Thursday, August 25, 2011

Piano

Practice List
  1. Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement)
    1. Sheet Music On Pianostreet
    2. Andras Schiff's lecture on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
    3. Pianoworld Forum Study
    4. Try these per Jenny's suggestion/comments:
      1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6YCSeeMN4I (artur rubenstein): i always love him, but in this case there are notes in the lh ostinato that stick out too heavily for me and interrupt the flow

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6txOvK-mAk (wilhelm kempff). Nicely moves along but at the expense of the intensity at the beginning. And, the melody when it comes in is too much louder than the ostinato.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr8j8O9uzx4 (glenn gould): he's a madman genius and this one is too far off for me. tempo way too fast just for one thing. 

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PqnruPitzc (vladimir ashkenazy): my favorite all of these. He does, in my opinion, the best job of balancing the voices while also rendering the appropriate intensity

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TTIFtEJrhE (murray perahia): beautiful line of the melody but the lh ostinato opening is not as carefully rendered as ashkenazy


        My comments:

         Horowitz (First link): Liked this one a lot.  It is pretty close to what I have been attempting with my interpretation currently.  He and Kempff are my favorites probably.  I would probably ideally play it like Horowitz with some of Kempff's finesse and understatement added in.  Horowitz to me seemed more of the old stereotype I had in mind when I took on this challenge.      

         Gould: Thought the tempo was too fast.  Not enought Rubato.  Seemed emotionless and mechanical/detached.  Seemed like he wanted to show how well he could run through all the notes in perfect tempo.  Seemed like a good way to practice (to maximize use of time and work on memorization and fluidity so performance tempo would be easy), but not to perform.

         Wilhelm Kempff:  Love the facial expressions!  Overall, I loved it.  However, I felt the LH was too quiet at times and the RH lower notes were as well sometimes.  He and Horowitz really are able to voice the high melody notes well.  I need to get closer to what they are doing.

         Found this Rubenstein:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OtjdkanO6A
        Very nice.  Nothing really to complain about here, but maybe a lack of intensity.  Very quiet and restrained.  Would like to hear a little more dynamic range and maybe some more rubato here and there.  I would be thrilled to play it anything like this however!

         Vladimir Ashkenazy:  Just to pianissimo for my taste.  Otherwise, superb.  Of course, he is probably more in line with Beethoven's intent according to Andras Schiff's lecture on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and other things I have read about the way it should be played by those who know much more than I do about it all.  I just had to crank my computer volume to 11 to really hear it...if my volume knob went to 15 I think this would be my favorite.

         Murray Perahia:  They cut it short.  How annoying.  Again, too quiet for my taste, but otherwise nearly flawless I thought.  Very even, good pulse.  It seemed to ebb and flow more than say Gould, and was "going somewhere" all the time.
  2. Prelude No. 1 in C major, from Bach's Well-tempered Clavier (BWV 846) 
    1. Sheet Music On IMSLP
    2. Irena Koblar, Bach - Prelude 1, BVW 846
    3. Glenn Gould. Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier. Book I Prelude 1
    4. Hélène Grimaud - Prelude in C Major - Bach - WTC Book 1
    5. Tzvi Erez plays Bach: Prelude 1 in C Major BWV 846
    6. Friedrich Gulda - Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 846
    7. Sviatoslav Richter - The Well-Tempered Clavier Book BWV 846
    8. Sokolov plays Bach's Prelude & Fugue BWV 846
    9. Rosalyn Tureck plays Bach, The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1 Prelude #1 In C, BWV 846
    10. Claudio Barile - Bach Prelude in C BWV 846
    11. Pianoworld Forum Study
  3. Chopin Prelude 4 
    1. Overview
    2. IMSLP Sheet Music
    3. Spotify Link
    4. Martha Argerich With Score/Fingering 
    5. Good tips from Pianostreet
    6. Best How To Play Turn Explanation
    7. The Turn (Measure 16) Explained In General
    8. How To Play The Turn In Measure 16
    9. Pianoworld Forum Study
    10. TED Talks Incorporating This Piece (13:08 is Benjamin Zander's interpretation)
    11. Youtube Tutorial
    12. Painful to listen to, but good way to see the stretto in action
  4. Ludovico Einaudi – Primavera
  5. Yiruma – River Flows In You
  6. Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole bianche
  7. Roberto Cacciapaglia – Sillaba
  8. Yann Tiersen – Le matin
  9. Yann Tiersen – Comptine d'un autre été, l'après-midi
  10. Wim Mertens – Close Cover
  11. Wim Mertens – Tout Est Visible
  12. Eluvium – Radio Ballet (Matthew Cooper)
  13. Gymnopédie No. 1  by Erik Satie
  14. Gnossienne No. 1 by Erik Satie
  15. Cristofori's Dream
  16. Fur Elise (Long Term)
  17. Clair De Lune (Long Term)
  18. Magdalena Minuet G 114 
  19. Pachabel Cannon in D 
  20. Rondo in A Minor, KV511 by Mozart
  21. Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major, from Bach's Well-tempered Clavier (BWV 846) 
  22. Je te veux by Erik Satie
  23. Jules MASSENET: Op. 10, No. 5, Mélodie (Élégie) 
  24. Yann Tiersen – La valse d'Amélie (Version piano) 
  25. Into the Dark by Sebastian Larsson
  26. Seconda Navigazione
  27. Outdoor
  28. Giovanni Allevi – Back To Life
  29. Moonlight Sonata
  30. Le Onde
  31. Hallelujah
  32. What The World Needs Now Is Love
  33. Scarborough Fair
  34. Raisins and Almonds
  35. Solace

