The International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg has announced it has discovered two previously unknown compositions written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “The Department of Research at the International Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg has identified two works, which have long been in the possession of the Foundation, as compositions of the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,” the foundation said in a recent statement, without […]

“Mitsuko Uchido is one of perhaps just a handful of classical pianists whose work can justifiably be mentioned alongside the great players of the past – Rachmaninov, Schnabel, Cortot, Michelangeli.” (ABC Radio National, Australia) This season, Uchida is artist-in-residence with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Her residency includes performances of Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Sir Simon Rattle, and a series of […]

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet took the Instrumental Award at this year’s BBC Music Awards for the third (out of four) volume of his complete Debussy piano music series on the Chandos label. What makes this disc special is not only Bavouzet’s exceptional playing, but the intelligent programming. From what could easily have sounded a “bits and pieces” micellany, Bavouzet has created a […]

Starting May 22, all performances will be streamed live eleven hours per day and then archived for “on-demand” viewing. http://www.cliburn.tv/ The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas. It was created by Fort Worth area teachers in honor of Van Cliburn, who had won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition four years prior with […]

The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), BBC Philharmonic and Manchester Camerata have joined forces to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn with a series of concerts and events. To promote the events a dedicated website has been created: http://www.haydntheinnovator.co.uk The RNCM Keyboard Festival (8 – 10 May) will feature all of Haydn’s keyboard sonatas. Graham […]

Pianist Stephen Hough’s blog at Telegraph: blogs.telegraph.co.uk/stephen_hough The Guardian said “The most perfect piano playing conceivable…” and The Washington Post “a virtuoso who begins where others leave off.” English pianist Stephen Hough has enjoyed a phenomenal recording career with over forty recordings, many of which have won Gramophone and Diapason awards and Time Magazine’s Classical CD of the Year. He […]

Researchers have discovered the manuscript of a hitherto unknown piano piece by German composer Robert Schumann. Experts speak of “a sensational discovery”. The twenty-four bar piece, named Ahnung, is not dated, but researches say it was written in 1838, the year in which Schumann also composed his famous Kinderszenen. The piece will have its premiere in September 2009, when it […]

LIMITED AVAILABILITY Available only until May 12, the Swedish Television offers a live HD performance of Sergei Rachmaninov´s third Piano Concerto with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lionel Bringuier as of February 20, 2009. Content: 0:00 Introduction (in Swedish) 1:10 Alex Wade introduces Rach 3 and talks to Jonathan Philips 9:44 Interview with Leif […]

Lukas Foss, an American pianist and composer, has died. He was 86. Foss also had a career as a conductor. His works include solo pieces for piano, choral and chamber music and many orchestral works in styles ranging from neo-classical to contemporary. Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin Aug. 15, 1922, he studied piano and music theory and composed music from […]

The list of famous left-handed pianists is a who’s who, from 20th-century legends Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein and Glenn Gould to today’s keyboard masters Daniel Barenboim, Radu Lupu, Leif Ove Andsnes, Steven Blier, Richard Goode, Helene Grimaud … and many more. Pianist Russell Young, director of Kennesaw State University’s opera and music theater program, believes being left-handed is an advantage […]

Gloria Cheng, recent Grammy winner of the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra) for “Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky and Lutoslawski” talks to Patrick Jovell, Piano Street (proud UCLA alum.). Patrick: Congratulations on your Grammy award! Is it possible to know what this will mean to you and your life? Gloria: I doubt that the award will change my life, […]

A much longed-for documentation of the pianist and piano pedagogue Hans Leygraf’s methodology is now to be found on two DVDs (a Finkernagel & Lück production 2006, 366 minutes approx. Region code: 0). These recordings, made among a selected few of his students in Salzburg, extends from the appropriate way of touching the keys to interpretation of the music as […]