Ambivalent
BSB Addict
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2009
- Posts
- 1,811
- Reaction score
- 2
Dear Stimpy,
Doubtless, I may draw a little critical ire for not placing these comments under the "Behind the Candelabra" thread - where you posted the remarks that occasion this response ~ or, under the "Members' Favourite Music" thread, where they doubtless properly belong. BUT - I was very moved by your reminiscences about your childhood love-affair, with the piano, and so wanted to make a separate thread, just for you. (And so I did ~ I am incorrigible, that way ;-)
Like you, as a kid, I studied the piano, but always found it a little terrifying. (I always felt myself in sympathy with a certain friend of mine, a guitarist, who was forced to study the piano in music-school, and called it the "f***ing dragon, with 88 teeth!")
I had a little success on the platform, particularly with Mozart's Adagio in B-minor. (I didn't play it as well as Murray Perahia, though. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC0XKMGPsAk)
Perhaps that was the BEST moment of my life. . . certainly, it was one of them. But, as I went off to university, I didn't have time for the piano, anymore: except, to listen. Always to listen. I have had plenty of chances to listen, thankfully, because my sister is a gold medallist in piano, and she has introduced me to many great works, and many great players. I would like to share a couple, with you.
*Alfred Brendel, Mozart's Piano Concerto Number 20, in D-minor, "Adagio" ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHVihb1iBMU
*Radu Lupu, Brahms' Intermezzo in A-major, Opus 118, Number 2 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4Re5WBEAc
*Jan Lisiecki, Chopin's Etude Number 4, in C-sharp-minor, Opus 10 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-rtqkd-5Og
*Jan Lisiecki, Chopin's Waltz Number 7, in C-sharp-minor, Opus 64, Number 2 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM4v3xaSU6s
*Vladimir Ashkenazy, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto Number 2, in C-minor, "Adagio" ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj8kJSbxwFE
*Vladimir Horowitz, Rahmaninov's "Polka de W.R." ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtxynUhUqFs
***********************************************************************************
Oh, yes, Stimpy, I agree with you. For those gifted enough to know and love and FEEL the piano - it is a revelation, a miracle, an orchestra under one's fingertips, capable of making every human moment, SING. . . .
Love, your,
"A" XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
P.S. Keep an eye out for young Jan Lisecki, from Calgary, Alberta - he is the new monarch, of the keyboard. He will prove to be the greatest pianist of our lifetime, I am sure of it:
*More Chopin, from Jan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krvhe1epBBU
*Jan speaks about the uniqueness of the piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYFfPg9jko4
*Jan speaks about playing Chopin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sil49Gh1VPI
* Documentary about Jan, "The Reluctant Prodigy", from a few years back: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMMSLYZ0mXQ; Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LC5bki5RYM
Doubtless, I may draw a little critical ire for not placing these comments under the "Behind the Candelabra" thread - where you posted the remarks that occasion this response ~ or, under the "Members' Favourite Music" thread, where they doubtless properly belong. BUT - I was very moved by your reminiscences about your childhood love-affair, with the piano, and so wanted to make a separate thread, just for you. (And so I did ~ I am incorrigible, that way ;-)
Like you, as a kid, I studied the piano, but always found it a little terrifying. (I always felt myself in sympathy with a certain friend of mine, a guitarist, who was forced to study the piano in music-school, and called it the "f***ing dragon, with 88 teeth!")
I had a little success on the platform, particularly with Mozart's Adagio in B-minor. (I didn't play it as well as Murray Perahia, though. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC0XKMGPsAk)
Perhaps that was the BEST moment of my life. . . certainly, it was one of them. But, as I went off to university, I didn't have time for the piano, anymore: except, to listen. Always to listen. I have had plenty of chances to listen, thankfully, because my sister is a gold medallist in piano, and she has introduced me to many great works, and many great players. I would like to share a couple, with you.
*Alfred Brendel, Mozart's Piano Concerto Number 20, in D-minor, "Adagio" ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHVihb1iBMU
*Radu Lupu, Brahms' Intermezzo in A-major, Opus 118, Number 2 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4Re5WBEAc
*Jan Lisiecki, Chopin's Etude Number 4, in C-sharp-minor, Opus 10 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-rtqkd-5Og
*Jan Lisiecki, Chopin's Waltz Number 7, in C-sharp-minor, Opus 64, Number 2 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM4v3xaSU6s
*Vladimir Ashkenazy, Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto Number 2, in C-minor, "Adagio" ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj8kJSbxwFE
*Vladimir Horowitz, Rahmaninov's "Polka de W.R." ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtxynUhUqFs
***********************************************************************************
Oh, yes, Stimpy, I agree with you. For those gifted enough to know and love and FEEL the piano - it is a revelation, a miracle, an orchestra under one's fingertips, capable of making every human moment, SING. . . .
Love, your,
"A" XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
P.S. Keep an eye out for young Jan Lisecki, from Calgary, Alberta - he is the new monarch, of the keyboard. He will prove to be the greatest pianist of our lifetime, I am sure of it:
*More Chopin, from Jan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krvhe1epBBU
*Jan speaks about the uniqueness of the piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYFfPg9jko4
*Jan speaks about playing Chopin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sil49Gh1VPI
* Documentary about Jan, "The Reluctant Prodigy", from a few years back: Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMMSLYZ0mXQ; Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LC5bki5RYM