Prelude 1 in C Major by Bach

Canon in D Major by Pachelbel

Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 (Moonlight Sonata) by Beethoven

Piano Sonata no. 11 in A Major, K331 ("Alla Turca") by Mozart (Hmmmm....this seems a bit of a stretch.  Maybe there are better choices!)


Einaudi Watchlist
Ludovico Einaudi – I Giorni
Ludovico Einaudi – Passaggio
Ludovico Einaudi – DNA
Ludovico Einaudi – Giorni dispari
Ludovico Einaudi – Dietro casa
Ludovico Einaudi – Come un fiore
Ludovico Einaudi – Le Onde
Ludovico Einaudi – Nightbook
Ludovico Einaudi – Lady Labyrinth
Ludovico Einaudi – Nefeli
Ludovico Einaudi – Divenire
Ludovico Einaudi – Monday
Ludovico Einaudi – Oltremare
Ludovico Einaudi – Fly
Ludovico Einaudi – Una mattina
Ludovico Einaudi – Melodia africana I
Ludovico Einaudi – Andare
Ludovico Einaudi – I due fiumi
Ludovico Einaudi – Questa Notte
Ludovico Einaudi – Laissez Moi en Paix

 Yann Tiersen Watchlist
Yann Tiersen – Le moulin
Yann Tiersen – La valse d'Amélie (Version piano)
Yann Tiersen – La dispute
Yann Tiersen – Sur le fil
Yann Tiersen – La plage
Claire Pichet – Rue Des Cascades (Live)

Yann Tiersen – 8 Mm
Yann Tiersen – Naval
Yann Tiersen – La Longue Route
Yann Tiersen – Point Zéro
Yann Tiersen – La Corde
Yann Tiersen – Point Mort
Yann Tiersen – Dernière
Yann Tiersen – Atlantique Nord
Yann Tiersen – Tabarly
Roberto Cacciapaglia – Sarabanda
Roberto Cacciapaglia – Canone degli spazi

Wim Mertens Watchlist
On The Radar
  1. Brahms: Waltz In A Flat, Op. 39/15
  2. Bach Goldberg Aria
  3. Beethoven Pathetique
  4. Beethoven Ode to Joy
  5. Bach Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
  6. Chopin: Prelude #7 In A, Op. 28/7
  7. Bosques de Mi Mente - Familia (Need Sheet Music!)
  8. "About Strange Lands and People" Scenes from Childhood (Op. 15, No. 1)  by Schumann 
  9. La Plage (Yann Tiersen)
  10. I Can't Make You Love Me
  11. Jean-Baptiste DUVERNOY: Op. 176, No. 4, 12
  12. Johann BURGMÜLLER: Op. 100, No. 7 (Le Courant limpide)
  13. Johann BURGMÜLLER: Op. 100, No. 2 (L'Arabesque)
  14. Mozart - Rondo Alla Turca
  15. Ólafur Arnalds – Erla's Waltz (Need Sheet Music!)
  16. Mike Paer – Waltz (Need Sheet Music!)
  17. Sillaba
  18. Sur le Fil
  19. L'absente
  20. Remembering
  21. La redécouverte
  22. Comptine d'été no. 2
  23. Rue des cascades
  24. Summer 78
  25. DNA
  26. 3055
  27. Struggle For Pleasure
  28. MacDowells “To a Wild Rose”
  29. Scarlatti’s sonata k32
Exercises/Etudes To Consider

