31He was in America, he was in Japan, he was in Australia,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33and everybody wanted a piece of him.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38The wear and tear element entered really fairly quickly.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Suddenly, the coordination wasn't this phenomenon any more.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51Genius is precious, but it's also dangerous.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55We went to several hospitals, where they all sounded alarm bells.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57They said he had to be committed.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Brenda, you found your husband turning into
0:02:10 > 0:02:12really rather a violent stranger, did you?
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Well, it was the illness, you see, which I was totally unprepared for.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19- He cut himself.- Mm. - With a razor blade.- Mm.- Yes.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Now, Brenda, you consented that he should have some
0:02:22 > 0:02:23electric shock treatment, didn't you,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25for which you were much criticised?
0:02:25 > 0:02:29It was not suggested, it was made totally compulsory to me.
0:02:29 > 0:02:30I had no option.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34Do you feel that you are as great a pianist as ever you were?
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Well, I...
0:02:36 > 0:02:40I feel I'm playing as well as I did, you know.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But now you're recording together, you're playing together?
0:02:44 > 0:02:47- Yes.- Yes, we are.- Very happily.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49So, life is looking rosy, in that sense?
0:02:49 > 0:02:51- Oh, yes.- Yes.
0:02:58 > 0:03:04MUSIC: "Nocturne Op.9, No. 2" by Frederic Chopin
0:03:27 > 0:03:30You were actually born near Nottingham, weren't you?
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Yes, in Mansfield Woodhouse, a suburb of Mansfield.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37What sort of family were you born into? Can you describe it to me?
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Well, it was a very musical family.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44My father wrote one or two essays on Berlioz
0:03:44 > 0:03:49and also played the trombone and the xylophone, and did bell-ringing.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53And my mother was very musical, she loved music very much.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00He lived in a very modest home.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04When I stayed there, it was this tiny little house,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09with lots of novels and books piled in stacks everywhere.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11It was almost like walking in a maze,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15getting to the piano, in and out of these books.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19And John read a lot, he'd read many, many, many books.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22He won scholarships to three grammar schools
0:04:22 > 0:04:23when he was 11.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29So, music was your passion from a very early age.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33You went on to the Royal Northern College of Music,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36- that was in the early '50s? - Yeah.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I mean, it was like two stars, of course I was the girls' star
0:04:39 > 0:04:42at the Manchester College of Music, and he was the men's star.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45So, I was set for a career.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And at the college, friends and students said, "Well, you can't...
0:04:50 > 0:04:53"It's two peacocks in the same room, you can't marry."
0:04:54 > 0:04:57But we had a happy wedding.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04John graduated with a hugely successful Brahms D Minor Concerto
0:05:04 > 0:05:07with Sir John Barbirolli and the student orchestra.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12And that was the first inclination of public success.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15His teacher in Switzerland
0:05:15 > 0:05:18was a Hungarian pianist called Egon Petri,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21who studied with Busoni, who himself, of course,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25studied with Liszt, so he viewed himself in that lineage of,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27if you like, great pianists,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31composers with a strong virtuoso element.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42'John Ogdon, 24 years old
0:05:42 > 0:05:45'and certainly the most brilliant pianist now emerging in England.'
0:05:45 > 0:05:50MUSIC: "Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35" by Johannes Brahms
0:05:58 > 0:06:02There was a massive technique, a massive command of the instrument.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04But there was a huge imagination at work.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Everything sounded different to other people.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09He had such technical command,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12he could throw all caution to the winds and go with tremendous
0:06:12 > 0:06:16risks in concert, which made his performances very exciting.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21It was powerful, it was resonant, it echoed,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23it made you shiver a bit.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26One felt the certainty that this man was in a different world
0:06:26 > 0:06:29when he was playing the piano. He was not mortal like us.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43It's really quite romantic, looking back on it.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46He said to me over the phone, "I did it for you, darling."
0:06:46 > 0:06:50You know, which is really quite a present, wasn't it?
0:06:50 > 0:06:53A declaration of love, really.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00MUSIC: "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1" by Franz Liszt
0:07:34 > 0:07:36APPLAUSE
0:07:36 > 0:07:38At that time, the Brahms Competition
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and the Tchaikovsky were very important.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44If you won one of those, you became very famous.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53He had this obsession to go to Moscow and do the best he could.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Do or die in Moscow.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04And the competitions were the gateway to an international career.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08You had to play enormous amounts of repertoire.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Under enormous nervous strain, obviously.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15And you had to play two concertos, more or less back-to-back.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17But for him, it was tailor-made,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19because he had this huge force and energy
0:08:19 > 0:08:22that I think just sort of doubled throughout the competition -
0:08:22 > 0:08:24as he went on, it got bigger and bigger
0:08:24 > 0:08:26and utterly overwhelmed his jury.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32I did feel it had gone exceptionally well, and we awaited the results,
0:08:32 > 0:08:37really, through an evening, into the early hours of the next day.
0:08:38 > 0:08:43Volodya Ashkenazy and I were equally awarded first prize.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46- ARCHIVE NEWSREEL:- 'The other first prize and gold medal
0:08:46 > 0:08:49'are adjudged John Ogdon, the British pianist.'
0:08:55 > 0:08:59I felt really wonderful, but stunned at the same time.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04'"Music can accomplish anything," Premier Khrushchev declares.'
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The first one, in 1958, was won by an American.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Can you imagine the embarrassment for the Soviet Government?
0:09:12 > 0:09:16In the end, of course, John Ogdon and I shared first prize.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18So, that was acceptable to them.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22At least it wasn't just a foreigner with the first prize!
0:09:22 > 0:09:25When Khrushchev saw John, with his great big beard,
0:09:25 > 0:09:29he said, "Oh, boroda!" - that means beard - and laughed.
