Randolph Magri-Overend

SIMON TEDESCHI : PIANIST AND PRANKSTER

Foreground Simon Tedeschi

Contrary to popular belief Simon Tedeschi is not related to George Gershwin.  When the family heard the rumour ‘we laughed and joked about it,’ Simon says, ‘but there is no relation.’ The mistake evolved due to the similarity between Gershwin’s name and Simon’s grandmother’s surname which was Gerschonowitz.

Simon’s grandmother, on his mother’s side, has an interesting past.  She was born in Poland and during World War II was placed in a labour camp for a year.  Following her release and in poor health, she went looking for her husband who had been incarcerated in a concentration camp. ‘My nanna walked across Europe for three years trying to find my grandfather.’ Simon explains. ‘Working on tips and fragments of rumour, she eventually located him in Germany. (He) was emaciated, typhus-ridden and traumatised.  They came to Australia in 1948.’  Grandfather didn’t speak any English but grandmother ‘always spoke quite average English. She was a complex, loving and emotionally-scarred woman.’

Simon’s father is Mark who still practices law and is an ex-NSW Crown Prosecutor and mother, Viviene, a gynaecologist, still practicing, and who originally wanted to be a pianist.  ‘Other strong women in my life,’ Simon continues, ‘were my piano teacher, Neta Maughan, and Beryl Potter…who became my music mentor.’  Beryl was the one who cheered him up before he went on stage with a simple message: ‘Simon, clear head, full heart.’

Playing George Gershwin’s music is a delight for Simon.  In 2015 he released the second of his two CD albums of his music.  He plays some of the shorter Gershwin pieces, as well as music from shows like Porgy and Bess, Show Girl, A Damsel in Distress etc.  As is obvious, Simon feels an affinity with Gershwin although he came from a Polish family and Gershwin from a Russian one.

Simon’s first encounter with fame came at age 9 when he played a Mozart Piano Concerto at the Sydney Opera House. Since then, he has shared the stage with, amongst many, James Morrison, Yvonne Kenny and Larry Adler, the harmonica and Gershwin expert, who returned the favour and named Simon as ‘the greatest pianist he has ever heard.’  He has, obviously, also performed with a multitude of orchestras.

He immersed himself in the art world when he married  Loribelle Spirovski, a visual artist and art teacher.  She has twice been a finalist at the Archibald Prize competition.  Simon himself was the subject for the 2002 prize-winning Archibald Prize portrait by Cherry Hood when he was 20.

Hood decided to paint him topless because, she says, ‘he is always portrayed in formal clothes and often with a piano as well. Images of him are usually more about his playing than about him as a person let alone him as a sensual body. Also, at that time I was finishing a series of portraits of boys. Simon saw these works and agreed to pose for me in the same way.’  The canvas now hangs in Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery.

Currently, because of the pandemic, Simon is bit rusty on the piano but ‘tries to practise a little’ and spends a lot of time reading. Plus, he’s still preoccupied with appearances on the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, a TV-subscription programme for many unemployed musicians that generates some income for them.  He’s already performed a few programmes with Sally Walker, Roger Benedict and a jazz-induced one with Kevin Hunt.  His next appearance is on Friday 6 August at 8.30pm when he’ll be live-streaming and partnered by Glenn Henrich who plays ‘vibes, sax-flute and much more.’  That too will have ‘jazz influences.’  For more information go to:  https://melbournedigitalconcerthall.com

A project that Simon was involved in that gave him enormous satisfaction was a series of programmes for children at the Sydney Opera House in September 2014 entitled Pianist and Prankster.  It evolved from an earlier show which he produced with two friends, called Meeting Mozart.  ‘For a start,’ he explains, (and here I am quoting from an article in LimeLight magazine) ‘we enjoyed working with each other so much on an interpersonal level. Also, in the process of the Mozart show, I shared a lot about my rather unconventional musical upbringing with them and also pulled heaps of pranks on the entire cast.’ 

‘I think that once kids see me being genuine Simon Tedeschi,’ he continues, ‘a fallible, if somewhat eccentric human from Sydney’s north shore, intimidation won’t even be in the ballpark. The whole idea is a holistic one – that being true to yourself is the goal, not necessarily to be a concert pianist.”

In his childhood Simon enjoyed episodes of Dr Who – especially Tom Baker in the title role.  Talking to him it is this quasi-resistance to growing old that comes through and is most appealing.  He may be a childhood prodigy, but these days he sometimes wonders when he’ll be allowed to rid himself of that tag. 

How did I become one, he wonders? All he remembers was being thrilled by a schoolboy friend playing the piano who suffered from cerebral palsy.  Thereafter he nagged his mother ‘for lessons and took to the piano very quickly.’

Published by Randolph Magri-Overend

One of the questions Randolph hates to answer is “Where do you come from?” Why? Because the answer can be so time-consuming and, in a way, also gives away how old he is!! Plus the questioner has to wrestle with the wish he hadn’t asked the question!! He was born in Cairo, Egypt, many moons ago of British parents although he can trace Maltese and Croatian ancestry in his lineage. Educated in a Jesuit college in London his wander lust for things unorthodox drove him to embark on a seafaring career with both Canadian Pacific Steamships and Shaw Savill. That in itself dates him because both lines have been redundant for many a year. One of his boasts is that he was the Purser on the “Gothic” which ten years previously had been Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Yacht soon after her coronation in 1953. One of the objects imported on the ship by HM and left behind was a tape player which Randolph utilised on many a memorable Sunday evening with a classical concert for his passengers. Thus began a journey that not only awakened Randolph’s love for good music but also eventually led to his extensive knowledge of music in all forms. That he loves the era of Sinatra, Crosby, Armstrong, Dorsey (both) and many many more exponents of the post-war music scene is also part and parcel of his appreciation of the music of many an era. These days Randolph is retired but still reviews CDs and DVDs and has written articles on such diverse personalities as Yvonne Kenny, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Alexander Briger, the late Sir John Tavener, Sir James Galway, Dawn Upshaw and countless probes into the music of Gustav Mahler, Elizabeth Shwarzkopf and her husband Walter Legge, Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein and many many more he regrets to admit he has lost track of! Before emigrating to Australia, Randolph spent a number of years as a Flight Dispatcher in Canada. Since arriving in Australia, Randolph has written for The Weekend Australian (especially in their travel pages), The Sydney Morning Herald, Opera Opera and Fine Music magazine as well as some jazz magazines. If you require an extensive coverage of your music to a public that, at last count, reaches the best part of 818,000 please contact David Kary on editor.sydneyartsguide@gmail.com or email me directly on ibmar@bigpond.com. This also includes advertising any forthcoming shows by promoting featured artists. Cheers and thank you.