Where does one begin? I began piano lessons officially in the fourth
grade. I had my first keyboard when I was about four or five. It was a
Yamaha and it featured the playcard system, an early precursor to the
keyboards with computer discs today. We also had a Commodore 64 (That's
an early family computer for those of you born after ~1982) and I would
use a program called Music Processor to play music on the computer. It
enabled me to record and playback what I played. Quite advanced for its
time. This was my first exposure. I played everything from Are You Sleeping
to Billy Joel and Paul McCartney. The playcard system allowed the user
to play the melody and it would do all of the rhythm automatically and
adjust the tempo to the speed of the user as well. Small lights above
each key would light up when it was time to play that note. By the time
I was old enough to start lessons with my teacher at school I was already
playing hymns from the expired books at church. This was an excellent
way to learn. Lessons were quite boring to me and I rarely practiced the
lesson assigned. Rather, I was playing the Beatles, or television theme
music. Mind you that this is all on an electric keyboard and not a piano.
Eventually our family acquired an organ and I learned on it, but it was
second rate and eventually it stopped working properly. Then one day my
mother found a friend who had a friend who was looking to get rid of a
piano. This was quite an exciting day! We drove about an hour to get this
Kimball Artist Console. This was when I started to get more serious.
I really liked the sound of the piano in general, and I began to check
out music CD's from the local library and heard for the first time the
music of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Liszt. First was the Chopin Polonaise,
you know the one, in A flat major, op. 53 played by none other thant the
great Martha Argerich. There were also some solo works by Ashkenazy on
this CD. I particularly recall the Polonaise in A major, op. 40, no. 1,
the Etudes, op. 25, no. 11 (Winter Wind), op. 10, no. 3 and op. 10, no.
12 (Revolutionary.) This was amazing! I didn't know that such music existed!
I then purchased my first book of classical music. It was called Classical
Music Showstoppers. It had the Chopin op. 10, no. 3 and the op. 40, no.
1 and op. 53 Polonaises. I immediately began to learn the A major Polonaise,
a common starting place for young pianists. My next book was all Chopin;
a well rounded selection of all of the master's great works. I began listening
to Rachmaninoff and Liszt and fell in love right away. Then one day it
happened! I was channel surfing and came across the very beginning of
a film called Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence during a PBS pledge drive.
I noticed that it was about a pianist so I continuted to watch and I was
amazed. After the program, the concert Horowitz in Moscow was aired and
I was hooked. I couldn't believe it! This was the beginning of what has
become one of my most enjoyed pastimes. The study of Vladimir Horowitz
and music and in particular that of Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Chopin, and
most recently Medtner. That's the background. If you want to know more
e-mail me.
This is me playing Vladimir Horowitz's
Piano in January 2002.
Click the image to read about my first experience playing this piano
in 2000.
Piano Concerts I've Attended
October 1, 1996
Beethoven: Piano Sonata, op. 81a, "Das
Lebewhol"
Schumann: "Carnaval" op.
9
Chopin: Etudes, op. 10
Abbey Simon
UW Whitewater Irvin L. Young Auditorium
January 1997
?
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
?
Barry Douglas
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Uhilein Hall
Fall 1997
?
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of
Paganini, op. 43
Had tickets to see MARTHA ARGERICH/NELSON FRIERE
in a two piano concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago fall 2001 which
was CANCELLED (DISAPPOINTMENT BEYOND VERBAL DESCRIPTION)
Winter 2002
Schumann: Kreisleriana
Chopin: Scherzo No. 1, Ballade no.
4
Liszt: Benediction del Dieu dans la
solitude
Andrea Bonatta
Farley's House of Pianos
September 2002
?
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
?
Andre Watts
Madison Civic Center Oscar Mayer Theater
April 2003
?
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2
(Missed second half because I was backstage chatting with Thibaudet)
Fantasie on themes from Mozart's Don Juan and the Marriage of Figaro, completed by the pianist.
Petit Valse
Transcendental Etude
Leslie Howard
IKIF
Mannes College of Music
NYC
August 2005
Vladigerov - Sonatina Concertante, op. 28
Chopin-Godowsky - Etudes
Wagner-Liszt - Isoldes tod
Verdi-Liszt - Ernani
Bellini-Liszt - Norma
Scriabin - Etude op. 2, no. 1
Chopin-Liszt - My Joys
Antheil - Jazz sonata
Marc-André Hamelin
Ravinia Festival
Severin Von Eckhardstein
Schumann - Fantasy, op. 17
Franck - Prelude, chorale and fugue
Ravel - Gaspard
Prokofiev - Sonata No. 4
Rzewski - Winnsboro Cottonmill Blues
Ravinia
November 3, 2005
Beethoven - Sonata - Pastorale
Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 3, op. 58
Rachmaninoff - Corelli Variations, op. 42
Ravel - Miriors
Kreisler-Rachmaninoff - Liebesleid
Chopin - Mazurka op. 17, no. 4
Chopin - Impromptu, op. 51
Abbey Simon
Ganz Hall - Roosevelt University
Chicago, IL
February 2, 2006
Scarlatti - Sonatas, K 87 & 27
Chopin - Barcarolle, op.60
Chopin - Three Mazurkas, op. 59
Chopin - Polonaise Fantasie, op. 61
Garrop - Degrees of Obsession
Gershwin-Wild - Fantasy on Porgy and Bess
Rimsky-Korsakoff-? - Flight of the Bumble-Bee
Graham Scott
Ganz Hall - Roosevelt University
Chicago, IL
January 29, 2006
Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 2
Liszt - La Campanella
Valentina Lisitsa
Pick-Staiger Hall
Northwestern University
Elmhurst, IL
with Jesus Jesús López-Cobos and the Chicago Philharmonic
March 9, 2006
F. Mendelssohn - Variations sérieuses in D minor, Op. 54
F. Mendelssohn/S. Rachmaninoff, Scherzo from a Midsummer Night's Dream
F. Chopin, Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35
S. Rachmaninoff, Morceaux de fantaisie Op. 3, Élégie in E flat minor, Prélude in C sharp minor, Mélodie in E major,Polichinelle in F sharp minor, Sérénade in B flat minor
F. Liszt, Réminiscences de Don Juan
Mussorgsky-Rachmaninoff - Hopak
Wagner-Liszt Libestod
Charles Lisberg - Spinning Wheel
Rimsky-Korsakoff-Rachmaninoff - The Flight of the Bumble-Bee
