Greatest virtuoso here on Piano Street

[liszt-essence]

Who?

[tradge]

Oh come on, that's a seriously ridiculous question!

[rach n bach]

Koji and Wolfi.

Those are my favorites.

[thalbergmad]

hmm, methinks this has been done a few times before.

Pianistimo and imbetter.

Thal

[rach n bach]

Along with thal. 

[etudes]

Rami Bar-Niv

oops...seriously speaking
MTS,Koji,Marik

[ganymed]

hmmmm maybe its etudes 

[ronde_des_sylphes]

His Liszt sonata was very good, but, overall, and restricting myself to active posters, I'd say Koji and Marik.

[pianowolfi]

Koji and Wolfi.

Those are my favorites.

Thank you rocky this is very nice  

Well the first question is what is the difference between virtuoso and pianist? pretty tough to answer. Virtus= virtue, goodness. So there are for sure many here I'd like to mention....But I won't. Because there is still a difference between "favorite" and "best" which I can't decide at the moment I think a lot of people know from my posts and comments who my favorites are. I can't say who is "best". I doubt that this is possible at all. After all...

[pianistimo]

someday i will be a virtuoso.  right now - i am an amateur - but is there such a thing as a wanna be virtuoso amateur.  you know - like the person  who won this amateur piano competition and is playing 2 hours of music at the van cliburn hall this weekend?  i think it's video taped - and i'll try to get the video here when my hubby is off the other computer. 

time is always of the essence.  sometimes i lose interest and then go back a day or so later and have to relearn what i had learned.  but, it's a neverending thing.  piano will always be there.  facepainting will not.  today i face painted about 20 children's faces.  pirate ships, skull and crossbones, teddy bears, swords and skulls, pirate ships, balloons, strawberries, and rainbows.  interacting with kids makes you learn about freeness in playing the piano.  they don't limit anything.  if it looks halfway decent - it is whatever you say it is.  why can't piano be like that.  if it sounds halfway decent - it is.  (waiting for the sound of thunderous applause).

btw, i think thalbergmad probably plays pretty well too.  it would be fun to just have an amateur pianostreet recital.  not a competition - but more a self proclaimed place in the recital program.  you know how students automatically know who's going first, middle, and last.  probably based upon the repertoire chosen - although it might result in disaster for some of us - if we choose really hard rep and then just play three pages.  but, you never know - the motivation to play in front of others is better than just learning for one's self.

[retrouvailles]

ozzy is the greatest virtuoso. Just listen to his Messiaen!

[jakev2.0]

in no order:

Marik, Koji, Electrafingers, Shoenberg3, e60m5, etudes, Kassaa

[mephisto]

And Jonathan Powell

[thalbergmad]

Indeed, forgot about him.

[jas]

Marik, Koji, Electrafingers, Shoenberg3, e60m5, etudes, Kassaa

Do any of these people still post, though? Haven't seen posts from any of them but Kassaa in a while.

[Kassaa]

Do any of these people still post, though? Haven't seen posts from any of them but Kassaa in a while.

O_o you prolly don't like me o_O

[pianistimo]

how to register to see this amateur pianist - michael hawley - online: 
https://reflectweb.reflectsystems.com/getContent.aspx?WCID=539aef12-ff70-4e30-87b5-6fbd0b966913

[pianistimo]

slight pedal delays and leaning to one side or another - and/or hands leaning  - but anyways - he's pretty sure of himself - and that's what counts on these things to the majority of the audience.  i liked what he said about a house becoming a home when it has a piano in it. 

what is nice is that amateurs have a chance at their own spotlights if they decide they want to go further.  you just make your own gigs.  small though they may be.  this guy - i feel has potential to go much further.  if i had some advice for him - it would be not to put so much of the body into playing (as leaning to one side or other won't give him any more bass effect than what he already has in his hands).  also, it might hurt his back later.  also, i think he can sit back just slightly further and lean back more.

surprisingly - little things like this make amateurs very hard to distinguish from professionals.  i mean - if you happen to get through the entire piece and it sounds halfway good - you've just fooled 101 people.  unless, of course, you have to stick with the title 'amateur.'  that part i never wanted.  always wanted the flexibility later so - i kind of knifed the idea.

[jas]

O_o you prolly don't like me o_O

*Pets* Of course we do, got no reason not to. That I'm aware of.

[retrouvailles]

Indeed, Jonathan Powell is the greatest here. A bit of an unfair advantage, but still...

