What amazes you about a pianist/musician ?

[m19834]

Sometimes it seems like there is nothing actually amazing about a particular person developing to a certain level of musicianship (I am not necessarily saying there is actually nothing amazing about it -- I just wonder what it is actually ?).  After observing the music world around me for as long as I have (lots of years ahead of me still  ), I have to wonder what is *amazing* anymore ?

"Child prodigies" like to wear this as a badge at times as though this is a distinguishing characteristic of their being.  People with perfect pitch, I think, sometimes do a similar thing :  "Okay, play any combination of notes that you wish and I will sit back here and name them !"  Some people like to present how much repertoire they know, or which Halls they have played in and/or for whom.  For some people it's the education they have had and at which establishments (and with whom) they have had it.  For some people it's about how fast they can play, how well they can sightread or how much they "feel" the music.  But what does any of that mean in a longer-term fashion ?  Some part of me thinks "so what ?!" to all of it.  Many people can do those things and there are murmurings of individuals doing this or that, here or there ... but in all cases, those murmurings eventually just dies away.  I also think that everybody is, at the core, capable of achieving a very "high level of musicianship" -- not that everybody does.

And, do these things actually define who we are as musicians and pianists ?

[gyzzzmo]

Their enormous ego :p

[m19834]

Their enormous ego :p

ha ha ... is that supposed to be a hint ? 

If it was, I can comprehend how my comments could be taken in such a way.  However, it is truly not how I mean it.  I am perfectly aware of the fact that many people can do things that I cannot currently do.  And, I very much appreciate many things that other people do. 

Rather than criticizing, I am trying to get at the root of what this all means to us.

[m19834]

Some part of me thinks "so what ?!" to all of it. 

Yes, I can see where there is an element of that attitude with anything we do in life.  I think these are good questions that are worthy of honest consideration, and I wouldn't suggest that if I didn't think they were perfectly valid questions for me to consider about whatever I would consider to be my own "accomplishments" in life.  Honestly, people do amazing things everyday, and often nobody congratulates them for it.

In pondering this post, I realized that everything mentioned in the original post share something in common; they are all some kind of result or representation of who the person is inside.  They show us something that is somehow not actually seen with the eyes, yet we can sense their presence when these factors mentioned enter the equation.

The problem, I think, is that sometimes these things are seen as ends unto themselves.  The reason I think this is a problem is not because these "accomplishments" are inherently worthless, but because their worth is dependent on how they are used, and why.  That is not meant as a comment to place limitations on what is considered to be a valuable use of these accomplishments.  I just think the essence of why anything *amazing* would really matter lay largely in its use rather than its mere existence.

If nothing else, I would just appreciate a bigger view -- a new perspective .

[Petter]

I think the musicians that kept playing Nearer My God to Thee to sooth the passengers while Titanic was sinking would qualify as amazing, at least to me.

[gyzzzmo]

ha ha ... is that supposed to be a hint ? 

If it was, I can comprehend how my comments could be taken in such a way.  However, it is truly not how I mean it.  I am perfectly aware of the fact that many people can do things that I cannot currently do.  And, I very much appreciate many things that other people do. 

Rather than criticizing, I am trying to get at the root of what this all means to us.

Dont worry, no hint
Its just that many serious musicians are abit 'strange', and many are very egocentric. But maybe thats a treat wich is required for being able to spend lots of intimate time with an instrument

gyzzz

[ted]

I think I am "amazed" by piano sound itself and nothing more. The possible association with a particular human being is of little importance other than furnishing a strategy to hear more of the same sounds. That is to say, I might hear playing by a particular musician and be "amazed". On discovering its creator I might seek out further examples of his or her work on the assumption that I am likely to experience similar wonder. Sometimes this bears fruit but sometimes it does not, at least not consistently.

Generally speaking, with regard to music, I am "amazed" by sounds, not by people. I have not found that a musician possessing "amazing" brute force raw ability is more likely to create "amazing" sounds than one of average raw talent. There has to be a minimum of hands-on fluency at the instrument, of course, but for me it appears to be quite low for enjoyment to take place.