Burgmuller Op. 100, 109 (sets)
Heller op 45, op 46 (sets)
Gillock Lyric Preludes in Romantic Style
Duvernoy Op. 176 (set)
Bertini Op. 166, Op. 29 (sets)
Gedike Op. 139 (set)
Concone Op. 24 (set)
Clementi Sonatas Op. 36
Mozart Viennese Sonatas
Bach invention 1 or 4
Chopin Preludes op 28 no. 4 and 6
Beethoven Sonatina in F (WoO Anh 5/2)
Heller etudes
Scarlatti sonatas
Beethoven sonatinas
Pleyel sonatinas
Kabalevsky (teaching works not later artistic works)
Bach 2 part inventions
Dohnanyi pieces

Dohnanyi pieces
Cortot excercises
Pischna


The early Bach (Petzold) minuets and musettes out of Anna
Magdalena's notebook are a good start, and then the "Ten Little Preludes
for Beginners."  The Little Prelude in C is a good one to begin with.  Note
that this is not the big prelude in C from "Well-Tempered Clavier," which
is much harder but still worth your while eventually.



Miscellany



Interesting Listening ("Modern Classical"):



Wojciech Kilar - Piano Concerto

Frederic Rzewski



Here in México, at the school I go to,

we start with this book - Mikrokosmos Volume I by Béla

Bártok, which gets us ready for J.S. Bach (my favorite

composer). First Anna Magdalena's Notebook Volume I

(six pieces), then the Short Preludes and Fugues (we

learn them all), the two-part Inventions (six), the

three-part Inventions (all 15 of them), and finally

the Well-Tempered Klavier.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalfossils/message/63



Books

Playing the Piano For Pleasure by Charles Cooke



Music by Heart by Lilias Mackinnon



The piano handbook by Carl Humphries.



Super Sight-Reading Secrets by Howard Richman

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalfossils/message/76



Making Music at the Piano - Learning trategies for Adult Students by Barbara English

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalfossils/message/81



"The Practice Revolution" by Philip Johnston

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalfossils/message/82



Piano Lessons (Music, Love & True Adventures) by Noah Adams

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/musicalfossils/message/102



"The Inner Game of Music" by Barry Green






Guitar zero : the new musician and the science of learning /


by Marcus, Gary F. (Gary Fred)







Seymour Bernstein's book about movement at the keyboard is "20 Lessons in Keyboard Choreography," published by Seymour Bernstein Music, and distributed by Hal Leonard.



Seymour Fink's book and video are both called "Mastering Piano Technique: A Guide for Students, Teachers, and Performers" and are published by Amadeus Press.



The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross



http://www.musicalfossils.com/



Pieces

Messiaen Preludes 



Arthur Rubinstein plays "La campanella"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQULyGMhhWs



Jules MASSENET: Op. 10, No. 5, Mélodie (Élégie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwvgug9neo



Johann PACHELBEL: Saraband in F# minor, T312

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmYWoR-iLhQ



Jean-Baptiste DUVERNOY: Op. 176, No. 4 (25 Elementary Studies)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONpCXPB0iQU



Jean-Baptiste DUVERNOY: Op. 176, No. 12 (25 Elementary Studies)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dziW7nbPW9I



Shane Calhoun - "Away"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJY08rm5vS8



Minimalist Composers and/or Good Piano

Yann Tiersen (Comptine)

Michael Nyman (The Piano)

Helen Jane Long

Phillip Glass

Carly Comando (Everyday)

Erik Satie



Ludovico Einaudi



Two Top Twenty Lists With A Lot Of Good Stuff

Best Piano Songs I

Best Piano Songs II



Avishai Cohen - Remembering

Yiruma - River Flows in You

Seconda navigazione - Roberto Cacciapaglia

Ludovico Einaudi - Nuvole Bianche

Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera

Giovanni Allevi - Back To Life

Yann Tiersen - Sur Le Fil (piano cover)

Yann Tiersen - Sur le fil piano



Ludovico Einaudi Sheet Music



Jazz Piano

Avishai Cohen Trio ("Remembering" is awesome)

Esbjörn Svensson Trio



Piano Bucket List



Of the Top 10 Easy Piano Piano Pieces That Sound Great List, these are the pieces that interest me most.



