Author Topic: Virtuoso piano technique (Read 22098 times)

Wowbagger · « **on:** 11 November, 2018, 10:15:13 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1mR1U8h--Q

Valentina Lisitsa probably isn't a household name on these pages, but I particularly like her playing style and the fact that she puts a lot of instructive videos on Youtube.

As she says herself, the above leaves a fair bit to be desired but it's great to be able to watch her hands from above playing Beethoven's 4th, even though the piano could do with a good tune.

fimm · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 December, 2018, 01:57:23 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEMgNMNeBr4

More virtuoso hands from above. I quite like the fancy light effects though I can imagine that others might find them annoying. I don't know anything more about the pianist, I just followed the link from another forum, and thought some on here might enjoy it.

andrewc · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 January, 2019, 10:32:05 pm »

I saw Beatrice Rana playing Beethoven's 3rd on Sunday. Superb. https://bachtrack.com/review-rana-petrenko-royal-liverpool-philharmonic-january-2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFtzC80qkTc Prokofiev 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqprKp8_49Q Bach

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #3 on:** 08 August, 2019, 01:34:11 pm »

Not virtuoso technique, but after several days of ultra-racing and wearing cycling shoes:
https://twitter.com/transconrace/status/1157626463379775489

Wowbagger · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 August, 2019, 08:39:54 pm »

I have just been listening to tonight's Prom: Martha Argerich playing Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim. Wonderful performance - and it's great to think that these two septuagenarians grew up together in Buenos Aires.

caerau · « **Reply #5 on:** 09 September, 2019, 12:20:03 pm »

Can I plug - not a tenuous claim to fame here - this guy http://philipedwardfisher.com is actually a friend of mine for real

He's the little brother of my roommate when I was a student. I first heard him play about six months after he started playing at the age of 10-ish. He already blew away anyone else I'd ever heard play live - by miles. Now a really quite successful and award winning virtuoso concert pianist.
He came to my wedding and I was too embarrassed to ask him to play at it - bit of a regret there.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 December, 2019, 11:30:21 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcEL83GNcwg&fbclid=IwAR1Mt6YXTRJD6sGeKvyQBIGDsBGlTX4Si_oiSg_ua5UL6i5b2yXzrfn0KdQ

Crikey, Penfold!

Wowbagger · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 January, 2020, 03:52:30 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5k3cuQ69fc&feature=push-sd&attr_tag=ILrPEXt7T4E4HVHQ%3A6

Valentina Lisitsa again. I've muddled through that sonata a few times. I think I ought to learn it, but she plays that first movement at one hell of a lick. It's the 250th anniversary of Old Ludwig's birth this year. I've not learned nearly enough of his music.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #8 on:** 09 February, 2020, 07:32:35 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwoY3WOqiY4&fbclid=IwAR2uV-l8aLlpUpApihNo8HslbnLNmGrl-jqGGIjtaIthF0Cdjh0r4Srekao

Utterly marvellous tutorial by Andras Schiff about Beethoven's Pathetique sonata.

I've played this piece to one degree or another for about half a century, but that lecture drew my attention to stuff that looks bleedin' obvious but had hitherto escaped my notice. I think I need to start practising that again, with new eyes and ears.

andrewc · « **Reply #9 on:** 09 February, 2020, 08:11:30 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SpmA57CFmE & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlTL4p4YxIY&frags=pl%2Cwn

I saw Yeol Eum Son play Beethoven 5th "Emperor" with the RLPO under Andrew Manze earlier today Peter. Absolutely wonderful.

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF1ptR6W3tY&frags=pl%2Cwn

http://northwestend.co.uk/index.php/professional-reviews/liverpool/5032-beethoven-and-bruckner-liverpool-philharmonic-hall

http://www.yeoleumson.com/concerts/ Upcoming concerts in the UK & elsewhere. Would BSE be good for you Peter ? I'm quite tempted to pop down to That London for the Kings Place one, but £39.50-£69.50 plus booking fee !

Wowbagger · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 February, 2020, 08:48:34 pm »

To be honest, London is much easier to get to than BSE. We can be at Kings Cross in about 90 minutes from home and with no car to worry about. It's about 65 miles to Bury St. Edmunds with quite a bit of single carriageway driving.

*looks at diary* Oh, I'm singing in a concert on 28th March. Haydn & Mozart masses. So the London concert is out.

hellymedic · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 February, 2020, 09:03:00 pm »

We're off to the Queen Elizabeth Hall tomorrow for Roman Rabinovitch. £10 for a wheelchair bay + escort seat...

andrewc · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 February, 2020, 09:33:35 am »

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/feb/11/virtuoso-mourns-beloved-150000-piano-smashed-by-movers

Wowbagger · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 February, 2020, 11:00:29 am »

That's tragic.

When my Blüthner was delivered, I was utterly astonished that two blokes could lift such a big, heavy piano, and ours is only a six-footer. I think that makes it about 390kg. Our Bechstein upright is about 250kg. I reckon that Fazioli must have been about 500kg. That's a lot of mass. Add to that the string tension. A normal violin, when in tune, has to withstand about 90lbs of tension from its 4 strings. A concert grand has (IIRC) 213 strings and the bigger the piano, the tighter they have to be to stay in tune. That's a lot of tonnes.

