Noël Mewton-Wood

Australian Noel Mewton-Wood was an extraordinary mid-century pianist whose career, like that of American virtuoso William Kapell, proved short lived -- by coincidence both Mewton-Wood and Kapell died in 1953, at the age of 31. Mewton-Wood made his concert debut in Melbourne at the age of 12, and shortly thereafter caught the attention of Wilhelm Backhaus, on tour at the time in Australia. With Backhaus' encouragement, Mewton-Wood was able to travel to London and study at the Royal Academy of Music, in addition to spending the summers at Lake Como taking private lessons with Ar...