Ali Wood

[cziffra]

as promised, a thread about the...ummm...some form of positive description...herself.

check out www.aliwood.com, make sure you watch both the videos and hear her spectacular rendition of chopsticks and the entertainer, and then post what you think of her here.

[schnabels_grandson]

Hearing and seeing this makes me wonder how people like this get jobs.  It is kind of annoying that so many real, legitimate pianists with extensive repertoire and talent will never get a record contract, much less a Las Vegas show.  Also she uses way too much pedal, especially when she's playing bass chords.  It makes it all seem to run together.  This is just another example of someone making a mockery of classical music.  Perhaps this is too harsh?  Oh well, who cares?

[liszmaninopin]

I have to agree that there are thousands of pianists out there who could create a better record than what she is playing.  I wouldn't be suprised if a fair number of the pianists on this forum could.

[cziffra]

although, admittedly, she has been marketed very well.  if it weren't for that, she'd be as starving as an ethiopian.

although you have to wonder what the target audience is when her album is called "famous stuff."  what were the alternatives?  "some classic sh*t" or "nice little tunes for grandma?"

[liszmaninopin]

I just suffered through each of the mp3 files in turn.  Her playing sounds like a midi file!  I'd hate to hear how Tchaikovsky's Concerto or the Moonlight Sonata would be butchered into some cheap pop tune.  Read the section called "The Las Vegas Show."  Apparently a critic called her a giant among pianists.  I don't know about you, but just a while ago I was listening to Horowitz playing Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto.  There was a giant among pianists, not this midi stuff.

[piglet]

Ali Wood and...
Carnegie Hall?
Practicing eight hours every day from age 11?

[thracozaag]

as promised, a thread about the...ummm...some form of positive description...herself.

check out www.aliwood.com, make sure you watch both the videos and hear her spectacular rendition of chopsticks and the entertainer, and then post what you think of her here.

 Thanks for the laugh, I needed that.....

[comme_le_vent]

Ali Wood - Incredible

Her career reads like a page from the Guiness Book of World Records or "Ripley's" Believe It or Not.

... consisted of three parts, and half of the selections would have intimidated even a seasoned virtuoso twice her age........................................

did she write this all herself? i have to wonder

[comme_le_vent]

What do you think of when you hear the term concert pianist?

If it's a stereotypical image of stuffy classical music played by some person of indeterminable age then throw that picture out the window right now!

Welcome to the new age of classical music via the youthful freshness of Ali Wood.................

who else does this enrage?
and what the hell do they mean by 'stuffy' classical music?

[comme_le_vent]

how did you hear about her gyorgy?

[Noah]

She's not even hot...

[liszmaninopin]

comme_le_vent, I take it that you are being highly sarcastic.  For one who enjoys Alkan, and powerful music played with energy, I find it hard to believe that you would call Ms. Wood a new age in classical music.  Honestly, it sounds like she's playing on an electric keyboard; the mp3 files sound like the cheesy music you find on some webpages.  I fail to see how they qualify as an "electrifying" experience.

[comme_le_vent]

lol, the words before the line of dots.......................................... were quotes from the site, and they are NOT my opinions, the words AFTER the ...............were my words and opinions, sorry for the confusion, and somehow i feel sorry for ali. poor ali

[liszmaninopin]

It's funny, reading the "destined for greatness" "sensational" "dazzling" and all those other little phrases.  Honestly, I know at least a dozen other pianists who could play everything she does; and they don't tour the continents.  I suppose life isn't always fair.

[eddie92099]

if it weren't for that, she'd be as starving as an ethiopian

Please don't revert to racist remarks,
Ed

[liszmaninopin]

I'm just curious Ed, but did you listen to those mp3 files?  I'm curious to hear what you think of them.

[eddie92099]

I have not listened to them. I spared myself,
Ed

[comme_le_vent]

like a moth to the flame i was attracted to her recordings, and just like the moth - it fried my brains out.

[liszmaninopin]

All these Maksim and Ali Wood types who are trying to bring young people to classical music are going about the wrong way.  I don't know if I want to hear works of genius being corrupted to satisfy the masses.

[schnabels_grandson]

Yeah, if you can't appreciate the music as it is, then maybe it's not for you.  I heard maksim's "rendition" of the 18th variation.  I almost vomited.  It sounded so much like cheesy 80's elevator music.

[nad]

I have not listened to them. I spared myself,
Ed

Very sensible   I did not spare myself and i'm regretting it....  

