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| 女儿快9岁了，钢琴原有一点基础，现在大多数时间是自己断续地在练习，想重新在北京请一负责任的高水平钢琴教师，各位能否帮忙推荐一下？请发信息到邮箱lexus1202@126.com里，非常感谢！ |
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| 说得简单一点，就是觉得自己到了一瓶颈位置，想要突破好像困难重重。这个问题，严重到连自己的专业老师也拿偶没办法了[em04][em04]并不是自己顽固不化。 而是，一来觉得现在好像怎么弹也达不到自己想要的高度；二来，就如一些旁观者所说的那样，我想要的东西和老师教的东西，完全是两条平行线在走，（就是说，老师已经尽力教了，可是我还是得不到想要的东西，或者说，我想要的东西不是老师教的东西） 各位，谁有这样的经验？谁能告诉我该如何解决？THANK YOU VERY MUCH！！ |
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| 找不同风格的作品弹弹，比如，弹一些现代音乐作品或者电影音乐作品。 |
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| 太抽象了，不过，从声音的角度看，我觉得弹拜耳和弹肖邦的概念是一样，没有容易和困难之分。 |
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| 仔细想了一下，有多少人可以像中央广播电台那样的人发音，很少，难道是智商的问题吗？不是的，是没有去纠正自己的发音。 环境当然重要，北京人说普通话要比其他地方的人方便的多，但是不是说北京人说话就是标准的普通话。 有些广东人可以说非常标准的普通话，虽然是少数，但是这些少数人绝对是经常在聆听标准的普通话，然后纠正自己发音。 弹钢琴也是一样，如果不把声音放在第一位，就不要以钢琴为职业了。 什么叫声音是第一位？所谓声音是第一位就是弹钢琴的一切目的都是为了乐谱要求的声音，你用脚能弹出好的声音，目的就达到了，手只是一个媒介而已。 可以这样说，如果演奏钢琴，一句话可以说清楚，一万句也说不清楚。 一句话说清楚的就是声音第一位，一万句说不清楚的就是不注重声音，每天就是什么技巧，放松，为了这些技巧而技巧，为了放松而放松，诸不知，这些的目标都是为了声音服务的。 一个快速音流如果演奏出来，听听那些大师是如何演奏出来的，他们的演奏是一个参考，不是去模仿他们，而是给你一个启示，wow，原来是这样的效果，你就去弹出这样声音的效果，如何去实现这样的声音效果，你自己去调整自己的动作，放松。。等等，如果你可以不用手指而用鼻子弹出这样的效果，没有说你是错误的，声音对了，一切都是对的，没有谁规定应该手指触键还不能用脚去弹。 自然状态是所以好声音的基础，就是这样思路。只所以都用手弹，因为是最自然的方式。 耳朵是最好的老师，如果耳朵不能判别自己弹出的声音是否好，那就是致命的弱点，如果耳朵可以判别自己弹出的声音和自己想象的声音有什么差别，那就好办了，你就去改正自己弹出的声音，如何弹奏，没有规则，但是有原则，就是不达到你要求的声音，就不收兵。 不管是快速还是慢速，都是这个思路。 你读散文或者读唐诗如何发音，如何朗读？这个和弹肖邦与弹贝多芬情绪要求不一样是相同的道理。 很多人说数学和弹钢琴完全不同，我说，不是的，是相通的。 数学如果搞清楚最基本的概念，就会解题，做题，考试可以考很好，如果基本概念搞不清楚，结果是什么？结果就是老师讲一个题，会做，也只会做类似的题，换一个题，依然一头雾水。 弹钢琴同样如此，老师讲了，示范了肖邦的第一叙事曲如何弹，你也弹的很好，但是你自己如果再弹另外一个陌生的曲子时候，比如肖邦的第四叙事曲，如果老师说，怎么能够这样弹，完全不对！这个时候，你应该如何反思自己？我想结论是完全没有得到悟性，不知道怎样弹琴，说到底，你不知道要怎样的声音。 |
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| TO PYTHON: 真是一语中的!! !!! |
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| 美丽的小行板 I am still waiting for your recital. Remember? You promised me last time. :-) Over the years I have found you have became less and less assertive and more and more self doubtful. I guess it could be more of a psychological barrier than a technical one. Couple of things keep in mind, first, try not falling into one type of cult in terms of interpretations, you should be willing to try out different approaches, and don't forget what you hear in the practice room might be quite different from what you got from various recital hall. Also, think not just the sound from your own angle only, but from the audience as well. Secondly, music is about personality and character, not just about the composer, but through the interpreter as well. You should have your own imagination, just through imitation alone without your own say won't get you anywhere. Even those who win certain competition through this kind of stuffed imitation, doomed to fail career wise once they left their cane sticks. So, try not hide your true self. :-) BTW, I was listening to Ying Quartet's new release Dim Sum the other night, one piece stands out far more impressive than the others. It's Liang Lei's Gobi Gloria. After a little web search of this composer, guess what? He used to major in piano too! So, diversity in skills does help, no need to cocoon yourself into one corner only. Good luck. :-) http://www.lei-liang.com/ |
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| TO DONJUAN: 看到你的留言真让我感动!!!!!!!! My recital will be on 12th-Decmber,please leave me your e-mail address or any knid of contact infromation,so that I can tell you further:-) 从欧洲转来美国, 环境变了, 整个演奏的STYLE,TASTE都和欧洲的有很大的不同。加上我在美国的学习遇到的曲折，我的确开始怀疑自己，现在这个阶段是所有矛盾的爆发点。 最近我收到不少朋友的留言，都很有启发和帮助的，我想，我应该很快就会走出迷雾吧？：） |
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| 仔细想了一下，有多少人可以像中央广播电台那样的人发音，很少，难道是智商的问题吗？不是的，是没有去纠正自己的发音。 环境当然重要，北京人说普通话要比其他地方的人方便的多，但是不是说北京人说话就是标准的普通话。 有些广东人可以说非常标准的普通话，虽然是少数，但是这些少数人绝对是经常在聆听标准的普通话，然后纠正自己发音。 弹钢琴也是一样，如果不把声音放在第一位，就不要以钢琴为职业了。 什么叫声音是第一位？所谓声音是第一位就是弹钢琴的一切目的都是为了乐谱要求的声音，你用脚能弹出好的声音，目的就达到了，手只是一个媒介而已。 可以这样说，如果演奏钢琴，一句话可以说清楚，一万句也说不清楚。 一句话说清楚的就是声音第一位，一万句说不清楚的就是不注重声音，每天就是什么技巧，放松，为了这些技巧而技巧，为了放松而放松，诸不知，这些的目标都是为了声音服务的。 一个快速音流如果演奏出来，听听那些大师是如何演奏出来的，他们的演奏是一个参考，不是去模仿他们，而是给你一个启示，wow，原来是这样的效果，你就去弹出这样声音的效果，如何去实现这样的声音效果，你自己去调整自己的动作，放松。。等等，如果你可以不用手指而用鼻子弹出这样的效果，没有说你是错误的，声音对了，一切都是对的，没有谁规定应该手指触键还不能用脚去弹。 自然状态是所以好声音的基础，就是这样思路。只所以都用手弹，因为是最自然的方式。 耳朵是最好的老师，如果耳朵不能判别自己弹出的声音是否好，那就是致命的弱点，如果耳朵可以判别自己弹出的声音和自己想象的声音有什么差别，那就好办了，你就去改正自己弹出的声音，如何弹奏，没有规则，但是有原则，就是不达到你要求的声音，就不收兵。 不管是快速还是慢速，都是这个思路。 你读散文或者读唐诗如何发音，如何朗读？这个和弹肖邦与弹贝多芬情绪要求不一样是相同的道理。 很多人说数学和弹钢琴完全不同，我说，不是的，是相通的。 数学如果搞清楚最基本的概念，就会解题，做题，考试可以考很好，如果基本概念搞不清楚，结果是什么？结果就是老师讲一个题，会做，也只会做类似的题，换一个题，依然一头雾水。 弹钢琴同样如此，老师讲了，示范了肖邦的第一叙事曲如何弹，你也弹的很好，但是你自己如果再弹另外一个陌生的曲子时候，比如肖邦的第四叙事曲，如果老师说，怎么能够这样弹，完全不对！这个时候，你应该如何反思自己？我想结论是完全没有得到悟性，不知道怎样弹琴，说到底，你不知道要怎样的声音。 --雾水。嘿嘿。 |
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| 美丽的小行板 Sure, I am looking forward to it. 12/12 is a nice number, isn't it? I guess you must have given it some superstitious thought. :-) Any way, I will attend Alisa Weilerstein's Cello recital on 12/11, then pretty much free that weekend. You can find my email address through here (I am a little bit surprised it still exists considering the spam fear all over the places!) https://www.bh2000.net/bbs/musicbbs/namelist.php Just tell me where it holds, I hope I can sneak in as a regular audience, and quiet observer. I believe the last minute ticket should always be available, or should it? :-) |
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| TO DONJUAN: My recital is ticket free!!!! So, don't worried about the ticket:) |
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| 请问音乐会在哪个城市啊？ |
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| Imagine... being a concert pianist Quite a nice TV documentary, highly recommended. http://ca.youtube.com/results?search_query=imagine...being+a+concert+pianist&search_type=&aq=f |
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| 点燃参与热情，延展大赛平台 旨在倡导“共鸣和谐乐章，振动世界心弦”的2008CCTV钢琴 小提琴大赛的报名工作目前正在火热进行之中，人气高涨。从热烈的报名情况可以预见，此次大赛必将给中国的古典音乐迷们献上一段精彩回忆。 据介绍，“2008CCTV钢琴 小提琴大赛”分为报名选拔、初赛、复赛、决赛等几个环节，每个环节均由国内实力派评委为比赛的专业性与公正性严格把关。比赛的过程将是一个精心培育的过程，一个由稚嫩到成熟的心路历程。我们在比赛的过程中，将邀请顶尖的音乐演奏家做专业的指导，具有良好潜质的选手在大赛中，经过一系列包装、打造、磨练，最终成为一个走向世界的国际新星。每一场比赛，对于选手都是一个学习、历练、蜕变的过程。最终评选出来的金、银、铜奖选手将被全新包装，参与CCTV音乐频道的各项活动及节目录制。大赛各分赛区经过紧张筹备，目前各项准备工作已经完成，现以向社会广发英雄帖，只要你报名参赛，就有机会亲自前往世界最高音乐殿堂、令无数爱乐人士心驰神往的维也纳金色大厅，观摩“未来中国”的音乐会演出，而本次大赛的金奖选手，就能获得在音乐圣殿演奏的殊荣，届时将会在金色大厅里与众多音乐大师们同台献艺。被誉为“世界音乐之都”、“欧洲音乐城”的奥地利首都维也纳是全世界音乐人向往的圣地，作为维也纳音乐之城象征的金色大厅，是世界上最豪华、最著名的音乐大厅，全世界的一流乐团争相前来演出，以向世界展示自己最高的音乐水平，同时，更作为乐团的莫大荣耀。到金色大厅欣赏音乐会,是观众的一种荣幸。而金色大厅登台演出,是所有音乐家们的荣耀。 无论是中央电视台一套直播的2009年新年音乐会，还是耀眼的金色大厅受万人瞩目；无论是与波士顿交响乐团的倾情合作，还是与国内著名交响乐团在八大赛区汇报演出集千般宠爱。当你们张开双手，拥抱的不只是物质堆砌而成的生活，还有神圣的音乐的梦想时，通过2008CCTV钢琴 小提琴大赛激发无限灵感，充分展示你们心中的梦想家园和多彩生活！你就会拥有把自己的声音放在世界任何一角的权利。从崇拜到传承，将稀有变为拥有。2008CCTV钢琴 小提琴大赛将为选手充分展示自身音乐才华提供广阔的发挥平台。 |
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| 还没有比赛我就猜到得钢琴小提第一，二的无非就是这几个老师的学生。因为不易筛选最后就是看老师名气了。 看了比赛的章程，这个比赛几乎没有太大意思，曲目太少，简单，达不到比赛的目的，就如高考如果题目太简单达不到筛选人才的目的一样。但是这个比赛作为选拔音乐的后备人才是可以的，钢琴专业不适合参加这个比赛。就如文学界，有全国作文大赛，矛盾文学奖，诺贝尔文学奖等不同的层次，这个钢琴比赛充其量就相当于简单初中作文比赛，文章最多2000字这个级别，得奖只能说明你还是当作家的料，仅此而已。这个比赛还不如珠江杯。钢琴小提琴比赛最好的形式是马拉松比赛，你弹的不好，评委听一分钟就可以让选手马上下课，弹的好的可以让他继续弹下去，最终能让评委听你弹的时间最长的为优胜，可能弹10小时才能决出胜负，这样证明你弹的好（哪首弹的不好就叫你下课了），又证明了你的曲目足够开很多音乐会。这样才叫钢琴家的比赛， |
