Classical Piano Music!

This April, Piano Street will be exhibiting at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany. The exhibition will take place at the Messe Frankfurt Convention Centre and is the world’s biggest trade show for musical instruments, sheet music, music production and marketing. Piano Street will be showing the digital services available for individuals and for institutions. Read more...

Warner Classics has recently contributed to both a distant and a close look on Claude Debussy. Their 33-disc set aims to include everything Debussy wrote, from his earliest compositions of 1879-80 to the late sonatas composed during the first world war. As a part of the project Warner Classics has produced a three-part documentary series named ”In the Footsteps of Debussy”. Read more...

The great French composer Achille-Claude Debussy died 100 years ago, on March 25 in Paris. Debussy is considered one of the fathers of modern music and the most influential of all French composers. From Debussy’s Suite bergamasque, Clair de lune has emerged as the most beloved and appreciated piece of the suite appreciated by pianists on all levels. From the beautiful interiors of Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, Rome we hear Italian pianist Alessandra Ammara play the piece. Read more...

Pianistic polymath Pierre-Laurent Aimard brings a spirit of adventure to Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux; Paul Roberts explores Debussy’s fascination with visual imagery in the composer’s centenary year; IP celebrates the 80th birthday of virtuoso and activist Frederic Rzewski; and rare treats at Husum’s annual piano festival in northern Germany. Read more...

Numerous pianists and concert goers around the world are living the ”Debussy 100” this year. We speak to he Swedish/Polish international pianist and London resident Peter Jablonski - one of the French master´s current explorers. Read more...

Not only Claude Debussy and Leonard Bernstein celebrate centennials this year, but also the London based Pianist Magazine which celebrated its 100th issue on January 26. Pianist Magazine is one of the most widespread and appreciated sources in the international piano world today. We called the magazine’s editor Erica Worth not only to congratulate, but also to ask her a couple of questions. Read more...

On the shores of Lake Maggiore, in the municipality of Laveno-Mombello, stands Villa Caterina, a very special house with very special guests. Here they all meet and study: PianoFriends, a musical association founded by Vincenzo Balzani and Catia Iglesias. The aim is perfecting the musical training of piano talents and to offer them multiple opportunities to perform in concert. Read more...

We wish you a Happy New Piano Year with a list of highly recommended reading from Piano Street. These are the twelve most read, discussed or shared articles of 2017. Read more...

2018-04-20He usually wears a checkered shirt and socks without shoes when he performs, but George Winston is more than a slightly idiosyncratic, New Age pianist. He plays guitar and and harmonica equally well. Read more at rutlandherald.com

2018-04-20"The term 'Impressionism' is a crude label to apply to the music of Debussy, whose compositions, while often inspired by visual motifs, defy definition as they strive to capture the essence of reality rather than merely a vague sense of mood. Paul Roberts describes how Debussy used his ears and eyes to provoke a complex, fresh and imaginative response to the world through the medium of sound." Read more at rhinegold.co.uk

2018-04-21Not all piano competitions are created equal. Most of them, however, require their competitors to conform, at least slightly, to the "conventions of the day". Idiosyncrasies are discouraged. In Dublin, however, the eponymous International Piano Competition actively encourages its participants to be wholly themselves and focuses on programme building and the totality of the competitors' musicianship. Read more at irishtimes.com

2018-04-19Volker Bertelmann, known as Hauschka, has "taken his talents" to Sony. The prepared pianist is considered both innovative and grounded, which is a terrifically marketable combination, according to Sony. Read more at rhinegold.co.uk

2018-04-18Eileen Joyce didn't do things the "right" way, according to the "establishment." She wore exotic gowns to perform. She used lighting to highlight her beauty on stage. She also played the pants off of many of her male contemporaries, so they ostracized her, ostensibly because of her nontraditional methods. More likely, they were jealous of her talent. Read more at theaustralian.com.au

2018-04-18"After this month’s rounds in Berlin, Singapore and New York, the competition will return to Leeds in September. This is a much less punishing experience: In the past, 80 pianists flew into Leeds from across the world and played through the rounds and finals relentlessly, under pressure, for as long as three weeks." Read more at nytimes.com

2018-04-17Many things contribute to a piano's sound. Aside from its tuning, the piano's age, condition, and the manner in which it has been both played and kept up all have an effect on how it sounds. Some people, after having had a perfect tuning completed, are still dissatisfied with their pianos' sounds. Most of the time, this has nothing to do with the tuning and everything to do with everything else. Read more at pianodao.com

2018-04-16Beethoven overcame his deafness and composed some of the greatest music ever written. Nobuyuki Tsujii is blind, but he doesn't let that stop him being a terrific pianist. Instead of reading Braille music, the Japanese pianist listens over and over again to recordings to memorize the notes. Then, he adds his own interpretation. Read more at borneobulletin.com.bn