There is far more to piano accompaniment than meets the ear or eye. Vocal celebrities are reliant on an accompanist’s skills in indisputably great music composed for an equal partnership of voice and piano, and yet the hard-working pianist’s public profile seldom matches that of the singer. Skills developed over many years are often accorded faint praise and small fees.
Graham Johnson examines a problematic profession that continues to attract many gifted young pianists to its ranks and asks why.
Graham Johnson is a British classical pianist and Lieder accompanist. He is Senior Professor of Accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has performed with the world’s leading recitalists and recorded extensively for Hyperion Records.
