Classical Piano Music!

Pianist Claire Huangci, winner of the Geza Anda Competition 2018, just played in New York celebrating the launch of her new Rachmaninoff Preludes album on Berlin Classics. Like her complete Chopin Nocturnes album before that – for the same label – the complete Rachmaninoff 24 Preludes has been received with great acclaim internationally. Piano Street asked the ever touring pianist a few questions about her latest release. Read more...

What happens when innovative acoustical ideas come across a vintage broken piano? Well, Ukrainian musicians transformed it into a unique and completely analog hybrid of 20 different instruments that are each connected and controlled by the piano keys. Read more...

Igor Levit’s acclaimed album “Life” has attracted a lot of attention and its selected works have also been included in Levit’s recent recital programs worldwide. This is a profound, versatile and firm reaction to the death and loss of his best friend reflecting inner calm elaborating on an existential level. Read more...

We start the new year with a list of highly recommended reading from Piano Street. These are the 12 most read, discussed or shared articles of 2018. Read more...

The celebration of the holidays is not complete around NPR without the sounds of a jazz piano sprinkling joy and good cheer. This year’s intergenerational program of accomplished pianists reflects both the history of the music and its future. Read more...

As a collaborating partner, Piano Street is proud to present the first issue of ”The World of Piano Competitions”, a new magazine initiated by PIANIST Magazine (Netherlands and Germany) and its Editor-in-Chief Eric Schoones. Here we get a rich insight into the world of international piano competitions through the eyes of its producers and participants. Contributing Editors: Gustav Alink (Alink-Argerich Foundation), Stuart Isacoff, Patrick Jovell (Piano Street), Mario-Felix Vogt, KaJeng Wong. Piano Street is happy to share this first issue with our readers free of charge! Read more...

Sabine Liebner’s unfaltering decision to only play music to which she feels an inner affinity has led to her being primarily active as an interpreter of new music. She has premiered many works by contemporary composers and made important contributions performing and recording the music of 20th century composers like John Cage, Morton Feldman and Galina Ustvolskaya. For Liebner, music making is the solitary exploration of unknown terrain. She tries to listen to a score with no preconceptions, to discover its innate musical language. The results are often intriguing, and can sometimes even prove addictive, as in her recording of Stockhausen’s Klavierstücke I-XI. Read more...

A rare item that belonged to Glenn Gould has sold at auction in New York on December 5th for $100,000 US. The score of Bach’s Goldberg Variations contains the Canadian pianist’s detailed markings used while making his iconic 1981 recording of the piece. Read more...

2019-02-14Which are the 20 greatest pianists of all times? Impossible to answer perhaps but here classical-music.com offers their choices with accompanying film clips. Read more at classical-music.com

2019-02-13Buyers of the expensive Steinway pianos were told the instruments never lose their value. The Hatch Institute's investigation reveals disturbing details about the iconic company’s sales practices. Read more at thehatchinstitute.org

2019-02-13The New York Times has hailed Rabinovich's Haydn performances as "admirable interpretations, performed with a rich, full-blooded sound, singing lines and witty dexterity". In this podcast we learn about the pianist's thoughts on the 62 sonatas. Read more at gramophone.co.uk

2019-02-12Royal College of Music was the first London conservatory to rename its Masters in Piano Accompaniment. The new name: "Masters in Collaborative Piano". The driver, to highlight the central role of the pianist in collaborative music making and to give emphasis to the range of skills gained on the course. Read more at gramophone.co.uk

2019-02-11Unless upright pianos are regularly and rigorously serviced, they tend to wear out and have a lifespan of around 60 to 70 years. Read more at mercurynews.com

2019-02-10"At one point, the West Baden facility produced about 250 upright pianos and 25 grand pianos a day - amounting to 55,000 pianos in 1979." Read more at duboiscountyherald.com

2019-02-09"There is a kind of conservatism that sees all political questions as reducible to economics, with the free market as the ruling principle and the expansion of consumer choice as the only coherent political program. This way of looking at things can be taken a lot farther than at first sight appears." Read more at futuresymphony.org

2019-02-08Does the prominence of the composers have an influence on the liking of the pieces? And how do stylistically different introductory texts influence the assessment of the music? Read more at medicalxpress.com