0:09:29 > 0:09:30But he was terribly friendly.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Maybe he hadn't seen too many people with beards. I don't know why.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35It was terribly funny.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40The degree to which a competition win like that creates a diary
0:09:40 > 0:09:43that's absolutely jammed full
0:09:43 > 0:09:45can, of course, make or break an artist.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51'John Ogdon, 25, arrived at London airport to a spotlight
0:09:51 > 0:09:54'reception and a "well done" hug from his pretty wife...'
0:09:54 > 0:09:57'The first Englishman ever to win the Tchaikovsky Contest in Moscow
0:09:57 > 0:10:00'has returned to a proud welcome from his native city...'
0:10:00 > 0:10:03'Music-loving Muscovites applauded for six minutes,
0:10:03 > 0:10:04'chanting, "Ogdon! Ogdon!"'
0:10:04 > 0:10:06'Pianist John Ogdon and his wife -
0:10:06 > 0:10:09'triumph has not changed their ideals.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:10'His wife Brenda is also a pianist
0:10:10 > 0:10:13'and he insists on her being able to develop her own career.'
0:10:13 > 0:10:15'A charming, chubby man with a beard,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18'he responded with disarming modesty...'
0:10:18 > 0:10:23'..And now seems likely to make his international breakthrough.'
0:10:23 > 0:10:24Nobody had ever done this before.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27An Englishman, winning the Tchaikovsky Prize, in Moscow?
0:10:27 > 0:10:30It was unheard of, and it was intensely exciting.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33He belonged to the nation from that day on.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35It took some time to sink in.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Because I was a naive girl from the North of England.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39There was so much attention.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44There was so much from the press, that hullabaloo, I would say.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46There was a hullabaloo.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The work flooded in, out of the Tchaikovsky prize,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07and he went straight back to Russia and did a three-week tour.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10NEWS COMMENTATOR SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN
0:11:19 > 0:11:23And then, he had jobs in Italy, in Holland...
0:11:23 > 0:11:27He was in America, he was in Japan, he was in Australia,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31and everybody wanted a piece of him, and he couldn't say no,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33John would just say yes to everything.
0:11:33 > 0:11:39He was a young man, he was about 26, 27, he was really energetic.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41He loved doing it.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46One couldn't give more, one couldn't project more,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48and it was very intense.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53We were just sort of on a cloud of concerts
0:11:53 > 0:11:55and, um, parties
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and recording sessions, and we just went on and on.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00It was lovely.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10APPLAUSE
0:12:10 > 0:12:13He was quite magnetic, actually, when he came onto the stage.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16He grabbed the audience by the scruff of the neck,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18they couldn't look anywhere else.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22And he just performed so well, so naturally.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27MUSIC: "Piano Concerto, Op.39" by Ferruccio Busoni
0:12:34 > 0:12:37'Even though one thinks of John Ogdon as having this
0:12:37 > 0:12:42'powerhouse of a technique, and there is a kind of caricature
0:12:42 > 0:12:44'vision of him being huge
0:12:44 > 0:12:47'and everything being enormously explosive, it was actually
0:12:47 > 0:12:50'in the very quiet moments where he was at his greatest.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53'And there are many quiet moments in the biggest pieces,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55'and John Ogdon was wonderful at those.'
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Simply, just a series of crotchets, or quarter notes.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12And actually, very much in the lower part of the piano.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15So, if you didn't play in a colourful way,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17you wouldn't even hear the pitches properly.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18But he did.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44He could play more delicately than anybody I ever heard.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50And I had the privilege to record and play live with Horowitz and with
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Rubinstein, and they did not have a greater pianissimo than John Ogdon.
0:13:54 > 0:14:00And they arguably where the two greatest legends of the 20th century.
0:14:00 > 0:14:06He had this beautiful touch on the piano, and he was a big man
0:14:06 > 0:14:09and you would think that he would get to that piano
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and thump the living daylights out of it,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14but it was beautiful, gentle...
0:15:30 > 0:15:34For someone to whisper and to capture your attention that way
0:15:34 > 0:15:36was something that I haven't really thought of
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and it's stayed with me very much since.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42And I realise that when you play that softly,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44the audience is forced to become active.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47You can't just let the sound wash over you.
0:15:47 > 0:15:48You have to lean forward,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50a little bit like if you can't hear what's going on.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01And that's really what he made us do
0:16:01 > 0:16:04and it's an impression that stayed with me ever since.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11If you watched his hands they would literally float over the keyboard.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Big bear-like hands, but very light in touch,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18and they could evoke this emotion, this great range of emotion,
0:16:18 > 0:16:22from very quiet and gentle melodies to great powerhouse chords.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26He played these extremely complicated works, works by Busoni,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29works by Sorabji, works by Godowsky.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32These people who stretched the limits
0:16:32 > 0:16:35of writing for the piano to the extremes.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And the more extreme it seemed, the more John devoured it.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00What a pianist!
0:17:00 > 0:17:06And the contralto, the orchestra and the soloist, it was a unity.
0:17:06 > 0:17:12A musical unity that until now I have not seen.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14He played this colossal repertoire.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17He learnt with a facility which was actually frightening.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21He played the standard repertoire, of course - classic Beethoven
0:17:21 > 0:17:23and Chopin and so on.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27But then there was Busoni, Albeniz, you know, the whole lot.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Even for a pianist with a wide repertoire,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33John's was wider still and wider.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37The Dante Sonata. The Mount Everest of the keyboard, the hammerklavier.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Alkan's etude for the left hand.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Islamey, reputed to be the most difficult thing ever
0:17:41 > 0:17:43written for the piano in those days.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45He was a composer's gift.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47A modern composers gift,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50because he was a world-famous pianist who actually really liked
0:17:50 > 0:17:53playing all of these pieces that no-one else would play.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56He was very fond of all the British composers, they were all
0:17:56 > 0:17:59personal friends of his, and he said he played everything.
