Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Whatever happened to pianist David Bean?

This guy was amazing back in the late 60's and got a gig teaching at Miami U. Does anyone know what happened to him. A couple of records, and Carnegie Hall concerts playing at the White House, then.....nothing. Anyone have any info? He was a real inspiration while I was learning the Ginastera Sonata.

He's still listed as a Steinway Artist........

http://www.steinway.com/artists/solo-profile/b/DavidBean

On YouTube, there's a 1980's radio interview with him, including live performances of some Liszt, Busoni, and Chopin. At the start of the interview, he says he hasn't been as active as he'd like.

I heard that interview and also caught a publicity shot as a Steinway artist in 2012, but other than that, absolutely nothing. His rendition of the Fantasy on a Theme of BACH is spellbinding.

Actually I was a bit surprised to see that he is still listed as a Steinway Artist given that he (apparently) hasn't been actively performing for the past 30 years or so. He's mentioned in the resumes of a few of his past students, but it seems they studied with him many years ago.

I was a student of David Bean's at Miami U. from 1969 to 1973 and I kept in contact with him until the early 80's. Shortly after that he got divorced, married Marissa Robles, a Spanish harpist, and moved to London. She had an well-established career (Google her and you'll see) and although he played a bit in the UK he essentially gave up his career to support hers. In the mid-2000's I managed to get back in touch with him and actually visited him and Marissa in late 2008 - they live in a suburb of London. He had not changed at all in appearance (although much grayer) from what I remembered during my undergraduate years and he was still as feisty as ever (he turned 80 while I was there). He was an amazing person to study with - being from a small town in Ohio I had never met anyone at all like him - and his technique was phenomenal. At that time he was trying to keep his performing career going, traveling from Oxford to New York and back frequently. Amongst his concerts at the time I remember he was preparing for a trip to Russia - I want to say he was to play the Scriabin Piano Concerto but I could be wrong (long time ago) - and I attempted to assist with playing the orchestral part (not very well). Back then he was fiercely opinionated on just about everything and very demanding as a teacher, but he also was very supportive and encouraging to me as I dabbled with a career at the piano (after a M.M. at Indiana I ultimately gave it up). I have not talked with him for a while, but I assume he is still in London. It was sad, in a way, that he sold his own Steinway and no longer plays at all. I'm in my 60's and to this day I have still not met anyone with the force of personality and charisma that David Bean had. It is truly a mystery why his career never took off given his prodigious talent - he doesn't know himself - but I still treasure the recordings that he made and my memories of the years I spent studying with him. I hope this helps answer your query.

Thank you !!

And are you still playing??

Carey, thanks for asking. From the time I left Miami I carted around a very old baby grand from apartment to apartment, playing only sporadically, until I bought a bungalow in Evanston 9 years ago. Finally being in a place where I could practice without complaints from the neighbors I started playing a bit, but my old piano just couldn't be tuned well anymore so I decided to get a new one. I looked at Steinway's - way too expensive - but there was a family-run piano store up the road in Wilmette, so I went there to see what I might afford. I spent several hours there on a couple of visits and, of course, the one piano that I most enjoyed was an M&H BB, also way beyond my budget. The store owner, Dennis Saphir, offered it to me at what I believe was cost! He said that unlike many of the pianos he sells to North Shore residents he knew that this one would actually be played so he wanted me to have it. Over the past few years I've managed to resurrect many of the pieces I played while a student and learned some news ones that I always wanted to play (Chopin's 3rd Sonata among them). I have had neighbors and friends over for soirees of an hour's worth of music and dinner and have enjoyed doing this tremendously. I still don't play as much as I'd like but I just semi-retired last month so I'm hopeful I'll be able to play more now. I hope this wasn't too boring, but I am eternally grateful to Dennis for making it possible for me to play on such a beautiful instrument, so I thought it was a story worth telling. You never know in life when you will encounter the kindness and generosity of strangers.

First of all - congratulations on your "semi-retirement" as well as your MM in performance from Indiana (no small accomplishment)!! I can relate to your experience in that I also earned an MM in piano (from another large university music school) - changed career directions and didn't play much for 25 years - bought my own M&H BB a few years ago at well below cost from a helpful local dealer (long story) - and now have time in my retirement to resurrect old pieces from my student days and learn new ones I've always wanted to play.

But, of course, you had the added benefit of studying with David Bean - and that was a great gift !! Thanks again for taking the initiative to share the info about Mr. Bean. I do hope you will continue to participate in PW from time to time.

Carey (Phil)

Phil,

Kudos to you too for being retired (hopefully fully and not semi like me) and for returning to what for you I'm sure is an incredibly rewarding pursuit - making music! I hope you're enjoying your M&H BB as much as I am. I also studied for a year with John Ogden at I.U. and was saddened to hear of his passing some time ago. I will never forget a performance he gave at I.U. of Gaspard - it was mesmerizing. As you may know he was a "large" man with rather, no way to get around it, fat fingers, but somehow his Ondine absolutely shimmered.

Now that I'm working from home and have a bit more time (no more 2+ hours spent commuting to/from downtown Chicago every day) I hope to participate more in this wonderful forum. It sounds like there a a number of kindred spirits that enjoy sharing their stories and experiences.

PianoBytes (Larry)

Larry - You've certainly had some interesting teachers !! Ogden was a brilliant pianist and a tortured soul. Working with him must have been fascinating to say the least.

And I'm sure you don't miss the daily commute to downtown Chicago.