The venerable pianist Leon Fleisher turns 80 this year. The Celebrity Series will be celebrating with an all-star lineup of Mr. Fleisher's former students on October 3.
Mr. Fleisher's management has set up a way for the public to post personal birthday wishes for the birthday boy. You can read the posts here. At the bottom of the page is the link to post your own.
Pianist Angela Hewitt plays Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester (that would be Manchester, England, not New Hampshire). Ms. Hewitt makes her Celebrity Series debut on February 22:
Pianist Leon Fleisher plays Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with the Boston Symphony Orchestra:
Here's part 2 of the performance.
Mr. Fleisher is playing with two hands again (true for a few years now) and will celebrate his 80th birthday with a bevy of his most accomplished former students on October 3 at NEC's Jordan Hall to open our 2008-2009 season.
Dubravka Tomsic's Friday evening recital was reviewed by David Perkins for Monday's Boston Globe:
"She has been back often, in recital and with the BSO, and her Jordan Hall concert in the Celebrity Series of Boston had the worshipful aura of a great operatic diva's return. She played generously, long and beautifully. And she was generously received."
Read all of A skillful touch, albeit relaxed
Here are Dubravka Tomsic's encores from last night's Jordan Hall recital:
The music is Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 27, No. 2, the third movement of the famous Moonlight Sonata. Dubravka Tomsic is the pianist. This is completely silly and amateur (and maybe funny, depending on your taste), but I include it here because of Tomsic's performance. She's just too good to pass up.
The streets of Birmingham, England are experiencing a proliferation of pianos. A total of fifteen pianos have been parked, if you will, at various locations in the city decorated with spray painted signs reading, "Play me, I'm yours." Quaint? Perhaps. Charming? Maybe. But I think we can all recognize these pianos can be a force for good (Couperin etudes lovingly plunked with not a little skill by gifted 10 year olds as Birmingham heads to work, suddenly smiling) or a tool for evil ("Candle in the Wind" played by anyone so it gets stuck in the internal soundtracks of 1500 passersby). It's up to you, Birmingham.
Here's the full story.
The Van Cliburn Foundation has jumped on the user-generated content bandwagon. The venerable piano competition will offer automatic entry into its regular piano competition - you know, the famous one - to winners of this amateur video piano performance contest. Read about it here. Submit your piano video here. Buy your piano here. Buy your video camera, er, I'll let you figure that one out.
Personally, I think this guy should enter, I mean, the repertoire is a little unorthodox, but with a mug like his, he's a shoe-in:
I have been remiss. I neglected to mention the Boston Globe's two fine pieces on Alfred Brendel. Here are their links:
David Weininger's preview article, His final bow.
Jeremy Eichler's concert review, Pianist Brendel bids a serenely Brendellian farewell
It took a little while, but I finally did get confirmation of Alfred Brendel's encores from his recital on Friday evening (I knew I should have elbowed my way to the head of the line...). They were as follows:
1. J.S. Bach, "Andante" from Concerto nach Italienischem Gusto, "Italian Concerto"
2. Liszt, “Au Lac de Wallenstadt” from Années de pèlerinage, Première Année – Suisse
3. Schubert, Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major from Four Impromptus, Op. 90 (D. 899)
3. Schubert, Impromptu in A flat Major, from Four Impromptus, Op. 142, No. 2 (D. 935)
Mr. Brendel came off stage following each piece, stood for a beat, wiping his brow with a handkerchief, turned on his heel and strode back out on stage. No muss, no fuss. It was impressive, and made the process seem athletic.
UPDATE: I made a mistake on Mr. Brendel's third encore. It was indeed a Schubert work. See above.