0:17:59 > 0:18:00It was enormous.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04I don't know how any mind could have absorbed all that at all.
0:18:04 > 0:18:10I remember very clearly, as if it was really yesterday,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14the sonata arriving by post
0:18:14 > 0:18:17from a composer called Sorabji.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20A lot of the new composers in Manchester at that time,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23like Max Davies and Sandy Goehr and Harry Birtwistle
0:18:23 > 0:18:26and those people, they were all around
0:18:26 > 0:18:31when John opened that score and, from sight, played that whole thing,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33which took three hours.
0:18:33 > 0:18:34There was not a problem.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39It was just a purely fascinating musical experience for those
0:18:39 > 0:18:45composers to have the music come alive through the hands of John.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Without preparation. The preparation was not necessary.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55His brain-finger-hand coordination was just completely natural.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59A facility that we can only... We can just sit back and envy.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Do you enjoy the challenge of a completely new work?
0:19:03 > 0:19:04Well, yes, I do.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07I think music of the present time had got so much variety
0:19:07 > 0:19:10that one can enjoy, for instance,
0:19:10 > 0:19:11playing works by Malcolm Williamson
0:19:11 > 0:19:14or Richard Rodney Bennett or Alexander Goehr.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17You yourself are a composer as well as a pianist.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19The first performance of one of your compositions
0:19:19 > 0:19:23inspired comparison with two of the greatest composer-pianists ever,
0:19:23 > 0:19:24Liszt and Rachmaninov.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14He was really more interested in composition.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16He spent all his holidays...
0:20:16 > 0:20:21He would spend days composing his piano concerto.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24When we went to bed I noticed that John's light in his room
0:20:24 > 0:20:28was still on and I would go and knock on the door
0:20:28 > 0:20:30and he would be composing,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32sometimes three or four o'clock in the morning.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36He composed the piano concerto, he composed two piano concertos,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38he composed three operas.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42He composed over 200 compositions altogether.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46John Ogdon was obviously primarily a pianist, but he wasn't just
0:20:46 > 0:20:51a pianist who composed on the side, he was also very much a composer.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55And had he decided to become simply a composer
0:20:55 > 0:20:57he would have made a great one, I'm pretty sure of that.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59So, John Ogdon,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02you were celebrated as one of the great pianists of the world.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05The concert circuit became your life.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08- Yes.- You toured Australia, the United States, Europe.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10You became very, very famous.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Yes, we had a wonderful tour of Australia which we really enjoyed.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18We played in Singapore, as well, which was wonderfully exciting.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22- And you lived very well. You were very well off.- Yes, yes, indeed.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39They moved into this very prestigious address in London
0:21:39 > 0:21:42and led a very intensive social life.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Endless parties with this celebrity and that celebrity.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It was very practical, because they had this first floor where they
0:21:49 > 0:21:53had two pianos abutting each other and they did a lot of work together.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57There aren't many houses in London where you could have
0:21:57 > 0:22:00two concert grands placed like that.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03But it was a really beautiful house and we were terribly excited
0:22:03 > 0:22:05because we were very young and thought, "Gosh!"
0:22:05 > 0:22:09It was actually five floors. It had a lift, which was a real novelty.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11It had three grand pianos -
0:22:11 > 0:22:15one on the first floor, two in the basement.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18So there was a lot of music, a loss of practising.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23We were spoilt, really. We had so much money, really.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26A friend of mine, Jackie Digby, said,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30"John Ogdon is a licence to print money, isn't he?"
0:22:30 > 0:22:34He was making a lot of money, in classical terms.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37You have to remember that they both came from middle-class families,
0:22:37 > 0:22:42and what had happened to John and Brenda as a result of his career -
0:22:42 > 0:22:46and hers, but his primarily - was that they were living the high life
0:22:46 > 0:22:51and they felt, she certainly felt, "This is enjoyable.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53"Long may it last."
0:22:53 > 0:22:56There was a wonderful collection of quite eminent people
0:22:56 > 0:22:59all of whom admired John enormously, obviously.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01And he was so...
0:23:01 > 0:23:05He had a sort of benign presence at the end of the table,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07terribly charming always.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10He had an ashtray beside him at the dining table
0:23:10 > 0:23:14and he was obviously a prolific smoker,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and he'd just have a sort of drag between mouthfuls
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and then occasionally say, "Yeah, great, lovely."
0:23:21 > 0:23:26He was not socially at ease at all. He lacked some of the social graces.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Not that he was rude, it was just that he didn't quite know
0:23:31 > 0:23:34how to start a conversation, so he would respond only.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37And I think the cigarette was the kind of defence mechanism, as well.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40It was a device to ward off conversation,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43because he knew he wouldn't be able to cope very well with it.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48There was a sort of contrast between John, the self-effacing guy,
0:23:48 > 0:23:54and the style of the presentation, so to speak,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57which obviously was probably masterminded by Brenda,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59because she ran the social side of things.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And they did do it in great style.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I remember there was one occasion when we had supper at their house
0:24:05 > 0:24:09and went in a white Rolls-Royce down to the Albert Hall.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12You know, which was fun.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14He was disastrous at small talk.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18I remember one party we went to in Italy
0:24:18 > 0:24:20and there were aristocrats there,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24and you know how they chat - they never stop chatting.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28And he was the guest of honour, sitting by this Lady Something,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32and she said, "Mr Ogdon, you're supposed to talk. Talk! Speak!
