Yuja Wang - Superstar Pianist Plays Too Many Encores
Superstar pianist Yuja Wang joins Manny Ax to talk about bad pianos, encores, what influences her musical interpretations, and her love for Prokofiev. In our Newly Dead game, Yuja puts her knowledge of...
View ArticleThe Essential Pianists, Part 3
This week on Reflections from the Keyboard, David Dubal continues his exploration of the essential pianists. Combining interpretive brilliance with sheer virtuosic achievement, Dubal presents a wide...
View ArticleThe Essential Pianists, Part 1
This week on Reflections from the Keyboard, David Dubal begins a new six-part series celebrating the essential pianists. On tonight’s episode, Dubal features Martha Argerich playing Chopin, Vladimir...
View ArticleLang Lang Plays
Dubbed “the hottest artist on the classical music planet” by The New York Times, pianist Lang Lang has reached a level of stardom rare for classical musicians. But his prominence is hard-won. Alec,...
View ArticleRoads Not Taken: 12 Pianists Tell Us What Else They Might Have Been
When a great pianist takes the stage and delivers a performance that’s thrilling and moving in equal measure — when we hear recordings of the finest artists interpreting the sublimely challenging piano...
View Article12 Pianists Choose The Piece of a Lifetime
The great pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff once said, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” This is true not only with respect to the infinite scope of...
View ArticleOlivier Cavé Tells the story of the Italian Pianoforte
Italian-Swiss pianist Olivier Cavé tells the story of the pianoforte, the basis of the modern piano, through Italian music of the 18th century.Archived streaming rights to this audio have expired. It...
View ArticlePianissimo
The piano, or, to use its full name, pianoforte, earned its name because it can be played both quietly (piano) and loudly (forte). Lately there seems to be a trend toward the quiet side. Maybe the...
View ArticleMicropolis: Musicians Make the Noisiest Neighbors
Practice, practice and so forth: everyone knows the long and tortured path to musical greatness.But for every thrilling debut at Carnegie Hall, every heart-rending aria sung at the Met, there's a back...
View ArticleThe Evolving Piano
The piano is taught more than any other single instrument in America. And children studying piano learn to give recital programs no sooner than they can muster a few tunes.This week, host Terrance...
View ArticleThe pianist Jeremy Denk on recording an album.
This week in the magazine, the pianist Jeremy Denk writes about recording Charles Ives's "Concord" Sonata. Here he talks with Blake Eskin about the joys and frustrations of recording music, and listens...
View ArticleThe pianist Jeremy Denk on recording an album.
This week in the magazine, the pianist Jeremy Denk writes about recording Charles Ives's "Concord" Sonata. Here he talks with Blake Eskin about the joys and frustrations of recording music, and listens...
View ArticlePianissimo
The piano, or, to use its full name, pianoforte, earned its name because it can be played both quietly (piano) and loudly (forte). Lately there seems to be a trend toward the quiet side. Maybe the...
View ArticleBach, Brahms and Brad
Brad Mehldau, that is. The music of the jazz pianist/Carnegie Hall-commissioned composer entered my ipod world through his interpretation of Radiohead’s Exit Music. I was immediately struck by how...
View ArticleHélène Grimaud: Dances with Pianos and Wolves
As WQXR celebrates Powerhouse Pianists throughout January, we spotlight a pianist who is known to give the keyboard a workout. Hélène Grimaud is frequently admired for her enormous technical command...
View Article'If all you do is follow, you’ll always be behind'
Malcolm Martineau, one of today’s most sought-after pianists, gave a masterclass at Weill Hall on Friday evening. The program had a mostly French theme, with six fantastic young singers and pianists...
View ArticleAccompanists: Unsung Heroes of the Concert Stage
Behind every successful man there is a woman, or so the old saying goes. In the music world, behind every brilliant soloist there is his or her accompanist. Jascha Heifetz had his Brooks Smith,...
View ArticleRachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto
Last week, we asked you to name the most virtuosic piano piece ever written. The winner: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (a.k.a. "Rocky 3").Today we wanted to know, whose version...
View ArticleTop Five Piano Prodigies
Imagine if YouTube had archival footage of the five-year-old Mozart performing his own compositions at royal courts around Europe. Between television reality shows and online video, a new generation of...
View ArticleByron Janis Shares His Views on Chopin and Beyond
Along with Van Cliburn, Leon Fleisher and Gary Graffman, Byron Janis is a leading light in the generation of American pianists who burst onto the international scene in the 1950s. Yet almost from the...
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