Episode 17: David Willison

David Willison is a concert piano accompanist, winning the first ever London Accompanying Scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Between 1961 and 1999 he partnered with baritone superstar Benjamin Luxon, collaborating over 700 performances together. Their partnership flourished on the BBC and all over the nation and world, in every British festival and in far away destinations such as Europe, USA and Japan.

Here is an excerpt from Gerald Moore’s 1978 memoir Farewell Recital:

“The recital I anticipated with eagerness was the Liederabend with Benjamin Luxon and David Willison in a programme of Schubert, Wolf and Schumann. Only once did I play for Luxon in my last period of concert activity; in the meantime I had heard him in opera, singing and acting superbly, but this was my first opportunity of hearing him in recital…he was partnered to perfection by David Willison, and Luxon recognised this.”

Timestamps:

(0:10) David's musical brothers

(14:02) Overcoming technical difficulties

(21:08) "Practising something until you can't get it wrong."

(28:57) Flair both in solo playing & accompanist

(37:24) What is 'accompanying'?

(45:22) Different countries effect on interpretation

(48:34) Approach to working with singers

(1:00:16) Coming out of retirement to collaborate once more