[quasimodo]

Would be absurd to do kind of a ranking. Apart from those already mentionned, Josh Hillman (jlh) is doing great too.

[dnephi]

RDS isn't half bad, but koji and MTS are probably the best here.

[jlh]

Indeed, Jonathan Powell is the greatest here. A bit of an unfair advantage, but still...

unfair advantage? how so? he had to learn to play just like the rest of us... 

[invictious]

Koji

Actually, me
I was a prodigy. I learned Fantaisie Impromptu before I even started learning piano.




I wish.

[elevateme_returns]

I was a prodigy. I learned Fantaisie Impromptu before I even started learning piano.

lol. we cant all be asian

[pet]

I like Pianistimo, because she records the pieces that she is learning as she is learning it, and does not wait until she can play them perfectly.  I can easily keep track of her improvement.  She's very good.

Pianistimo, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you been playing, and when do you find time to practice?  I tried to find the answer to my questions by reading some of the responses to other threads, but all I could find out about you was that you were female, and you are married with kids, and correct me if I'm wrong, by the previous response, are you a teacher?

I seem to be always pressed for time to practice, and then I hear your recordings and how well you have improved and I say to myself, where does she find time to practice with everything else that is going on?

[pianistimo]

pet, you are exactly the kind of motivation i need right now.  the last few weeks of school has been terrible to my practice.  but, the children are happy.  they go off swimming or doing their stuff - and i'm with them thinking 'i could be practicing.'  but, not for very long.  just for a second or so.  (thinking this).

you see...noone in my house cares if i practice or don't practice.  they pretend to notice - or occasionally look my way.  even my parents wouldn't care if the piano ended up in a trash can.  of course, they don't say it.  but, the thing is - around here #1 dinner.  tehy are always worried if dinner is going to be ready.  #2 socks - that there are some socks hidden somewhere  #3 towels.  as long as these three things are in supply - i have time to practice.  but, the problem is - i can't find the socks or the towels sometimes.  and, occasionally - i don't know what's for dinner - or even if there is any remote idea if dinner will be served.  these are the times i am on piano forum too much.  it's my way of escape.  i pretend not to know anything.  bascially, like that man who was found off the coast of england that played the piano and didn't know anything else. 

when i am really into piano - i can become oblivious to a lot of things.  yes - practice is good.  yes - i am a teacher.  i have one student.  she is 14.  she may be better than me this wednesday - but hopefully not yet.  she has beautiful long fingers like chopin's female version.  and, she is very able to play smoothly and gracefully.  i think - if i try hard - she'll be a model student.   

alas, i modulate from semi-virtuoso to terrible and back again.  it just depends on how much time there is to practice and focus.  i focus best when nobody is around.  if they all went on vacation for a weekend... - but then, i want to go too.  perhaps it is almost my time to be a pro.  i want to be a pro.  it's been my life dream and goal for so many years.  maybe this fall when they're all in school full time and i have a part-time job to support my practice habit.  it's expensive, you know!

how about you - pet?  i see you are learning a schumann sonata.  how's that going?  i hope well.  would like to hear it as you practice, too.  i don't know why - but it's mostly motivating to oneself.  like keeping a blog.  although i've thoroughly disappointed myself by stopping for two weeks.  i got sidetracked with students pieces.  i have to work out things ahead for myself - so i can teach it according to my limited understanding (compared to my teacher).  really want lessons again - because the more you take the more confidence you get and you can transfer the ideas from one piece to another sometimes.

[pet]

Thanks for replying Pianistimo!

I looks like you have a very busy life!  Now, I feel bad for complaining...lol.  The Schumann Sonata is the Schumann Sonata.....I finished the entire piece, and I have performed it the best that I can.  The octaves just gets to me sometimes, and I don't want to hurt my wrists trying to overdo it  (I can barely reach an octave!)  So right now it is my "trying to play to perfection" piece.  I want to keep it in practice because it is helping me to develop the technique of playing octaves well.  My teacher tells me that I play it fairly well for a person with small hands...I'll take her word for it.  Well, I can say this, I'm much better at playing octaves than I was 2 years ago!