Aldous Huxley once remarked that transportation is a property of the receptive mind, and a susceptible mind can be transported by a second, third or fourth rate work of art as easily as it can by a "work of genius". Despite at times wishing this were false, at least in terms of its obvious social consequences, I rather think it is true.

[irss]

For me, what makes me more amazed is how an accomplished musician turned out to be a very popular professor in other field. I mean if to compare with fulltime musician, this person is more superb and awesome. He achieved 2 things at one.

[alessandro]

After observing the music world around me for as long as I have (lots of years ahead of me still  ), I have to wonder what is *amazing* anymore ?


That's a pity, Karli.  Don't you know what is amazing ? Is there nothing that is breathtaking anymore ? That gives you the 'chives' ?

I think it is amazing that things, music, can make you cry, that it can grab you by the throat, that is in a way unforgiven and sometimes unbearable... 
I'm already amazed when I hear an atmosphere in music which coincedes with my mood, a feeling of recognition and similarity in personality, a feeling of "that's it", "I couldn't have said it better" or more mysterious "How is it possible that another human being makes me feel as if he or she feels exactly the same" etcetra...
In a more realistic way, I do understand that what once is amazing not necessarily means that it has some meaning for the future...  I often feel amazed by something and at a second hearing the feeling is gone...  Very often.
But I remember for example the interpretation (more about interpretation further in this reply) of a Chaconne by Bach for violin solo by Philippe Hirschhorn, that is really a piece of music which has a terrible effect on me.   I don't play it often cause after a few tones I have the impression that it kills me.  Not physically, but it goes really deep, it is intense, and it has to do with tristesse and death and that life is just life and so on...
Another example is the playing of (I'm not sure of his first name (Vladimir) Khegay, a pianist from Khazachstan that played at the Elizabeth Competition last year.  Didn't get any prizes but I presume he will be back in three years.  His performance are - totally - so well felt, so deep, smooth, original, particular, genereous in sound and emotion, delicate, he can play so lightly, I never heard such a sound before, he puts is whole being in it etcetera.  Art.
And finally, what I think is amazing most particularly for pianomusic, is that in the end, it is about bringing (dead) sheetmusic to live.
When I hear how for example Martha Argerich plays the Bach partitas, it is very original, very jazzy, I like it so much, so much energy, she did something with Bach that I never heard before, make it actual, rocking, fun...
And how M.J.Pirez plays Schubert Impromptus, I'm in awe.   And I once saw a DVD where Cortot plays Schumann Traümerei.  Cortot really grasps a Kinderszenen "spirit".   And lately I was truly in some kind of a trance with Richter's performance of Debussy Préludes on "In Memoriam" of Deutsche Grammophon...
Etcetera.
As the song goes "These are a few of my favourite things...
Kindly.

[sarah the pianist]

I think that if someone who does something like playing the piano at the end of their time is a brave thing to do and is a good thing to do as it shows courage 

[gyzzzmo]

I think that if someone who does something like playing the piano at the end of their time is a brave thing to do and is a good thing to do as it shows courage 

You lost me here.... why does that show courage?  

[Essyne]

Surrender and complete, utter vulnerability.

[lostinidlewonder]

Is being amazed a prerequisite to enjoy observing something? Usually once we understand something we can sometimes become "less" amazed. Sometimes our amazement is fueled by the fact that we don't know how it was done. Some people have this feeling that if they understand something it should no longer amaze them or impress them. Some people if they understand how something works they are still amazed, they find enjoyment not in what they don't understand but rather what would amaze them despite knowing how it is done.

How do u feel once you have learned how a magic trick works? If you see the same trick again are you less amused? If you see this trick played on other people how do you feel? Sometimes people feel that everything is directed at themselves.

[Essyne]

No.

[slobone]

I'm only really impressed by an artist who can communicate through music, to make the music tell a story. There has to be an solid understanding of the overall architecture of the piece, combined with marvelous attention to detail. No part of the piece should sound "flat" or routine. There should be a feeling that the artist is improvising, discovering fresh meanings in the music with each performance, though of course this might not be literally true. But at least a feeling of intimacy, as if he or she were performing just for me. If I get goosebumps, that's usually a good sign...

Needless to say, there aren't many performers who have risen to this level. Sorry I can't describe it in a more precise technical way -- but after all, if that were possible, the list would be a lot longer.