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| Hanover product to play at the Bovine Sex Club. That's quite refreshing! :-) http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/509260 HAIOU ZHANG IN TORONTO TheStar.com | entertainment | Pianist ups his hip factor Pianist ups his hip factor Oct 01, 2008 04:30 AM Be the first to comment on this article... John Terauds CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC It didn't take long for Haiou Zhang to pick a weapon of mass attraction. Deep in the basement of venerable piano purveyor Paul Hahn & Co., the 24-year-old transplanted Hanoverian lit up the keyboard of a rental 1903 Steinway concert grand with Mozart, Chopin and Liszt to see if it would be the ideal partner for his first solo gig in Toronto. Forgoing the traditional concert hall, Zhang is making his musical splash at the Bovine Sex Club on Queen St. W. Friday night. It's a bold move that more and more young classical performers are making in Europe – but not yet in North Ameica. Go to Berlin next week, and, if you're on the ultra-hip Yellow Lounge list, you can go hear opera star René Pape at a Berlin train station. In London, you can catch one of Sergei Prokofiev's grandson Gabriel's club gigs on a regular basis. For Zhang, who is not yet well-known on this side of the Atlantic, this week's Toronto visit would not have been possible without the help of conductor Kerry Stratton. The two appeared on stage together at the George Weston Recital Hall a year ago, when Zhang joined the Toronto Philharmonia in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. "Kerry (Stratton) told me about this hip club downtown," says Zhang, who jumped at the opportunity to perform at the self-described "dirty old rock bar." "I like exciting events," he adds over a pre-piano-choosing lunch. Later, Zhang looks back down at the Steinway's keyboard and starts to play the nearly impossible arpeggios of Liszt's demonic variations on Mozart's Rondo alla Turca. "That would be a nice way to end the program, no?" he says, eyes twinkling at the grand finale. Zhang says he gets a charge out of intimate events. He describes one concert where his audience sat around the piano. "I felt like we were breathing together for some moments. It was a good feeling." It helps that he can tailor the music to suit. "I changed my program after I looked at the club's website," he says with a smile. To up his hip factor, Zhang will play five of his own pieces, whimsical works he describes as "late romanticism, crossed with Elton John." Zhang's history is a lot like that of Lang Lang, who dominated Toronto classical music last week. Two years younger than Lang, Zhang's parents moved him to near-squalor in Beijing at a young age so that he could devote all his waking hours to learning piano. Lang went to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia to perfect his craft. Zhang went to the Hochschule für Musik in the northern German city of Hanover for high education. "Even though I had a lot of difficulties in my childhood because of music, I feel it was all worthwhile," says Zhang. "I love doing what I do." The love manifests itself in a flawless keyboard technique and a great sense of musical playfulness. The boyish, down-to-earth pianist is doing everything he can to transmit that love of music to his peers, even if that means leaving behind the traditional concert hall. For more information on Zhang's late-night recital at the Bovine Sex Club on Friday, phone 416-879-3820 or visit bovinesexclub.com. $20 cover. Zhang will also perform tomorrow night with violinist Marc Djokic in a "Rising Stars" concert at Markham Theatre. |
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| http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/507960 Lang Lang's trademark piano style enthralls Sep 29, 2008 04:30 AM Be the first to comment on this article... John Terauds CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC Before bidding farewell to Chinese pianist Lang Lang's sensation-packed week in Toronto, I need to apologize for not being able to add the "TM" symbol to the 26-year-old's name. In the program notes to Lang's solo recital at Roy Thomson Hall on Friday night, the trademark appeared everywhere, as if he had to worry that someone out there would be able to match his technique or copy his frequently over-the-top expressivity. As it was in the days of Franz Liszt, Jan Paderewski and Ferrucio Busoni, a century or more ago, a Lang Lang concert is all about him, not the composer. Trademark issues aside, here is a product that comes with a smile guarantee. In three sold-out concerts at Roy Thomson Hall – one solo, two with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra – Lang brought every audience to its feet, cheering for more. There were other, smaller-scale performances and appearances during the week, each bringing out devoted fans eager to catch a whiff of Lang Lang's special mystique. Whether unfettered and alone on stage, or adroitly accompanied by conductor Peter Oundjian and the TSO, Lang never failed to play his heart and soul out. Whether you agree with his interpretations or not, here is an artist who has thought through every note and rest and shaped each phrase. He then delivers them with conviction as well as panache. Then there is his technique. Words fail to express the feats of dexterity his fingers can muster. For his solo performance on Friday, Lang chose a difficult program that included a vigorously dissonant Sonata from 1926 by Béla Bartók and a selection of sparkly musical abstractions from Claude Debussy's two books of Préludes. As wrought through the Lang Lang (TM) interpretation, these pieces (along with Franz Schubert's meandering A Major Piano Sonata No. 20 and Frederic Chopin's "Heroic" Polonaise) sounded unlike anyone else's. As far as I could tell on Friday night, as well as at the Canadian premiere on Tan Dun's The Fire concerto on Wednesday night and Tchaikovsky's No. 1 and Chopin's No. 2 concertos on Saturday, Lang's now nearly patented approach rests on a few basic elements: He makes soft passages even softer, capturing our attention by making us listen even harder. He pauses between musical phrases, allowing the music to breathe. His pianissimo caresses verge on the ethereal. Loud passages get extra punch with short, sharp shocks to the keyboard. This adds rhythmic fire and also, frequently, a harsh edge. Lang has a tendency to highlight inner melodies and harmonic shifts in unorthodox ways, giving the sound a fresh texture. The legion of fans, including many more young people than one sees at other classical concerts, wouldn't have it any other way. This is a visit thousands of Torontonians won't soon forget. Lang Lang appears on Jay Leno tonight. His Friday solo recital is scheduled for broadcast on CBC Radio Two on Tempo, Oct. 6 and Sunday Afternoon in Concert on Nov. 9. ************************ Old school maybe, but technically, I am still wondering why some critics keep on lauding LL's technique, whether they liked his artistry or not, to me, his technique is rather sloppy as compared to many modern schools products. It's his personal style, which equally gathered an army of his distractors as well as his championers. In this Toronto case, may we assume the local Li Delun society has played a significant roll in his stay there, considering their chairman is a huge LL fan, as we all know from their post here in the past? :-) |
