Piano Street's Classical Piano News

While the 18th Chopin Competition in Warsaw is postponed until 2021, the Chopin Institute will not leave the piano world lot-less. Beginning October 1st the Institute will celebrate Chopin’s music and pianism through a series of piano masters’ recitals and chamber concerts by a wonderful lineup of some of the most outstanding pianists of the previous editions of the competition.

The Grand Competition Momentum

The cycle of ten piano recitals will be live streamed from the National Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw starting October 1 – which is the originally planned inauguration date of the Chopin Competition. This specific date is also the day of the International Music Day, a celebration founded by legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin back in 1975 when he was serving as President of the International Music Council.

Watch the live streams at Chopin Institute’s YouTube Channel

Streaming schedule:

Nelson Goerner (Critic’s award 1995) – 4 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Lukas Geniušas (Second Prize 2010) – 5 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Marc Laforêt (Second Prize 1985) – 6 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Yulianna Avdeeva (Winner 2010) – 7 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Philippe Giusianno (Top prize winner 1995) – 8 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Gabriela Montero (Third Prize 1995) – 12 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Olli Mustonen – 16 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Kate Liu (Third Prize 2015) – 18 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.
Kevin Kenner (Top prize winner 1990), Apollon Musagète Quartett – 19 Oct 2020, 17:30 p.m.

A detailed program is available here:
https://muzyka.nifc.pl/en/koncerty/przed-wielkim-konkursem

So, October 4 until October 19 we will hear Argentinian Nelson Goerner, who earned Critics’ Award 1995 and since then also functions as a frequent competition juror, Lukas Geniušas from Russia/Lithuania who earned Second Prize 2010 and later also was awarded a shared Second Prize in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow 2015, French Marc Laforêt, Second Prize 1985, was coached by Arthur Rubinstein a.o. and started his recording career with EMI back in the vinyl days, Russian Yulianna Avdeeva was the fourth woman to have won the competition in 2010 and displays a broad interest in the whole piano repertoire. French Philippe Giusiano earned Top Prize in 1995 when the jury resolved not to award the First Prize and has mainly engaged in works by Chopin and Rachmaninoff. The Third Prize that same year was earned by Venezuelan Gabriela Montero, who has emerged as a performer with outstanding and unique skills in improvisation. Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen is not a competition prize winner but known to international audiences through his highly individual and engaging performances and American Kate Liu, a Curtis Institute graduate who also earned the special prize for the best performance of Mazurkas. The cycle of concerts will finally be rounded up by the two Chopin Piano Concertos in chamber version – not known by everybody – interpreted by the American Kevin Kenner, Top Prize winner 1990 and Apollon Musagète Quartet and Slawomir Rozlach on double bass. This will be followed by a gala presentation of the ensemble’s new recording of these concertos. Kenner earlier took instruction from Leon Fleisher a.o. and functions as professor at Royal College of Music in London.

More on past competitions and prize winners of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw.
http://chopin2015.medici.tv/en/page/laureates

After extensive preparation and years of living with the piece, Lang Lang premiered J.S. Bach’s opus magna on March 1 at the Kurhaus Wiesbaden. In September his recording of the work will be released on DG.

Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations stand alone in the piano literature as a work of unique artistry and brilliance. Lang Lang first began exploring this masterpiece more than 20 years ago and presents this record as the outcome of a long personal and emotional journey. Marking a new stage in Lang Lang’s artistic development, it is the project of a lifetime. Alongside a studio recording is a contrasting performance, a single take from a recital in Leipzig’s iconic St Thomas Church, where Bach worked and is now buried.

“For the ones of you who would like to join me on my journey to the Goldberg Variations, we have created this little mini-series. This is the first episode, which documents my first ever concert I gave with this piece.”
— Lang Lang

Follow along behind the scenes during Lang Lang’s premiere of the work, his first solo recital in three years.

Lang Lang’s recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations will be released on 4 September 2020.

Digital piano score:

Read more:
deutschegrammophon.com: Lang Lang records Bach’s Monumental Goldberg Variations
udiscovermusic.com: Lang Lang Announces New Recording: Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’

Piano Day, an annual worldwide event founded by a group of likeminded people, takes place on the 88th day of the year – in 2020 it’s the 28th March – because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.

“Why does the world need a Piano Day? For many reasons. But mostly, because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener.” – Nils Frahm

Official website: pianoday.org

An exclusive broadcast from the Sydney Opera House

Introduced by Piano Day’s founder Nils Frahm, this is a celebration of the piano in all its forms with and exclusive broadcast featuring moving performances, unseen recordings and interviews.

