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Forgotten Pianists: Monique Haas
Monique Haas (1909-1987) received the Premier Prix in 1927 from the Paris Conservatoire before going on to study privately with Rudolf Serkin, Georges Enescu and Robert Casadesus. As was common with most French pianists of her generation, she was an
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Daniil Trifonov, Rafal Blechacz and Arthur Rubinstein
Two of the world’s most outstanding talents – Daniil Trifonov and Rafal Blechacz were featured earlier this month in the South China Morning Post. The article was meant to alert Hong Kong audience to their imminent recitals in late September
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The Joy of being a Musical Prodigy
Alma Elizabeth Deutscher
If you have been reading my miniseries on the shenanigans of abusive parents beating their children to musical stardom, this little story will probably restore your faith in humankind. I am talking about the pianist, violinist and composer Alma Elizabeth
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Tingle Factor
We gather music along the way and it forms a personal soundtrack to our lives, evoking memories of times past, and a few bars of a significant song or piece of music can create an instant reaction, a ‘tingle’.
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The Forgotten Voyager
It is often a great mystery what people, works, and instruments remain in the minds of those who enjoy classical music. Even in the very small world of saxophonists, there are certain legends which take hold and others which fall
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Forgotten Pianists: Edwin Fischer
Bringing Bach to the 20th century was the fame of Swiss pianist Edwin Fischer (1886-1960). After first studying music in Basel, Switzerland, he went on to attend the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, where he studied with Martin Krause, one of
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Lessons in Making Music
Were Your Childhood Music Lessons Fun? If you, like me, had piano lessons as a child, I expect there were rather too many times when you sat at the piano and wondered what this thing called “music” was all about?
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ZANTA Pianoforti: Play with Design
For over twenty years, Silvano Zanta worked in the laboratories of major piano manufacturers such as Steinway & Sons, Yamaha and Bösendorfer. In 1979 he decided to become independent and founded ZANTA Pianoforti. His small company specialized in the restoration
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