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| http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080929.wlang29/BNStory/Entertainment/home The virtuosity thrills, but it's the interpretation that astonishes KEN WINTERS From Monday's Globe and Mail September 29, 2008 at 3:31 AM EDT An audience overflowing to three packed rows in a wide crescent on the platform behind the piano greeted the extravagantly gifted and even more extravagantly uninhibited young (26) Chinese phenomenon Lang Lang, at his solo recital Friday at Roy Thomson Hall. I was probably among the few present who had never heard Lang play. Of course I had read about his skyrocketing career, his unbridled virtuosity, his overcharged interpretations; and all that print had made me fight shy of him. I was expecting a kind of knock-down, drag-out whiz kid, brilliant but monomaniacally willful, who would rush through music and out the other side without noticing what lay within it. On this occasion, however, I found the program itself irresistibly tantalizing. It seemed to me that no mere trifler or finger-fool would dare choose Schubert's prolix, deeply challenging late Sonata in A, (D. 959, or Bartok's utterly uningratiating Piano Sonata, (BB80), or seven of Debussy's subtly exacting Préludes. So I made my mind a blank sheet and settled down to listen to the Schubert sonata, which occupied amply the entire first half of the program. And as the music unfurled quite naturally, my first feelings were astonishment and a growing, rapt fascination. Here was not the headstrong and unseemly pianistic behaviour I had been led to expect, but a sensitive, thoughtful exploration of the discursive, lyrical mind of Schubert. The arduous first movement had none of the stony pounding and windy rhetoric that can easily ruin it. Lang's playing was probing, sober, delicate. The beautiful slow movement was a bit stretched rhythmically, but Schubert's sweet, layered harmonies were lucidly projected, and the wistful descant above the reprise of the main theme was poignantly poised. The scherzo was brisk and fresh, technically fluent, always musical, and its trio was as magical as it was meant to be. The finale was rhapsodic and engaging. Altogether this was Schubert-playing on a level with the best I have heard. One hears Lang is now studying with the Olympian conductor-pianist Daniel Barenboim. In the Schubert, it showed. After intermission, however, not everything was so enlightened. The Bartok Sonata is a hard go at the best of times, and Lang, with the score before him and a discreet page-turner beside him, muscled his way through it, exploiting at least the powerful visceral rhythms of the outer movements, but unable to persuade in the severe, sustained central movement. In the seven Préludes selected from both books of Debussy's pieces in the genre, Lang wrong-footed his listeners by totally rearranging the sequence as given in the printed program. He played them well, and by no means crudely or vapidly, but I missed some essence of the Gallic idiom. Best were the exquisitely simple La fille aux cheveux de lin, with which he opened; the magisterial, mysterious La cathédrale engloutie, which he played third; a perkily tossed off Minstrels, which he played fifth; and the glittering Feux d'artifice, with which he concluded. He had not quite mastered the individual enthrallments of the others. He did make the crowd roar with his recital closer: a barn-burning account of Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat. This was what his fans had been waiting for, and in it his stereotypical virtuosity took over. He played it too quickly. The polonaise is a proud dance which fills its lungs, straightens its spine, extends its stride and snaps its heels. In Lang's performance of this popular specimen, the famous wrist-paralyzing reiterated left-hand octaves were the fastest I've ever heard. They wowed the pianistic thrill-seekers but they were a clear example of virtuosity hypnotizing itself at the expense of the music. After many long bows, Lang semi-reluctantly (the program must have exhausted him) gave a single encore: Chopin's favourite among his melodies, the Étude in E from Opus 10. Milked but touching. |
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| 有争议的钢琴家才是有前途的钢琴家，如李云迪在国外，批评他的文章几乎比褒扬的他的文章多，没啥奇怪的，本来写文章的人很多都是混饭吃的，donjuan别当真就行了。 |
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| The debate or contrary reviews on Lang Lang's play mainly came from different or opposite aesthetic background, plus media and especially his PR team's over push and its consequent backlash. All those splashes were just as a good indication there's the action, and he's everywhere making "noises". As for LYD, no action might be the best action for him right now. Since when he has gathered such a controversial media responses outside the Chinese speaking region and countries? Do you mean these ones? Do you really think he played extremely well and those critics all suck because they all seemed to be quite consistent in description of Li's play this past spring, whether they liked it or not. But of course, bright future or no future is all on his shoulder. http://www.bh2000.net/bbs/all/track.php?cdb=musicbbs&id=10234 http://www.bh2000.net/bbs/all/track.php?cdb=musicbbs&id=10254 BTW, as I have once said before that in Li's latest recording of Prokofiev and Ravel, I quite liked his studio Ravel, and considered it the silver lining in his not so promising young career. Guess what, about 10 days ago, I got another chance heard his live performance of this same work with the Chicago Symphony on the XM radio through their Thursday evening BP Chicago Symphony broadcast program recorded last Novenber). Unfortunately, it was rather dreadful. almost boring to death. So little bit further web searching, we have these two: http://www.timeout.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/?p=3402 http://deceptivelysimple.typepad.com/simple/2007/11/index.html |
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| So, you mean, the one who makes recordings is not the one who gives performances? |
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| Well, all I can tell is it's not him in the same technical and artistical condition. Maybe it's due to the lack of rehearsal time with the CSO, or maybe it's because of his injured hand, (remember he got injured during practice in Chicago during that time?), or maybe it's under the dreadful influence as the rumor of him slitting with his former agent, and potential no more extension of his CD contract with DG had been just spread out on line back home in China. It seemed all happened during that period, so, he's in no condition as he was while recording. |
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| 拜托了 、 谁有丁当的 猜不透 钢琴谱、 拜托拜托、 本人联系QQ 445153601 |
