The Worst Advice

Wise words from emilyplayscello: if you're in a position of power and giving advice to younger musicians, you can tell them about the challenges of a life in music without straight-up discouraging them from entering it. Emily's video:




Another point that Emily makes after 5:39 is that it's the younger people in the profession who will bring genuine change to the field that will make it a more supportive environment. Let's enable them to succeed.

The worst advice anyone gave me? Here are two examples:

Well-known composer:

You pay too much attention to quality of tone at the piano to ever have a career in contemporary music.

Senior administrator:

You don't strike me as the kind of person who would be interested in graduate school.

Of course we get shitty advice along the way. The important thing is to be able to recognize it and move on. But when you've spent lots of time in the profession and know the lay of the land, offer advice that people will admire you for one day.

George Li at NPR's Tiny Desk

Tchaikovsky Competition silver medallist George Li plays fabulously in this NPR Tiny Desk concert, but the other hero of this concert is the studio's Yamaha U1, miked astonishingly well. I love the eclectic clutter of that performing space and heartily support a golf shirt and shorts as the official summer recital wear of 2018.





(Via Patrick Rhone)

Gavin Bryars - The North Shore

It's been just over 10 years since the closure of the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, but their recorded legacy lives on. Here's Nicolò Eugelmi playing Gavin Bryar's The North Shore with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, conducted by Owen Underhill:

The Aurora Piano Quartet Plays Fauré

Some music to start off your weekend - the Geneva-based Aurora Piano Quartet plays Gabriel Fauré's Second Piano Quartet in G minor Op. 45. The Aurora Piano Quartet are:

• Tomás Alegre, piano 
• Amia Janicki, violin 
• Natanael Ferreira, viola 
• Gabriel Esteban, cello

Last month they announced on their Facebook page their upcoming residency at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, and this will be an excellent opportunity for them to check out the local chocolate scene.

Equinox

Music for the first day of spring - Schubert's Frühlingsglaube, sung by a young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Gerald Moore at the piano.




For those in the southern hemisphere, where today is the first day of autumn - Mahler's Der Einsame in Herbst from Das Lied von der Erde, sung by Christa Ludwig and the Israel Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.




May the seasons turn meaningfully and pleasantly for you in 2018.

Pulp Fiction for Cello and Piano

A brilliantly filmed reimagining of Dick Dale's Misirlou for cello and piano:


 

Celloproject are cellist Eckart Runge and pianist Jacques Ammon, who have a website devoted to their continuing collaboration.

Valerie Capers Solo on 1981 Dizzy Gillespie/Ray Brown Birks' Works

Although this is a Dizzy Gillespie/Ray Brown fronted lineup, the Valerie Capers piano solo is one of the highlights on this 1981 Birks' Works. Go to 3:50 to skip right to the piano solo:

Farewell Talisker Players

Some sad news from Toronto - Musical Toronto reports that Talisker Players will be ceasing operations at the end of the concert season. For 17 seasons, Talisker Players has been a leading proponent of vocal chamber music, and has commissioned 30 works since 1999. From the Musical Toronto article:

“With an organization like this, they do have a lifespan… and eventually you feel as though you’ve done what you’ve wanted to do,” said Talisker Players Artistic Director Mary McGeer in a phone interview. “The close of our season in May 2017 seems like the right moment to move on, to explore new horizons, and to embrace new projects.” 

McGeer clarified that the decision was not related to any financial difficulty, and the Talisker Players were proud to end operations with “an unbroken record of balanced budgets.”

A few videos that show the kind of material that Talisker excels at: a magnificently bearded Doug MacNaughton is joined by James McLennan in Flanders & Swann's The Hippopotamus Song:




Tenor James McLennan, clarinetist Peter Stoll, and pianist Peter Longworth perform Leslie Uyeda's Radishes, with words by Lorna Crozier:


Talisker's final show will be A Mixture of Madness on May 16 and 17 at Trinity St. Paul's Centre at 427 Bloor Street West.

John Adams' Chamber Symphony

Inspired by both Arnold Schönberg and the chaos of kids running around at a birthday party, the John Adams Chamber Symphony is a tremendously fun work to listen to and play. Here's Grup Mixtour at the Palau de la Música de Valencia in September 2014:




The difficulty of the solo parts is matched only by the difficulty of the ensemble work. I had the pleasure to play this work in Vancouver several years back with John Adams conducting.

