Bringing Great Pianists Back to Life

Software entrepreneur John Q. Walker uses computers to bring piano legends back to life — digitally reconstructing their performances from audio tracks and playing them on real instruments, live.

Listen to the presentation on TED:

The Art Of Piano - Great Pianists Videos

This video documentary provides a survey of 18 extraordinary keyboard artists that dominated the concert world in the mid 20th century, from Ignaz Paderewski to Claudio Arrau. Featured performers are Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein, Sviatoslav Richter, Sergei Rachmaninov, Glenn Gould, Edwin Fischer, Claudio Arrau, Georges Cziffra, Wilhelm Backhaus, Alfred Cortot, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Francis Plante performing live and on film.

Watch the movie online:

The Art Of Piano Movie: Great Pianists Of The 20th Century

Barenboim Signs Major Recording Agreement

Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Classics are delighted to announce the signing of a wide-ranging recording agreement with conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim. Music director of Berlin’s Staatsoper and Staatskapelle and Maestro Scaligero at Milan's Teatro alla Scala – with projects including a new Ring production at both houses – Barenboim has been called by The Times (London) "one of the few musicians in the world today who could accurately be described as legendary".

Deutsche Grammophon renews a collaboration with the artist which previously yielded landmark recordings of solo music by Beethoven, Chopin and Mendelssohn, and of orchestral works by Bruckner, Debussy and Ravel. For Decca Classics, this brand new collaboration with Maestro Barenboim marks an exciting chapter in its programme of expansion as a world-class core classical label.

Read more: http://ping.fm/98Kcb

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Daniel Barenboim plays Beethoven:

"The tone isn't breathing"

 - complains pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, distraught. This is a typical sentence in Steinway & Sons' chief technician and Master Tuner Stefan Knupfer's normal work day. Each piano has its own personality, each piece demands its own timbre, and every interpretation has a particular temperament.

The film Pianomania takes the viewer along on a humorous journey into the secret world of sounds, and accompanies Stefan Knüpfer at his unusual job with world famous pianists like Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder, Till Fellner and Pierre-Laurent Aimard, among others.
Read more: Pianomania - the movie

Play Piano and Improve Your Life!

If you have always dreamed of learning how to play the piano, your interest may be due to hearing the lovely sounds that the instrument can produce when played by a talented musician. This article will outline a number of reasons for you to get busy and start learning how to play, or to get your children started in regular piano lessons.


There's no reason to ignore the reasons just mentioned - if you love to hear piano music being played, your feelings will only deepen when you learn how to play the piano yourself. And when you reach the point that you can play one of your favorite pieces or you have the skill to improvise a piece of your own music, your understanding of the wonders of playing the piano will become even more clear, and you will learn to appreciate the instrument even more.

Then there's the social aspect of knowing how to play the piano. It may be awhile before you're asked to play in front of other people, but the ability to play a few bars of a children's song can add a lot to family music-making nights! And because the piano is easily the best instrument for accompanying others, there will always be someone around to make music with.

Another benefit of learning the piano is that it is so versatile. When you start to learn the music arrangements for the piano, you will also learn a lot about other kinds of music, such as pop, orchestral, folk music, and more. You can find any type of music that you like already converted into piano arrangements.

And since the piano can produce harmonies, it can help you learn a great deal about music theory, which adds to your comprehensive musical understanding. All of this brings us to one of the greatest benefits that can be had from playing the piano: it allows you to exercise both your mind and body. Practicing the hand-eye and hand-eye-feet coordination that is necessary to play the piano is a wonderful way to keep your mind sharp. And when you memorize or sight-read music, your mental acuity gets a real workout.

If you have the proper posture when you're sitting at the piano, you can strengthen your fingers, arms and your back. All of this contributes to your ability to concentrate and discipline your mind. So take piano lessons - but be careful not to get ahead of yourself - and before long your self-esteem will get a huge boost. In time you will have a feeling deep within that you are capable of doing anything!

Find Your Piano Sheet Music Online

Whether a beginner in piano or if you have been playing for years, one of the basic tools for all pianists is that of sheet music. You may have the advantage of having a music store right around the corner but for many pianists, there are no local options. Many individuals drive several miles to a neighboring town or city where there is a music store that sells sheet music only to become disappointed when the store does not carry the one piece they were looking for.

A logical step is to call before you go and inquire whether or not the piece is available but that doesn't necessarily guarantee the store will be able to get you what you want. But with just some basic web researches, you can locate any type of piano music you want online. And there are other advantages to buying your piano music online. For instance, some online music stores will also offer an audio recording of your piano piece as well.

Meeting others who share your interests in piano music is something that most people are attracted to. In the past, you may make some friendships in the local music store but it would be very rare to find someone that had the same likes and dislikes as you in the world of music. In today's world, you can meet people all over the world through online websites that cater to people with an interest in sheet music. These websites allow you to not only buy sheet music and music downloads but also to communicate with others who share your musical tastes.

Furthering your musical education is very important to you. The world of e-books is a common way to increase your knowledge. E-books are easy to download and your access to the information is instantaneous. The days of traveling miles to the next city in hope of acquiring a much desired music book or sheet music are over.

Music teachers are always looking for the best resources to give to their students so that they can find sheet music as well. Having a few reputable piano music websites to give them is worth all the time and trouble doing online research.
Students will advance more quickly when they have the availability of online music at their disposal. The variety of online music you will be able to offer your students is another plus and they will thank you for it!

Do you want to learn to play piano?

Then you are not alone. There are millions of people over the world who would like to be able to sit down at a beautiful, black grand piano, creating beautiful music by moving their hands over the black and white keys. But what do you need to get started?
Read more: Learn to play piano

Piano humor with pianist Victor Borge

"I'm going to play it with both hands so that way I will get through with it a little faster."