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| http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/feb/02/classicalmusicandopera.stage Things that have interested me Notes on a theme James Fenton applauds the art of improvisation The concert pianists of the Romantic period did much that would surprise a modern audience. Many of them were skilled improvisers, and improvisation on popular themes was something that their admirers insisted on hearing. If you weren't good at improvising, you lived in dread of these ordeals. At any moment inspiration might dry up and you might make a fool of yourself. Today, classical improvisation on the piano has almost entirely been abandoned, although the art lives on elsewhere. It is the mainstay of jazz and (in the easy listening department) the stock-in-trade of the hotel lounge pianist. I learned the other day that, when such a hotel performer takes a popular tune and wreathes it in arpeggios, it is a technique that derives from Sigismund Thalberg, Liszt's great rival of the 1830s concert hall. The third place where improvisation survives is in the world of the church organ, in the tradition represented recently by Messiaen and his successor at the Trinité church in Paris, Naji Hakim. And it is in church, too, that we find another practice long lost to the classical piano tradition - that of "preluding". The Romantic concert pianists did not simply sit down, wait for complete silence and then begin the first piece on the programme. They played a little something to warm up, to get the audience in the mood and to get their fingers accustomed to the piano. Sometimes it might be a matter of a few chords. Friedrich Wieck, Clara Schumann's father, advised: "Before beginning a piece, play a few fluent arpeggios and some decent passages or scales, piano and forte, up and down the keyboard ..." Church organists do not aim for this kind of finger gymnastics. They are setting the religious mood. But the principle is the same: they link the different parts of the service, just as concert pianists used to provide a musical link between the pieces on the programme. That moment in church when the organist, having been doodling away quietly, suddenly modulates into the key of the first hymn, to which he then provides a few introductory bars - that moment or its equivalent would once have been familiar in the concert hall. The word "prelude" has almost completely lost its musical meaning, but in the 19th century, and well into the 20th, one might well play, say, a Chopin prelude before launching into an étude. And, if the two pieces were in different keys, the pianist might compose or improvise a few bars as a transition. There is a 1922 recording of Ferruccio Busoni doing exactly this. Preluding died out sometime around the second world war. I've been gleaning such information from a wonderful book by Kenneth Hamilton: After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance (OUP). I picked it up in expectation of learning when and why applause became impermissible between movements. Audiences used to applaud freely - and ask for encores - in the course of a piece with more than one movement. They would pick out a particularly impressive variation and ask for it again. Performers used to be mortified in late 19th-century London if the second variation of Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata failed to elicit a stormy response. They wanted applause, sometimes so that they could judge the mood of the audience and perhaps vary the programme accordingly. The audience was not shy to make requests. Thalberg went to hear a concert by a Theodor Döhler (a child prodigy who in due course was ennobled, married a Russian princess and gave up playing in public). The audience wanted to hear Thalberg's greatest hit, his fantasy on Rossini's Moses in Egypt. So Thalberg got up on stage and obliged, even though it was not his concert. Liszt was about to accompany a celebrated violinist called Lambert Massart on the Kreutzer Sonata. But before Massart could play his first note, the crowd began to call for Liszt's Robert le Diable fantasy. Liszt told the audience that he was always their humble servant, but did they want the fantasy before or after the sonata? Again they called for Robert le Diable. So Liszt "dismissed Massart with the wave of a hand" and played his piece first. By the time it came to the sonata, Massart was utterly humiliated. Applause between movements appears to have died out some time around 1940-50, later than I would have expected. Hamilton implies that silent appreciation began with Dutch audiences, but spread through the influence of recorded music: one wouldn't applaud a record. But there is a creeping gentility involved as well, and a feeling of being overawed by your neighbour's disapproval, a fear of committing a faux pas. At the same time as the applause shrivelled away, the pressure was on for pianists to become note-perfect. This they simply had not been. Hans von Bülow almost instructed his students to make mistakes: "In large leaps, now and then you must claw a wrong note; otherwise no one will notice that it is difficult." The audience liked this. Wrong notes, we are told, were considered a sign of genius. Eugen d'Albert was celebrated for the wild inaccuracy of his playing. Busoni told one player who had ventured to demur: "If you put as much conviction into your right notes as d'Albert does into his wrong ones, then you'd have cause to criticise." The player as improviser was contemporaneous with the pianist who was required to play from memory. The great Alfred Cortot was very bad at this, and used to try whatever came to mind. Beecham recalled conducting with him: "We started with the Beethoven, and I kept up with Cortot through the Grieg, Schumann, Bach and Tchaikovsky, and then he hit on one I didn't know, so I stopped dead." If your memory failed utterly, Theodor Leschetizky advised you to turn angrily to the audience and complain that a certain note was disgracefully out of tune, then leave the stage demanding a tuner. "The pianist," Hamilton tells us, "could then surreptitiously consult his score in the artist's room while the tuner dealt with the allegedly offending note." |
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| The MacArthur Fellows Program Awards: Leila Josefowicz http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.4537267/ Classic FM Gramophone Artist of the Year: Hilary Hahn Classic FM Gramophone best Concerto recording: Elgar: Violin Concerto/ James Ehnes violin / Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir Andrew Davis conductor, Label: Onyx http://www.gramophone.co.uk/newsMainTemplate.asp?storyID=3090&newssectionID=1 李云迪北京获颁发英国精品协会杰出人物奖 http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/2008-09-26/17082185227.shtml British Luxury? http://www.thewalpole.co.uk/walpole-events/walpole-awards.aspx Isn't something wrong with this picture? :-) |
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| 小巫见大巫，与他同龄的LL获奖多了去了。 |
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| 请问怎么成为注册用户啊？ 谢谢。 |
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| 若发一篇论文（不许抄袭）上来，你便可成为注册用户 |
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| 原来如此——难怪某人一个劲儿的贴阿贴，结果都是转贴，就是没法被认同…… |
