While Rachmaninoff’s legacy lives in the rich, dark melodies he inscribed into a lifetime of compositions, knowledge of his prowess as a performer still remains limited to historical accounts and crackly recordings. Recording technology was just beginning to bud during his career, so the sound quality of even remastered recordings is passable at best. But because there is an inexorable authenticity to his performances, and because these remaining vestiges of his pianism prove that Rachmaninoff’s big hands were contrarily delicate, these recordings remain among my favorites despite their dustiness.
Until recently, the closest modern listeners could come to hearing Rachmaninoff perform was by listening to a recording of a piano roll performance. While Rachmaninoff himself was impressed with the accuracy a piano roll contained in reproducing dynamics, rubato, and other musical elements, he only created 35 in his lifetime. It is reported that upon hearing one for the first time, he exclaimed “Gentlemen — I, Sergei Rachmaninoff, have just heard myself play!”
But with the advent of Zenph Studios’ “re-performance” technology, computer software can analyze old recordings and translate them into “high definition MIDI” data. View Full Article »
Posts Tagged ‘piano’
Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff
Does Not Cause Blindness
Exclusive Interview with Gilbert Kalish
I had the pleasure today of sitting down with Gilbert Kalish, and Jeffery Meyer for another Sound Post interview. Topics on the table were: Kalish’s residency at Ithaca College, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, his entry into the professional world of classical music, and what it is like to play under the baton of his former student, Jeffery Meyer.
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Pianist Pascal Roge Is Definition Of Classy
Class Act of the Day
It’s good to see that some people are already getting into the holiday spirit!
When Scott Freck, the general manager of the North Carolina Symphony made the call to virtuoso pianist, Pascal Rogé, to inform him of their inability to honor his contract for a performance of the Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos because of financial constraints, he was more than likely ready for a verbal beat-down, or at the least a serious case of embarrassment.
What he didn’t expect, was Rogé offering not only to play the concert for free, but also to bring his wife, Ami Rogé, to play alongside him.
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The New Yorker: Why So Serious?
Let's Put a Smile on that Face
While concertgoers today might resent those who unknowingly applaud or whisper between movements of a piece, it seems such gaffes have only recently begun to draw frowns. The familiar silent audience who applauds in appropriate places is of relatively new invention. Relative, of course, to the age of music in the classical repertoire. As it turns out, classical concerts used to be noisy, social gatherings where aristocrats could mingle and the public could turn bourgeois into a verb.
The September 8th issue of The New Yorker featured the article “Why So Serious?” In it, writer Alex Ross chronicles the history of classical concert tradition.
Ross cites examples from performances at the Paris Opera and recitals by the pianist credited with creating modern piano performance tradition, Franz Liszt. Ross compares Liszt’s recitals to “The Ed Sullivan Show,” claiming that Liszt would solicit suggestions from the audience for subjects to improvise at the piano. Furthermore, Liszt is said to have modulated not only between tonal centers, but entire pieces. As Ross explains it:
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Ax, Schiff, Others Opine On Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas
Admit They Haven’t Played Them All
Carnegie Hall Sound Insights has collaborated with seven professional pianists to provide an in depth look at Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. This collection of sonatas is one of Beethoven’s most significant accomplishments, and the artists’ expertise gives listeners of all levels an excellent understanding of the way the sonatas trace different periods in Beethoven’s life. With separate analyses for the early, middle, and late sonatas, the media clips include podcast-like talks as well as excerpts of professional recordings. Click on through for the original article and a list of all the contributing artists.
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