Great Performers: Dame Myra Hess

The aura of ease and certainty heard in Hess's recordings belies the fact that she claimed to have not only hated producing discs but also to have suffered from terrible stage fright. She followed the advice of her teacher, the great British pedagogue Tobias Matthay, who told his disciples experiencing nervousness, "Enjoy the music." It seems to have worked not only for Hess but also for her listeners.

She was particularly known for her Bach – her transcription of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" was legendary – and in her performances of this composer's works, her warmth of tone and fluid phrasing exude both aliveness and reverence. Hess brought the same qualities to Mozart, her clarity of texture and precise articulation defining beautiful melodies with both tenderness and robustness.

The strength of Hess's pianism is not always evidenced in her studio recordings due to the choice of repertoire she put on disc, but in posthumously-issued concert performances of heroic works such as Beethoven's Emperor Concerto one can hear remarkable fullness of tone together with robust phrasing and bold gestures that never belie the artist's great sensitivity. With Hess, grandeur was always aligned with the musical message of the work, and her studio accounts of two late Beethoven Sonatas are reference readings that showcase her beauty of tone and divine music-making. Hess was equally known for her accounts of Schumann, in which she fuses depth of vision with breadth of emotional expressiveness, without ever lapsing into sentimentality or exaggeration.

She was a most attentive collaborative partner and her handful of commercial discs in this role are happily supplemented by several chamber music broadcast recordings. Whether in duo, trio, quartet, or quintet performances, Hess was mindful of the overall texture of instruments, never attempting to outshine her colleagues. She recorded only a few Brahms solos, so her live accounts of his chamber music and concertos fill an important gap, revealing her impassioned approach to a wide array of his compositions.

A lovely story from the pianist's lifetime illustrates the extent to which Hess touched the public's heart: a soldier was humming the theme of 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' on a train, and when his cabin-mate asked him if he particularly loved the music of Bach, he replied, 'That's not Bach - that's Myra Hess.'

[Due to geo-blocking restrictions, some tracks might be unavailable in certain territories.]