What makes this disc special is not only Bavouzet’s exceptional playing, but the intelligent programming. From what could easily have sounded a “bits and pieces” micellany, Bavouzet has created a wide-ranging programme which both encapsulates Debussy’s entire work, and at the same time has a sense of a coherent progression.

‘We have a lot to learn from Debussy,’ writes Bavouzet. ‘Through the sophisticated sounds he seeks to create and the simplicity of his textures by which he builds, in just a few phrases and harmonies, a whole world of poetry, but also through writing which always reveals a highly contrapuntal way of thinking, Debussy compels us to listen to his music in a very private, intense and nearly religious manner.

Interview for BBC Music Magazine

Moszkowksi- Spanish Dance, opus 12, no 1

Moszkowski: Spanish Dances (solo piano)
Moszkowski: Spanish Dances (piano duet)

A tribute from Piano Street

At Piano Street we were amazed about the ability to have instant on demand access to all the performances, although it was not that easy to get an overview of the many pieces performed, by who and when.
So, since we are not only passionate about classical piano music but also about organizing piano music in a user friendly way, we spent the weekend putting together a little tribute to the Cliburn Competition and its participating pianists in the form of an organized repertoire list.

The list is featuring various sorting abilities as well as links to the sheet music of the pieces available from the Piano Street sheet music library.

Watch great performances online and follow along in the sheet music:
Cliburn 2009 - Competition Repertoire

Gold Medalists (tie for first):
Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, 20 (Japan)
Mr. Haochen Zhang, 19 (China)

Silver Medalist:
Ms. Yeol Eum Son, 23 (South Korea)

The Live Webcast
The entire Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was streamed in real time to tens of thousands of viewers worldwide. As of June 6, the webcast player has received 231,265 visits from people in 132 countries. The most viewed performance was Evgeni Bozhanov’s Final Round recital.

The many witty transformations of popular tunes give us an insight in how it might have sounded when the young Beethoven sat down to improvise at the keyboard, while works like the Eroica- and Diabelli Variations belong to the composer’s mature masterworks.

32 Variations in C-minor as well as the Six Variations in G-major, both based on Beethoven’s original themes, are now available in new Urtext sheet music and recordings by David Wärn.

32 Variation in C minor by Beethoven

Six Easy Variations in G major by Beethoven

The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas. It was created by Fort Worth area teachers in honor of Van Cliburn, who had won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition four years prior with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Van Cliburn was only twenty-three when he won in Moscow on April 14, 1958, at the height of the Cold War.
Upon his return to the United States, the young pianist received a hero’s welcome in New York City with a ticker-tape parade. This was the first and only time the city gave such an honor to a classical musician.
On that historic day, Van Cliburn became both cultural hero and unofficial diplomat. He went on to perform before every U.S. president from 1958 until today; the most famous of these concerts occurred in 1987 when he played for Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in the White House. This occassion is now remembered as “the day the Cold War was lost.”

Historic video coverage featuring Van Cliburn:

The 2009 Competition

Twenty-nine pianists will compete in the Preliminary Round; twelve will compete in the Semifinal Round; and six will vie for top honors in the Final Round. All six finalists will receive a prize package offering three years of managed concert tours at over $1,000,000 total value.
Cliburn winners perform in hundreds of venues across the United States and abroad.

The 2009 Competitors

Past Top prize winners

Winners of the top prize awarded in the given year (first prize, unless otherwise noted):

2005 — Alexander Kobrin
2001 — Stanislav Ioudenitch and Olga Kern (tied)
1997 — Jon Nakamatsu
1993 — Simone Pedroni
1989 — Alexei Sultanov
1985 — Jose Feghali
1981 — Andre-Michel Schub
1977 — Steven DeGroote
1973 — Vladimir Viardo
1969 — Cristina Ortiz
1966 — Radu Lupu
1962 — Ralph Votapek

http://www.haydntheinnovator.co.uk

The RNCM Keyboard Festival (8 - 10 May) will feature all of Haydn’s keyboard sonatas. Graham Scott, Head of School of Keyboard Studies, and Artistic Director of the Keyboard Festival, commented, “Composed over the course of three decades the sonatas undergo an extraordinary passage of development from quite simple drawing room pieces to works of extreme harmonic, dramatic and intellectual inventiveness.

Joseph Haydn's two-manual harpsichord, made by Burkat Shudi and John Broadwood, London 1775.

Murray McLachlan, RNCM Tutor & Head of Keyboards at Chetham’s, discusses the importance of Haydn and his music:
http://www.rncm.ac.uk/content/view/529/163/

Article from The Independent

In Masterclass situation from the Masterclass Foundation series (www.masterclassfoundation.org)

Web Site: www.stephenhough.com

Available only until May 12, the Swedish Television offers a live HD performance of Sergei Rachmaninov´s third Piano Concerto with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lionel Bringuier as of February 20, 2009.

Content:
0:00 Introduction (in Swedish)
1:10 Alex Wade introduces Rach 3 and talks to Jonathan Philips
9:44 Interview with Leif Ove Andsnes (in Swedish) See summary in English below.
14:00 Live performance of the piano concerto

Click here to veiw the TV broadcast online.

In the interview, the producer Camilla Lundberg asked Andsnes why he returned to the work after 15 years.
He first played and recorded it when he was only 24 years old, as his first Rachmaninov concerto.
Andsnes stated that the work defines crucial currents of modernity in the 20th century and therefore it has a special compositional and romantic quality. Having spent so much time with it, and when coming back to it with a new “bird perspective”, he felt that the contrasts and eruptive qualities of the piece should be more accentuated, which motivated him to have a second round with it. He also said that he found it unfortunate that the popularity of the film “Shine” led to the common notion that this concerto is nothing but a gladiator game.

One hundred years ago the work was premiered with Rachmaninov himself at the piano and Gustaf Mahler as conductor. History tells us how serious Mahler was in his work with the score and during rehersals. Andsnes considers this to be one of the moments in music history he would give anything to have experienced.

Rachmaninoff in action

Being fortunate enough to have spent a lengthy preparation period (five years) with Rach 3 during the 1990s, I agree with the popular metaphorical statement that this concerto is a serious attempt to climb K2.
After deciphering the most economical ways of moving (including intelligent fingering), I spent enormous amount of time on finding full sound easiness in the musical lines. This work also demands a very conscious idea of what to be audible in sections where the piano and orchestra share the musical energy.
The access to a large number of recordings was very helpful in this respect and I found the Horowitz/Ormandy collaboration and the Ashkenazy/Fistoulari particularly helpful in building the tutti soundscapes of the grand piano sound in the grand romantic orchestra.

Listen to Sviatoslav Richter playing Diabolic Suggestions (opus 4 no 4):

Prokofiev - Diabolic Suggestions, sheet music to download and print