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| 原来是对钢琴一窍不通，后来小孩学琴没有办法就看一点书，当然还是外行。在赵晓生的“钢琴演奏之道”书中知道了一个法国作曲家，Alkan的名字，与肖邦同时代，也是肖邦，李斯特的好朋友。后来想办法终于收集了Alkan的大部分钢琴乐谱。到现在为止，我觉得除了我们知道一些浪漫派作曲家外，如果有谁能够驾驭Alkan的作品以及戈多夫斯基的肖邦练习曲改编的53首练习曲，那真可谓能力超强。即使学钢琴的不一定很多人知道Alkan其人，下面是台湾的一个网页发给我的有关Alkan的介绍，我转成了简体中文，共享此文。 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 一、前言 如果有一天，你走进音乐厅想欣赏一点新鲜的钢琴音乐。你想逃避尖锐、无调性的现代乐，单调无深度的音乐不能引起共鸣，历代音乐大师们的作品又太耳熟能详；你希望听到调性的、优美富诗意的声音，有闪亮的技巧展现并深具独创性的音乐。此时，法国作曲家Alkan的钢琴协奏曲作品39之8应是最佳曲目。对绝大多数的爱乐者而言，Alkan是一个陌生的名字；然而19世纪中期，他却是李斯特口中当代一颗闪亮的钢琴巨星，布索尼并将之列入李斯特、肖邦、舒曼和布拉姆斯同等地位的钢琴作曲家。 二、生平 Alkan(Charles-Henry-Valentin Alkan)一八一三年十一月三十日出生于法国巴黎。父亲是由(Ashkenazic, 中欧地名)移居法国的犹太人，在巴黎的Blancs-Manteaux经营一所预备学校。他在音乐方面的教学十分成功，曾有人将该校比喻为入音乐学院的预备校。父亲名为Alkan Morhange共生六名子女，Alkan排行老二，上有姊姊Celeste，下有四个弟弟。他们皆以父亲的名字当姓，原因不详。Alkan姊弟自小即显露音乐天份。Alkan本人为天才儿童型人物。他6岁进入巴黎音乐院；8岁得视唱第一奖； 9岁时， Cherubini曾经赞誉其为同龄孩子中最闪亮的一位；10岁得钢琴第一奖；12岁得和声第一奖；20岁得管风琴第一奖；16岁至23岁在音乐院教授视唱(Solfege)课程。他曾经教导过法国著名音乐教育家娜娣亚‧布兰洁的父亲。Alkan的姊姊赛莉丝特11岁时也得到视唱第一奖，Alkan的三位弟弟共拿下八项音乐院的第一奖和一个罗马大赛的第二奖。第三个弟弟终生任教于巴黎音乐院。Alkan在孩童时期即享有声誉，时常受邀在莫丝科瓦公主(The Princesse de la)宫中演奏。他在音乐院的钢琴老师是约瑟夫‧钦莫曼(P.J. Zimmermann)。钦莫曼对年轻的Alkan爱护备至，除了细心教导、聘他为教学助理，并引领Alkan进入巴黎文化社交圈。在那里Alkan认识了雨果、乔治桑、李斯特、肖邦、大仲马、小仲马⋯。不喜欢与人打交道的肖邦与Alkan相处融洽，两人相知相惜。Alkan极为欣赏及崇拜肖邦，二人成为密友和邻居，住所靠近奥良(d'Orleans)广场，他们时常互换学生并同台演出。1838年，Alkan和肖邦合开一场音乐会，该年Alkan的声誉大振，但是他对名声感到害怕；翌年，1839年便从舞台消失，至1844年才出现。Alkan的性格里有着极不协调的矛盾：一面他是天才型的演奏者，另一面他却厌恶演出；一面他有良好的社会关系，另一面他却厌世，容易对人感到失望；一面他对社会改革运动有兴趣，另一面却又支持拿破仑三世。他极端矛盾的性格，使他犹如置身于一条绳子的两端，不是这端，便是那端。1844年Alkan努力克服性格上的不协和，重新出现于舞台时，连续弹奏两场演奏会。肖邦和李斯特皆出现于观众席上，朵替克(D'Ortigue)称他的演奏坚实有力，华丽且简洁严谨。1845年他在埃拉厅(Salle Erard)又弹奏两场， 深获好评，乐界皆视他为当时主要的顶尖钢琴家。1848年，老师钦莫曼去世，原本寄望Alkan接替他在巴黎音乐院的教职，然而音乐院的主事者奥伯对Alkan敏感多刺的个性产生疑虑，最后将教职交给Alkan早年的学生马蒙泰尔(Marmontel)。这个打击使Alkan方伸出的触角又收了回去。此时法国因革命后的不安持续升高，许多音乐人士相继离开巴黎，肖邦在1849年去世，人事全非使Alkan对人生感到沮丧。1853年，他再度现身舞台，演奏两场内容大多以古典乐派及怀旧音乐为主的独奏会，随即又消失无踪。直至1873年，阔别二十年后，Alkan才回到音乐厅的演奏台上。漫长的20年间，他除了作曲，并专研圣经和犹太教经典。1873年，Alkan已60岁。人生至此，犹如平静的大海，内里的翻腾，不再显明于外。自该年起，他每年都在埃拉音乐厅或普雷耶尔音乐厅举行六场演奏会。他的曲目十分广泛，将各时期的作曲家以年代排列，把他们的钢琴曲做系列性演奏。他广传贝多芬后期及舒伯特的钢琴音乐，这在19世纪后期是一件很稀罕的事，因为当时的音乐家皆疯狂热衷于浪漫乐派渲染夸张的音乐表达。1880年后，他每周两次出现在埃拉音乐厅，并于每日午后指导学生。1888年3月29日，传说他在寻找一本犹太教经典时，被倒塌下来的书架压倒，离开人世，享年75岁。1888年4月1日葬于巴黎的蒙马特墓园。Alkan一生行事隐密，外人对其所知不多，官方纪录亦然。一生未婚，却有一位私生子名叫艾力-米利恩‧狄拉伯(Elie-Miriam Delaborde)；狄拉伯是他的学生，后任教于巴黎音乐院。他的穿著保守简朴，犹如清教徒。深居简出的他，不喜欢与人交际，害怕出现在众人面前，常疑虑自己的健康有问题。除了音乐，他一生专注于研究犹太教经典。他的出版品与他的演奏会相仿，都有着间歇性。其有生之年，并未以他炫丽的钢琴能力推展其作品，他的创作都是出版后人们方才知晓，这也是在他生前与身后，作品不广为人知与不风行之故。 |
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| 三、作品特色 和肖邦一样，Alkan的音乐大部分是为钢琴而写。可能因为他性格上的极端所致，Alkan的音乐呈现长短差距极大，创作时期即不均衡的现象。许多作品长度不超过12小节，而钢琴协奏曲作品三十九的第一乐章，却需要半小时才能奏完。他的创作可分4个大时期来看： 1、1928年至1840年； 2、1844年至1850年； 3、1856年至1861年； 4、1870年至1873年。 每个时期之间都有几年是真空期，尤其以1862年至1870年间虚置最久。而最好的创作是写于1847年至1861年间。Alkan的第一号作品写作于1828年，是一首钢琴变奏曲。1837年以前他的作品皆为变奏曲。1837年后，他开始崭露头角，作品逐渐加入了即兴曲、诙谐曲、幻想曲、舞曲、练习曲、奏鸣曲、赋格、前奏曲、触技曲、协奏曲、四手联弹⋯等各类浪漫时期和巴洛克时期流行的格式。除了钢琴作品，他还有少量的歌曲、管弦乐作品和室内乐。第一首交响曲写作于1844年，乐谱已遗失。管弦乐作品和室内乐几乎都与钢琴有关。其中有两首是为钢琴写作的室内协奏曲、一首为小提琴和钢琴写作的二重协奏曲、一首是钢琴三重奏曲、一首为小提琴和钢琴创作的奏鸣曲。1870年之后，可能与他的宗教信仰有关，作品偏向为踏板钢琴的创作，名为〈为三只手创作的乐曲〉，那些作品亦可在管风琴上演奏。Alkan是一位深具个人原创力的音乐家，他景仰巴哈、贝多芬也崇拜肖邦等各时代的大师。由吸收、融合到创作，他的音乐拥有其个人的音乐语言，在音乐的表现上给予后人许多新的启发，他像一位先知，预告了未来创作的走向。19世纪后半叶，是一个无限发展新音响的时代。作曲家们无不努力地让乐器发出惊人的声音。Alkan在钢琴技巧的拓展上有其正面的贡献，故其成就并不亚于李斯特。他的音乐要求演奏者具备高度的技巧、力度和表达力。最具代表性的作品为1847年的二十五首前奏曲作品31，1848年的大奏鸣曲〈人生四个阶段〉作品33(Grand Sonata: LesQuatve Ages)和12首大调练习曲作品35，1857年的12首小调奏鸣曲作品39，1861年的小奏鸣曲作品61及48首〈素描〉作品63。标题为〈人生的四个阶段〉的大奏鸣曲（Op33）以音乐描绘人一生中四个阶段：第一乐章诙谐曲，描述人在二十岁的生命；第二乐章描写30岁的情景；第三乐章慢板描述40岁的经历；第四乐章极缓慢，描述50岁的心境。乐章的速度随着年岁的增长愈趋缓慢，最后归于终寂。Alkan无论在曲式或调性的架构上，皆有他个人的见解，不落俗套。大型音乐时常开始与结束的调性不一致。在作品中亦常见模仿的语言，如作品45模仿边鼓的效果、作品60模仿蟋蟀声，甚至有作品模仿火车声音⋯。其节奏亦充满着不规则的手法，作品32有五拍的乐曲，也有七拍的乐曲。这些似乎都预示了早期现代音乐的走向。作品76是分别给左手、右手及双手写作的练习曲，亦给后代斯克里亚宾、拉威尔及戈多夫斯基为左手写作的音乐，开创了一条崭新的路。作品39虽名为练习曲，其难度和长度却非练习曲的范畴。作品共分两册。上册有7首曲子，前3首分别为个性不同的单一练习曲，后4首则为标名〈交响曲〉的4个乐章。4个乐章即作品39的之4、5、6、7，全曲共有50页乐谱，与李斯特改编贝多芬的一首交响曲等长，此曲 是用钢琴弹奏的交响曲，Alkan期望在钢琴上奏出整个管弦乐团的音响。4个乐章分别为 〈中庸的快板〉、〈送葬进行曲〉、〈小步舞曲〉和〈终曲〉。第二册共5首，前3首为 标名〈协奏曲〉的3个乐章。编号是作品39之8、9、10。这首协奏曲十分巨大，光是第一乐章弹奏起来便需要半小时，共有73页乐谱。第3乐章是一首炫丽的波兰舞曲。作品39之11标题为〈序曲〉，作品39之12是此套练习曲最为人熟知的音乐，标题为〈伊索的飨宴〉( L eFesting, Aesope)，是一首变奏曲。Alkan以他超人的钢琴技巧在音乐上展现了一座动物园，里面有狗、鱼、跳蚤和鸟⋯。此曲似乎将前面十一首练习曲的技巧全部浓缩表达。 四、作品39之8 作品39之8、9、10是Alkan于1957年完成的三乐章钢琴协奏曲。整首作品以钢琴独奏的方式完成，钢琴身兼独奏者与管弦乐团。此曲Alkan在世时从未完整演出过。一八七二年，一位任教于莫斯科音乐院的德籍指挥兼钢琴家卡尔‧克林德伍斯(KarlKlindworth, 1830-1916) 对此曲产生兴趣，着手为第一乐章进行管弦乐的配置。1885年至1888年，Alkan连续提供意见给当时已回德国柏林的克林德伍斯。Alkan去世后，克林德伍斯再次修改，终于在1902年完成作品39之8的管弦乐版本。虽然自1872年至1902年，克林德伍斯只完成一个乐章的管弦乐谱，但是他花了三十年的时间把这首原本是第一乐章的音乐，发展成一首单乐章独立的钢琴协奏曲。此后没有其他版本可以与之相比拟。此曲调性为升G小调，奏鸣曲式的快板乐章。管弦乐从一开始便奏出简明有力的第一主题(Ex. 1)，经过门至E大调的第二主题。第二主题(Ex. 2)充满了迷人的色彩、诗般的旋律配上宽阔的和声，使人宛若置身于空旷的北欧，呼吸着沁凉而甜美的空气，风轻吹拂面；布拉姆斯的深刻内涵似乎重现于Alkan的音乐。装饰奏里重复敲击的音符，预告了下一世纪普罗柯夫耶夫音乐的到来。这首协奏曲充满了诗意的美和火焰般强烈的情感，Alkan对技巧及力度的要求极高，大量使用大跳的八度及和弦，音符上下快速进行，键盘似乎无法达到他内在热情的诉说境界。发热的音符，持续的高潮，衬托出这位隐居于人世间音乐家的至情至性。他的音乐组织架构没有肖邦那么复杂，然而他的柔美话语却较李斯特深刻，高难度的技巧展现对钢琴家是一大挑战。 五、结语 马蒙泰尔在回忆中提到：当肖邦去世时，他最亲近的学生们曾推举Alkan是唯一能延续浪漫派大师肖邦钢琴音乐传统的作曲家。Alkan在世时极少公开演奏自己的作品，导致他生前与死后，世人对他的音乐创作一无所知。近几年法国和英国皆成立了Alkan音乐协会。2002年10月24日英国剑桥的费兹威廉学院和Alkan音乐协会联合举办Alkan钢琴大赛，参赛者以弹奏Alkan的作品为主。费兹威廉学院并设有Alkan奖学金。钢琴家自1991年后陆续有人录制他的音乐，如法国的Marc-Andre' Hamelin录制〈Alkan钢琴协奏曲〉三个乐章、大奏鸣曲和小奏鸣曲。雷蒙‧ 陆文朵( R a y m o n dLewenthal)录制〈Alkan的钢琴音乐〉由BMG发行。朗纳‧史密斯(Ronald Smith)为EMI录制作品39的12首音乐和大奏鸣曲。此外，他的室内乐及其他钢琴作品亦有人录制。Alkan这位舒曼笔下钢琴音乐的白辽士在去世一个世纪后，方才渐露光芒，个中原因耐人寻味、值得深入探讨。天才虽有其得天独厚的一面，其性格上却有软弱的一面。他们敏感的特质，一面使他们在音乐艺术上绽放异彩，一面却让他们处于不安的现实生活中。钢琴家霍洛维兹在演奏生涯中亦多次消失─复出于舞台，在炫丽的音乐背后是一颗备受煎熬的心。对自我完美的要求，让他们无法面对过度的演出与消耗，不愿向世俗推销自己的作品。他们需要净心，需要长时间自我审视。Alkan拥有创作的内在欲望，却不敢在真实的舞台上展现自己的作品。高度的自我期许使他恐惧自我的音乐不够完美，天才们内在的自负与自卑，使Alkan至终在宗教信仰中求得了平衡。 |
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| http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=3885 http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=11188 (this one was norminated for the Gramophone award this year, it's very likely it could win, although other two nominees are no chop liver either.) http://www.europadisc.co.uk/classical/53207/Debussy_-_Complete_Piano_Works_Vol.2.htm other Alkan solos from the Hyprion: http://classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=6800 |
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| Alkan是好样的，音乐创作的目的首先是为了满足创作者自己的精神需要。 |
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| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dSqkzsWXlU 演奏的Alkan Op35No5，Op35包括12首练习曲，第五首以快速八度为主。 下面是乐谱，下载后把jpg改成pdf即可阅读。看看乐谱以及演奏就知道难度了。 http://www.bh2000.net/files/pianodetails11045.jpg 777KB |
