When Liszt (1811 - 1866) played the piano, ladies flung their jewels on stage instead of bouquets. They rushed madly to the stage to fish out the stub of cigar that Liszt smoked and the ladies who recovered them carried them in their bosom to the day she died. Other ladies came away with priceless... Continue Reading →
Chopin detested public appearances, and thus he would seldom make appearances outside of the salons. He was fading away due to the onset of his tuberculosis, and his physical strength weakened to the point that he was unable to play forte. He came to compensate for this weakness by using pianissimo with an infinite degree... Continue Reading →
Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a slender, refined looking man, not weighing more than a hundred pounds, with a prominent nose, brown eyes and a pale complexion with beautiful hands. He was a snob but also a social butterfly. He dressed in the latest fashions, had a precise mind and manner, and could also be... Continue Reading →
Most Romanticism pianists were born around the same time. –Felix Mendelssohn in 1809, Chopin 1810, Liszt 1811, Thalberg 1812 and Henselt in 1814. Musicologist have done extensive work studying the baroque and pre-baroque music to the extent that they ignored the nineteenth century. Hence, musicians today are beginning to understand the eighteenth century value and... Continue Reading →
Carl Czerny (1791 – 1857), one of the greatest pianist, never played in the public, but did make occasional appearances as a young man. He was revolted by travel and the strain of performing in public. So he stayed at home in Vienna to teach and compose and do nothing else. Carl Czerny He was... Continue Reading →
Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785 – 1849) Like Clementi, Kalkbrenner was an old school pianist who advocated for fingers close-to-keys. He, however, was a more superficial musician, was self-centered and preferred himself to any other pianists. He only associated himself with English and French nobility and forgot his common origins. Kalkbrenner made great effort to make acquaintances... Continue Reading →
There are four very important pianists prior to the arrival of the romantic pianists: John Field, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Friedrich Kalkbrenner and Ignaz Moscheles. Kalkbrenner was a virtuoso with the most superficial brilliance. Field was the most poetic pianist and the one who came closest to Chopin’s style; Hummel was a classicist; Ignaz Moscheles was... Continue Reading →
The Italian-born English Virtouso, Muzio Clementi (1752 – 1832), who was four years Mozart’s senior, was not too well known on the continent but after his first tour in 1780, his reputation swept over Europe. Emperor Joseph II arranged for competitions between the greatest Austrian pianists and the greatest pianists outside of Austria. The great... Continue Reading →
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) can be considered as the first Romantic Pianist (1770 – 1850), and he broke all the rules in the name of expression. In the nineteenth century the word ‘expression’ was the replacement of the eighteenth century word ‘taste’. He thought of music orchestrally and achieved the effect of orchestra... Continue Reading →
At three, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) was picking on the harpsichord, carefully selecting the thirds and other consonances. This amused him endlessly. At four, he was studying a little minuets; at five he was composing and had perfect pitch where he could spot a quarter tone out of tune on the trumpet that... Continue Reading →
