Category Archives: English

The Busoni Piano Competition – When the Jury doesn’t find the Winner…

Ferruccio Busoni / Source: Wikipedia The 58th Ferruccio Busoni piano competition in Bozen just concluded. This was a good opportunity for me to think about different outcomes of the competition. As usual the most interesting aspect of this event was … Continue reading

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Alfred Brendel – Master of Cloning

Master and disciple meet together. Kit Armstrong is a Taiwanese-British young pianist. A couple of years ago he was invited to visit his mentor Alfred Brendel at his London domicile, to be introduced into the tradition of piano playing and … Continue reading

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Inspired by the sound of the organ

Mozart called it the king of the instruments, Schumann recommended to learn to play it to achieve more understanding about the power of music, most of the great composers played and wrote works for it. What makes the organ being … Continue reading

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Sergei Wassiljevitsch Rachmaninoff – 1873-1943

He was one of the most inspiring pianists of the twentieth century. His remarkable personality as a unique artist was perfectly reflected in all his compositions. Sergei Rachmaninoff charcterized the last Romantic piano tradition with his charming, lyric and expressive … Continue reading

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When the piano “is playing” the pianist

Be aware of getting a good piano for your practicing or performances. Otherwise you will be not playing the piano but the piano will be playing you! One of the essential requirements pianists should take care for is their instrument, … Continue reading

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Being a competitive pianist

Competitions, competitions, competitions. Almost every piano student has tried to participate at least in one piano competition during his music education. A motivating piano teacher is mostly the first impulse to prepare a specific program of different piano works to … Continue reading

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When the pupil is ready for his master

It has been said that the best teacher always recognizes when his pupil is ready to learn something new. In other words a really good teacher can be as good as his pupil is able to understand and to apply … Continue reading

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Would Beethoven take care of his score?

Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas represent the ultimate milestone for a pianist. Everybody knows that. Yet there are plenty of different point of views about the right interpretation of this musical testament. Since great pianists began in the nineteenth century to … Continue reading

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Faithful pianists don’t cheat Beethoven!

Textual fidelity, accurate reading of the score, focussed analyzing of the notes, meticulous reproduction of the dynamic indications, objective reconstruction of the composition, parsimonious use of the pedal, keen performance…we can go on. This could be the description of the … Continue reading

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Shura Cherkassky – 1909-1995

A terrific singing piano tone, a sublime technique, always serving the purpose of the musical message, and a perfect seducing interpretation. Alexander Isaakovic Cherkassky, known as Shura Cherkassky, was one of the leading personalities among the generation of great pianists … Continue reading

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