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Here is a very selective and incomplete
list of some of the pianists from the past and the present
whose playing has been an inspiration. |
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Arthur
Friedheim (1859-1932) |
| His piano roll recordings of
Liszt are a great source of knowledge on Lisztian
pianism. The last pupil of Liszt, a composer and
thinker, Friedheim was also a teacher of Busoni.
“Google” Friedheim for biographies and recording
information; there is no official website dedicated
to him to speak of so far. |
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Ferruccio
Busoni (1866-1924) |
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An advocate of electronic and
microtonal music, great pianist, authority on
western music, teacher of Alois Hába, who was
in turn an inspiration to John Cage and Frank
Zappa! His philosophy was summed up in the (very
Germanic and heroic) phrase “Music is born free;
and to win freedom is its destiny." The Bizet
Carmen transcription for piano must be the epitome
of the art of transcribing. Naxos has recently
brought out his piano roll recordings. Some info
on Busoni and his life and work at:
http://csunix1.lvc.edu/~snyder/em/busoni.html
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Arthur
Rubinstein (1887-1982) |
Chopin recordings=Rubinstein,
in spite of what the purists may say
Visit the introductory website at: www.arims.org.il/artist.htm
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Gina
Bachauer (1913-1976) |
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| The Horowitz of women pianists
and my compatriot. She is somehow neglected today,
as shown by the lack of internet sources, but
many of her recordings have been reissued recently.
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Sviatoslav
Richter (1915-1997) |
The enigma. His Deutche Grammophon LP containing
Rachmaninov’s second concerto and G minor prelude
is one of my favourites as is his Ludus Tonalis
live concert on the Pyramid label. I heard Richer
play Grieg’s Lyric Pieces in Kozani in 1993; mythology
and idolatry aside, his stage presence and piano
playing made a very lasting impression on me.
A good link can be found at: www.trovar.com/str
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Thelonious
Monk (1917-1982) |
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One day I listened to someone
play on the television with my back against the
screen. Everything was wrong. The tone was wrong,
most of the notes were wrong. The rhythm was totally
wrong. Even the notes that were right were played
in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the
wrong feel. Then I turned around and watched as
this man continued to play the wrong way. He looked
wrong. He sat wrong if he sat at all. He thumbed
the keys like he had never played the piano before.
Then he stopped playing and started shuffling
his feet. It had been one of the best things I
had ever heard. Here was the Right Monk. Just
to remember not to get too right about things.
As he said: It’s making it sound right, that’s
not easy. More on Monk at: www.monkzone.com
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Jimmy Smith
(1925-2005) |
I heard the legendary jazz
organist at the Glasgow jazz festival some years
ago. Music based on grooves and vamps can be boring,
but not when Smith had any part playing them.
There is one thing that compares with a Steinway
or a mini moog in my mind and that is his Hammond
B2 sound.
Some info at: www.hammond-organ.com/Artists/jimmy_smith.htm
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Alfred
Brendel (1931-) |
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I heard Brendel play the Brahms
Ballades op.10 in Manchester and received gratefully
his ideals of structure and voicing. It’s really
worth buying his BBC portrait DVD. More at: www.alfredbrendel.com
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Peter
Feuchtwanger (1938-) |
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Peter is a student of Clara
Haskill and a teacher of Martha Argerich and Shura
Cherkassky as well as a very fine composer for
the piano. I joined his class in 2005 in Ftan,
Switzerland and hope to continue studying with
him for a long time. His ideas and teaching method
are unusual, but I can already see a huge improvement
in my playing.
Visit: www.peter-feuchtwanger.de
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Anton Kuerti
(1938-) |
A pupil of Henry Cowell and
piano heavyweight. I had a few lessons with Prof.
Kuerti in Manchester; his playing is phenomenal
and his gift for hearing vertically or horizontally
seemed unreal.
More on Kuerti at: www.jwentworth.com/kuerti
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Herbie
Hancock (1940-) |
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From working with Miles Davis
and Don Byrd to making Head Hunters and
Thrust Hancock is equally original as
a pianist and keyboard player. Visit: www.herbiehancock.com
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Keith Jarrett
(1945-) |
Jarrett brought to contemporary
jazz piano playing, melody instead of passagework,
invention as opposed to altered sequences from
the omnibook and spontaneous composition in the
place of improvisation. All his ECM recordings
are a constant source of inspiration. He has also
recorded Bach and Shostakovich. Recommended site
at: www.keithjarrett.org
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Murray
McLachlan (1964-) |
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Murray is a great pianist and
my old teacher. You can never have a complete
conversation with him; his mind is always on something
else: I suspect it is music. He is a rare, generous
teacher, fantastic musician and an original, 21st
century, non-robotic virtuoso. I studied with
him for two full, intensive years and he still
can’t pronounce my name the right way! More on
Murray, where his next concerts are etc at: www.murraymclachlan.co.uk/
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