Piano Blog

New Old Anton Nel Videos

I know that many of my readers are fans of the pianist Anton Nel. Two recent videos of him from his childhood in South Africa were just added to youtube. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Tchaikovsky Competition

Streaming soon to a browser near you:

http://www.tchaikovsky-competition.com/en

This is one of the most exciting piano competitions in the world! Watch it online starting June 15th. 

There is No Middle of the Road in Art

Great works of art and great performances are never middle of the road.

Some of my favorite performers, like Richter and Argerich, also elicit my most negative reactions. Rudolf Serkin's concerts were incredible or disastrous, but rarely mediocre. Beethoven has a large collection of worthless compositions. So does Mozart.

This is the nature of real art: this is my world and to hell with you if you don't like it. The artist doesn't aim to please but to create -- even if the creation polarizes, offends, or falls apart completely. 

 

On Country Folk and Country Pianos

A couple days ago I travelled to Fredricksburg (Fredricksburg? Fredrickburg?) Texas to play a cello recital. F-burg is a Texas town which, by the look of it, must have quite a bit of money. I've been told is has more doctors per capita than any town in the country, but I don't know if this is true. 

I have to say that with all their money, the local chapel in which we played should really invest in a finer instrument.  I may have never abused a piano so much in my life, and I could fairly judge the amount of this (upright) piano's submission by the degree to which it was out of tune during any particular part of the concert. (I had no choice by the way. No choice at all.) The concert was, by the way, about two hours long and my anger at the piano perhaps made me lose a bit control of tempo in the last movement of the Beethoven's third Cello Sonata. My cellist threatened not to drive me home afterwards. 

Still I think the audience enjoyed it. Any trip like this will quickly disabuse one of stereotypes. Ignoring the children in the audience (it was a benefit concert for a music school) everyone was incredibly well mannered and--something lacking in many city audiences--completely un-snobbish and genuinely appreciative. There was very low coughing per person, and I don't think I heard a damn wrapper or cell phone the entire time. And even more surprising to me--the average age level (again discounting the school children) seemed to be far *lower* than what I see in city audiences. 

The most heinous display of rudeness I've ever seen in a concert was, by the way, in NYC--where a proudly immature woman in spandex pants stood in an aisle at the Lincoln Center and jangled her keys for--I swear--an entire movement of a Dvorak Symphony. 

Perhaps the F-burg audience was a bit too appreciative; they clapped -- and I mean *applauded* --between every movement. Given that we played several multi-movement works, I estimate that I've never received so much cumulative applause during one concert in my life. But, really, so what? Genuine exchange of emotions the best thing one can hope for in music. 

Bach

Bach is a very humbling experience for me. You can play Rachmaninoff and Chopin and everything else that impresses the hell out of people, but you come back to something like 2 part counterpoint and the ground falls out from under you. At least it does for me! But this baroque stuff is good for the fingers at least...and great music. With all the teaching I'm doing, I just hope I have enough time to practice before the recital Friday!

But I did come across this video on youtube; one of the movements of what we are playing. If you know the piece and listen close, it sounds like the harpsichordist isn't too comfy either! Maybe I'm in good company.

Back to the Practice Room

Or, really, just to my living room. I've got several concerts coming up with cellist Karla Hamelin and I desperately need to practice. Other than that today will be filled with teaching and taking care of Noodles (my beta fish). Its a grey day in Austin, so I wish I could go to Mozart's instead. (Mozart's by the way, is a nice lakeside coffeehouse here where, oddly enough, they never play classical music.)

Rachmaninoff for Six Hands

Last Saturday I performed in a house concert with some musicians from Austin and other areas of the country. My small role involved the Valse and Romance for 6 hands (!) at one piano by Rachmaninoff. Here is some rare Youtube footage of Martha Argerich playing the same part I did in the Romance. Its the easiest part note-wise, but it involves the most diplomacy. Hopefully I will find some friends to record both pieces for you soon.