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Pianist Louise Bessette Receives Honorary Doctorate from Western University

By Newswire on 20 June 2016 Newswire, Piano

20 June 2016 — This morning, pianist Louise Bessette received the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, from Western University in London, Ontario. The Montreal pianist is recognized for her accomplishments as “an internationally recognized performer and leading light in the interpretation of 20th and 21st century music, and for her significant impact in the contemporary world of classical piano.” Louise Bessette is one of today’s pre-eminent interpreters of the music of our time. Possessing a unique combination of eclectic repertory and impeccable delivery, Bessette has been hailed as “a 20th-century specialist of penetrating insight and unerring technique” (The Gazette) and is praised for…

Lebrecht Weekly – Feldman, Crumb: Piano pieces (Hyperion)

By Norman Lebrecht on 3 June 2016 Contemporary, Lebrecht Weekly, Piano

Every few months I take my ears out for a cleaning. This is not as easy as it sounds. Finding music that is original, unfamiliar, astringent, elevating and altogether uncomplacent restricts the seeker to the dustiest corners of recorded repertoire. And no sooner do you find a box that fits the bill than what you thought was household detergent comes stuffed with sticky minimalisms. Anyway, this week, I’ve struck lucky with some top-grade industrial ear cleanser from a British pianist I’d normally associate with Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Messiaen. Steven Osborne, though, has a quirky turn of mind and a wonderful…

CD Review: Scriabin Piano Music, Soyeon Kate Lee

By Jeanne Hourez on 1 June 2016 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Piano

Scriabin: Piano Music Sonata Fantaisie, Impromptus, Nocturnes Soyeon Kate Lee Naxos 2016. 8.573527. 51 min 27 s. Soyeon Kate Lee returns with an atypical choice in her new CD. They are pieces by the young Alexander Scriabin, all equally varied and lovely. Scriabin left an impressive and eclectic body of piano works, some of which are baffling in their classicism. Take for example the Sonata-Fantasy in G-sharp minor, whose exotic chords announce the grand sonorousness which he loved, but which is still written in classical form. And how can one compare the Mazurka no. 2 op. 3 with the Sonata…

Lukas Geniušas and Lucas Debargue, photo Vladimir Kevorkov

Tchaikovsky Competition winners face off — and get along

By Arthur Kaptainis on 9 May 2016 Chamber Music, Contemporary, Piano

Two 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition laureates for the price of one: This was the upscale bargain offered by the Show One concert organization, whose many Toronto followers obligingly filled Koerner Hall. Few could have left disappointed. Lucas Debargue and Lukas Geniušas were the visiting pianists, the former born in Paris, the latter in Moscow. Debargue is already a minor celebrity owing to an improbable life story that includes a late start at 11 and a three-year hiatus from his chosen instrument in his late teens. The slim 25-year-old says he has learned some complex 20th-century scores by ear, a claim that…

Lebrecht Weekly – Argerich and Barenboim: Live from Buenos Aires (DG)

By Norman Lebrecht on 18 April 2016 Lebrecht Weekly, Piano

The question is, what took them so long? Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim, born a year apart in Buenos Aires to Jewish mothers of Russian extraction, have left it until their mid-seventies to discover common ground. Both prodigious pianists, they sailed for Europe where their paths diverged. Argerich won the Busoni and Chopin competitions and worked intensively with Italian conductors, notably Abbado, Muti, Sinopoli and Chailly. Barenboim determined from an early age to be an orchestral conductor. He had no need for other pianists. When he put on a concerto he could play it himself (or call in his mentor,…

Lebrecht Weekly – Ludmila Berlinskaya: Pasternak And Scriabin (Melodiya)

By Norman Lebrecht on 4 April 2016 Contemporary, Lebrecht Weekly, Piano

You knew that the author of Doctor Zhivago was a composer, right? You didn’t. Well sit back; this might take a while. One of the most iconic portraits of the mystical Russian musician Alexander Scriabin was painted by the distinguished arstist, Leonid Pasternak. The sitter so impressed the artist’s 14 year-old son that Boris Pasternak promptly decided to become a composer and went to study for a while at the Moscow Conservatoire. Six years later he gave up writing music, but Scriabin’s influence proved formative and enduring, especially on his poetry. Boris Pasternak later married the wife of the important…

"Anton Nel, winner of the first prize in the 1987 Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall enjoys a remarkable and multifaceted career that has taken him to North and South America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa."

Anton Nel Spectacular in Saint-Saëns Egyptian Concerto

By Paul E. Robinson on 2 March 2016 Concert Reviews, Piano, Romantic

Grantham: J’ai été au bal Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major Op. 103 “Egyptian”* Serpa: An Invocation Copland: Rodeo (complete ballet score) Anton Nel, piano* Austin Symphony Orchestra/Peter Bay, conductor Long Center for the Performing Arts Austin, Texas Saturday, February 27, 2016 Some years ago I came across a 1993 live recording of Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 5, featuring Sviatoslav Richter. I didn’t know the piece, but I figured that if a great artist like Richter thought it was worth his time to learn it, it was probably worth my time to listen to it. And what a…

A Tale from Vienna: The Bösendorfer Story

By Marc Chénard on 1 November 2015 Interviews, Piano

“Sometimes pianists try to sound like singers. Me personally, I try to sound like a Bösendorfer.” – Placido Domingo Bösendorfer’s famous 97-key Imperial model Bösendorfer. The name itself stands for something grandiose, majestic, even noble. At times, some have even said that there are pianos and then there are Bösendorfers. Its fame is in no small part due to its Imperial model, complete with nine extra keys in the lower register and covering eight complete octaves. Referred to as the most expensive piano in the world, retailing over 200 grand, if you have to ask, this instrument is…

Cette semaine à Montréal (12 à 18 octobre) / This Week in Montreal (October 12 – 18)

By Kiersten van Vliet on 12 October 2015 Baroque and Early, Opera, Piano, This Week in Montreal

Musique / Music Le NEM autour de Salvatore SciarrinoCompositeur italien né en 1947, Salvatore Sciarrino est un génie du son. D’après lui, le silence n’est qu’un « grouillement infini de sonorités microscopiques ». En compagnie du NEM et du baryton Vincent Ranallo, vous êtes invités à plonger dans l’univers mystérieux et rythmé des battements de cœur murmurés du compositeur. Salle Bourgie, mercredi 14, 19 h 30. www.lenem.ca Marc-André HamelinPhoto: Fran Kaufman Marc-André Hamelin à Pro MusicaPianiste mondialement réputé que la scène montréalaise accueille régulièrement, Marc-André Hamelin est l’invité de Pro Musica pour un programme Mozart, Debussy, Schubert et Hamelin. Maison symphonique, vendredi 16,…

Luca Buratto, Winner of the Honens Piano Competition

By Camilo Lanfranco on 1 October 2015 Arts Industry, Classical, Classical Music, Piano

Author : (Camilo Lanfranco)

With its CAN $100,000 top prize and half-a-million dollars career development package program, the Honens Piano Competition is the biggest piano prize worldwide. Accepting only 50 pianists selected via auditions in London, Berlin and New York, Honens claims a special self-imposed challenge: finding the Complete Pianist, a performer defined as “an awe-inspiring virtuoso, a communicator, a risk-taking explorer, a dreamer.” The finalists were all top-level piano virtuosos, Henry Kramer (US, 28), Artem Yasynkyy (Ukraine, 27), and young Luca Buratto (Italy, 22), who showcased masterful control, strong technique and inspiring skills before 1,600 enthusiasts in early September in Calgary. “We’ve always…

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