[liszmaninopin]

I didn't spare myself, but then again, I'm not regretting it, either.  It is a really good laugh to hear cheesy electronic music with a midi-sounding piano while reading about an electrifying performance by a giant amont pianists.  Really, I am still laughing.

[Noah]

It sounded so much like cheesy 80's elevator music.

There's different periods of elevator music ?

[schnabels_grandson]

maybe there are, but I meant it sounded like elevator music with an 80's twist.

[liszmaninopin]

I don't think I've ever been in an elevator that played music; they're all silent and cell-like nowadays, I guess.

[DAwud7]

I havent been too the forum in a while and now there is all this stuff about Ali wood. I just dont cee what everyone was talking about this girl was hot. uh uh

[dj]

wow, finally, a professional pianist that im better than......do u think i could be rich and famous if i wore a fluffy white dress and and played musically worthless pieces as "energetically" as possible (with completely unnecessary glissandi of course)?

[Jemmers]

The funniest part, I'd say, is that despite all the high production, she sounds uncannily like a midi. Her piano (or rather, she) seems capable of producing only one sound from the piano, which isn't 100% bad if she intends on concentrating on a particular composer or period, but unfortunately that sound goes like this-- CLANK. I'm quite certain no composer ever wrote music to fit that particular sound.
And of course, she is capable of only one emotion on the piano-- "energy".

[liszmaninopin]

dj, I don't know about the fluffy dress part, but I would presume if you want a real chance at piano stardom, you probably will want to aim your sights a tad higher than Ms. Wood.  Actually, though, do pianists ever get really rich?  The guys who run the cd companies, they get rich, and they don't even have to perform.

To tell you the truth, I didn't even find energy in her playing.  It all sounded like some synthesized stuff somebody could create on a computer program.

[eddie92099]

CLANK. I'm quite certain no composer ever wrote music to fit that particular sound.

What about Ginastera's "Danza del Clanky Clank"?
Ed

[comme_le_vent]

horowitz was a rich sun of a pregnant dog

[liszmaninopin]

Excuse me, but where did that come from?  Despite whatever else he may be, to me he was a great pianist; my favorite actually. (although Rubinstein is close here)

[liszmaninopin]

I checked the classical archives section of her site and apparently she does do some real piano music.  How well it's done, however, I don't know.  Come to think of it, you'd think that they'd want to give their best clips to be heard free on the site; to give the best possible impression.  However, if the "Bumble Boogey" or whatever it is is a good impression, I don't know what a bad impression would be.

[Antnee]

I Guess She was just what people were looking for...
I mean her recordings aren't that special, to someone with some experience anyway, but I guess what big corporations were looking for were a decent appearance and lots of energy. Things that would inevitably make lots of $money$. Whatever happened to the music?!?!? Why, why, why,...
:-/ :-/

[liszmaninopin]

Nowadays, it's all about the money; and I don't think that classical music is really big money.

[allchopin]

All of you forum-goers are way too skeptical of this pianist- too much for your own good.  It is irritating to hear what you have to say when you yourselves do not even have anything to back it up with.  I think that a girl in her early 20's touring the world and giving well-loved concerts is well on her way to success, and has probably accomplished more than you know.  I'm not sure on what basis you stake your claims (besides a couple short video clips) but I was personally impressed with her repertoire (not to mention those octaves!) and her publicity at such a young age.  Please, if you plan to pick on someone, don't choose a person more talented than yourself.

[cziffra]

god i hope that was a joke

sorry about the ethiopian comment guys, that was out of line

i have had the...privelage?...of seeing ms wood in concert and it wasn't impressive.  she does nothing but programmes of "favourites-" so all of those overplayed pieces you wish people would move on from, she plays nothing else, basically.  she started with PACHALBELS CANON.

she didn't get any better, moving on to a terrible rondo alla turka (some sections were repeated three times for no real reason) un sospiro (in which, at the great climax of the piece, she forgot what chords to play) a short "selection" from the grieg concerto, that sounded more like a pop song, that godawful bumbleboogie, and i honestly can't remember anything else she played.  

my general reaction was, "that's pretty good...for a trained circus monkey."

i later was able to meet her manager, and fortunately for ali woods sake, i actually think he is to blame for her awfulness.  the programs and the "light shows" and the general "classical musicians are stuffy lets make it fun, the only things people will listen to are things they've heard before" attitude is all him, and she follows along because she's young and wants to defer to his experience in the industry.  she DOES have talent, and she actually has practiced quite a lot- it's all being squandered under the direction of an idiot who thinks only in marketing terms- which he's kindof good at really, if you look at her successes- to the detriment of any musical aspect of anything.  

i actually see the whole affair as a case of the exploitation of the well-intentioned.  it's almost child cruelty- he made her practice 8 hours a day since she was 15...when she was in school that meant wake up at 4, practice till 7- school, practice at lunch time, home, practice till 11.  she did this because she was being a diligent student, but how can anyone develop musically under this regime?