Right now, I am playing the Beethoven Sonata Op. 2 No. 3, which also requires me to play broken octaves well, and I am doing very well with the piece!  I'm also playing two Chopin etudes, Op. 10 No. 3, which I have no problem with, and Op. 25 No. 11 (Winter Wind), which I have all of the problems in the world with...ha!  You see, I am not accustomed to playing Chopin, and I believe that I do not have the techniques required to play Chopin Etudes (the fast ones) well, which is the reason why I am trying to focus on them now.  It took me forever to learn the Scherzo in Bb minor, and I finally was able to play it very well (a year later), and usually it doesn't take me that long to learn a piece, so it is quite fustrating. I have been playing for 19 years, so when something takes me more than 3 months to get up to performance level, I get annoyed.  And on top of that, I tend not to practice as much as most pianists (some people are still surprised) so when it comes to these etudes, I have to practice more than I normally do.  I think what the problem is, I am having trouble "grouping" the notes, because there is really no melody, and it seems like I'm playing just random notes, so it's very hard for me to memorize.  Well, that's another issue..  I just feel that if I can play this particular etude well, none of the other ones should be a problem.  I feel that I have mastered  Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, along with some 20th century composers, and the only "major" composers that I feel shaky on is....Beethoven and Chopin.

Well, if you have so many things going on, and can still play as well as you do, there is hope for me yet!  I am not married, and I don't have any kids, but I will be a high school math teacher, and a graduate student in Music Theory this Fall, and I know that I will not have a lot of time.... so I need a plan.

I have listened to the recordings of your Chopin Etudes, how long did it take you to learn them?  I am hoping to learn all of the notes to the Winter Wind Etude by the end of the summer.  That way I can work on speed from September.  I don't have a MP3 player, which is the reason why I don't post recordings.  Hopefully sometime this year I can purchase one, and I will start posting.  I think this board will give me some good tips on my performances.  And it will keep me from getting bored, which I can get VERY easily.  That reminds me, I have to find some posts on boredom.....

I'm sure your family appreciates your playing deep down on the inside!  Don't give up, and keep up the good work!

[pianistimo]

wow.  you are certainly a much busier person than i.  it should be the other way around.  you motivating me.  a highschool math teacher, pianist, AND graduate music theory student this fall.  that sounds fantastic.

don't worry that the etudes take a while.  sometimes once you figure out 'the plan' that chopin or beethoven had in mind themselves (such as with chopin -allowing the fingers into the depths of the black key area and not attemtping to stay completely on the white keys and expect to hit the black ones with any clarity) - for each individual piece.  each etude is truly a study.  ever since i read cortot's notes to the etude that i studied and also the new one i'm working (opus 10 #1) i've understood better about just relaxing and 'letting go.'  it's not constipated music. (sorry, no pun intended - just that bach can be sort of this way - but chopin - never).

for me - this is hard.  letting one's sort of fantasy or feelings be right out there.  for me, being a  careful sort - i prefer brahms to chopin - but, be that as it may - the feelings are there in both.  brahms does even less to hide them because as you know - he and chopin were shy guys - so they let it out in their music.  may as well add beethoven. 

perhaps idealized love is more flowing.  being unmarried might actually keep you from any sort of misaligned fantasies.  we all have this idealized love when we first marry.  then, it's like - 'you see what you get.'  but, then you try hard to fulfill what the other person seems to need or want as much as possible.   then, you understand love in a more profound way.  not just attraction - but attraction AND a bit of give and take about what was 'ideal' in terms of whatever might be not what you expected. 

basically, the best way to prepare for marriage is to find a terribly cold pool on a hot day.  the shock of it.  it feels shocking when you first get in - but then you get used to it.  and, it's refreshing.  now that i think about it, though, my husband was like this warm tepid bath that really didn't shock me until i opened a closet and it was stacked to the ceiling with electronic gear and wires and stuff.  i though - i'm going to have to clean this?

[nick]

Rami Bar-Niv

oops...seriously speaking
MTS,Koji,Marik

I think he's pretty good. What don't you like about his playing?

Nick

[nick]

how to register to see this amateur pianist - michael hawley - online: 
https://reflectweb.reflectsystems.com/getContent.aspx?WCID=539aef12-ff70-4e30-87b5-6fbd0b966913

thanks for the link. I don't care for the selection he played too much though. I may not be enlighted enough, but i do like Bach, goldberg variations and others.

Nick

[retrouvailles]

unfair advantage? how so? he had to learn to play just like the rest of us... 

It's an unfair advantage because he is a seasoned professional that can play things that the rest of us can't even begin to do, like all the Sorabji and Finnissy he plays. He can also play standars repertoire (very well, I might add). So yeah, enough said.

