The first of seven days of piano auditions began well enough. The first half dozen prospects were accomplished players. Things to quibble with, of course -- but jobs well done. After each student finishes playing and leaves the room, the jury has brief discussion, then each of us assigns a rating for the auditioner just heard. After six auditions, something else happened. A diminutive youngster was seated at the clavier -- and I heard the … [Read more...]
Bruce Brubaker’s Guide to Alliterative Artists
February 23, 2009 By 7 Comments
Last week, I had a meeting about a new project I'm planning with Meredith Monk. I guess that got me started... Alvar Aalto Béla Bartók Caleb Carr, Colin Carr, Carl Craig, Claude Chabrol Don DeLillo Edward Elgar Federico Fellini Gérard Grisey, George Gershwin, George Grosz, Glenn Gould Harry Houdini Ippolitov-Ivanov (cheating I know, but his other names were Mikhail Mikhailovich) Judith Jameson Karl Kraus Lowell … [Read more...]
Flatline
February 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment
For about ten hours in Bob Katz's studio in Florida, I listened with him. We were adjusting the final mastering of my new CD. I like the sound on our previous discs, but I hope that this is going to be better. A piano sound not as edgy as pop, and not as distant as some classical piano recordings. Apparently, during part of one of the recording sessions, there was a taxi radio or some other kind of transmitter outside. Traces of those signals … [Read more...]
Can we play too well?
February 16, 2009 By 3 Comments
It's been suggested (by Charles Rosen) that a pianist who plays difficult passages notated in Robert Schumann's piano music, to today's standard of accuracy, is not giving an "authentic" reading. No one in the early nineteenth century could have done it, so, the argument goes, "mistakes" would be part of "authenticity." (We might speculate on the impact the sounds made or make...) In Ghent, a year and a half ago at the Orpheus Institute, we … [Read more...]
Masterclass
February 7, 2009 By 3 Comments
"Masterclass" -- the term makes me queasy. We had masters and slaves! A French boss can still be referred to as "Maître," as he is in Denis Dercourt's sadistic, delightful film centering around the life of a pianist, La tourneuse de pages. There's pervasive overuse of "Maestro" in orchestra land ("Will Maestro be joining us?"). My aunt Charlene, in best 1960s style, addressed my childhood birthday cards to "Master Bruce Brubaker." At New … [Read more...]
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