Bagatelle in A Minor, Op. 59 – “Fur Elise”

Gymnopédie No. 1

Clair de Lune

The Heart Asks Pleasure First  (Second favorite on the list)

Comptine D’un Autre été, L’Après-midi (This one is far and away my favorite on the list)

Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor “Moonlight Sonata” – Beethoven



This is a good video with two hands for Gymnopédie No. 1



Erik Satie:

The musical vocabulary of the Gnossiennes is a continuation of that of the Gymnopédies (a development that had started with the 1886 Ogives → Sarabandes → Gymnopédies → Gnossiennes) later leading to more harmonic experimentation in compositions like the Danses Gothiques. These series of compositions are all at the core of Satie's characteristic 19th century style, and in this sense differ from his early salon compositions (like the 1885 "Waltz" compositions published in 1887), his turn-of-the-century cabaret compositions (like the Je te Veux Waltz), and his post-Schola Cantorum piano solo compositions, starting with the Préludes flasques in 1912. 



Piano Study History:

Started on 02/03/2009 with Amouel Brackett in Alfred Adult All-In-One Course Book 1

Took a hiatus from about 09/29/09 to 11/16/10 and finished Book 1 on 02/15/11

Stopped in Book 2 around 2/14/12 (Calypso Carnival, page 53) in favor of more "independent study" of pieces by Yann Tiersen, Wim Mertens, and classical pieces.





The Amouel Queue


1. Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole bianche

2. Roland Pontinen – Three Gymnopédies (1888): Gymnopédie No. 1

3. Yiruma – River Flows In You

4. Roberto Cacciapaglia – Seconda navigazione

5. Michael Nyman – The Heart Asks Pleasure First

6. Giovanni Allevi – Back To Life

7. David Lanz – Cristofori's Dream

8. Sebastian Larsson – Into The Dark

9. Ludovico Einaudi – Primavera

10. Ludovico Einaudi – Le Onde

11. Erik Satie – Je Te Veux: Je Te Veux

12. Rébecca Jablonski – Les Barricades Mystérieuses (6ème Ordre Des Pièces De Clavecin)





Pianists



10 Greatest Pianists From Limelight Magazine





1.  Sergei Rachmaninov

2.  Vladimir Horowitz

3.  Sviatoslav Richter

4.  Arthur Rubinstein

5.  Emil Gilels

6.  Alfred Cortot

7.  Glenn Gould

8.  Alfred Brendel

9.  Wilhelm Kempff

10. Artur Schnabe







Heinrich Neuhaus

Alfred Cortot

Vladimir Sofronitsky

Tatyana Nikolayeva

Mariya Yudina

Edwin Fischer

Imogen Cooper

Mitsuko Uchida

Evgeny Kissin

Murray Perahia

Stephen Kovacevich

Grigory Sokolov





Also Rans?

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Godowsky



Improvisation:

LH C major scale chord progression, RH scales

LH from a piece you know, right hand improvised melody





Improvise over a jazz blues using major or minor scale modes (no pentatonics).  Chord progression such as:



C7 ///| F7 ///| C7 ///| C7 ///|

F7 ///| F#dim7 ///| Em7 ///| A7b9 ///|

Dm7 ///| G7 ///| C7 / Eb7 /| Ab7 / Db7#9 :||






















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Tuesday, August 16, 2011


          

        









Grilled Leaks











1) Boil the leeks until limp. Usually by the time the water boils or a minute or two more.
2) Saute some garlic in olive oil.
3) Drain leeks, put in pan. Coat with oil/garlic.
4) Grill them until they start to blacken up.



From Tim C.  -- have not tried yet but plan to shortly.













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