In my blog, I want to show both my facets of teacher and performer. This is a playlist of homemade recordings that I made of a recent recital which had three works, two by Debussy and one by Ravel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWivZ5fqrxk&list=PL8oJzZiRWhsraMgfAHqrrAg2CtEXoUI6n
The first work is Le Tombeau de Couperin, composed by Maurice Ravel, and published before the end of the first world war. I first heard this work live at Chautauqua, 2011, played by John Milbauer, and fell in love with certain movements in particular. From that time I remember especially the Prelude and the Fugue. The first movement flows like water while the second feels precious and delicate, all of it happening at a very soft dynamic level. The second time I heard these works was when a friend of mine, Orlando Diaz, played them while we both were in our undergrad, and from that time I remember his Rigaudon, as he brought to life it's humorous gestures. The last time I heard this work was by a former teacher, Matthew Bengtson. In this performance, he gave an engaging presentation of what to listen for in each movement. I remember from this time both his performance and suggested imagery for the Toccata, which was that of a focused aviator shooting at targets, during the war. On my own, I discovered the beauty of the Menuet and the Forlane.
The second work, Pour le Piano, I fell in love with only recently, mostly because of how strange I find it. Other performances that were very inspiring were:
The last work, Suite Bergamasque, I first listened to in my childhood, and two recordings have inspired me, the first by my former teacher Rebecca Penneys, and the second by Walter Gieseking. The first continues to teach me (through recordings) about color, about discovering the delight in each chord. From Gieseking’s recording, I appreciate how music can be so touching and meaningful without taking time (a habit of mine…)
This post is a bit to say that every time we play and study a work, we bring to it the sum of our experiences, and it is that richness that comes to life. Thank you to each person who inspires me, who ignites that creative bug that we all have inside.
Gratitude to the unknown instructors
What they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass.
W.B. Yeats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWivZ5fqrxk&list=PL8oJzZiRWhsraMgfAHqrrAg2CtEXoUI6n
The first work is Le Tombeau de Couperin, composed by Maurice Ravel, and published before the end of the first world war. I first heard this work live at Chautauqua, 2011, played by John Milbauer, and fell in love with certain movements in particular. From that time I remember especially the Prelude and the Fugue. The first movement flows like water while the second feels precious and delicate, all of it happening at a very soft dynamic level. The second time I heard these works was when a friend of mine, Orlando Diaz, played them while we both were in our undergrad, and from that time I remember his Rigaudon, as he brought to life it's humorous gestures. The last time I heard this work was by a former teacher, Matthew Bengtson. In this performance, he gave an engaging presentation of what to listen for in each movement. I remember from this time both his performance and suggested imagery for the Toccata, which was that of a focused aviator shooting at targets, during the war. On my own, I discovered the beauty of the Menuet and the Forlane.
The second work, Pour le Piano, I fell in love with only recently, mostly because of how strange I find it. Other performances that were very inspiring were:
- Mikhail Pletnev, because of slow and mysterious second movement.
- Beatrice Rana’s Toccata, incredibly clear and light.
- Claudio Arrau’s is probably the only recording that truly takes as much time in the first movement as it is suggested via several tempo markings.
The last work, Suite Bergamasque, I first listened to in my childhood, and two recordings have inspired me, the first by my former teacher Rebecca Penneys, and the second by Walter Gieseking. The first continues to teach me (through recordings) about color, about discovering the delight in each chord. From Gieseking’s recording, I appreciate how music can be so touching and meaningful without taking time (a habit of mine…)
This post is a bit to say that every time we play and study a work, we bring to it the sum of our experiences, and it is that richness that comes to life. Thank you to each person who inspires me, who ignites that creative bug that we all have inside.
Gratitude to the unknown instructors
What they undertook to do
They brought to pass;
All things hang like a drop of dew
Upon a blade of grass.
W.B. Yeats