Philip Chiu Plays Ginastera....on a Mountain in BC

On top of a mountain in Revelstoke, BC, here's Philip Chiu playing the last movement of the Ginastera Piano Sonata Op. 1:




This video is part of the Noncerto classical music channel, and if you're interested in seeing more site-specific performances (such as a Mozart aria in a jacuzzi) you can find the complete playlist here If you haven't got a VR setup ready to go, you'll need the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, or IE to view this one. The 360 effect didn't work for me on Safari, but as soon as I switched over to Chrome 56, it worked just fine.

Listening with Scores on YouTube

This is the way you do track listings on YouTube

Nothing focuses the mind when listening to music like following along in the score. It allows you to make connections, connect listening and hearing, as well as stopping the mind from wandering. Back in the day, I amassed a small collection of miniature scores so I could follow along when listening to my favourite records. On YouTube, there are lots of channels that allow you to follow along while listening, but one of my students alerted me to the best one I've found: Ashish Xiangyi Kumar, who has detailed and comprehensive information for each score/video, including a short essay on each work and track listings that trace the work's form.

Here's a comparison of Richard Goode's and Igor Levit's readings of Beethoven Op. 109 (be sure to check out the video on YouTube for the play-by-play with explanatory essay):



More from Ashish Xiangyi Kumar:

Cho Seong-Jin plays all four Chopin Ballades
Beethoven Op. 110 with Lortie, Siirala, and Kovacevich
Both books of Debussy Preludes with Zimmerman
Granados 8 Valses Poéticos with Grosvenor vs. Perez

(Thanks, Alexander!)

Debussy's Les collines d'Anacapri: 2 Performances + 1 Master Class

I'm not sure I agree with Lang Lang's interpretation of Debussy's Les collines d'Anacapri, nor do I agree with his extensive use of hand signals gestures:



Much more enjoyable is Krystian Zimmerman's recording:



Richard Goode working with Sung-Soo Cho at Carnegie's Workshop and Master Class Series:

William Grant Still's Romance for Saxophone and Piano

From a performance at the Musical Instrument Museum late last year, here is William Grant Still's Romance for Saxophone and Piano, performed by saxophonist Ryan Lemoine and pianist Sarah Thune.





More about William Grant Still on Africlassical.

Clara Schumann Piano Trio w/1847 Streicher

Here's the Andante movement from Clara Schumann's 1846 Piano Trio Op. 17. Peter Aidu is playing on an 1847 Viennese Streicher piano, and is joined by violinist Asya Sorshneva and Ivan Karizna on cello:



BTW those antlers in the performing space go remarkably well with chamber music.

Sofya Melikyan Plays Mompou

I really enjoyed Sofya Melikyan's spontaneity and emotional depth in the Federico Mompou Variations on a Theme of Chopin. This performance is from the 2014 Chopin+ Festival at CAPe Ettelbruck in Luxembourg.


 


You can find more of Sofya's performances on her YouTube channel.

Emmanuel Pahud on What to Look For in a Collaborative Pianist

Flautist Emmanuel Pahud on what he looks for in potential recital partners:





Technical accomplishment, great musicianship, artistry, the ability to create musical colors are all mentioned. In short, be at the top of your art.

Carol Isaac in Conversation

Metropolitan Opera coach and prompter Carol Isaac talks about her path towards becoming one of North America's top collaborative artists and the traits that coaches need to be successful. Of particular interest is her take on the unique skill set of the prompter.

Part 1:



Part 2:



(Thanks, Sarah!)

Richard Tauber Sings Schubert, Accompanied by.....Richard Tauber

Who would have known? Richard Tauber was a fine pianist, as well as great singer.

Kissin/Bell/Maisky Play Mendelssohn's First Piano Trio at Verbier

Some first-rate ensemble work from the Verbier Festival in 2009: Evgeny Kissin, Joshua Bell, and Misha Maisky in Mendelssohn's First Piano Trio Op. 49:




Several of my students follow and admire Kissin's playing, and there is a lot to learn from this pianist who has grown from wunderkind to mature artist.

Mamma Mia for Piano Six Hands Now Available for Download

Remember Nhat-Viet Phi's 6-hand arrangement of ABBA's Mamma Mia from a while back? In case you haven't seen the video:




Great news for those of you who are interested in learning this arrangement - Toto is now offering the score for this unique arrangement on Sheet Music Plus' ArrangeMe library, and you can find it here.