Condoleeza Rice, a great pianist?

[sevencircles]

Sorry if I spelled her name wrong I´m from Sweden.

Is the foreign minister of America also a great pianist, or is it just a rumour?

[xvimbi]

When asked about who her favourite composer was, she asnwered "Brahms, because he builds up this incredible tension, and then does not resolve it". Apparently, she has made that her political mantra

[pianohopper]

nndb.com reports that she had "mastered the piano at the age of three," as her mom was a piano teacher, and they wanted her to be a concert pianist --- thus the name, a combination of Italian con dolcezza, to play sweetly. 

She was going to major in piano performance in college but switched her major to political science (Dr. Condoleeza Rice!).  Impressive, she enrolled at U of Denver when she was 15, having skipped grades 1-7.  This might have something to do with her uncertainty?

But then she sounds like a genius.  (this reflects in no way my political opinions.    )

[prometheus]

She mastered piano at the age of three? Does that mean she played Rach 3 at age three?

I would take all of this with losts of grains of salt. 'The Pianoman' was also supposed to be a 'incredible virtuoso'. But he really couldn't play at all.

[musik_man]

I heard of her playing a Brahms Cello Sonata with Yo Yo Ma.

[bernhard]

If Bush is bringing democracy to Iraq, then it logically follows that Condoleza had mastered the piano at 3 and was playing Rach 3 at 3 and a half.

[prometheus]

Since we are on the topic, have you guys heard about Kim Jong Il? He apperently is a great musician and composer. He has written several operas and symphonies.

[keys]

you  mean the leader of North Korea? Isn't he insane? Seriously. And his dad trained under Joseph Stalin.

[rob47]

Since we are on the topic, have you guys heard about Kim Jong Il? He apperently is a great musician and composer. He has written several operas and symphonies.

He has a great singing voice:

"I'm shro ronrey..."

[llamaman]

nndb.com reports that she had "mastered the piano at the age of three," as her mom was a piano teacher, and they wanted her to be a concert pianist --- thus the name, a combination of Italian con dolcezza, to play sweetly. 

She was going to major in piano performance in college but switched her major to political science (Dr. Condoleeza Rice!).  Impressive, she enrolled at U of Denver when she was 15, having skipped grades 1-7.  This might have something to do with her uncertainty?

But then she sounds like a genius.  (this reflects in no way my political opinions.    )

And I'm the Queen of England 

[bernhard]

Since we are on the topic, have you guys heard about Kim Jong Il? He apperently is a great musician and composer. He has written several operas and symphonies.

Being insane and a cruel dictator, in principle should not impede one to be a great musician/composer.

Gesualdo is such and example (he was a renaissance prince who ruled over a small state, murdered his wife and got away with it, and wrote some truly sublime music)

Schumann was not a dictator or murderer (as far as we know), but was clinically insane.

Most famous composers were at the most charitable “eccentric”.

It seems to me that Kim Jong’s music should be judged on musical grounds, not personality or political ones.

So is he any good? Has any critic survived to tell the tale?

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[prometheus]

Welll, I thought someone would get the joke, at least Bernard.

N-Korean propaganda elevate him to superhuman level. I have been looking for a complete list of things they claim he did but I can't find anything. Walking over water and flying barely missed the list(the latter probably because of his fear of flying). Remember his father was supposed to be immortal. He probably saved the whole world from destruction by the US.

He is also supposed to be a chess grandmaster. No need for subtlety...

There is also this story they tell children that he as a child gave away his boots to one of his classmates while there was quite some snow. And he was born on a mountain and on his birthday miracles are supposed to happen there. There are probably 100 people buzy making up stories like these every day.

Yeah, Kim Jong Li, has a bad case of 'son-of-a-dictator'-syndrome. But thats not that bad, North Korea is a totally bizarre country.

Point is, the fact that the US media claim 'Conzi' is a great pianist doesn't say much. But since she majored piano she probably can play.


About dictators creating art. This has some history. Hitler as a painter. Stalin and Mao as poets. Hussain as a novelist. There's probably some more and it probably goes down all the way of history.
And Kim Jong Li is probably not one of them and if he is we will never know for sure. If his stuff is as bad as Hussains novels are rumered to be they will probably hide it away in a very good place.

[pianohopper]

Kim Jong Il is also supposedly the "world's greatest golfer."  According to the Pyongyang (I think that's the capital of N. Korea) - newspaper (which is controlled by him), he regularly shoots 3 holes in ones in a round and scores in the 50s. 

[prometheus]

Yeah, I think I remember that one now.

[orlandopiano]

If you do the link below, and click on the picture of Condoleezza stepping out of the plane, you will get a short clip. A few seconds into it shows her talking to conservatory students and maybe about 1 second of her playing piano.

https://msnbc.msn.com/id/6948654

[kelly_kelly]

If Bush is bringing democracy to Iraq, then it logically follows that Condoleza had mastered the piano at 3 and was playing Rach 3 at 3 and a half.

My feelings exactly. Sometimes I feel so ashamed of my country...

[6ft 4]

From https://www.scaruffi.com/:


"(June 2005) Condoleeza Rice, prophet. "For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in the Middle East, and we achieved neither". Thus spoke Condoleeza Rice, USA secretary of state in 2005. Her words sound like a scathing indictment of the presidents of the past, of the pragmatic policies of the Cold War era. Rice may go down in history as the first politician since Gandhi to deserve a place of honor among the prophets of world peace. It took a woman, and a black woman, to do what so many white men had failed to do in the USA.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved."

[lisztener]

So...  is she a great pianist..?   I didn't find a clear answer   

[ramseytheii]

From https://www.scaruffi.com/:


"(June 2005) Condoleeza Rice, prophet. "For 60 years, my country, the United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in the Middle East, and we achieved neither". Thus spoke Condoleeza Rice, USA secretary of state in 2005. Her words sound like a scathing indictment of the presidents of the past, of the pragmatic policies of the Cold War era. Rice may go down in history as the first politician since Gandhi to deserve a place of honor among the prophets of world peace. It took a woman, and a black woman, to do what so many white men had failed to do in the USA.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved."

I can find from other sources an equally eloquent quote showing the Secretary of State's hypocrisy and her opposition to democracy in the Middle East, and her lack of concern for peace or war there.  Can we please keep the piano forum apolitical, and if we must discuss heads of state, please let us talk about their piano skills or lack thereof.

Walter Ramsey

[dinosaurtales]

So...  is she a great pianist..?   I didn't find a clear answer   

It's hard to tell without hearing her myself.  She apparently majored in piano performance and played most of her life, so she's likely to be pretty good.  Especially for someone with a totally different kind of career!