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| A new season just started, here are some media coverage. Mano a Mano in comparison. :-) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-planosym_0921gl.State.Edition1.1df564f.html Pianist Sa Chen dazzles at Plano Symphony 'Pines of Rome' concert with Chopin pieces 12:08 AM CDT on Sunday, September 21, 2008 By SCOTT CANTRELL / The Dallas Morning News scantrell@dallasnews.com RICHARDSON – Something magical happened at the end of the Plano Symphony Orchestra concert Saturday night. Conducting from memory for music director Hector Guzman brought degrees of excitement and eloquence only hinted at earlier in the show. Now, finally, Respighi's Pines of Rome was free to razzle and dazzle with the best. The atmospheric "The Pines of the Janiculum" movement was sheer enchantment, its phrases freely rising and falling, with good breaths between. Deborah Fabian's clarinet solos were lovely. "The Pines of the Appian Way" ended in a glorious racket. Although assembled for only a few concerts each season, the Plano orchestra has some fine players. Mr. Guzman conducts them with as clear a beat as you could want, and he's said to be a nice man. But too rarely does he venture beyond beating time. Too rarely does he suggest the music's tensions and releases, its drives to goals small and great. This time, he even managed to make Berlioz's flashy Roman Carnival Overture sound merely dutiful. There was more interest in the two(!) Chopin piano concertos – probably in reaction to soloist Sa Chen's personable pianism. Third-place winner in the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the diminutive Chinese pianist has heretofore seemed a work in progress. But in both Chopin concertos she was as surely attuned to the honeyed romanticism as to the glitters and grand rhetorical gestures. The orchestra sounded a little more refined in the E-minor Concerto. The F-minor Concerto's slow movement was sublime. Or it was until a cellphone in row T started playing what sounded like pop music, and – I kid you not – its owner made no attempt to silence it. Grrr. With an overlong pre-concert welcome and a post-intermission introduction of 16 Plano Symphony high-school debutantes, the 8:15 p.m. concert lasted until 10:45. |
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| http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Music/article/503377 LANG LANG Chinese sensation settles into 'new' home Sep 22, 2008 04:30 AM John Terauds, CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC There is a reason why China picked Lang Lang to play the piano at the opening of the Beijing Olympics. The 28-year-old pianist is not just a symbol of his motherland's newfound international prominence. He is also proof that a new generation of listeners can fall in love with Western classics – a.k.a. the music of dead white guys. All it takes is talent, heart and a lot of personality. Fresh from his Olympic triumph, wearing his special-edition black-and-gold Lang Lang Adidas sneakers, the pianist has chosen Toronto as the first North American city – and only the second city in the world – to benefit from a week-long residency. "We're going to claim Lang Lang as a citizen of Toronto for this week," said ROM director William Thorsell as he welcomed the pianist, Toronto Symphony music director Peter Oundjian and about 500 eager onlookers for a public forum inside the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal yesterday afternoon. Lang's residency concludes with master classes next Sunday. In between are two sold-out concerts with the TSO, a solo recital at Roy Thomson Hall on Friday, a live-to-air appearance at Classical 96FM and a visit to Indigo Books in the Manulife Centre to sign copies of his new autobiographies. Showing off his charitable side, Lang Lang announced the start of a foundation to help young music students in financial need. He will also make a private visit to the Hospital for Sick Children to help lift patients' spirits. No other classical musician in the world could command such sustained attention in a big city today. The pianist gave several reasons for his love of Toronto, including the presence of Oundjian, "a great maestro and friend." He said the city has a great auditorium in Roy Thomson Hall and a supportive Chinese community. "This city has lots to offer and is open to many different world cultures. You need an international city to do this kind of residency," said Lang. "This could have happened in New York, or Chicago, but it didn't," said Oundjian in a follow-up interview, stressing how far Toronto has come on the world stage. In his ghostwritten autobiography, Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story , Lang credits the Houston Symphony for being one of the first big orchestras to give him a solo gig while he was still a 16-year-old student. The conductor was Oundjian. "I've known Lang Lang since his days at Curtis (the Philadelphia music school), and I've seen him come such a long way," said Oundjian, who has coached the young pianist behind the scenes over the years. This multi-concert week will allow thousands of local fans to see the latest state of Lang Lang's art. Maybe some of the musical magic will rub off on the next generation. Among yesterday's onlookers at the ROM was Ocean and Jessie Kwan's 7-year-old son, Ronson, who started piano lessons two months ago. "I wanted him to see how the famous piano player does (it) so that he can play like that too, one day," said Ocean of the afternoon outing. Thanks to his energy and willingness to mix traditional, formal concerts with classes and even conversations with the public, Lang Lang hopes to make those kinds of dreams possible. |
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| http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=812403 He's a pianist with his own line of sneakers -yet he's still such a mensch! Lang Lang; Global superstar starts week-long Toronto residency John Keillor, National Post Published: Monday, September 22, 2008 Pianist Lang Lang is forging a musical empire in which Toronto is becoming a small but important outpost. The 26-year-old genius performed at the Beijing Olympics opener and inspired 40 million Chinese children to take up his instrument. His spiky hair and otherworldly gaze are a coveted brand. Like a sports star, he's currently endorsing Rolex, Sony and Audi. And now he's in Toronto for an action-packed week. "It's been a crazy time," Lang says. "I'll be playing three concertos, a recital and teaching." Yesterday, the pianist also took part in a question-and-answer period at the ROM with Toronto Symphony Orchestra conductor Peter Oundjian. With a line of high-end pianos and sneakers now bearing his prized signature, Lang's fame and marketability has the entire world welcoming him. So why Toronto? For starters, Lang and Oundjian already share a long history. "We all remember our early performances vividly," Oundjian explains. "I was one of the first conductors to share the stage with him in North America. It was in 1995 with the Houston Symphony. We played Liszt. Since then, he's played here in Toronto several times and he loves this city. He's not doing anything like this residency anywhere else." And then there's our civic ties with his hometown. "Lang Lang is from Shenyang, and Toronto has many connections to that city," explains Loie Fallis, the TSO's director of artistic administration. "The conductor Seiji Ozawa used to conduct the TSO, and he's from Shenyang. So is Teng Li, our current principal violist. There's also the Li Delun Foundation, which is from Shenyang and is now based in Toronto. It was established here to help budding musicians. Lang Lang's father knew Mr. Delun, who was a conductor in Shenyang." Of course, no matter how much Toronto has in common with the northern Chinese city of seven million, it's unlikely that our screaming