Over the past two years, Andras Schiff played the entire Beethoven sonata cycle in a series of concerts. As I recall, he played them only in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and New York (Carnegie Hall, natch). I attended all of the Ann Arbor performances. They were delightful: Schiff brought a different, very thoughtful and warm sensibility [...]
I just read The Song is You, by Arthur Phillips. Usually I only write here about books concerning pianos and pianists, but this novel about music and art and passion is so good I wanted to make note.
The story focuses on Julian, a young middle-aged director of commercials who loves his iPod, and Cait, a much [...]
A year and a half ago I was effusive after seeing 21 year old Yuja Wang in her debut recital in Ann Arbor. This year, she has been getting glowing to ectstatic reviews from around the world during her major tour. This one is from the SF Gate, after her Wed 20 May 2009 concert [...]
Tagged performersJeremy Denk is a terrific pianist, known to many (including me) through his tours with Joshua Bell.
Turns out he is also a terrific writer. His blog is textured, dense, adventuresome (like the music of Brahms he rhapsodizes). And he is a humorist: his “interview with Sarah Palin” about the Hammerklavier is to die for.
Harriette Brower’s 1915 book, Piano Mastery, is online in a public domain Project Gutenberg edition. She recounts interviews she did with about 20 master pianists and teachers (e.g., Busoni, Paderewski, Goodson), includes essays on interpretation by William Mason and William Sherwood, and offers her own essay on technique (from hand position through practicing, memorizing, tone [...]
Tagged books, online, teachingLang Lang has as many critics as fans it seems: he is too showy, his technique outstrips his musicianship, etc.
The thing I find most wonderful about him, and that all artists can celebrate, is the boundless fun he has and how comfortable he is expressing his feelings. Perhaps this particularly appeals to me because I’m [...]
On 20 Jan 08 I attended a startling — in a wonderful way — concert. Yuja Wang gave a piano recital in magnificent Hill Auditorium. Only 20 years old, Wang has been on a very successful world tour for the past two years, after studying with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute. [...]
Tagged inspiration, performersI’m struggling currently with Rachmaninov’s Prelude in g sharp minor (Op 32, No 12). To cheer me up now and then I watch Igudesman and Joo. What a great idea!
For a quite nice performance of the g sharp minor, see Richard Pohl’s video.
When I was in middle school and high school I played cello in addition to piano. I was not as committed: I only took school lessons, not private, and I didn’t practice very diligently. (The best thing going for me was that for my first year in high school orchestra, our first cello [...]
This is a high-quality streaming video from the TED conference (2004) of Jennifer Lin, then 14, performing Josef Hofmann’s Kaleidoscope and Schumann’s Abegg Variations, followed by an improvised composition on a sequence of notes chosen by Goldie Hawn (from the audience).