Max Olding and Pamela Page

Max Olding AM (4 July 1929 – 17 November 2021) and Pamela Page (born 4 April 1934) were a distinguished Australian husband and wife team of duo-pianists. They performed separately in recitals and as concerto soloists, chamber music performers and accompanists both nationally and internationally, but were best known as a piano duo.

They met when they tied for first place[1][2] in the inaugural Royal Concert Trust Fund Competition in London in 1954.[3] They married in Vienna in 1955.[4]

They performed as a duo for the opening of ABC Television in 1956. They gave many recitals in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. In Australia they appeared with all major and many regional orchestras.

Their repertoire was extensive and included original two-piano works and concertos as well as arrangements and transcriptions. Larry Sitsky composed his Concerto for Two Solo Pianos for this duo.[5][6][7] Olding and Page recorded this work with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1977 on the World Record Club label.[8] Many other works have been dedicated to them by composers including Felix Werder, Peter Sculthorpe, Philip Bračanin, John Carmichael and Margaret Sutherland.[6]

In the 1950s, Olding and Page were duo-pianists who broadcast recitals on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio, including repertoire by Australian composer Margaret Sutherland.[9]

In 1975, Olding and Page appeared on TV, performing music for four hands in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's educational television series, All About Music.[10]

During the 1970s,[11] 1980s[12] and 1990s,[13] Olding and Page performed together in concerts that were also broadcast nationally on ABC radio.

Max Olding and Pamela Page have one son, the violinist Dene Olding.[14][3]

  1. ^ "AUSTRALIANS' MUSIC PRIZE". The Daily Telegraph. London. Australian Associated Press. 2 December 1954. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Max Olding in competition tie". Advocate. Harris & Co. 2 December 1954. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b Lim, Naomi (31 March 2014). "Classical musician Pamela Page is planning an 80th birthday concert with husband Max Olding at QPAC". No. SouthEast. The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Programmes And People". Vol. 17, no. 42. The ABC Weekly. 22 October 1955. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Concerto for two solo pianos : piano duo by Larry Sitsky (1967)". Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b Pleskun, Stephen (2012). A Chronological History of Australian Composers and Their Compositions (Volume 2: 1955-1984). Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-4797-5752-7. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  7. ^ Collett, Morwenna. "A Lifetime of Teamwork". Resonate Magazine. Australian Music Centre. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Concerto for woodwind quintet and orchestra (1971) : Concerto for two solo pianos (1967) / Larry Sitsky". WRC: R 04694. 1977. Retrieved 21 August 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "All the RADIO programmes". The ABC Weekly. 21 (22): 16. 3 June 1959. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Look in ... on your week of television". The Bananacoast Opinion. No. page 6. 5 February 1975. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. ^ "2CY Monday to Sunday". The Canberra Times. No. 17. 2 September 1974. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Today's radio". The Canberra Times. No. 17. 28 March 1985. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  13. ^ "ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT". The Canberra Times. No. 10. 13 August 1990. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Olding Joins Ensemble". Uniken. 1982 (3): 4. 19 March 1982. Retrieved 21 August 2020.