0:24:32 > 0:24:35"Converse! Converse with me.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38"Converse with the lady on your other side."
0:24:40 > 0:24:42He sat there like a lump.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46I don't know whether he enjoyed parties
0:24:46 > 0:24:49or whether he just enjoyed OUR parties.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52He could loosen up very well, very easily,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55and he was a very charming person in his looseness.
0:24:55 > 0:24:56SHE CHUCKLES
0:25:07 > 0:25:10REPORTER: On this tour the soloists were Janet Baker and John Ogdon,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12but Sir John Barbirolli, who was to have conducted,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14died suddenly less than a week before take-off.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31REPORTER: The orchestra gave seven concerts in all -
0:25:31 > 0:25:33five in Osaka and two in Tokyo.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Colleagues say all the time, and I think you would agree, John, that...
0:25:39 > 0:25:44- the keenness for Western sound is fantastic here.- Yes.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14The workload was heavy
0:26:14 > 0:26:18and John organised his workload with Emmy Tillet, his manager.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22And some weeks were heavier than others, you know.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Some weeks there would be four concerts in a week,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28the next week perhaps two concerts in a week.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30But all this involved travelling.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32I think he had the energy at the beginning
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and the ability to play night after night after night everywhere.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41But going all over the world, frequently on your own,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45I think the wear and tear element entered really fairly quickly.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48When you talk about the life of an international pianist,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50you come to a place a day or two before,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53you play the recital, you travel again.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56It depends on your planning.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02If he or she feels you can play every day on your highest level,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04you do it!
0:27:04 > 0:27:07I play around 100, just under 100 concerts a year,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09which I think is actually too much
0:27:09 > 0:27:11and I'm trying to cut down from that.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14He apparently played over 200 a year,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and I can't even imagine how that's possible.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21It's possible physically, but I don't think it's possible
0:27:21 > 0:27:24emotionally, psychologically, spiritually.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27I think it just dries up what's there.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31With the wisdom of hindsight, he was doing too many.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34But I can only blame his manager for that.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38There were too many, and he complied,
0:27:38 > 0:27:39so he did it.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43There is a temptation to make hay while the sun shines
0:27:43 > 0:27:46by everyone around you, as well as yourself,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49because lots of money is to be made. And there's always a feeling
0:27:49 > 0:27:52that the sun might not shine for a long time.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56But to play in the Festival Hall on Tuesday night
0:27:56 > 0:27:58and play in...
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Concertgebouw on Wednesday night
0:28:01 > 0:28:05and play in the Bunka Kaikan Hall in Tokyo on Sunday night,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08because of modern transport it's possible.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12But it's not a way to live.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Because, you know, of course technology has moved another
0:28:16 > 0:28:20million miles since...since since John...
0:28:20 > 0:28:22unfortunately...
0:28:22 > 0:28:25..he's not with us. But...
0:28:26 > 0:28:28I think that...
0:28:31 > 0:28:34I think that, you know, that's a kind of a...
0:28:34 > 0:28:36I'm sorry, I upset myself.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07He had found himself...
0:29:08 > 0:29:11..in the hands of...
0:29:11 > 0:29:16an agency who exploited the talent without looking at the human being...
0:29:19 > 0:29:22And I have to be a little careful how I say this,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25but I do believe that his closest family...
0:29:27 > 0:29:32..should have been more aware of all the red lights that were
0:29:32 > 0:29:38flashing like crazy at that time that John did not need that lifestyle.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43That financial, monetary thing was not him.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47Brenda wasn't the most popular person in the musical world.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49A lot of people thought that she overprotected John,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51that she kept people away.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54They also thought that she drove John too hard.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58Though, actually, it was John who wanted to get out there,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01John who wanted to play, John who wanted to travel.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04It is probably true that things could have been
0:30:04 > 0:30:08done on his behalf with more of a long-term view in mind, I suppose.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12But that involves telling the artist not to do things.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15To say, it might be tempting for you to go
0:30:15 > 0:30:16and play that tour of Japan,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19immediately after you've just done San Francisco,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21but you mustn't do it, you must say no, because you will play
0:30:21 > 0:30:24less well than if you have time to prepare for it and time to travel.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Whatever I did it was wrong, you see.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30If I stopped him from doing concerts, that was wrong.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32If I allowed him to do concerts and encouraged him,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34that was equally wrong.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38So I felt quite alone with it all.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42Left to his own devices, had Brenda not come into his life,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44he may not have had the same glittering career
0:30:44 > 0:30:48because he might have been happy, someone said he would be happy
0:30:48 > 0:30:50with a piano in a small room just playing all the time.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52And I think that's probably true of him
0:30:52 > 0:30:55more than most people I can think of.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Where to go, when to go, how to live, what to wear,
0:30:59 > 0:31:02what to eat, all up to Brenda.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07He had this sort of helpless look, "I'm a genius, look after me!"
0:31:08 > 0:31:12I didn't object to doing things like that. I was happy to do it for him.
0:31:13 > 0:31:19I was thrilled with him. He was wonderful. He was a great man.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21It was a great privilege to be with him.
0:31:22 > 0:31:28And there were very happy years between '60 and '71,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31till it started going pear-shaped.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36MUSIC: "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1" by Franz Liszt
0:32:05 > 0:32:09I think that winning the Tchaikovsky competition
0:32:09 > 0:32:11was not in John's best interest.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Because that threw him too quickly
0:32:15 > 0:32:20into a situation where he was playing the piano all the time.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25The applause was totally not necessary for John Ogdon.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27It simply was not necessary.