[comme_le_vent]

the ethiopian comment was hilarious, ethiopians are stereotypically starving and skinny, just like americans are stereotypically lard asses. and all australians are suntanned surf dudes. isnt it bleedin obvious?

and do you realise cziffra, that starting and perpetuationing this thread, is acting like a promotional device for ali wood, is that what you really what?
well do ya, punk?

[chopiabin]

If Maksim and Wood had a child, they would birth the antichrist and the earth would be doomed forever .

[Jemmers]

Actually, i completely appreciate her trying to boogie-ise the flight of the bumblebee. It's just that I feel she completely chose the wrong piece. Her loss, though.

[liszmaninopin]

Perhaps I have been a bit harsh; when I looked at her "classical archives" section (actually, I mentioned this above) I was pleasantly suprised to see that she does play real music.  But, those mp3 clicks of the pop pieces I still found amusing.

[chopiabin]

It's just sad that she is a musical prostitute. She has to sell herself with pieces of little or no value like Chopsticks.

[allchopin]

It's just sad that she is a musical prostitute. She has to sell herself with pieces of little or no value like Chopsticks.

Define a music prostitue, as I'm sure we are all dying to know... I guess anyone who sells their music is one then?
Liberace was a great pianist who played Chopsticks and I haven't seen any threads about him.

Though her website does seem a little bit amateur to me, and her videos are almost of infantile creation, she has talent that goes undeserved because listeners are empty-minded.  Just because someone adds a flashy show of lights doesn't mean the music is any less appealing- she's just trying to entertain the majority of today's people (this is probably why she has her more shallow-but-impressive recordings on her website right up front).  I wonder how she would do in a concert to a more piano-devout crowd.

[cziffra]

i don't understand the flashy light thing- it's meant to appeal to the younger generation, but it's so dodgy they'll be more repeled.  whether or not there are lights is irrelevent to most young people, if it's classical, they think it's bad, so you may as well play it without the lights...they just won't be attracted by them.  

[liszmaninopin]

Perhaps she has talent that I haven't heard, but I am just saying that based on what I heard on her site, I wasn't too impressed.  It wasn't just Chopstix either.  The "giant among pianists" with a repertoire that would "indimidate" a virtuoso, and the reference describing traditional concert artists as stuffy; these all combined with seemingly mediocre playing (based on what I've heard) to seem funny to me.

[Chitch]

"Ali Wood - Incredible"

I'll be frank, spare me the bullshit.

[allchopin]

Perhaps she has talent that I haven't heard, but I am just saying that based on what I heard on her site, I wasn't too impressed.  It wasn't just Chopstix either.  The "giant among pianists" with a repertoire that would "indimidate" a virtuoso, and the reference describing traditional concert artists as stuffy; these all combined with seemingly mediocre playing (based on what I've heard) to seem funny to me.

Eh, all I know is she is laughing (with Maksim) all the way to the bank.

[schnabels_grandson]

Define a music prostitue, as I'm sure we are all dying to know... I guess anyone who sells their music is one then?
Liberace was a great pianist who played Chopsticks and I haven't seen any threads about him.

No, an artist with dignity is not a prostitute, but someone who is willing to cheapen art for money is.  Liberace didn't become popular by mutilating music to appeal to the crowd.  

[Jemmers]

I have come to agree with allchopin. His points are altogether valid.

In fact, if what has been said on this thread (about her image being a result of her manager), then I have to withdraw any criticism of her.

The fact is that she is not "selling out". This was stuff that was forced upon her since she was rather young. That she still follows with it is undeniable, but I think in the end we have to look at it this way-- it is a Vegas show, and should be marketed and produced as one.

[chopiabin]

I highly doubt that Chopin would appreciate having his music "popularized" with silly light shows. Chopin hated gaudiness and found it repellent. The truth of the matter is that if she were really good, then she would not need the light shows.

If she were playing Scriabin's Prometheus:The Poem of Fire, in which there is a written "light score," then I would agree with it, but Chopin would despise it. This goes for Maksim as well.