The Great Concert Pianist Swindle

TV : Documentary : TV quality : English


The Great Concert Pianist Swindle

Friday 31 July
7:35pm - 8:00pm
Channel : 4
File : The.Great.Piano.Scam

Director Susannah Price traces the extraordinary story of one of the cheekiest cons in the history of music. Joyce Hatto was a successful concert pianist who withdrew from performing in the 1970s. She suddenly re-emerged in 2003: new CDs began appearing, released on her husband's Concert Artists label, with recordings of a daunting range of pieces.

Her husband, William Barrington- Coupe (interviewed here and a very plausible character) claimed she was working away at the piano even as she battled cancer. Critics and enthusiasts praised her recordings: "Chopin Etudes - absolutely mind-blowing. Beethoven Bagatelles - amazingly good," recalls one.

But all wasn't quite as it seemed: were the recordings in fact lifted from other pianists? The full extent of the deception remains hard to unravel. But the film is an absorbing journey through a hall-of-mirrors story, one that throws a dim light on the close-knit world of classical connoisseurs. And you have to wonder, was there perhaps a clue to be had in the name of the label?


Enjoy and Seed!!