Classical Piano Music!

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...

Audiences can now enjoy the First Round performances of the 24 competitors who were selected from among 68 First Round pianists to go through to the next round in Leeds in September. Their progress can then be followed through 8 days of free live webcasts of the final rounds in Leeds between 6 to 15 September. Read more...

The new 2019 & 2020 piano syllabus along with Piano Exam Pieces (grades 1-8) is released and promises 100% refreshed repertoire. Read more...

Zlata Chochieva is a unique pianist of the highest calibre. From Salzburg, where she lives and teaches at the Mozarteum, she enchants music-lovers all over the world with her exceptional artistry, combining natural musical expression with outstanding and self-evident technical ability. Read more...

Poised with a contemporary air and pure timeless beauty, the creations of piano bench designer and maker Mario Koch were conspicuously present at the Frankfurt Musikmesse 2018. Under the trademark MAKONI visitors were given a chance to indulge in a different world of the piano’s best friend and companion; the piano bench. Read more...

2018-09-18Alexandra Dariescu is about to depart on an extensive tour of Europe. She is going to be playing a piano rendition of "The Nutcracker", which is not, in and of itself, unusual. Her performance is unusual, however, because it includes not only a single dancer but also animated forms. The performance uses more than 35,000 hand-drawn animation images and is designed not to overshadow the piano. Read more at rhinegold.co.uk

2018-09-16Lang Lang isn't just a wizard of technique, a calmed-down performer humbled by injury, or just a plain, old out-of-this-world virtuoso at the piano. He's also quite a looker, and he holds his own in the world of fashion. Read more at straitstimes.com

2018-09-18Lu's performance of Beethoven's fourth piano concerto secured him the top place and also the Halle orchestra prize. Read more at pianistmagazine.com

2018-09-17Sir Laurence Olivier famously barfed every time before going on because of crippling stage fright, and he was one of the greatest actors in living memory. Paula Bobb didn't barf, but she suffered just as painfully from stage fright. Her solution is a form of acupuncture that doesn't quite cure her anxiety. It does, however, quell her anxiety about her anxiety, which makes all the difference. Read more at wxxinews.org

2018-09-15Joyce Yang has the gift of synesthesia. She sees colors when she hears music. The visual images are striking, such as seeing royal velvet red when she hears the key of E-flat Major. Three high-school students, inspired by Ms. Yang, produced their own project based on synesthesia. Read more at ohio.com

2018-09-14Asiya Korepanova maintains that many of the world's greatest performers did things that composers never intended. Thereafter, their interpretations became "the standard" while what the composers wanted was forgotten. She strives to remain as true to the original intent of the composers as much as possible. Read more at theepochtimes.com/

2018-09-13"Our educational vocation is unique in the world. The Yamaha Music foundation was born in 1966, in Japan, with the aim to promote and spread music education. We arrived in Europe in 1990, and since then we have invested a million Euros in scholarships for young students." Read more at cremonamusica.com

2018-09-12Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was largely self-taught, and he began those studies while a midshipman training for the Russian navy. While in the navy, he heard Russian folk songs and songs from other cultures, including America, and incorporated them into his music. Until his later years, he was never fully confident in his abilities. He suffered from composer's block often. After one such episode, he emerged having composed a piano concerto in the key of C-sharp minor. Read more at nytimes.com