Paul Lewis. A star ???

[ignaceii]

Hi,

I wanted to make a statement here about Paul Lewis.
Very much a copy of Brendel.
Tiny repertoire and leaning back on his Beethoven cycles which have become boaring in the sense we don't need anymore cycles. Kovaceviches is long enough.the best.
But still, with some Schubert, a Bach,... a Paul Lewis becomes a world star.
Not really having won a major competition his repertoire must be very tin.
No russians, no Bartok,... Mozart perhaps yes...

To be short. Largely overrated.

Brendel at young age played more virtuoso pieces... but relief later on his three safeguards, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert.

In this era Paul Lewis is a small pianist among the great major Competition stars and world talents.
Ironically Paul Lewis will be part of the Leeds competion jury, being elected co chairman of the competition. Will he understand what is being played. Too much an honour. But chauvinistic reflexes makes everything possible.

[toughbo]

I agree

[outin]

Maybe some people (the ones who actually pay to listen to someone) care more about HOW someone plays than what they play?

[mjames]

I care about Sofrotnisky and Cortot because of their approach to Chopin and Scriabin. I don't really care about how they play other composers or how they fared against other pianists, even the incredible virtuoso ones with far more extensive repertoires. That's the funny thing about music, regardless of how much people try to treat it so music isn't and will never be a sport.

[ignaceii]

 
 Not much a reply to Paul Lewis.
And there are who create a career without doing anything extraordinary...
And the very underrated, like Evgheni Bozhanov, who stirred up the Chopin competition and won many others is left behind, neglected.
Give me the mimic facial expressions of a genius like Bozhanov over a copy cat like Lewis.

[outin]

You have not said much to comment really because there's nothing about how anyone plays in your posts, just about competition wins and repertoire. Neither of those mean that much in making a career in the long run. Many competition winners are forgotten because music simply is not about competitions...no matter how much you would like it to be so.

[keypeg]

I find the post rather meaningless.  When I listen to someone play, then it is because I enjoy their playing.  The fact of "competition winners" is meaningless in itself.  I am not out to watch sports with a view to betting on winners (in fact, I don't enjoy sports in that kind of sense either).  The choice of repertoire also does not make a person a better or worse musician - how is this person playing that repertoire - will I enjoy it, does it have depth etc.
Finally, what's with "star"?  That's the language of commercialization of actors in movies and such.  We listen to musicians.  We listen to individual performances of individual musicians on separate occasions.
This tone of judgment and denigration and on such grounds is disturbing and feels distasteful.  Any musician who performs at a high level has worked hard for many years to be able to perform that way.  This kind of gratuitous tearing down for no real reason .... as if there were some kind of shallow competition and ranking at work (which tastes better, Coke or Pepsi) does a disservice to the art as a whole.  It sort of spoils it for me.

[mjames]

Evgeni is a great pianist, his is probably my favorite rendition of Chopin's rondo op. 5.

[ignaceii]

The point is that many, far more interesting individuals, in playing, wherever, are neglected cause they do not have the right surroundings.
My point is that a Paul Lewis comes from under Brendels wings and off he goes. Interesting. Not at all.
At least the first member here agreed.
Is the post meaningless ?
Your vision. There are more nonesense here than mine I think.
The post is about Paul Lewis. Ok.
And yes, competitions like the queen Elizabeth forced you to learn 2 contemporary pieces in very short time. Very hard. And thos who come out on top have a lot more to say than a prodigy.
And Lewisses Beethoven is nothing special compared to Brautigam, Pletnev in the concertos.
Ah. If you don't understand. Leave it. You might like Lang Lang too, another named ambassador of the Leeds competition.

Ok. Let us finish here.
Bye

[ignaceii]

I find the post rather meaningless.  When I listen to someone play, then it is because I enjoy their playing.  The fact of "competition winners" is meaningless in itself.  I am not out to watch sports with a view to betting on winners (in fact, I don't enjoy sports in that kind of sense either).  The choice of repertoire also does not make a person a better or worse musician - how is this person playing that repertoire - will I enjoy it, does it have depth etc.
Finally, what's with "star"?  That's the language of commercialization of actors in movies and such.  We listen to musicians.  We listen to individual performances of individual musicians on separate occasions.
This tone of judgment and denigration and on such grounds is disturbing and feels distasteful.  Any musician who performs at a high level has worked hard for many years to be able to perform that way.  This kind of gratuitous tearing down for no real reason .... as if there were some kind of shallow competition and ranking at work (which tastes better, Coke or Pepsi) does a disservice to the art as a whole.  It sort of spoils it for me.

I don't think you see the point. You say years of work. Yes, but in the case of Lewis he did a small competition, got under the arms of Brendel and his career was started. What repertoire, classicism. As tin as Horowitzes, who played much the same things.
I got the complete sonatas by Tirimo who also completed the unfinished sonatas. Knowing 80 concerts and lots of other composers is to me a real worker, and profound performer.
You don't like competitions. Competions, the big ones are all recitals and concerts, so see it please that way.
I do not like the Lang, Lewis, Wang approach who come in and have contracts straight away. 
Music is hard working... not for Lewis.

[keypeg]

I don't like that attitude toward musicians.  There is no reason to judge or compare.

[outin]

One cannot help to wonder about the motivation behind picking on one pianist and question his worth without any concrete critisism for the way he performs the music. There are some famous pianists I find less worthy of listening and many less famous ones who I adore. But that is only my personal preference and I would never question someone's fame. It is based on other people's preferences and as such is no more or less correct.