[jlh]

It's an unfair advantage because he is a seasoned professional that can play things that the rest of us can't even begin to do, like all the Sorabji and Finnissy he plays. He can also play standars repertoire (very well, I might add). So yeah, enough said.

So I would agree that he does have an advantage... but I don't agree that it is unfair. 

[retrouvailles]

So I would agree that he does have an advantage... but I don't agree that it is unfair. 

Ok, I retract that statement (the part where I said unfair). I'm sure he worked his ass off to get where he is.

[soliloquy]

Clifford Curzon.

[invictious]

lol. we cant all be asian

Funnily, I am only half asian.
Thanks to the asian-ness, I actually learned fur elise all the way through before I began piano lessons, when i was 7
I spent 3 hours at the piano...

[ramseytheii]

Haha -enjoy your new place in the polls ghetto!

Walter Ramsey

[nick]

Who?

does anyone have a link to pianostreet players? I have seen thalberg, but no one else. Thanks!

nick

[thalbergmad]

I have seen thalberg,

Wow, you must be older than Pianowolfi.

Thal

[ahinton]

Clifford Curzon.

I'd not even realised that he'd reincarnated (has he been in contact with pianistimo about that, do you suppose?). Even if he has, how do you suppose that he'd measure his own virtuosity against, let's say for example, Jonathan Powell (who has already been cited by others in this thread)?

By the way, what is his forum ID and when did he join?...

Best,

Alistair

[zheer]

Who?

  Koji, by a mile or 2.

[mephisto]

Even if he has, how do you suppose that he'd measure his own virtuosity against, let's say for example, Jonathan Powell (who has already been cited by others in this thread)?

As far as I know they haven't recorded any of the same repertoire, so comparising is impossible, or at least extremely difficult.
Or are you suggesting that we should compare based on technic alone?

At least we know that Powell is afraid of starting a program with Chopin's Opus.10 because mistakes are easy to be picked out. I don't know enough about Curzon to speculate what he would say on that matter.

"I've played a bunch of these pieces but still find playing late Beethoven or Bach 48 or whatever just as challenging from interpretative and technical standpoints. And, unlike dear Ludmil, and I don't think I'd *ever* open a programme with all the Chopin op.10! Now that is scary ... I'd much rather Tract or MF's 4th Concerto, since they both frighten me less. Also, wrong notes do tend to stand out in the Chopin ...."

Pluss we know that S only mentioned Curzon because he had just heard how wonderfull he played that piece you rather disslike, populary known as Schubert's Sonata D.960.

[elevateme_returns]

Who?

me, obviously. was there any doubt in this? 

don't mean to toot my own horn but... toot toot

[thalbergmad]

At least we know that Powell is afraid of starting a program with Chopin's Opus.10 because mistakes are easy to be picked out.

Interesting, perhaps we should all start concerts with pieces where the audience would be none the wiser if we skipped a few bars or dropped a fistful of notes.

Thal

[mephisto]

Interesting, perhaps we should all start concerts with pieces where the audience would be none the wiser if we skipped a few bars or dropped a fistful of notes.

Thal

Welcome t the world of Sorabji-performers

Alistair, that was a joke. Finnissy on the other hand....

[liszt-essence]

Haha -enjoy your new place in the polls ghetto!

Walter Ramsey

You´re having some ego problems with one of my topic haven´t you? And I don´t mean this one..

[franzliszt2]

me, obviously. was there any doubt in this? 

don't mean to toot my own horn but... toot toot

AGHHHH YPU STOLE MY FAVOURITE SAYING!!!!! THIEF!!!!!!!!! 

[nick]

Wow, you must be older than Pianowolfi.

Thal

I could be. thanks for links. so helpful.

Nick

[jpowell]

Welcome t the world of Sorabji-performers

Alistair, that was a joke. Finnissy on the other hand....

And by this you mean what, exactly?

[mephisto]

And by this you mean what, exactly?

OK, firstly it was a stupid thing of me to say. Sorabji is one of my favourite composers, and listening to you play his Concerto for solo piano, I can do nothing but stand in awe. It is simply breathtaking. You have no idea how much respect I have for your playing and the repertoire choices you take.

Finnissy on the other hand... While I do not consider Finnissy a bad composer I find nothing to appreciate in his music. And I can't really imagine that anyone in the audience could spot any wrong notes in Finnissy 4th Piano Concerto for instance.

I do however blame this on my self and not on Finnissy.