0:32:27 > 0:32:33He wanted to breathe the music, and he needed to be out somewhere
0:32:33 > 0:32:36where he had tremendous space in order to breathe that.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38And there is no space in an aeroplane.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43There is no space in a green room. There is no space in a hotel room.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48So this was all lopsided. It was crazy.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55I was, of course, studying with Gordon Green who was even closer to
0:32:55 > 0:32:59the situation than most, because he was getting phone calls from John.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03I think he was very upset at the number of concerts
0:33:03 > 0:33:06John was playing and felt that this was crazy.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09That he was pushing himself and that things would go wrong.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14I just think he felt a kind of compulsion to play
0:33:14 > 0:33:17and also it became habitual.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20You become addicted to a certain kind of way
0:33:20 > 0:33:22and you think you should accept every concert.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26I mean, how many times do you want to play Tchaikovsky's piano concerto?
0:33:27 > 0:33:30For him, if he played it 20 times in his life,
0:33:30 > 0:33:31it would have been enough.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34He certainly didn't need to play it 1,000 times.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39So why did he play it 1,000 times? Because he had got 1,000 fees?
0:33:41 > 0:33:45To do what? I sent my kids to good schools.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48I didn't have to do that.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Things started to really alarm me
0:33:51 > 0:33:55when we went in the summer to Schoen Lake, summer school,
0:33:55 > 0:34:00Vancouver Island, where he had been invited to teach there.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02His moods were intransigent.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08He had sudden rages and he was in a bad temper with me the whole time.
0:34:08 > 0:34:13He flung out statements like, "I hate you," with blazing eyes.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17So that was the beginning of the end I think, really.
0:34:23 > 0:34:24He had another side.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26My mother used to say,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29"I don't believe he's got a dual personality, you're making it up.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33"He must be like Jekyll & Hyde then, because I've never seen it."
0:34:33 > 0:34:37I said, "I promise you, he has a dual personality."
0:34:37 > 0:34:39I invited John and Brenda to dinner
0:34:39 > 0:34:42in a perfectly ordinary manner, as I often did.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47I had no idea there were problems brewing at all.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49And there were four of us.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53There was John and Brenda, and an actress called Barbara Leigh Hunt.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55I first noticed that something was odd
0:34:55 > 0:34:58when, after dinner, Brenda volunteered
0:34:58 > 0:35:02to come out to the kitchen and help me with the washing up.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Which left John with Barbara Leigh Hunt in the front room.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10And I think - I have no proof - but I surmise, I suspect,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13that John felt, "How dare you leave me
0:35:13 > 0:35:16"in this social situation talking to a lady I don't know?
0:35:16 > 0:35:18"You should be looking after me."
0:35:18 > 0:35:22I suspect that's what was going on in his head.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Because he stormed into the kitchen to retrieve Brenda
0:35:26 > 0:35:29to get her back into the front room.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32And it was after that, after they left,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35that the real explosion occurred.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38I had a red Mini car at the time and at the end of the evening,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41I drove back to the terrace and went into the house.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43I had the car keys in my hand.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47And he suddenly turned round with blazing eyes and said,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50"This charade has got to stop."
0:35:50 > 0:35:53I didn't know what he meant by that.
0:35:53 > 0:35:54And then he kind of lunged.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58I thought he was going to lunge at me, but he lunged at a huge mirror
0:35:58 > 0:36:01which was hanging on the wall and smashed it with his hand.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03So I dashed out of the door -
0:36:03 > 0:36:06thank God I had the keys to the car in my hand -
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and got in the Mini and drove off down the terrace.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11And he was chasing the car.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15So then I ended up at Brian Mercer's house.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21The next morning, Brenda and I went over to the house in Regent's Park.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26John answered the door,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30and immediately one saw that he was in real danger.
0:36:31 > 0:36:38He'd cut a cross on his forehead and two other crosses on his temples
0:36:38 > 0:36:43and the blood had flown down his face and it had dried and congealed,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47and he didn't notice. He was unaware of what had happened.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52And he spoke as if it was an ordinary day.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57"Nice to see you, come in, come in."
0:36:57 > 0:36:59And it was then that the nightmare started,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03because I said to Brenda, look, this is not right.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Something's got to be done. We've got to take him to hospital.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11We then spent the whole of Saturday, the whole of Sunday,
0:37:11 > 0:37:15visiting various hospitals to try to get somebody to help.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20It got worse because Brenda drove the car, I sat in the front seat,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24John was in the back seat mumbling all the time, having a private
0:37:24 > 0:37:28conversation with himself and then trying to take his shirt off,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31trying to undo his trousers, trying to display himself
0:37:31 > 0:37:35through the window of the car to the world outside.
0:37:35 > 0:37:36The man had gone.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42He was in a totally distressed state saying there were omens for this
0:37:42 > 0:37:47and omens for that, and he was hearing voices...
0:37:47 > 0:37:50It wasn't John Ogdon, the world-famous pianist,
0:37:50 > 0:37:55it was a man in danger of losing his mind and he had to be controlled.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58They recommended shock electric therapy treatment.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03This was a terrible thing to say to Brenda.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07I remember her saying to the doctor, "He doesn't belong to me..."
0:38:08 > 0:38:10"He belongs to the world."
0:38:17 > 0:38:21That is a drastic measure, isn't it? It will block his memory.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25He won't be able to remember anything, you will ruin his talent,
0:38:25 > 0:38:26and all this stuff.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31So I was very alarmed about all this and we went back to The Priory.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36And I said, well, there should be some other way of curing him.
0:38:36 > 0:38:37"No, no," he said.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41And then he consulted two of his colleagues from Harley Street.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45The three of them ganged up on me and said,
0:38:45 > 0:38:48"You have to sign this paper,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52"otherwise you just take him home with you and do the best you can."
