Browsing: Piano

If there was an award for surprise of the year, this unpretentious release would win both the jury and the public vote. Adolph von Henselt, born 1814, was written off by music history as an also-ran, one of those stern faces in the back row of romantic group portraits, somewhere behind Chopin and Liszt. Unable to make his name or much of a living in Germany, Henselt went off to teach in St Petersburg, where the Tsar added a ‘von’ to his name. His influence on Russian pianism is considerable – he taught Zverev, Rachmaninov’s teacher – and he still…

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Yesterday, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and other partners launched La musique aux enfants, a prekindergarten and kindergarten music project at École St-Rémi-Annexe of the Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’Île (CSPI) in the borough of Montréal-Nord. The project imagined by Maestro Kent Nagano, and developed by the OSM in collaboration with the Université de Montréal and the CSPI, is to introduce preschool children to music as a means to support their overall development. All the students of École St-Rémi-Annexe will receive a minimum of one lesson in rhythm and choral singing per week. They will also be able to participate in cultural activities putting…

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In celebration of La Scena Musicale’s new online platform mySCENA.org and ­maSCENA.org, we launched an online raffle for Glenn Gould’s Complete Columbia Discography on 78 CDs. Congratulations to longtime volunteer R. K. Basdeo for ­winning the box set, valued at over $200! Keep your eyes peeled for other opportunities to win prizes, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or sign up for our electronic newsletter by visiting mySCENA.org!

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In a reflective programme note, the ex-Hungarian pianist Sir András Schiff remembers being rebuked as a young Vienna debutant for playing “a prematurely given encore.” The caution, he says, was “golden advice.” The encore, if given, must be timed and attuned to how audience has responded to the concert. It should be neither hasty nor frivolous, not too soon and not too much. This album gathers together the encores that Schiff gave over the course of a Zurich cycle of the 32 Beethoven sonatas in 2004–5. The seriousness level is set high and there are no obvious crowd-pleasers. This is…

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La Scena Musicale celebrates its 20th anniversary with the first edition of Gala LA RELÈVE/RISING STARS, a benefit concert on Thursday, November 24, 2016 at 7:30 PM at Salle Pierre-Mercure of the Centre Pierre-Péladeau featuring some of Canada’s future star musicians, many of whom have won recent national competitions. Soprano Chelsea Rus, baritone Hugo Laporte, clarinetist David Dias da Silva, violinist Joshua Peters, pianist Emily Oulousian and Piano Caméléons will perform; pianist Michael McMahon will accompany the singers. “I’m very excited with our line-up of six young musicians and duo,” said Wah Keung Chan, founder of La Scena Musicale. “Each…

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Blues musician Bob Walsh died yesterday in Montreal’s Notre Dame hospital at the age of 68. He was hospitalized on November 5 after suffering a heart attack. Montreal Gazette touches on his career and words from Quebec Prime Minister and Montreal Mayor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQeA_OsGIA Deborah L. Spar, president of Barnard College, will lead the Lincoln Center in New York in March 2017. She will succeed Jed Bernstein who left after failing to disclose a relationship with a woman he promoted. The New York Times describes her career and projects. Mose Allison, influential jazz and blues musician, died yesterday aged…

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New York, NY, November 8, 2016 – American cellist Julian Schwarz, together with Canadian pianist Marika Bournaki won the grand prize last week in a unanimous decision at the Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “Art of the Duo.” The annual competition received 156 applications from 25 countries with 22 duos performing at the competition. It culminated in a final round on Saturday, November 5th featuring nine duos. The winning duo receives a $7,000 cash prize, a 2017-18 Boulder Bach Festival recital, and additional, soon-to-be announced engagements. About the Performers Cellist Julian Schwarz made his orchestral debut at the age of…

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Candidates are from 43 nations; approximately 140 will be chosen to perform live at Screening Auditions around the globe FORT WORTH, Texas, November 1, 2016—Two-hundred and ninety applications representing 43 nations have been received from pianists for the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, taking place May 25–June 10, 2017, in Fort Worth, Texas USA. Approximately 140 prospective competitors will be chosen to move on to the Screening Auditions, where they will each play a 40-minute recital. The Screening Auditions schedule will be announced on December 13; they will take place in January and February, and will begin in London.…

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Jean-Michel Dubé is the youngest in a family of five children, four of whom are pianists. At the age of three, he started studying piano at home with his mother who was herself a pianist. At age seven, he entered the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. In 2015, he was awarded the grand prize at the Concours Hélène-Roberge, which allowed him to record, with the help of Espace XXI and Aramusique, the works of André Mathieu. Mathieu’s complete piano works have never been recorded before, making this disc a world premiere. How did you arrive to André Mathieu’s work? The idea…

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In honour of our 20th anniversary, we are proud to introduce the seven artists who will perform at our gala on Thursday, November 24. Each artist talked with La Scena Musicale about his or her favourite works, the pieces they will be performing at the gala, the challenges of performing them, the high points of each piece, and which artist they dream of meeting. For more information about the gala click here. David Dias Da Silva – Clarinettist Joly Braga Santos : Aria I Bella Kovacs : Hommage a Manuel de Falla Debussy: First Rhapsody I chose Debussy’s First Rhapsody…

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