Michal Hambourg (1919-) is the last living link to major 19th century traditions. Music was ever-present in Michal Hambourg's youth. Her father, Mark Hambourg, became her first teacher. Her mother, a violinist, had been a pupil of Eugene Ysaye. The family's involved musical life and generous hospitality brought the elite artists to their home for evenings of chamber music. At first, Michal attended these almost daily soirees as a listener, soon as a page turner, and as her pianism developed, she would participate. Once when the violinist Carl Flesch was playing a Mozart Sonata, her father asked her to take his place. At her father's insistence, she would accompany him to hear Ignaz Friedman and Moriz Rosenthal "in order to learn Chopin properly". Composition lessons were given by Clarence Lucas, a contemporary of Mark Hambourg's who had known Debussy in Paris and showed his pupil how the composer had played his music. From lessons with her father and Katherine Goodson, Hambourg inherited the Leschetizky tradition. Her first appearances, at age twelve, were in duo piano recitals with her father. Recordings from those years illustrate a level of pianism already equal to Mark Hambourg's. In the 1930's, Hambourg toured throughout England with Paul Robeson, Lawrence Tibbett, and Richard Tauber. She appeared at the Proms and during the War at the National Gallery recitals. Hambourg often played for the BBC as soloist and in radio dramas with her friend, the poet Dylan Thomas. Hambourg's ability to advise talented and exceptional children led to her work as a counselor for the National Association for Gifted Children. As demand for her guidance increased, concertizing became a lesser priority. She toured in England, Belgium and South Africa. Presently she advises gifted students, practices daily, listens avidly to North Indian (Hindustani) instrumental music and studies Hindu philosophy.
Hambourg made several recordings in 1933 and 1934 with her father of works by Schumann and Liszt. At Arbiter's urging, she is reviewing her repertoire and recording selected works when she deems them ready for archival preservation. Her playing, a link to Leschetizky's world, balances the emotional and philosophical, yet is contemporary in its understanding of structure.
© Allan Evans, 1998