0:38:53 > 0:38:57So, um... I signed the paper.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Daggers were drawn against me for signing that paper.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Well, mainly the people who had vested interests,
0:39:04 > 0:39:06like the record company,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09because they wanted John back on the road as soon as possible.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25She did the right thing,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28because genius is precious
0:39:28 > 0:39:31but it is also dangerous,
0:39:31 > 0:39:37and it had got to a point with John where the danger outweighed the good.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41The physical effect of the treatment was to slow him down completely,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45and to make him forget all these horrible things
0:39:45 > 0:39:47that he had been dreaming about.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51He forgot about the voices, he forgot about the omens,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53and then he forgot about good things as well.
0:39:53 > 0:39:59So, it did block the memory and he was very quiet.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03He came home for Christmas and he was very quiet.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08I think people tried to cover it up to start with, and it was some
0:40:08 > 0:40:13sort of passing thing that would go away, but the word went round, as
0:40:13 > 0:40:18it does, in any sort of concentrated circle of the profession.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21Well, the line was, he is seriously ill, but to get him
0:40:21 > 0:40:25back on the platform again could be the best possible cure.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29A performance was set up at the Festival Hall at the end of January,
0:40:29 > 0:40:34but it wasn't the old John, the fire and the magnetism wasn't there.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39He was in a drugged state, really.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Suddenly, the coordination wasn't this phenomenon any more.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48I never remember John hitting a wrong note.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52I never remember John doing musically bizarre things
0:40:52 > 0:40:58and this distortion of phrases and this inaccuracy.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00Because I had grown up with him, I thought,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03"John are you OK? You're playing wrong notes."
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Battaglia alla Tucra, by Tilo Medek.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Played by John Ogdon and John Lill.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27- BRENDA:- The EST had disappeared by this time
0:41:27 > 0:41:32and the suicidal tendencies were very predominant.
0:41:36 > 0:41:43He cut his neck here. He cut his neck here. He hadn't cut his throat.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47There were white tendrils hanging down here, his body.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49He was covered in blood.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55So I called 999 and they took him to the old University College Hospital.
0:41:57 > 0:41:58And I remember standing there
0:41:58 > 0:42:02and this surgeon came out and shouted at him.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04He said, "What...?"
0:42:04 > 0:42:06I can't tell you what he said.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09"What do you think you are doing? We've got a lot of really
0:42:09 > 0:42:11"sick people here and we can't be bothered
0:42:11 > 0:42:12"with suicide attempts like this."
0:42:14 > 0:42:15"You're wasting our time."
0:42:17 > 0:42:20MUSIC ENDS DRAMATICALLY
0:42:20 > 0:42:23RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:42:23 > 0:42:27It was a very close call and just saved his life in the nick of time.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Then the doctors decided he should be certified insane.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38Well, I mean, I must say it was a bit of a relief.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41He always knew that there was something wrong with him.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43His father had been schizophrenic.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46He lived with that knowledge all his life.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49And I think a piano was his way to sanity.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53What in fact he was using the piano for, brilliantly,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56was to tame the demons.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00When he was in control of the piano, they could not be in control of him.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03John was in the Maudsley and they wanted to keep him there
0:43:03 > 0:43:07for six months, up to a year.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11Sir John Peyton, the Minister of Transport in the Cabinet
0:43:11 > 0:43:13at the time, his wife, Lady Peyton,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16was on the board of Moorfields Eye Hospital,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20and she'd arranged for John and I to give a recital there
0:43:20 > 0:43:22in aid of the eye hospital.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25So this didn't suit the Peytons,
0:43:25 > 0:43:29that John was incarcerated in the Maudsley at all.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34So John Peyton said, I think I'll get an early release organised.
0:43:34 > 0:43:42So he did. He manoeuvred the release of John. He negotiated it somehow.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46It was only six weeks since he'd had that suicide attempt,
0:43:46 > 0:43:49that terrible, drastic suicide attempt, when he nearly
0:43:49 > 0:43:54lost his life and then he was back playing at Moorfields Hospital.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Can you imagine that today? No.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14They had no money, they lost money.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Uh...they had to downsize.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22He had to take a job teaching to make money,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24to because he could no longer play.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28We'd been introduced and invited to go to Bloomington in America,
0:44:28 > 0:44:32this wonderful music school in the University of Indiana,
0:44:32 > 0:44:34and I thought we could get away
0:44:34 > 0:44:36from all the pressures in this country
0:44:36 > 0:44:40and it would be a more relaxing form of life for him.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44It was clear that he was getting a bit better in America,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46but there were some steps back, as well,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49but mainly, the steps were forward.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54Um...the problem was that, in the end, he wasn't really...
0:44:56 > 0:44:59..used to the rigours of a university job.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01What he was doing, he would skip class
0:45:01 > 0:45:06and he would go and sit in this pub/cafe that the students had
0:45:06 > 0:45:07called The Bear.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10And the word was, "Go and find Ogden, he's in The Bear..."
0:45:11 > 0:45:13"..again!"
0:45:13 > 0:45:18But you see, they didn't like that. They dispensed with his services.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20So I was shattered by that and I came home
0:45:20 > 0:45:24because I really...I'd had enough.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27I'd had enough.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38I didn't want him staying with me in my flat in Bramerton Street.
0:45:38 > 0:45:43We found this B&B in Onslow Square, a very upmarket B&B,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45and he broke a window there
0:45:45 > 0:45:48and transported himself back to the Maudsley.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52He was quite happy in the Maudsley.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56It was quite irritating for me to see him so happy,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59surrounded by mental patients.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00It was not nice.
0:46:02 > 0:46:03I went to the Maudsley
0:46:03 > 0:46:05and I was shown into the room where John was
0:46:05 > 0:46:07and he was sitting in a large circle
0:46:07 > 0:46:09with a lot of other people
0:46:09 > 0:46:12and they were having some kind of group treatment.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15I was just so upset to see him.
