the most amazing thing ever seen or heard

[BoliverAllmon]

What is the most amazing pianistic thing ever?

Some things that come to mind are the following:

Mozart writing a symphony at 4 or 6, either one is impressive.

Bach writing a contata one a week for 15+ years and never getting boring.

Kissin performing both Chopin's concertos back to back at 13.

any additions?

boliver

[eddie92099]

Firstly, Kissin was 12. I read yesterday that Lazar Berman started playing at the age of two!
Ed

[thracozaag]

Firstly, Kissin was 12. I read yesterday that Lazar Berman started playing at the age of two!
Ed

 Those chopin performances are incredible; too bad he doesn't play like that anymore....

[eddie92099]

Yes I have a rather good video of him at 16 playing Prokofiev, Liszt, Rachmaninov and Skriabin. I do actually quite like his playing now though (but only after seeing him do Pictures at an Exhibition live),
Ed

[allchopin]

Man, Eddie you are in the pianist ZONE- all these famous pianists are just coming righ to your doorstep.  How do you get to go to all of these great performances?

[eddie92099]

To quote Joey Tribbiani, "London, baby!",
Ed

[thracozaag]

To quote Joey Tribbiani, "London, baby!",
Ed

lol, good one.

[la_carrenio2003]

What is the most amazing pianistic thing ever?

Some things that come to mind are the following:

Mozart writing a symphony at 4 or 6, either one is impressive.

Bach writing a contata one a week for 15+ years and never getting boring.

Kissin performing both Chopin's concertos back to back at 13.

any additions?

boliver

- Richter learning Prokofieff's 7th sonata in 3 days

- Again Richter learning 2 concerti -1st Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakoff- in one week. And repeating Rachmaninoff's 1st for the same concert after not playing it for a long time...

[eddie92099]

I have just remembered the most amazing story. John Ogdon was once 'phoned in New York by London suggesting he step in for an indisposed pianist - Ogdon accepted but hadn't ever played the concerto before so he bought the score and learnt it from memory on the 'plane (without a keyboard) and played it the next day in London,
Ed

[eddie92099]

He also learnt the Bartok Concerti from memory in three weeks,
Ed

[Laurationg]

I once attended Rebecca Penneys' performance (professor from Eastman) at Chautauqua Music Camp in NY and in the middle of her performance, there was a blackout.  But she continued to play the piece (a Schubert sonata) perfectly as if nothing happened!!  The music sounded more magical in the midst of the dark...  

[Laurationg]

I know of an vocal accompanist in Brisbane (Rita Miles) who could transpose at sight.  Once she was asked to accompany in a recital and the singer started in the wrong key.  As if nothing happened, she picked up the key and accompanied perfectly as if it was meant to be played in that key!  Won't you call this amazing??

[BuyBuy]

Well,

Hoffman used to have an amazing ear and memory, so he would play as encores for his recitals tunes or unknown pieces that he happened to have heard the same morning...

[BoliverAllmon]

Here is a local amazing thing. There is an autistic person here at college who has perfect pitch. He can't remember a piece the next day, so he has someone play the piece for him, then he instantly memorizes the entire piece and the plays it back.

The other day he went to a party and when he introduced himself to the hostess, he commented that she had a frederickson a/c. The woman was astounded and said "Yes, I do. How did you know?" He said he could tell by the hum. He had such a good ear that he could tell the difference between units by the different hums.

boliver

[BoliverAllmon]

Oh and the transposing thing. Alot of people do that. My mom can do it. My friend can to a certain degree. transposing is one of the main things we work on in piano class.

boliver

[eddie92099]

Barenboim was playing a Beethoven concerto and the pedal broke midway through the first movement. Nevertheless, he continued and is legato fingerings carried him through - a lesson to us all. Also, Brahms was touring Europe with a violinist and got to one concert venue whose piano was very out of tune. He did not have the scores with him, and transposed up a semitone from memory in the actual concert,
Ed

[dinosaurtales]

What is the most amazing pianistic thing ever?
                           
                           Some things that come to mind are the following:
                           
                           Mozart writing a symphony at 4 or 6, either one is impressive.
                           
                           Bach writing a contata one a week for 15+ years and never getting boring.
                           
                           Kissin performing both Chopin's concertos back to back at 13.
                           
                           any additions?
                           

Yeah.  Me playing ANYTHING from start to finish without a flub!  Now that would be amazing!

[eddie92099]

Mozart writing a symphony at 4 or 6, either one is impressive.

Or Prokofiev writing an opera at 9!
   
                           

Kissin performing both Chopin's concertos back to back at 13.

This type of thing was commonplace in the 19th century.

Dmitri Sgorous recorded Rach 3 with the Berlin Philharmonic at 13 (in the 1980s I think).
Ed                            
                           
                           

[allchopin]

There is a lot to be said about Dmitris Sgouros.

I think Beethoven going deaf and writing some of his most 'romantic' music is a feat, even with knowledge of music theory.

I have to wonder about Mozart and Prokofiev (and other young prodigies) how much help they received writing their works at ages 4-10.  Were these purely derived of ingenuity or were they simply marionettes of their teacher's advice?  
I think I was fully potty trained by 4.

[TwinkleFingers]

I think I was fully potty trained by 4.  

maybe they had different priorities back then

[chopinetta]

do you think playing chopin's grande valse at age 5 is amazing? or hungarian rap #6 at age 9?

ahhh... here's one from math. a girl multiplying two 13-digit nos. and arriving at an accurate answer within 28 secs. that one is real.

ah, ok. fantasie-impromptu at age 6! but i don't know if someone ever did it...

i like this topic. it gives me an idea of what my future child should be doing in his/her early ages!!!

[A-Flat]

Most of thos prodigy kids end up having weird social problems dont they...

[chsmike2345]

hell, if the consequence of genius is social problems, bring them on

[BoliverAllmon]

It is true that many geniuses have a hard time socially. I know that it seems that people just dont think like I do and therefore misunderstand me and I am not a genius (at least I don't think so). I could just imagine being even farther from the norm.

boliver

[A-Flat]

well there is a difference between genius and prodigy isn't there?

[BoliverAllmon]

I would think that most child prodigies are genius. If they weren't they would be just like all the other children.

boliver

[Dave_2004_G]

ahhh... here's one from math. a girl multiplying two 13-digit nos. and arriving at an accurate answer within 28 secs. that one is real.

Were the numbers 1000000000000 and 1000000000000  

I could do that but I wouldn't know what the product was called :p

Dave

[eddie92099]

Were the numbers 1000000000000 and 1000000000000  

No. They were 0000000000000 and 0000000000000,
Ed

[dinosaurtales]

very funny.  Actually, is a kid prodigy necessarily a genius?  Do you guys know of any amazing child pianists who are savants (sp?)