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...]
Archives for 2010
Widescreen
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
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
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
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? 111 would … [Read more...]
First Note
To conjure the first sound from the piano, at the beginning of a piece, at the beginning of a concert... In a live performance, this first sound can be made only once. In my mind, I do it over and over again. More than other instruments, the piano is an instrument of imagination. Most of us don't travel with our own pianos. Although we may have an ideal piano sound in our mind, we never hear it. So we're always adjusting, adapting -- … [Read more...]
Forest
When I arrived to take a place as a judge for the Walter Naumburg International Violin Competition I was welcomed by several violinists who were judging the competition. My friend Jorja Fleezanis was there. Sylvia Rosenberg was very cordial, so was Anahid Ajemian, and later Kyung-Wha Chung (who joined the committee for the competition's final round). On my arrival, another venerable jury member, something of a violin guru, asked: "Who are … [Read more...]
Rise
"You were teaching that pianist like she was a college student" -- the complaint of an observer of one of the masterclasses I gave in Jerusalem. In my defense, the student pianist was 18 (I learned later), and playing one of Beethoven's Opus 10 Sonatas. It seems to make sense that we have differing expectations of musicians -- according to their stage of development. More experienced players may have more musical or instrumental command, or more … [Read more...]
Kindest Cuts
In big conservatories, there are competitions to select student soloists for particular piano concertos each concert season. The music is chosen far in advance by the piano faculty. Our normal procedure at New England Conservatory -- and we did the same at Juilliard -- is to hold a first round in which a jury hears each of the competitors play a 15-minute-long selection of designated excerpts from the chosen concerto. A day or two in advance of … [Read more...]
Costly Imitation
As I listen to others play the piano, as I eat, or walk down the sidewalk -- all I think of is the passage of music I struggled with yesterday, a passage I have been playing at least for 25 years. I consider it from many angles, rolling it over in my mind. To be completely cognizant and conscious of every detail in a complicated scripted piece that's played by memory is to be safe. Is it after all a misguided act? To reprise these … [Read more...]
Tract
Taupe. Dull ocher. Light gray. These are the exterior colors available in a new housing development I passed in the outer suburbs of Des Moines. The houses are attached and identically sized. There are slight, symmetrically-occurring variations in the facades. Some people covet these abodes. No chance the neighbors will decide to paint purple -- not allowed! No chance that someone will display a prized lawn gargoyle, or replace the standard-issue … [Read more...]
Drunk
Many of the scions of American piano playing had trouble with alcohol. At school, I remember hidden bottles and little bars inside the official closets. Piano playing is a solitary occupation, and often makes for a solitary life. As much as writers of fiction, pianists have been plagued by (susceptible to? predisposed to?) alcoholism. In some way, intoxication may be a goal of music making -- but chemicals can be a dangerous consort. … [Read more...]