Lang Lang fans will be any match for theirs. That's OK with the classical superstar. "In China it's different, because classical music's new there. We had a revolution that took many things away, including Western music. Now classical music is accepted there again, and it's in fashion. The kids are in love with it." Having had an impoverished childhood himself, Lang is interested in humanitarian work and promoting musician-ship among the young. He was a Goodwill Ambassador representing UNICEF in 2004, and his charity work also extends to less glamorous activity. "Lang Lang will be playing privately at children's hospitals while he's here, and he doesn't publicize it," Oundjian says. "Some people criticize him for his celebrity and his flash, but he's a real mensch. They say he's flamboyant, but I don't find him that way at all. He makes casual listeners fall in love with the piano. It's just amazing that he plays such challenging material with no apparent effort." Skeptics of Lang's thorough musicality must check out his latest Deutsche Grammophon recording of Chopin's concertos, with Zubin Mehta conducting the Vienna Phil-harmonic Orchestra. His touch is comparable to Artur Rubinstein's, with that deceptively heavy attack that rings out evenly at any volume, speaking with a decisiveness that annuls the perfumed whimsicality most players seem to associate with Chopin. Lang reveals a more plausible portrait of the composer: a young Polish artist being chewed up by the Parisian salon circuit, isolated by the posh culture he operates in, living nocturnally, wondering if and when the consumption he suffers will finally kill him. These are poignant but unsentimental performances, insightful to the point of being visionary. Though Paris has changed a lot in the last 170 or so years, Lang's playing also brings to mind what Shenyang must be like, another ancient city with music-al worth we are only beginning to acknowledge. - Tickets are still available for Lang Lang's solo recital on Friday at 8 p. m. at Roy Thomson Hall. $39.50-$99.50. Visit roythomson.comfor details. All of this week's performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra are sold out. |
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| http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/classical/1176802,CST-FTR-cso22.article As the CSO jubilates, Lang Lang stays calm REVIEW | Pianist tones down his style at opening gala September 22, 2008 BY ANDREW PATNER They are walking on air these days at Orchestra Hall. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's recently completed Europe tour was an audience and critical smash. The CSO's first tour to mainland China (with stops as well in Hong Kong and Japan) beckons in January and February. The orchestra is back on the radio, CD sales on the orchestra's house label are exceeding expectations and Web downloads -- both audio and video -- are off the charts. Principal conductor Bernard Haitink has put a rosy glow on players' faces, and future music director Riccardo Muti already sends text messages to Chicago from what the Italians call a "cellulare." As CSO President Deborah F. Rutter put it at the post-concert dinner-dance Saturday night, "What's not to be blissfully happy about?" Even the opening-night-gala concert program Saturday night, usually pops-oriented, had more substance than glitz and included two top-of-the-line performances and one that was at least captivating. Friday night's first subscription program found guest conductor Charles Dutoit a bit away from his core repertoire in Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. But Saturday night, the globe-trotting Swiss was absolutely in his element. Dutoit knows how to crank out the overtures and brief pieces that are too infrequent these days on major orchestral menus. His sharp and defined take on Sibelius' great 1899-1900 national tone-poem "Fin- landia," Op. 26, was stirring, even thought-provoking following the season-opening thrills of a CSO "Star-Spangled Banner." Before Dutoit would really shine in the Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Picture at an Exhibition," he and the orchestra accompanied jet-setting pianist Lang Lang, making a stopover between his Pittsburgh Symphony opening night concert Friday and the beginning of his weeklong Toronto Symphony residency starting Sunday. This was the mostly tamed edition of the young Chinese superstar, as coached in recent years by former CSO music director Daniel Barenboim. His performance of the 1830 F minor Chopin piano concerto, Op. 21 (published as No. 2 but actually the composer's first work in the genre), was sensitive and delicate, especially in the poetic Larghetto slow movement. Histrionics were banished -- and perhaps a waiting plane ruled out any encores. But we still had too much technique and not enough differentiation between passage work and actual themes. David McGill was the sensitive bassoon soloist. There was not much Mussorgsky in Dutoit's "Pictures." His interpretation is all about Maurice Ravel's remarkable and very French 1922 orchestral transformation of the 1874 Russian piano work. But what an interpretation, and what results! As many times as one has heard this showpiece, Dutoit still offered new details and an absolute control of balances and tonal color that allowed listeners to hear the piece as almost completely new. And Christopher Martin's trumpet promenade solos were heart and soul in the great CSO brass tradition. Andrew Patner is critic at large for WFMT-FM (98.7). |
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| Of course, even though Lang Lang got the most of media attention, he is not the only young Curtis graduates who's keeping a super-duper busy concert schedule, so is this one: http://www.jonathanbiss.com/home/schedule or this one: http://www.hilaryhahn.com/calendar.shtml Or in some sense, this one: http://www.yujawang.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page And of course the Hannover productions: http://www.myspace.com/larsvogt |
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| The other side of view. ************************ http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-ovn_0922langsep22,0,5453595.story CLASSICAL REVIEW Poet and showman sometimes at odds in CSO opener By John von Rhein Tribune critic | Chicago Tribune music critic September 22, 2008 You remember Lang Lang. He's the 26-year-old poster child for Chinese culture who wowed an audience of hundreds of millions at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games last month in Beijing, where he tinkled the keys on a white piano surrounded by a couple of thousand dancers in lime-green pajamas. Lang Lang the showman took a back seat to Lang Lang the concert pianist Saturday night when he returned to the ensemble that helped to turn him into a global phenom, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for the CSO's opening-night gala at Orchestra Hall. The concert served as a fancy promo for Symphony Center's three-concert "Lang Lang and Friends" marathon in November. It, too, had its circusy aspects, with the usual dressy throng posing on the red carpet and at