Richard Farrell

Richard Farrell (30 December 1926 – 27 May 1958) was a New Zealand classical pianist.

Musical career Early life Thomas Richard Farrell was born in Auckland in 1926 to Thomas and Ella Farrell, and spent most of his young years in Wellington. His parents were not musicians, but his uncle, John Farrell, was an actor and singer with J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd. At the age of 12, he was noted to possess absolute pitch.

At the age of 12 he moved to Sydney, Australia with his mother Ella and two brothers, Peter and Paul, going on to study under Alexander Sverjensky at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music for five years. On Kapell's personal recommendation he was granted a full scholarship to study with Olga Samaroff at the Juilliard School in New York. He remained with Samaroff for the remaining two years of her life, and she was said to have pronounced that Richard Farrell was the best student she had ever had. He also studied conducting at Juilliard with Serge Koussevitzky.

At Juilliard, he was noticed by Aaron Copland and studied his 1941 Piano Sonata, which became a feature of his repertoire. Copland was heard to commend Farrell for performing the sonata without the aid of a musical score, saying, "Although I composed it myself, I can't memorise it". His tours also included India.

His solo and concerto repertoire included Brahms Sonata No. 3, Ballades, Waltzes, Op. 39, and the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel; Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand and Gaspard de la nuit; Chopin's B minor Sonata and Études, Op. 10; Schumann's Fantasie in C; Beethoven's concertos No. 4 in G major and No. 5 in E flat, "Emperor", and the "Appassionata" and E-flat major, Op. 7 sonatas; Prokofiev's 7th Sonata; Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor (which he played under Sir Thomas Beecham), Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42, and Preludes; Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 and transcriptions and paraphrases; Grieg's Concerto in A minor, Ballade in G minor and Lyric Pieces; Hindemith's Sonata No. 2; Copland's Sonata; and pieces by Mendelssohn, Granados and Debussy.

His musical interests, however, were not confined to the piano in solo recitals or in concertos. He performed all of the Beethoven violin sonatas in the Wigmore Hall.

William Alwyn composed his Fantasy Waltzes in 1956 for Richard Farrell, who played a number of the individual waltzes on a New Zealand tour, and gave their first complete performance at Broadcasting House, London, on 2 June 1957. Alwyn also dedicated the fifth of his 12 Preludes (1958) to Farrell's memory; it was written shortly after his death.

Death Richard Farrell died in a car accident near Arundel, Houghton, Sussex, on 27 May 1958. The car in which he was travelling left the road and hit a tree, killing all three occupants. He was buried in London.

Critical reception Farrell received many plaudits from musicians and critics. Renowned critic Neville Cardus spoke highly of Farrell after first hearing him in Sydney during the 1940s, noting that "the possibilities or potentialities of Mr Farrell should carry him beyond routine standards" and, in 1951, that he could "well imagine the delight of young Brahms could he have heard Farrell playing".

Legacy New Zealand's most prestigious piano competition, the Kerikeri National (now International) Piano Competition, for a time offered a "Richard Farrell Award".

Farrell left a number of vinyl recordings, on the Pye label, all in mono. Some of these discs were shared with Iso Elison. His complete studio discography has been transferred to CD, and first volume of his complete recordings (2 CDs) was released by Atoll Records in 2008, and the second volume in 2009.

Richard Farrell Avenue in Remuera, Auckland commemorates him.