Piano Blog

Getting to know Scarlatti

I think it was Horowitz who considered Domenico Scarlatti to be the "first Romantic". I find it hard to disagree. Scarlatti's own preface to his "Sonatas" gives us a peak into his own benevolent disposition: 

"…show yourself to be more human than critical, and then your pleasure will increase…Live Happily!" 

It's hard for words to do justice to the beauty and range of emotion found in Scarlatti's music. Many of his pieces are flamboyant and playful, but one of my favorites is this beautiful introspective and tender work played here by Spencer Myer: 

Anton Nel Radio Interview

Have a listen to this radio interview with the amazing Anton Nel! 

Humberto Soto performs Schumann

This is Mr. Soto performing Robert Schumann's Abegg Variations, Op. 1.

Soto and Pineda are going to record some duets for me soon.

Kris Pineda Plays Handel, Beethoven and Chopin

Here are some recordings made in December of 2007 of our friend Kris Pineda at the piano.

Handel: Suite in F Major, HWV 427

I. Adagio
II. Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Fuga (Allegro)

Beethoven: Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101

I. Etwas lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung
II. Lebhaft. Marschmassig
III. Langsam und sehnsuchtvoll
IV. Zeitmass des ersten Stuckes - Geschwinde, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit

Chopin: Two Etudes from Op. 10

Opus 10, Number 3
Opus 10, Number 4

Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou les Maillotins

I have become obsessed with this rondo by Francois Couperin after coming across an incredible video performance of if by Grigory Sokolov.

This page details some of history of this piece.

You can hear a brief sample of Alexandre Tharaud's interpretation of the piece via amazon here. Tharaud's interpretation is quite different in terms of articulation and sound than Sokolov's, which is brilliant and "pingy". (I personally prefer Sokolov's performance, which you can purchase via amazon.)

For a pianist, the technical challenge arises not from the fingerwork of either hand, which is relatively simple, but from the placement of the hands over one another. Since this piece was written for a two manual instrument, playing it on the piano means that one hand is constantly above the other, often with notes being played at the same time...which can be a little confusing. Then of course there is the challenge of keeping the various lines distinct, clean repeated notes, and all that stuff. Check out this home video(?) of the piece on a two-manual harpsichord.

I'm going to try to video tape own attempt soon enough :-)