a post-concert soiree. The pianist has toned down the antics that once made his performances unwatchable. But, sensitive musician that he can be, he still finds musical structure elusive. His Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 on Saturday vacillated between fast and flashy and slow and self-regarding. While ravishing to the ear, his languorous way with the slow movement came close to impeding the music's natural flow. Best was the finale in which he teased the quirky mazurka rhythm with playful brilliance of his own. You can hear it all on his new DG recording of the two Chopin concertos. The orchestra was coming down from the high of its recent European tour during which Bernard Haitink reportedly told the musicians he wished they could pack up the glorious acoustics of the Lucerne concert hall in Switzerland and bring them back to Chicago. I'm not sure it was the dry sound or jet lag or something else that produced the ragged moments in conductor Charles Dutoit's otherwise admirable accompaniment to the Chopin and in his sturdy readings of two popular Russian works, the Mussorgsky-Ravel "Pictures at an Exhibition" on Saturday and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 at Friday's first subscription concert. Perhaps the most rewarding performance of anything I heard over the weekend was Robert Chen's elegant and burnished account of Lalo's "Symphonie Espagnole" on Friday. The CSO concertmaster can caress a phrase without making it taste sugary, just as surely as he can kick excitement into a pseudo-Spanish rhythm. It was a good weekend for CSO soloists in general—including hornist Dale Clevenger in the Tchaikovsky, trumpeter Christopher Martin in the Mussorgsky and the entire brass choir in Sibelius' "Finlandia." |
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| http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080924.wlanglang24/BNStory/Entertainment/home Lang Lang's quest for supremacy ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN From Wednesday's Globe and Mail September 24, 2008 at 3:37 AM EDT Lang Lang stood up from the piano, and waited while conductor Peter Oundjian rehearsed for a few minutes just with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The pianist looked out into the empty vastness of Roy Thomson Hall, smiled at his mother, acknowledged the journalist with whom he had been speaking two hours before, and then made a sharp, hammering motion with his fist. I knew Lang was making a point about the piece, a new Tan Dun concerto that, as he told me, includes lots of fiery percussive music. But his gesture also looked a lot like what Tiger Woods does after sinking a particularly difficult putt. I'm pretty sure Lang, who was seen by more than a billion people during the broadcast opening of the Beijing Olympics, wouldn't mind the comparison to one of his idols. He told me that he sometimes thinks about Woods's power and control while coursing through a difficult score by Rachmaninoff or Liszt. Michael Jordan often comes to mind when he's racing up the keyboard in octaves, the way Jordan used to storm up the court for a slam dunk. Lang has wanted to be that kind of champion for as long as he can remember. When he was a boy, he practised piano with "a mantra, sometimes repeated under my breath and sometimes repeated silently... Number One, Number One, Number One." That's from Journey of a Thousand Miles, Lang's newly published autobiography (with David Ritz). In it, we learn that Lang dropped out of kindergarten so he could practise more, and still put in almost seven hours a day after reluctantly registering for Grade 1. Whenever his drive flagged, he was forced onward by his fiercely determined father, who quit his job as a policeman to supervise his son's piano labours. In the book's most memorable scene, Lang senior flies into a rage when his son misses two hours of practice. He thrusts a bottle of pills at his son and orders him to commit suicide. When I met him in his dressing room, it seemed hard to believe that this energetic 26-year-old in the black hoodie and jeans had slaved his childhood away in a Beijing tenement. But I also remembered the first time I saw him in action at Roy Thomson Hall, with the China Philharmonic, scampering through Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as if making up for the games he didn't get to play as a kid. His very personal quest for supremacy has borne fruit just when people seem to be looking for symbols of China's new-found dominance in the world. He's this era's equivalent of Van Cliburn, the American pianist who personified American power in the fifties; though unlike Cliburn, Lang has not let success prevent him from absorbing more repertoire, even while he dashes from one concert to the next. He's in fairly constant motion around the world, though this week he's based in Toronto for what he and the TSO are calling a guest residency. He'll play two different programs with the orchestra (Wednesday and Saturday, both sold out), and a solo recital on Friday at Thomson Hall. He's also making several appearances around town, and will run a master class on Sunday at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto. Three concertos and a solo recital seems like a lot in one week, especially when one of the concertos is still in flux. On Monday, he had just received some faxed revisions from Tan Dun, for the piece he'll present for the first time at RTH this evening. "He wrote it customized for me," he said. "I like a lot of beautiful melodies, and really interesting rhythms. Tan Dun thinks I'm a kung fu master of the piano." He made a few martial arts gestures with his hands, which were seldom still while he spoke. His legs were also in nearly constant motion, as if he were in a hurry to get somewhere even while sitting. "I don't want this piece to be only for 10 per cent of the population," he said, coming to the nub of the issue. "I want this to be a hit. And that's what Tan Dun wanted also." In China, Lang is a hitmaker whose stardom reaches well beyond the classical scene, which itself is more dynamically engaged with mainstream culture than it is here. His product endorsements are as eagerly sought-after as those of any movie star. But he has no intention of following popularity wherever it leads (unlike, say, pop-classical flutist James Galway). Being popular seems like a tool that he wants to exploit for the sake of the music he loves best. "No matter what you do with the Olympics and podcasts and all that stuff, the idea in the end is to bring people into the concert hall, to hear a real concert in a real concert hall," he said. The aim is to get them to listen to canonic composers such as Beethoven and Chopin (whose concertos appear on a new Lang Lang disc with Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic), and to a very short list of moderns that includes Bartok and Prokofiev. Lang says he really started to understand those composers only when he moved to the United States at the age of 16 to become a student at Philadelphia's prestigious Curtis Institute. It was while studying with Gary Graffman (himself a student of Vladimir Horowitz) t |
