Classical Piano Music!

“The Yellow Label”, Deutsche Grammophon celebrates its 120th anniversary this year with events all around the globe. Today, November 6, pianist Lang Lang performs Mozart’s C Minor Concerto in a live streamed gala concert in the Berlin Philharmonie. Read more...

For anyone seeking the quintessential Chopin, his twenty-one Nocturnes are not only a study of the seal of compositional genius but also defines the complex and refined qualities of the composer’s unique understanding of the piano during a lifetime. Dumont’s clear understanding of simplicity and complexity this AVEA album (2017) will offer an appealing and intriguing experience for any listener. Read more...

Piano Street‘s David Wärn was present in Cremona and interviews will follow on pianostreet.com with, among others, Boris Berman — about the new multimedia edition of his Notes from the Pianist’s Bench — and Jura Margulis, about his collaboration with Steingraeber & Söhne, reinventing the sordino pedal and incorporating it into a modern grand piano. Read more...

Named the Mount Everest of piano concertos, Rachmaninoff’s third has enjoyed an increasing popularity among performers, piano competition contestants and in concert halls during the last twenty years. Also among recording labels where the long list of recordings now is expanded by contributions by a younger generation of top artists. Read more...

n the new edition of the Leeds International Piano Competition we have now enjoyed the diversity of the ten Semi-Finalists. Just in “the middle of the battle” Piano Street’s Patrick Jovell had the chance to ask the competition’s Co-Artistic Director, Adam Gatehouse a few questions. Read more...

Murray Perahia has spent a lot of time with Beethoven throughout his long and successful career. Still, it was only when he passed the 70-year mark that he felt ready to perform and record the “Hammerklavier” — a sonata which is something of the ultimate test of a pianist’s technique, stamina, and musical understanding. Read more...

The event started on 2 September, and thirty pianists aged 18 to 34 have played in the first round. They are playing on pianos from the collections of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute (Erards, Pleyels, and Broadwoods from the mid 19th century), as well as originals and copies of period instruments brought in by European restorers and collectors. Read more...

An ardent explorer of contemporary repertoire, Italian pianist Enrico Pompili has put the spotlight on for example Niccolò Castiglioni on the Brilliant label, Alberto Ginastera’s complete piano works, and works by Alberto Bonera. Read more...

2018-11-19"South Korea has a bright future because the audience is sophisticated. It's also young - younger than in Europe. I'm not quite sure how it’s happened, but young people have started to listen to live classical music - this is a good sign for the South Korean music scene." Read more at scmp.com

2018-11-18Mozart borrowed from Haydn; Beethoven borrowed from Mozart; Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Brahms, in turn, all borrowed from Beethoven; Mahler borrowed from Brahms; and the list goes on and on. Read more at abovethelaw.com

2018-11-17The Concert Grand Piano, one of the most complex instruments of all time, is now in Lego form. Built entirely from 2798 authentic LEGO bricks, it accurately captures the mechanical details of a real piano. Read more at classicfm.com

2018-11-16The First World War showed no mercy to artists. Many died or returned injured like the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein. He lost his right arm on the battlefield. Maurice Ravel composed a concerto for him - marvellously interpreted by the charismatic pianist Yuja Wang. Read more at euronews.com

2018-11-15"Chaplin's art transcends time. In fact, there are many moments when he looks out of the screen, across time, and looks directly at you and laughs at what has just transpired." Read more at psu.edu

2018-11-14The musical instrument you play, or played as a child, likely has a big impact on how you perceive music every day. Read more at cogneurosociety.org

2018-11-13In December 2018 Bonhams in New York is auctioning the sheet music that Glenn Gould used to record the Goldberg Variations. The music contains the pianist's detailed annotations and markings and is expected to fetch between USD 100,000 and 150,000. Read more at nytimes.com

2018-11-12"I think that in the UK Classical Music is sometimes difficult for people to understand, whereas in many other countries, Russia especially, it is more a part of everyday life. The education system in the UK doesn't really help either." Read more at crosseyedpianist.com