Category Archives: Pianists

Summer School honours Alice Herz-Sommer

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Christine Stevenson

Well, it’s all over for another year. The eagerly-anticipated Summer School for Pianists 2014 finished yesterday, and what a fabulous week! A terrific group of piano-loving participants, 5 tutors working flat out giving recitals as well as masterclasses, private lessons … Continue reading →

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Of Pianos, Pedals, Pianists – and Tolstoy

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Christine Stevenson

In a recent televised interview, the writer Julian Barnes said that of all the pages that were re-written in a novel, the first page was the one that had the most revisions. That seems to apply to the opening of … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Nocturne - A Little Night Music, Pianists | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Work in Progress

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Christine Stevenson

She’s at it again.  Practising. In public. On the internet. Private instrumental practice used to be – well, private, but pianist Valentina Lisitsa has allowed us into her studio via a webcam as she prepares for concerts in the US and at … Continue reading →

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H is for Hommage a S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. – Debussy

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Christine Stevenson

2012: Claude Debussy’s 150th birthday, Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday, and the pomp and patriotism of a Royal Diamond Jubilee. Debussy really scored a hat-trick with his piano Prélude Hommage a S Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C., which has associations with all three. … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Pianists, The French Connection - An A-Z of Debussy's music | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Sounds of Silence

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Christine Stevenson

One morning recently, when an early start was less than welcome, Petroc Trelawney’s cheerful invitation on R3 Breakfast to suggest music to be played as a wake-up call prompted me grumpily to think of recommending John Cage’s 1952 work, 4’33”. The piece is … Continue reading →

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D is for Danseuses de Delphes – Preludes, Book 1, No 1

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Christine Stevenson

375-330 BC, or thereabouts, and a supporting column is built near Apollo’s Temple at Delphi in Greece, with three sculpted dancers frozen in time at its summit. Wearing short tunics, barefoot, an arm raised in gesture or perhaps holding crotales, they were rediscovered amongst the toppled ruins in 1894 … Continue reading →

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B is for Bergamasque; C is for Clair de Lune

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Christine Stevenson

17,217,253. That is the number of views which YouTube’s top-ranking video of Debussy’s Clair de Lune had when I started research for this post a few days ago. The views now number 17,259,512 – over 42,000 more. Successive generations of pianists have … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Music, Pianists, The French Connection - An A-Z of Debussy's music | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

A is for Arabesque

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Christine Stevenson

What do you think of when you read the word: Arabesque? To an artist, it consists of “surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils”* found in Islamic art and in European decorative art from the Renaissance … Continue reading →

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Dedicated to Madame Clara Schumann. But could she play them?

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Christine Stevenson

While considering Liszt’s Paganini Etudes, a few other points should be mentioned -Busoni also made piano transcriptions of Paganini’s Caprices, as did Schumann. Liszt dedicated both his 1838 and 1851 editions to Madame Clara Schumann, who, née Wieck, was one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Liszt - Studying the Etudes - Transcendental Etudes, and Paganini Caprices, Music, Pianists | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Paganini Effect – La Campanella

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Christine Stevenson

A wet, grey day in Cornwall, and I sit in a holiday cottage listening to a recording of violinist Itzhak Perlman playing Paganini Caprices, as you do. It’s not hard to imagine the impression that Paganini made on European audiences as he performed … Continue reading →

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