An engrossing biography of the man who taught Richter, Gilels, Lupu, and whose Art of Piano Playing is known to expert and duffer alike.
Tag Archives: classical music
Happy Halloween from Berlioz and Liszt
Pianist Eric Ferrand-N’Kaoua has a ball with Symphonie Fantastique.
Give me that Vieuxtemps religion: Good enough for him
Itzhak Perlman and a very young Cho-Liang Lin talk staccato. The excerpt is from the Vieuxtemps 5th violin conerto.
From Christopher Nupen‘s documentary Itzhak Perlman, Virtuoso Violinist (I know I played every note)
Colla sinistra: Wittgenstein plays Ravel
Paul, older brother of philosopher Ludwig, lost an arm in WW1 and then commissioned composers to write left-hand only pieces for him. By all accounts a temperamental character, he torqued several now-great names while simultaneously enriching the repertoire through his sponsorships.
Melissa Lesnie‘s article “The Man with the Golden Arm” is fascinating reading.
Here is Wittgenstein at the keyboard with Bruno Walter and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.
The Waldstein: A tutorial
It all sounds so simple. Just press the keys in the right order and there you have it. Erik Reischl shows how it is done.
Next stop, Volodos: Evan Le plays Rondo Alla Turca
Through a pointer from Slippedisc: 5 year old Torrance-born Evan Le plays a Mozart favorite.
Extrapolating his progress, he’ll probably be playing this arrangement in a year or so!
What the Puck?: Schnittke on Shakespeare
(K)ein Sommernachstraum… I enjoyed it in 2005 with the LA Phil and Jurowski and recalled it just now for no particular reason. Starts off calm and optimistic, peaks in discord, and fades away. Reminds me of something, can’t quite place it.
Here’s the BUTI Young Artist Orchestra with Ken-David Masur conducting.
Donors Wanted, Dead or Alive
Preferably dead.
I used to attend LA Phil concerts regularly, subscribed for a number of years, and donated through an affiliate group. I haven’t attended in some time due to the relentless push to staged opera, video extravaganzas, the persistence of Vitameatavegamin, John Adams, and the rest of that mob. The promise of Dudamel, so high after seeing him and his Bolivarians in 2007, has been dashed.
To their substantial credit, Borda and Co. have replaced me and my like with others receptive to this vision and the organization is very, very healthy. But it is impossible to get off the mailing lists of a group that has (or should have) few empty seats. Full color brochures and postcards still arrive, telemarketers call about Disney Hall and Hollywood Bowl offers. The latter are quite knowledgeable, have discussed my reasons for not re-upping, and promise to click the buttons to unsubscribe me. It never takes, though. Now, some Big Data algorithm has told management that the Reaper will soon be at my door. This email is rather unnerving. Click for a zoomable image.
Maybe it’ll catch on: Wagner without words
Opera… so much great music and then the furshlugginer singers show up. Maybe the local purveyors could organize one night every run where people can come to hear the orchestra without all the other flapdoodle.
A fun masterclass exercise
1) Click on this link to a Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center masterclass
2) Listen to the audio, don’t watch the video. Dim the screen, minimize the window, cover it up… whatever you have to do
3) Rewind then watch and listen