0:46:15 > 0:46:21I mean, that enormous gift - to everybody -
0:46:21 > 0:46:25sitting there, totally a shell.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27I presume, then, during your illness,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30one of your biggest fears was that you might never be able
0:46:30 > 0:46:32to play in public again.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36Uh...well, yes, it was, but for a time,
0:46:36 > 0:46:41I had some bad chemical reactions, I think, possibly.
0:46:41 > 0:46:47But I had a lot of help from Brenda in getting my playing back to normal
0:46:47 > 0:46:51and I did make a comeback recital at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59NEWSNIGHT THEME PLAYS
0:47:08 > 0:47:10At the Queen Elizabeth Hall, John Ogden,
0:47:10 > 0:47:13one of Britain's leading pianists of the Sixties and Seventies,
0:47:13 > 0:47:15giving his first London recital
0:47:15 > 0:47:17since a mental breakdown in the mid-Seventies.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19I'll be asking him in a moment how he made out.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23- You've got to sign something, John. - OK.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27A pianist's life is never done.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32His agents believed that he was ready to make a comeback.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35So he did this big concert at the Elizabeth Hall.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38JOHN LAUGHS
0:47:38 > 0:47:42It was a publicity exercise to get work,
0:47:42 > 0:47:46because a lot of people in London and the UK,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49they thought he'd been off the scene,
0:47:49 > 0:47:54and a lot of people didn't realise he was in America, giving concerts.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57So this was a big publicity exercise,
0:47:57 > 0:47:58which paid off well.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02It was a big deal, and I remember...I was there,
0:48:02 > 0:48:05and I remember my piano teacher at the time, a great guy called Peter Smith,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08watched the coverage on the News at Ten -
0:48:08 > 0:48:12it was when you had boxes for big news events.
0:48:12 > 0:48:13And he said he couldn't believe it -
0:48:13 > 0:48:16in the top left-hand box was Mrs Thatcher
0:48:16 > 0:48:18and in the top right-hand box was John Ogdon,
0:48:18 > 0:48:20returning to play the piano.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Was it an ordeal? Did you find it was just like the old days?
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Um...I enjoyed it tremendously.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28I was a little nervous before the Szymanowski,
0:48:28 > 0:48:31which is a complicated piece.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34But I enjoyed so much the warmth of the audience
0:48:34 > 0:48:36and, um...I thought they were tremendous, really.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Absolutely marvellous.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40You're going back now to hospital, tonight.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43How long will you be staying in hospital?
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Probably another seven days, I think, or ten days, possibly.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Do you find that practising in hospital has been a good way
0:48:51 > 0:48:53of keeping in touch with the piano?
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Yes, very much so - they have a good piano there,
0:48:55 > 0:48:57which I enjoy practising on.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01It was far better that he should get out of the Maudsley
0:49:01 > 0:49:03and play in public
0:49:03 > 0:49:06than that he should simply stay as a man
0:49:06 > 0:49:09being treated for mental illness.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12It was...kinder to him.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Whether it was good for the public is a different matter.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30APPLAUSE
0:49:30 > 0:49:33There were nights when things did not go well.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Things would go at a colossal pace
0:49:36 > 0:49:40and simply fall over themselves, become convoluted and confused
0:49:40 > 0:49:42and the focus would go -
0:49:42 > 0:49:44simply like a sort of giant train, out of control.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47He would have been much better off
0:49:47 > 0:49:49getting on a train with some of his chums
0:49:49 > 0:49:55and going up to Scotland and staying with Max Davies and Stevenson
0:49:55 > 0:49:58and all those people who loved him and would have taken care of him
0:49:58 > 0:50:01and got him better through his music.
0:50:01 > 0:50:02He shouldn't have been doing that
0:50:02 > 0:50:06and going out, playing these silly pieces, yet again.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11I think what I sensed was that there were still flashes
0:50:11 > 0:50:14of the amazing brilliance that was there before,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17but, probably because I think he was very heavily medicated,
0:50:17 > 0:50:20there were moments of a sort of strangeness
0:50:20 > 0:50:25that seemed chemically-induced, rather than what he wanted to do,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27and that was something very sad.
0:50:27 > 0:50:33Those years, from 1959 to 1971,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36he never played like that again, ever.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38I mean, not really.
0:50:38 > 0:50:44Those were such startlingly wonderful performances -
0:50:44 > 0:50:46breathtaking, spellbinding.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Never got that back, you see.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52And people say, "Oh, he will get it, he will..."
0:50:52 > 0:50:55No. Never got it back.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59When he was playing, you saw the shadow
0:50:59 > 0:51:01of what had once been genius
0:51:01 > 0:51:05but wondered why it couldn't be retrieved.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07There's been suggestion that the strong medications
0:51:07 > 0:51:11- that you've required over the years might have taken their toll...- Hm...
0:51:11 > 0:51:15- ..on coordination and things. - Yes, that's true.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Have you ever noticed stages where John has suffered in this way?
0:51:18 > 0:51:20Yes, of course. Yes.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24But fortunately, he's off all that, now.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Lithium doesn't seem to have any effect at all on the coordination.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29It's not called lithium in this country -
0:51:29 > 0:51:32- it's called something else. - It's called Priadel.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Yes. Well, it seems very good medication, yes.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37Seems right for me.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39It's quite a big debate, actually.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43I think some of his best piano playing definitely was
0:51:43 > 0:51:47when he was a young man, but then some of his best piano playing
0:51:47 > 0:51:48was also just before he died, actually.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51I remember being at his Sorabji concerts
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and the critics were very clear after that
0:51:54 > 0:51:57that he'd firmly re-established himself
0:51:57 > 0:51:58as Britain's premier pianist.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14TANNOY: Mr John Ogdon, arriving from Vancouver,
0:52:14 > 0:52:16please contact the airport information desk.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19Mr John Ogdon, please.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Dad was living in a halfway house.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27He would play the piano for the residents there.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30There was definitely a sense of community about those places,
0:52:30 > 0:52:31which he enjoyed.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38- Ah, John.- Hello there. - Oh, John, lovely!
