I strive to avoid making exaggerated facial expressions, looking at the ceiling and being flamboyant when I play the piano. Additionally, I concentrate completely on the sound that is produced by the piano and I do not play the piano mechanically. I simultaneously focus on tempo, phrasing, dynamics and pedalling throughout my performances. This allows me to channel my emotions through the sound that I produce instead of channelling them through the appearance of my performances. In summary, I strive to avoid all forms of exaggeration during my performances. In my opinion, this is the best way to achieve the highest standard of artistic merit.
Just like some rock star, with their "Cod Piece" to turn on the female members of their audience, classical pianists have long before them catered to the female members of their audience.Oh gosh, did Lang Lang send out a promotional picture a few years ago showing him dressed in a black leather suit, which was photo shopped to accentuate a rendering of his genitals? Oh, yes he did!
i really don't make facial expressions and do nothing for the sake of 'flamboyance'. That being said, I naturally move quite a great deal when I play..... and my teacher has worked with me for two years to eliminate almost all body movement. She finds it distracting; but I find that worrying about removing movement takes away my concentration from the music. I have yet to reach a decision about whether what I do naturally is an annoyance to others.
Some pieces actually force the pianist to move a lot such as Franz Liszt's Un Sospiro. The pianist must play the melody with alternating hands. Furthermore, there are many widely spaced arpeggio passages which require both hands to leap across the piano. This piece requires a lot of agility and sitting still whilst playing this piece is not practical. Efficiency, concentration and agility are the three key elements that are compulsory for playing this piece properly. The following video sums up everything I have said in this paragraph:Subtle facial expressions are completely fine. They are unavoidable because we are humans and not robots. I mentioned that I do not exaggerate my facial expressions or attempt to showcase my technical facility. I use my technical facility, which still needs to be improved enormously, to the best of my ability to produce the sound that I want to produce instead.
You have just enlightened me with your response to my post. Playing the piano naturally without trying to exaggerate anything is at the core of the message I am trying to convey in my original post:
Your question being: how do you play the piano? My answer is, per your delineation: I play the same way, as did all of the pianists of the 19th century, as well as most of those in the early 20th century.
Like the OP, I am too busy trying to focus on the particular musicality of a piece (solo or with orchestra) than to worry about the sexual nature of my performance. And, that is what we are talking about here.
Just like some rock star, with their "Cod Piece" to turn on the female members of their audience, classical pianists have long before them catered to the female members of their audience.
Oh gosh, did Lang Lang send out a promotional picture a few years ago showing him dressed in a black leather suit, which was photo shopped to accentuate a rendering of his genitals? Oh, yes he did!
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