To some of the pianists auditioning, our choices may seem arbitrary, or random. I believe they're not. From the jury's side of the table, it's frequently very clear -- who we should accept into the school and to whom we should say, "No." The members of the committee (all of us are pianists) do not always agree. But, it's often surprising to me -- even concerning -- how closely matched are our estimates of a talent, of the potential of an … [Read more...]
Widescreen
March 23, 2010 By 2 Comments
The 4:3 television screen ratio came to represent present tense -- the "narrow slit of 'now'," to use Bill Viola's term. With the increasing preponderance of widescreen 16:9 ratio, those of us who spent thousands of formative hours with the cathode-ray norm find that video suddenly got more narrative. With the new proportions, since the information in view is just a little too much (too wide) to see in a glance, my entire sense of the medium and … [Read more...]
Repertoire Inflation
March 16, 2010 By 5 Comments
In this spring's auditions, I've heard prospective undergraduates perform Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata, Schubert's A-Minor Sonata, D. 845 -- and, of course, many offerings of Liszt's Sonata, Stravinsky's Three Movements from Petrushka, and Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit. These seventeen- or eighteen-year-old pianists are grappling with, or storming through, music that's considered to be at the pinnacle of musical or virtuoso difficulty. I … [Read more...]
Overwhelmed
March 8, 2010 By 5 Comments
There it is. Suddenly without warning. In the midst of hearing a performance of J. S. Bach's D-sharp Minor Fugue, I'm swept by a wave of emotion. Tears come. It's not quite because of the playing -- good, but not a lot more -- though this playing is the vehicle for the transmission of whatever it is that affects me. This bottled time, this music, this careful script of actions that lead to experience... Is this feeling I have, regret for what … [Read more...]
Scripture reading
March 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In the evaluations I've been writing during the spring auditions, there are notations like this: B: 31-2 (I, II) Br: 5 (I) C: 10-8 I take down which pieces are performed by prospective students, referring, with this shorthand, to the classified canon of piano music, so compact and so sorted that in some cases, even more cryptic scribbling suffices: 111 (1) 959 (I, II) L'i j Maybe I've grown to enjoy this abbreviating too much? … [Read more...]
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