Blogs

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What’s with Bach
For over three centuries, Bach’s music has fascinated both musicians, composers and performers, and listeners. It seems like his music never ages and finds context in each century, generation after generation. Musicians from all genres—from classical to popular music—learn from
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“The Fantastic Whirl of Destiny”
Ravel’s La Valse
What is Ravel’s La Valse about? Is it a portrait of the disintegration of decadent pre-First War Europe, the dying embers of the Belle Epoque? Or simply a rollicking dance, a sensuous hommage to the Viennese Waltz?
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Poised on the Cusp of Romanticism
Mozart’s Fantasy in D minor K 397
Familiar to performers, piano students and audiences alike, Mozart’s Fantasy in D minor is one of his most popular and much-loved works, and it offers intriguing insights not only into his piano music but also his compositional output in general.
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Queen Victoria’s Gilded Piano graces the 2019 Proms
To coincide with the bicentenary of Queen Victoria’s birth, this year’s BBC Proms, the world’s largest classical music festival, will include a performance on a beautifully decorated gilded Erard piano. Many illustrious pianists played Erard instruments, including Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn
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An International Career Cut Short
A Brief life of Richard Farrell
Richard Farrell (1926-1958) was, literally, one of those musical geniuses who came out of nowhere. Well, not really nowhere, but certainly far away from the usual centers of musical supply. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, and spending most of his
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Anticipating the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition
As I am writing this, the eagerly anticipated 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition is taking place right around the corner, from June 17th to 29th, 2019. Thanks to medici.tv‘s commitment to live stream the competition in its entirety, I will be
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To Macy
My beloved Macy, I have been so fortunate to have you as part of my life. Thank you so much for accompanying me for almost fifteen years. I still vividly remember our first encounter fifteen years ago when I was
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The Piano Sonata IV
The Form is Alive and Well Given the myriad explorations and experiments in musical form and structure in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it is perhaps surprising that the Piano Sonata has endured. While many of the most important composers
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