I wasn't actually in the room when they turned the Blüthner to the horizontal. It was stacked vertically in the van but when it came inside it had to have the 3 legs and the pedal lyre attached.

One of the guys, Blain, was big and very muscular - not body-builder muscular but lean second-row rugby player sized. I reckon he was probably about 40. His assistant was a little chap, I'd guess in his 20s. He looked pretty strong but after they had finished the delivery and put the Bechstein in the back of the van, I observed him doing backward stretches over our garden wall.

I thought I remembered some tragedy with a Bösendorfer some years ago and here it is:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6541457.stm

Wowbagger · « **Reply #14 on:** 11 February, 2020, 11:10:46 am »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuK90fGySqc

Angela Hewitt with her Fazioli in happier times.

Woofage · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 February, 2020, 12:41:17 pm »

I saw a performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand at the w/e. I was unaware that such a piece existed but what an amazing experience it was. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was at the piano with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

T42 · « **Reply #16 on:** 11 February, 2020, 01:08:46 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 11 February, 2020, 11:00:29 am

Add to that the string tension. A normal violin, when in tune, has to withstand about 90lbs of tension from its 4 strings. A concert grand has (IIRC) 213 strings and the bigger the piano, the tighter they have to be to stay in tune. That's a lot of tonnes.

I think it's a couple of hundred kilos in an electric guitar. Safety glasses recommended for the first time.

I once saw a Deering factory video of a chap stringing up a banjo for the first time with the help of a cordless drill. He did it in less than a minute.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #17 on:** 11 February, 2020, 01:28:35 pm »

Steven Osborne playing Messaien's Vingt Regards. I was very fortunate to see him perform this at Wigmore Hall around the time he was recording it for Hyperion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrOuFIABcDo

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #18 on:** 11 February, 2020, 01:29:53 pm »

Or the inappropriately named Vincenzo Maltempo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmI_ALcEGUw

Wowbagger · « **Reply #19 on:** 11 February, 2020, 01:30:34 pm »

Quote from: Woofage on 11 February, 2020, 12:41:17 pm

I saw a performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand at the w/e. I was unaware that such a piece existed but what an amazing experience it was. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was at the piano with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

It was written for Wittgenstein, brother of the philosopher, who lost an arm in the first world war. Randomly, I think they were both at school with one Adolf Hitler.

Edit:

Allegedly.

Woofage · « **Reply #20 on:** 11 February, 2020, 02:53:31 pm »

^ well, my thought was along those lines, but according to a music teacher colleague of my nephew's (who also came to the concert) the reason it was written was basically because "why not?". IOW, for the challenge.

I prefer the former explanation though.

ETA: according to Wikipedia, your info is correct.

andrewc · « **Reply #21 on:** 11 February, 2020, 03:02:36 pm »

I've seen a visiting pianist play a Fazioli in Liverpool. Checks, yes it was Boris Giltburg last year. It must be a lot of hassle transporting a piano between venues.

https://bachtrack.com/review-giltburg-petrenko-royal-liverpool-july-2019

https://borisgiltburg.com/videos/

caerau · « **Reply #22 on:** 11 February, 2020, 05:03:50 pm »

I have a couple of mates who'll do it...

They're called Stan and Ollie

Wowbagger · « **Reply #23 on:** 11 February, 2020, 06:27:48 pm »

I believe a lot of the top pianists take their own pianos with them. I'm pretty sure that Schiff's marathons at the Proms when he played all of Bach's preludes & fugues were on his own personal Steinway D274* (274 being the length in cms).

I have read that Horowitz, who many regard as the greatest pianist of all time, used his own piano and he had the keys set very "light".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxhbAGwEYGQ

It's noticeable that he has his fingers very straight when he plays. If he were my pupil I'd soon sort that out!

That's the Goldensaal in Vienna. Jan and I attended a concert there in 2018 and had seats right at the front of the balcony. The Bösendorfer showrooms are in the same building so he could well be playing one.

Wikiepedia makes no mention of his piano's keys being underweighted, but...

Quote

Horowitz's hand position was unusual in that the palm was often below the level of the key surface. He frequently played chords with straight fingers, and the little finger of his right hand was often curled up until it needed to play a note; to Harold C. Schonberg, "it was like a strike of a cobra."[1] For all the excitement of his playing, Horowitz rarely raised his hands higher than the piano's fallboard. One of his students, Byron Janis, said that he had tried to teach him that technique but it didn't work for him.[25] His body was immobile, and his face seldom reflected anything other than intense concentration.

Maybe the stuff about underweighted keys is hearsay. Marcus Roberts, the Oxford dealer I bought my piano from, has numerous videos showing that the weight necessary to move the key should be about 50g.

*Having said that, I am sure I've seen a video of Schiff extolling the virtues of a Bösendorfer. Although now a naturalised British citizen living in London, Schiff is from Hungary so Bösendorfer would probably be the top manufacturer anywhere near him.

Edit: wow - just look at that... I want one! https://www.boesendorfer.com/en/news/Andras-Schiff-plays-at-Konzerthaus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvekkZnE8BU

hellymedic · « **Reply #24 on:** 12 February, 2020, 02:39:20 am »

Roman Rabinovich gave a great show of Spanish and Spanish-inspired music at the South Bank this evening.