Chopin and his love of opera

Don't be deceived by the title of a you tube produced documentary that was perhaps devised to draw a wider audience of viewers. Chopin and the Women Behind his Music explores in depth, the composer's tie to the opera, and how the vocal model permeates his compositions, whether they be in fast or slow tempo.…

A Piano Teacher’s Hodgepodge Life with its ups and downs!

Today I was greeted by a rare Piano Ped. Forum Facebook post that celebrated a positive private teaching day. Teacher C. reported that all students had arrived on time for lessons, paid their fees pronto, and actually practiced. Bravo! Reams of peers LIKED the morsel of good tidings, except for one who JOKINGLY remarked, "Thanks…

Piano Study: Tempo shifts from Childhood to Adulthood

Turning back the clock to my early years as a piano student, I regarded ANDANTE as the slowest tempo marking in the musical universe. So did all my friends who foot dragged their pedal and stumbled through the doldrums of any piece that had the "A" for power down the pace and lower volume while…

Birthday Blogomania! Three pianists + 1 adult student intersect on April 19th

To my amazement, I celebrated these three musician luminaries in separate blogs over a period of years. So honoring them once again on their common birthday is a joyful undertaking. Adding a fourth celebrant to the mix, I've given a glowing spotlight to Marie, my adult student of longstanding. MURRAY PERAHIA https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/murray-perahia-pianist-is-in-a-league-of-his-own-videos/ Favorite you tube…

Art, Photography, and Music in perfect harmony

Julie Orchard, an intensely dedicated piano student, presented a glass multimedia mosaic at the Subterranean Arthouse last night that blended well with Domenico Scarlatti's music. http://youtu.be/XYM6dV8LfMI In the same spirit, the composer's Sonata in D minor complemented the splendor of Berkeley's springtime foliage. http://youtu.be/WhIvm8VU5ZM LINK: https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/an-adult-piano-student-and-stained-glass-artist-has-a-dual-passion/

An Adult Piano Student and Stained Glass Artist has a dual passion

It's a small world in many ways. Julie Orchard became a piano student of mine through my next door neighbor, Art, who happens to own the Bottle Shop across the street. But degrees of separation melted further when I discovered that Julie's mother studied piano in Fresno with my former teacher, Ena Bronstein. In fact,…

Dalcroze Eurhythmics on Display at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Dalcroze Eurhythmics was in full bloom in a lively space at the San Francisco Conservatory last Saturday. It was a refreshing morning of music and movement in perfect synthesis. Jessica Schaeffer, Alice Mosley, and Yoriko Richman led a group of educators, pianists, and other instrumentalists through imaginative rhythmic offerings that kept all participants on their…

Physical fitness and piano playing

For the past few years, I've adhered to a fitness program that includes daily exercising at the Y gym. I don't use weights because of their stress on my wrists, but I find the Gravitron (demonstrated in part one of my video) to be an upper body strength-builder. Particularly when I need added dead weight…

The SINGING ingredient of phrasing

When I studied piano in New York City with Lillian Lefkofsky Freundlich, she always sang over my playing as well as her own. Her habitual voice-overs that lingered for years and seeped into the depths of my musical consciousness, gave me a sense of phrase-loving that would spread far and wide in my own teaching.…

Reviewing Chopin’s Nocturne in C# minor, Op. Posthumous (MOVIE THEME, THE PIANIST)

http://youtu.be/y7Kry7-jrME We have to give credit to movie-makers for putting this hauntingly beautiful composition on the popular marquee of Classical music favorites. It shares notoriety with Mozart's middle movement theme of Concerto no. 21 in C, which recurred throughout the film, Elvira Madigan. Chopin's Nocturne in C# minor was a perfect match for Roman Polanski's…