Danish humourist and musician Victor Borge gave his first piano recital when he was 8 years old and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying under Olivo Krause. Later on, he was taught by Victor Schioler, Liszt's student Frederic Lamond and Busoni's pupil Egon Petri.

Watch the funny videos:
Piano Humour: A Victor Borge Tribute

The Magic of Chopin’s Piano Music

Why is it that Frédéric Chopins piano music always speaks directly to the heart of anyone who listens to it? I don’t know of any other composer who is always mentioned with so much love and respect in all kinds of different quarters. Whichever country or continent you go to, Chopin is sure to be played in the concert halls, in the radio and in people’s homes.

Even people who aren’t otherwise that interested in classical piano music love and adore Chopin. So what is it about his music that fascinates us and makes us listen so intently? Of course it depends on the performance as well, but almost any competent pianist can move people with a piece by Chopin.

Of course it has to do with the superb way Chopin was able to understand the possibilities of the piano. Nobody before him had made the piano sing quite in the same manner. One of the interesting things in connection with this, is that Chopin was very interested and fascinated by the human singing voice and tried to emulate it when composing for the piano. He went to the opera, listening to works by Bellini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer and others, and studied the amazing technique of the bel canto opera singers of his time. Then he went home and translated what he had heard to the piano.

Something else that has to be mentioned when trying to point out what makes Chopin’s piano music so unique, is the use he made of his Polish heritage. Chopin was born and brought up in Poland, to a Polish mother and French father, but spent most of his grown up life exiled in Paris. He always longed for his homeland and pitied the people there, living under Russian occupation.

The tunes and dancing rhythms that he had heard in Poland as a youth meant a lot to him, and he used them frequently in his own music. Not that he very often cites any particular Polish folk tunes - instead he creates music that somehow evokes a Polish athmospere, a nostalgic longing for the country that Chopin always viewed as his true home. When he died in 1849, his heart was brought home to Warsaw according to his own wish, while the rest of his remains were buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

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Valentina Igoshina plays Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu

Chopin Nocturnes - piano sheet music

Piano Street has published new urtext editions of the Nocturnes by Frederic Chopin. The new editions containing Chopin's own fingering are available from our online sheet music library to download and print.

Read more here: Chopin Nocturnes piano sheet music

Twitter about piano music

Follow Piano Street on Twitter to get updated about the classical piano music world:
- Bach and beer!
- A flaming piano?
- Lady Gaga goes Scriabin?
- Can you tell Mozart, Salieri apart?
- How to Play Bach on the Piano
- The Classical Music Recording Business
- Where does music come from?

Piano Twitter

Exciting Time Travels - Exclusive Interview with Ronald Brautigam

Ronald Brautigam talks to Piano Street's Patrick Jovell about his love and interest in period instruments as well as the modern grand piano.

Interview with Ronald Brautigam at pianostreet.com

A Piano Spectacular for 80 Fingers - $1.6 Million Worth of Piano on Stage

The eight pianists will work as an ensemble to perform new arrangements of classical favourites, including Ravel's Bolero, Rhapsody in Blue, Percy Grainger's Merriment, Pictures at an Exhibition, Handel Medley, the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony and a new 80-finger version of Chopsticks!

A Piano Spectacular

How to get the most from your piano lessons?

Are you learning the piano? If so, you already know that you can’t just sit down at the piano and start playing Bach right off the bat. Becoming a solid pianist takes time. More specifically, it takes practice…and lots of it.

A lot of new pianists practice regularly, but they aren’t getting as much out of it as they could be. In this article, you’ll discover several helpful tips that will help you maximize your practice time in front of the piano. By sticking to these tips, your skills should increase at a much faster rate.

• Warm up before practicing—You don’t see basketball players just stroll onto the court at tipoff without stretching and warming up beforehand. The same goes for playing piano. You need to get your fingers loose and ready to play. Start with some basic finger exercises, and play through scales to get in the piano mindset. Do this for a few minutes before you get into actual practice.
  
• Practice regularly—The biggest mistake new pianists make is to only practice whenever they have a lesson. You can’t expect to get better this way. In fact, as soon as your piano lesson is over, you should find time for a practice session as soon as possible, while your teacher’s instructions are still fresh in your mind. Then schedule time each day to practice on your own…even if it’s just for 10 or 15 minutes. A little practice each day can go a long way to making you a better pianist.
  
• When it’s time to practice, truly focus—Don’t waste practice time by fooling around or chatting with a friend. When you’re there to practice, practice. Eliminate all distractions. An hour of truly focused practicing can yield some pretty amazing results.
  
• Work on building new skills—After playing for a while, it’s common for pianists to hit a plateau. This usually happens because you do the same thing every time you practice. Keep building new skills by trying something different. For example, find a piece by a composer whose music you have never played before. Or, buy a book of random piano sheet music, and work your way through it.
  
• Identify your weaknesses—All pianists have things they aren’t great at. Everyone makes mistakes while playing. The key is to isolate your weaknesses, and to focus on eliminating them. If you can turn your weaknesses into strengths, you’ll become a solid pianist. If you aren’t sure what your weaknesses are, ask your teacher during your piano lesson or video yourself playing, and analyze your playing to find the mistakes.
  
• Have fun—This is supposed to be fun. Playing music is a joy. If you truly love it, piano playing will become a part of your life that you can’t do without. So, have fun with it. Don’t view practicing as torture. Cherish the time you get to sit in front of the piano.
  

You won’t become a great pianist over night. Improving your skills at the piano takes time, but if you remain committed to it for the long haul and you follow these helpful tips, you can work your way toward becoming a truly remarkable piano player.

Practice makes perfect, and there’s never a bad time to practice. Start working on your piano music today!