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Tararex, not sure what your post above was meant to convey. If it was educational, well I knew all that. I was simply pointing out that William Mason and Otis Boise (both Americans and presumably writing in English) were so remarkably similar in their reports, even using almost the same words. ('running commentary' vs 'running comments')

I don't doubt for a moment that each of them witnessed a life-changing event, I was just curious about the coincidence of the wording.

Wanna talk about great sight readers? Talk about John Ogdon. You know the Brahms 2nd concerto story, right?

So I said to Franz, I said ... what’s all this malarkey about playing a romping ditty by Fred off-the-cuff ... makes us amachurs look kind of silly ...
so, if you don’t mind ... get back to your reverent prayerful vocation ... and please use this fully paid-for (well nearly) train ticket to Timbuktu .

Yours faithfully,
Peter Sellers

You sure, OSK? I thought it was the D minor.

Yes, Ogdon was a legendary sight reader, but look at the amount of 20th century British piano concertos he championed! Staggering, he must have learned them overnight.

Or perhaps Peter Sellars?

Sorry about that fan ... the boo-boo has been corrected ... but later re-corrected to the first copy.

Must just tell that my son has given me access to the Goon show legacy ... my latest is the "The Phantom head-shaver of Brighton" with Spike Milliagan, Peter Sellars and Harry Seacombe ... with rivetting start including the advisory of an "arab stench-recuperating centre in Stoke-Poges ... the play is considered unsuitable for people".

However, on the Goon Show site, they spell Peter's surname SELLERS ... so what about it?

I'm not following your logic. Two people describe the same feat accomplished at different times. Wouldn't it be suspicious if the accounts didn't sound the same?

"No features of the workmanship, contrapuntal or instrumental, escaped his notice, and he made running comments without interrupting his progress."

"Not only did he perform the scherzo in a masterly fashion, however, but also kept up a running commentary on the music—much to Brahms' amazement and delight."

Is there another way of describing the witness of mad sight reading skills while simultaneously commenting to others? If you were to ask 100 people of standard writing skill to describe a specific action accomplished by a specific person, even if repeated at 100 different times and locations, how could they not be "coincidental"?

That sameness of description of the observed skills strengthens the case that the event was as described.

Peter Sellers ≠ Peter Sellars.

The former: a British comedian/actor, the latter an American theatre director. Hence the argerichfan's suggested (tongue-in-cheek?) reference to the latter.

How did you get that "does not equal" sign in there?

And, OSK, I'm not familiar with the John Ogdon story. Care to share (and become a member of the 5000 post club)?

I wondered too.
How I'd try to do it: Find it on google and copy/paste it. Let's see if that works:

≠

Bingo!!

But I suspect Bruce has a better way.

BTW I didn't know the Ogdon story either. I don't know if it's well known. Except among those who know it.

I don't know the Ogdon story, but there are credible accounts of Liszt's feats as well as those of Saint-Saens that have led to them being thought of as two of the greatest (if not the greatest) sight-readers ever.

Not necessarily a "better" way, just a different one. I copy and paste from a character map which is pinned to my task bar. Same idea, except that I don't have to go to Google to find it.

Regards,

You have a valid point, no argument there, but was still curious about the similarity, not much else.

Indeed, but Brenda Lucas in her bio of her late husband, reports sight reading abilities that may very well be on the level of S-S or Liszt.

Full disclosure, this bio has been highly criticized by one particular member -who personally knew Ogdon- on the Radio 3 message board. There is reportedly a new bio in the works, though I don't think that Ogdon's talent as a sight reader or as a pianist who could learn instantly will be questioned.

That bio is quite depressing because there's much description of Ogdon's mental illness.

It was horrible reading, worse because Ogdon's diabetes was undiagnosed until too late.

Thanks BruceD for the explanation (Sellars: American Theatre Director)... I can just imagine that all the chaps will now be using that cunning "≠" symbol to disagree ... saves a lot of unnecessary woids.

Yeah, except he didn't use it to mean disagree. He used the "doesn't equal" sign to mean, doesn't equal.


Here's what people should use for "disagree":

Thanks Mark C ... I need a 2nd morning cup of tea to cotton on properly to the fine print ... but won't disagree with you too much ... so you can take your
head-shaking sign down.

Very sad story, that of Ogdon, he was a outstanding pianist