Piano Day Playlist 2020 on Soundcloud

World Piano Day – Global Livestream

Deutsche Gramophon marks #WorldPianoDay March 28, 3pm CET, with an international virtual festival featuring performances by members of its family of artists, live-streamed on our FB and YouTube channel. The roster of stars includes Maria João Pires, Víkingur Ólafsson, Joep Beving, Rudolf Buchbinder, Seong-Jin Cho, Jan Lisiecki, Kit Armstrong, Simon Ghraichy, Daniil Trifonov, Evgeny Kissin – bringing people together through the power of music.

[Video not available]

A classic viral piano piece, “Dusting the Piano” has finally got a follow-up. While Dusting the Piano should be managable for players of ABRSM grade 1 and suitable for performances during less critical times, the new Coronavirus Etude is more complex (around ABRSM grade 5) and aimed to be more effective against viruses.

Which piece is most useful?

The effectiveness of the new Coronavirus Etude may be questioned since most of the effort probably does not remove, but just move the viruses and bacteria sideways. Most likely, a lot of it will just get stuck on the sides of the keys and “Dusting the Piano” may end up as the winner.

Viral spread

The Coronavirus Etude itelf appears to have gone viral, with dozens of performances already recorded and published in various social media. Check out the Instagram tag #coronavirusetude for some examples.
Here are some of the more notable interpretations so far. If you have recorded it, please post a link in the comments below!

Download sheet music: Coronavirus Etude

More advanced: Dichotomie

If you are into something even more advanced, check out Dichotomie, a piano piece by Esa-Pekka Salonen composed in the year 2000.
Here, pianist Aura Go plays the first movement, ‘Mécanisme’:

On a more serious note

While pandemics are no fun at all, these musical jokes remind us about the importance of hygiene when using shared instruments in lesson and practice spaces and may be justified. If you want to learn more about how to effectively clean your piano keys, please read our article:
“How to Keep Your Piano Keys Clean from Viruses?”

As a collaborating partner Piano Street is proud to present the third 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.

Click cover to download:

Contributing Editors: Mark Ainley, Gustav Alink (Alink-Argerich Foundation), Patrick Jovell (Piano Street), Rudy Tambuyser

Free download!

Piano Street is happy to share the third issue of WOPC with our readers free of charge: The-World-of-Piano-Competitions-issue-1-2020.pdf

Content

Gustav Alink reports
Paderewski Competition, Bydgoszcz
Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition, Paris
Bartók World Competition, Budapest
The International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn

Interviews
Claire Huangci & Gerrit Glaner on Paris Play-Direct Academy
Gilles Ledure, Queen Elisabeth Competition
A conductor’s view: Gilbert Varga
A technician’s view: Peter Head, Maene Piano’s
Rob Hilberink, Liszt Competition Utrecht
A teacher’s view: Rena Shereshevskaya
A director’s view: Adam Gatehouse

In Profile
International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition
Bechstein-Bruckner Competition
Concours International Piano Val de Travers-Neuchâtel
ARD International Music Competition
Santa Cecilia International Competition
The International Schubert-Competition Dortmund
International Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition

Behind the Scenes
Play it safe or commit to being personal?
Florian Riem, Interim Secretary General WFIMC
Virtual Reality at the Chopin Competition

Background

The piano enjoys a tremendous popularity worldwide and has the universal quality to be able to communicate through cultures, history and geographical borders. The value of piano competitions cannot be overestimated in terms of focus on the piano as an instrument and piano playing. The competition industry engages a multiplicity of concerns including hi-end piano manufacturing, media coverage and broadcast, repertoire spotlight and pedagogy, concert and lecture production and not least, career opportunity and exposure for laureates and non-laureates. All this contributes to a richer cultural life and can powerfully promote the aim we all share: to spread the joy and riches of the art of piano playing.

”Piano music, especially live, is incomparable and can be a great source of joy for players and listeners. We all should strive to allow as many people benefit from it as possible. For that, this edition of The World of Piano Competition is an excellent form of encouragement. I hope its message spreads widely! I wish everyone much joy reading it and, later on, attending a concert!”
— Guido Zimmermann, President Steinway & Sons Europe

THE WORLD OF PIANO COMPETITIONS
is published twice a year by PIANIST, as a part of the regular edition, and also worldwide as a separate magazine.

PIANIST (regular edition) is published four times a year in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands and Belgium.
www.pianist-magazin.de
www.pianistmagazine.nl