Piano Prodigies on the Ellen Degeneres Show

I love watching piano prodigies in action, in just shows the potential of awesome talent at such a young age. This particular video has had over 3 million hits, I think due to Elias' eccentric personality and clowning around. Anyway he or she performs Carl Emanuel Bach's solfeggietto briefly as well I might add!

How to play Rachmaninov's Prelude in G Minor: tutorials, tips, masterclasses Opus 23 No.5

Overview 
 The Opus 23 preludes were dedicated to Rachmaninov's first cousin,  Alexander Siloti, and musicologist James Frazier notes that they owe much of their style to the second piano concerto (especially in the luscious B section).  Ashkenazy on the preludes: they contain  “an unmistakable Russian intensity, strong lyrical melodies, and changes of character that range from sublime sweetness to passionate virtuosity.”
Thailand based British expatriate pianist Paul Barton adds, that you get all these attributes in one go with the G minor prelude. In Paul's Youtube tutorial he describes the G minor prelude as a Paradox like so much of Rachminov's music - it's about staying in control while letting go at the same time; the immense technical challenge of playing the notes vs. at time soaring, passionate music, seeming desperate to escape from them. Written in 1901,  this prelude is second in  popularity to the C Sharp minor (opus 3) Prelude but Paul is convinced that popularity of the G minor is increasing.  Paul has clearly read Angela Glover's work and quotes from legendary pianist Josef Hoffman - anyone who could write this (prelude) must be noble.  Paul describes the form of this prelude like a Classical Rondo with A-B-Transition-A form and  the character of the 'B' section as ephereal, poignant with a Spanish flavour and feels like an improvisation [Thiollier].


Paul Barton's tutorial and tips of how to practice and play the G Minor Prelude


Excerpt of Paul Barton's tips:

• First learn the notes. Try to resist playing at full speed to keep the musical ideas and enthusiasm fresh.
• Avoid any tension in your arms, shoulders and wrists
• Section A - Play Chords and Change Position [3:00] Play the first chord in any group which is repeated. Play it once so avoid repeating them first of all (rather than 3 times as indicated), in order to make the shape of the chords and to be able to change position, 
• It's a great piece to work and focus on,  you can work on chords in one section then appegios in another.
• Middle section or 'B Section' which creates a 'trio effect' - overemphasize in your practice the countermelody (so you can bring this out later) [10:30]
• There are no pedal markings indicated in the score (so you'll need to balance the clarity of the melody in relation to the staccato chords)
• In the B section, if you can't reach all the notes as Rachmaninov had extremely large hands, drop a note but retain those notes in the chord that retains the best colour.

Rachmaninov plays the G Minor prelude himself - notice how he gives equal emphasis to the thick chords in Section B (as opposed to bringing out the fifth finger top melody line)




Paul Barton's favourite performance of the G Minor Prelude is by Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Further resources

• An Annotated Catalogue of the Major Piano Works of Sergei Rachmaninoff [Chapter 8 Preludes], Angela Glover, Florida State University 
• John Bell Young masterclass Part 1 of 2 (Youtube) filmed at the Univerisity of Florida, Tampa.
• Sheet Music (IMSLP)
• "Ten Preludes, Opus 23", Rachmaninov -  Earl Wilde CD Notes by James E Frazier, P 15, 2008 

Ipad Piano Pianism - Piano Apps with Lang Lang and Stephen Hough

UK based concert pianist Stephen Hough reviews Piano Apps (Pianist Pro and the Magic Piano) on the Ipad for the Daily Telegraph in 2010. He even mentions to Lang Lang's Flight of the Bumble recording in San Francisco.


Lang Lang tries out Flight of the Bumble Bee on the Ipad


Lang Lang performs Flight of the Bumble Bee on stage with an Ipad in San Francisco. It's amazing that this unofficial recording has had over 1.3 million views! Now that's viral

Percy Grainger's Paraphrase on Tchakovsky's Waltz of the Flowers

2011 is the 50th Anniversary of the eccentric Australian composer and virtuoso pianist  Percy Grainger's death (1882-1961). According to BBC Radio 3's Andrew Mcgregor, Grainger studied in Frankfurt with pupils of Brahms, Clara schumann, and Liszt. and he best known for his composition "English Country Gardens." If you're looking for a virtuosic and melodic piece for your concert repertoire or music collection consider his paraphrase on Waltz of the Flowers is from Tchaikovsky's Ballet - the Nutcracker.


Japanese pianist Aya Nagatomi performs Percy Grainger's Paraphrase on Tchakovsky's Waltz of the Flowers

If you enjoyed Aya Nagatomi's playing, she has released the following cd  Liszt: La Campanella Piano Works 

Tchaikovsky competition and Leeds piano competition prize winner Russian pianist Vladimir Ovchinnikov performs the full version

Youtube's Top 5 Piano Artistes

In my piano journeys around Youtube, in search of inspiration, a performance as a starting reference to a piece I'm learning, or even merely for enjoyment. I come across, some great piano videos. The videos are quality in terms of playing, sound recording, video production and clarity and are active. So I'd like to share them with you below. They are listed in order of video upload views on Youtube. As a youtube pianist myself , I find their videos a source of inspiration and a standard to aspire to.

Valentina Lisitia (Chopin, Rachmaninov and many other composers)

http://www.youtube.com/user/ValentinaLisitsa
Video Index: her video uploads.

Video Views over 17 Million times! 

Valentina is an Ukrainian Pianist based in the US. Here's one of her early videos performing La Campanella.

Cubus (Mozart, Chopin to French  [Duvernoy] and Russian romantic period [Vladimir Rebikov*])

Video Views: 4.3 million
Video Index: http://www.youtube.com/user/cubusdk#g/u

I found Cubus' youtube channel when I was searching for the keywords "Chopin Playlist" in youtube. He plays well on his digital piano, but just Watch his luminescent hands! What a true piano artist in every sense! Enjoy.

*Who is Rebikov, I wondered....

“Rebikov was already a forgotten figure by the time of his death at age 54. He was bitter and disillusioned, convinced wrongly that composers such as Debussy, Scriabin, and Stravinsky had made their way into public prominence through stealing his ideas. Ironically Rebikov is best known by way of his insubstantial music in salon genres. Rebikov's role as an important early instigator of twentieth-century techniques deserves to be more widely recognized.” (Uncle Dave Lewis, Allmusic) [Source: Wikipedia]

Anderson & Roe Piano Duo (classical creative reinterpretations) from Star Wars, Piazolla, Saturday Night Fever.

Video Views: Over 3.2 million video views

Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/gnanderson

Bach Scholar
Video Views: 3 million
ragtime, classical, blues (Bach, Scarlatti, Scott Joplin, Czerny, and others). Also has some interesting video tutorials on how to play ragtime. It looks like he's also performed every Scott Joplin piece too!
Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BachScholar
Video Index: http://www.youtube.com/user/BachScholar#g/u


Tzvi Erez (Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven and Bach)
Video Views: 2.5 million
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TzviErez
Video Index: http://www.youtube.com/user/TzviErez#g/u
I found Tzvi's Erez version of the Chopin Military Polonaise as a guide for when I was learning it for the Kemble Chopin Competition. Here, however is Tzvi playing a Satie piece.




Josh Wright Piano - Advice on piano technique from memorisation, phrasing, to getting that pearly sound.
Video Index: http://www.youtube.com/user/joshwrightpiano#g/u
Video Views: 7000


Let me know if you find any other quality Youtube Piano Artistes out there!