Category: classissima

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Grammy award winner Murray Perahia shines at Zellerbach Hall! Encore, Schubert Impromptu Op. 90 in Eb in two “live” performances (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Murray Perahia, Poet of the Piano Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley is a regular stop for Murray Perahia, who happens to be my former classmate at the New York City High School of Performing Arts (The "FAME I wanna live forever school"). I've already reminisced about "P.A." and Murray's inspiring musical presence: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/murray-perahia-pianist-is-in-a-league-of-his-own-videos/ For those of… Continue reading Grammy award winner Murray Perahia shines at Zellerbach Hall! Encore, Schubert Impromptu Op. 90 in Eb in two “live” performances (Videos)

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Piano Instruction: How to practice Variation 2, Mozart Sonata No. 11 in A, K. 331 (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

The biggest challenge in this particular variation is the fast-paced tempo and ornament execution--not to mention the fleeting 4 against 3 relationship of treble 32nds above 16ths in the bass. But the latter, should not be a big concern considering how quickly everything spins by. In the video instruction I suggest a step-wise practicing routine… Continue reading Piano Instruction: How to practice Variation 2, Mozart Sonata No. 11 in A, K. 331 (Videos)

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Irina Morozova’s inspiring words flow through a lesson with an adult student (Beethoven’s Fur Elise-in-progress) Video

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

"From watching great pianists it is obvious that they incorporate quite different movements to achieve the same goals, because people do not play piano with fingers but rather with the mind and the ear. Again, it is the clear image of what kind of sound one wants to achieve, combined with the knowledge of how… Continue reading Irina Morozova’s inspiring words flow through a lesson with an adult student (Beethoven’s Fur Elise-in-progress) Video

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Piano Lesson: The challenge of playing a slow movement

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I chose Muzio Clementi's popular Sonatina in C, Op. 36, No. 1 to flesh out the contrasting middle movement designated ANDANTE by the composer. It's definitely a challenge to play just 6 lines of music with beauty and finesse. As a start, the player is exposed to realizing rolling triplet 8th-notes in the left hand… Continue reading Piano Lesson: The challenge of playing a slow movement

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Piano Technique: Burgmuller’s Tarentelle, Op. 100-Fueling and shaping fast passages with a dipping, supple wrist (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Most piano students will have been assigned a Burgmuller selection or two during their formative years of study. And most likely, these would have been snatched from the composer's Twenty-Five Progressive Pieces, Op. 100 that advance by steps in difficulty, though it can be argued that all contain unique technical challenges. Composed in the Romantic… Continue reading Piano Technique: Burgmuller’s Tarentelle, Op. 100-Fueling and shaping fast passages with a dipping, supple wrist (Videos)

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Burgmuller’s “The Return”–like a light opera, with interspersed drama (videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

"The Return" from the composer's Twenty-Five Progressive Pieces, Op. 100, is ear-catching. Like an Offenbach opera replete with an Overture, it delights in a set of lighthearted staccato chords that spill into a passionate MINOR sequenced interlude, setting the heart afire. Extinguished by the revisit of Eb Major punctuations, the music drifts off by authentic… Continue reading Burgmuller’s “The Return”–like a light opera, with interspersed drama (videos)

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Building Piano Technique: Extracting passages from pieces to practice

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Instead of playing through laborious Hanon and Czerny exercises to improve aspects of piano technique, a student can cut to the chase, by snatching selected passages from their pieces that magnify a particular technical/musical challenge. As an example, one of my adult students, devoted part of her lesson time to practicing a series of descending… Continue reading Building Piano Technique: Extracting passages from pieces to practice

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When sight-reading is not enough: Learning a new piano piece from the ground up so we can teach it to our students (Videos)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I'm reminded of a quote attributed to Sviatoslav Richter when asked how he approached a challenging new composition of virtuoso proportion: His reply-- "I read a new piece and then start practicing the place that irritates me the most. After learning that one I move to the next irritation, etc." Well, most of us would… Continue reading When sight-reading is not enough: Learning a new piano piece from the ground up so we can teach it to our students (Videos)

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Bonus post-concert Video Footage: Daniil Trifonov Interview, Fresno, California

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

In supplementary video footage, Trifonov discussed the role of "relaxation," and physical "freedom" in beautiful music-making. He reiterated a practicing modality where a pianist plays a composition in "seven different emotions." One of my adult students and her husband joined me during the post-recital interview that took place in the private Fresno State University music… Continue reading Bonus post-concert Video Footage: Daniil Trifonov Interview, Fresno, California

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After midnight MOONLIGHT Sonata–why not another try, first movement (BEETHOVEN–video)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I had nothing better to do at 1 a.m. and Aiden cat had settled down on the rug beside the piano. This time he had no energy reserves to leap to the window sill and make a racket. (Notice how Beethoven's strains sedated him, except for a transitory cat tag jiggle. But how rude for… Continue reading After midnight MOONLIGHT Sonata–why not another try, first movement (BEETHOVEN–video)