0:52:38 > 0:52:42- Oh, how are you?- Fine, thank you. - Nice to see you back.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46- Nice to see you.- Good trip? - Oh, fine, thank you.- Good, good.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Oh, I am glad.
0:52:49 > 0:52:50John, what concerts did you do?
0:52:50 > 0:52:54- It went terribly well. I've got some cassettes of them, actually. - Have you? Good.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57They had an opera thing, they put on two operas -
0:52:57 > 0:52:59- one by Haydn...- Yes?
0:52:59 > 0:53:03..and one by a modern New York composer called Pasatieri,
0:53:03 > 0:53:04Signor Deluso.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06And I went to the rehearsals -
0:53:06 > 0:53:08sounded marvellous.
0:53:08 > 0:53:14But unfortunately, I was a bit tired and couldn't go to the performances.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17HE PLAYS GENTLE CLASSICAL PIECE
0:53:21 > 0:53:25And of course, they loved the fact they would get this amazing pianist,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27playing their piano in their drawing room
0:53:27 > 0:53:30while they were doing the crossword.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Living in a halfway house, it must have been very lonely for him.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40And he was someone, although he...liked being alone,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42I think, some of the time...
0:53:42 > 0:53:44He really wanted to be with Brenda all the time.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Come...come and sit down.
0:53:49 > 0:53:50Come and sit down.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56If you want to sit down, sit, because nobody else wants to...
0:53:57 > 0:53:59Oh...
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Then...good...
0:54:04 > 0:54:07I was trying to phone you yesterday.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20Dad didn't have a piano at that stage and,
0:54:20 > 0:54:24in one of the interviews that Dad gave to a newspaper,
0:54:24 > 0:54:27he mentioned this, and the newspaper turned the story into
0:54:27 > 0:54:30"Pianist genius doesn't have a piano."
0:54:30 > 0:54:35And John Paul Getty read that article and made contact
0:54:35 > 0:54:39and made it possible for him to have a piano.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41He actually bought him a Steinway Model D.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44"Mr G", they call him - he had that...
0:54:44 > 0:54:48There was nowhere to put this piano, because it was so big,
0:54:48 > 0:54:50and I was living in Harcourt Terrace at the time,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53still no room in Harcourt Terrace for a grand piano.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57So he said, "Oh, well, I'll buy them a flat."
0:54:57 > 0:54:59SHE LAUGHS
0:54:59 > 0:55:01It's like a miracle, isn't it?
0:55:01 > 0:55:06Uh...Mr Getty's generosity enabled them to live together
0:55:06 > 0:55:09in these two flats, upstairs-downstairs situation,
0:55:09 > 0:55:13where Brenda would live downstairs in one flat
0:55:13 > 0:55:16and John would live upstairs in another.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20It was a good living arrangement, in separate flats, it really was.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25We had found peace. Yeah. Yes. Hm.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28HE PLAYS ATMOSPHERIC CLASSICAL PIECE
0:55:49 > 0:55:52The pianist John Ogdon has died in a London hospital
0:55:52 > 0:55:54at the age of 52.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56He was suffering from bronchopneumonia.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10- REPORTER:- John Ogdon was a virtuoso pianist in the grandest tradition.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14He had an extraordinarily powerful and seemingly tireless technique
0:56:14 > 0:56:16and a huge memory.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22Great man, great artist and devoted musician -
0:56:22 > 0:56:23absolutely devoted musician.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32I was very sad and very upset.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37And I couldn't believe it was so early in his life,
0:56:37 > 0:56:38I just couldn't believe it.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42He was definitely not a healthy man -
0:56:42 > 0:56:46he didn't really do much exercise and he smoked for England.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Uh, but...
0:56:48 > 0:56:53And he took a lot of medication, which masked a diabetic condition
0:56:53 > 0:56:55that no-one actually had spotted.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00And, extremely sadly for all of us,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03he had a diabetic attack and went into a coma.
0:57:03 > 0:57:08He'd always been saved from these dire situations
0:57:08 > 0:57:10in the past.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15Miracles had happened - he'd cut his neck and been saved.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19And I thought he was such a strong, in a way, physique.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21But not this one. No.
0:57:34 > 0:57:40No amount of recordings or films will tell you what it felt like
0:57:40 > 0:57:43to be there, to hear that, to see that,
0:57:43 > 0:57:45to watch it happen, to share it.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50He was a very humanitarian person.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54He created an aura of love around him.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57In all of the recordings, they all have his personality there.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59They sound different.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01They don't sound like you could hear them and you'd say,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03"That could be anyone." It couldn't be anyone.
0:58:03 > 0:58:04It's actually him.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06I don't like to say the word "genius",
0:58:06 > 0:58:11but actually, I mean, he was pretty close to whatever genius is.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15I mean, he could do things that were not normal, "the norm."
0:58:15 > 0:58:17And of course, the legend is the legacy.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21The legend's enormous and people have talked about him every since.
0:58:21 > 0:58:22It's not a name that disappears.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24These days, people come and go, you know.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Within a few weeks, someone can't remember someone's name
0:58:27 > 0:58:29who's been at a competition - they just say, "Who?"
0:58:29 > 0:58:31Not John Ogdon.