(Wendy
Cussons)
Tribute by Michael Green
Mrs Wendy Cussons, who died in Durban
recently at the age of 88, was the anonymous donor of a million rand for the
purchase of the Steinway grand piano that now graces the stage of the Durban
City Hall on concert nights.
Mrs Cussons gave the R1 million to the KZN
Philharmonic Orchestra nine years ago for the specific purpose of buying an
instrument to replace the orchestra’s ageing Bosendorfer grand pianos, and she
was insistent that she should receive no publicity for her generosity.
The Steinway was bought in England and was
chosen by the distinguished German pianist Florian Uhlig, who was assisted by
Vladimir Ashkenazy, one of the most celebrated pianists of the 20th century.
Florian Uhlig gave the first performance on
the piano in February 2006, playing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. l in D
minor with the KZNPO.
Wendy Cussons was born in Durban, went to
Durban Girls’ College and later studied music at Witwatersrand University. She was a sister of the late Hugh Johnstone,
a well-known Durban attorney and a former chairman of the Durban Turf Club.
When living in England she married a member
of the Cussons family who for more than a century have been associated with the
Cussons cosmetic products, the best known of which is Imperial Leather soap.
Mr and Mrs Cussons later settled in
KwaZulu-Natal, where both of them eventually died.
Her name was given to a famous red rose,
the Wendy Cussons rose, which was bred initially by her father-in-law, a
notable horticulturist.
She leaves two sons, Richard, a business
man, and Jeremy, a farmer, both living in England.
At her funeral, in St Thomas’s Anglican
Church, Musgrave Road, Berea, the well-known Durban pianist Andrew Warburton
played one of her favourite pieces, Schubert’s Impromptu in A flat major, Op.
142, No. 2.
The funeral was attended by family and
friends, but there was no official representation of any kind, nor has there
been any public recognition of her gift to Durban, except a reference from the
stage by the famous Welsh singer Bryn Terfel.
She has been as unacknowledged in death as she was (by her own choice)
in life.
It is understood that Florian Uhlig, who
lives in Germany, has suggested that he himself play at a memorial concert in
Durban for Wendy Cussons, but the outcome of this proposal is not known. - Michael Green
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