I realize I’ve not written a post for a long time! Time flies, especially when you have a CD release coming soon… It is my first recording, and we all know how much every new experience can change the way you see (or think about) things. What I wrote a few months ago was very true, but the recording of my first full album really changed my perception of studio work. Read more …
After meeting with Ondine and picturing the gibbet, it’s time to talk about Scarbo, the last movement of Gaspard de la nuit, work I recorded for my first solo album last month. We all know Scarbo is terrifying from a pianistic point of view. Even if I played it extensively on many different stages, Scarbo still scares me and requires a special attention when included in a recital program. Read more …
You certainly noticed a proliferation of companies calling themselves artistic agencies or record labels. In fact I’ve received lots of emails from these companies flattering me and offering me a management or recording contract (or both!).
The first email of this type I got was from an “artistic management” company. I was excited to get an offer and I went on reading it carefully, thinking a manager was interested in my projects. In fact what I read was a weird offer : paying a high monthly fee + a commission to get a pdf press kit and have a call center phoning presenters to try to get me concerts. Read more …
Today, we will pursue the exploration of my album’s Track list with Ravel’s Le gibet. Very slow, mesmerizing, Le gibet, central piece of Gaspard de la nuit, put the audience in a sort of cataleptic state. Ravel, like in the other pieces of his triptych, challenged himself and wrote a truly fascinating piece. And a damn hard work for the pianist. Read more …
8:30 am. I just had a light breakfast, and I’m about to drink the first coffee of the day. Half sleepy, I check my feed reader while sipping my dose of caffeine. So, what’s happening in the classical music world? I used to enjoy reading news about classical music, it used to bring me pleasure and positiveness compared to the uninterrupted flow of negativity we can hear in the traditional news. Well, checking the specialized websites and blogs used to be my routine. But not anymore. Read more …
Last week, I introduced you to the water spirit Ondine, main character of Ravel’s eponymous work. I also mentioned at the end of this short introduction I will talk today about the German physicist Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, the author of the classic study of acoustic science. I’m not very sure you are familiar with this great guy. He discovered several things but what makes him interesting to me is his strong interest in physics of perception, and especially his On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music published in 1863. What’s in it? Roughly, he discovered harmonics and their importance. Not following me? Read more …
Today, We will pursue the exploration of my album’s Track list with Ravel. Not that we’re done with Janáček yet, believe me, but let’s take a little detour by one of my favorite pieces ever, Gaspard de la nuit. For those who know me close enough, they know how I adore this piece and that I could speak about it for hours. Written in 1908, during a very dark period of the composer’s life, it represents for me the quintessence of piano writing. From a technical point of view, of course, this dense triptych is still considered as the most difficult work for piano in the standard repertoire. But more than this, the piece shows such a large range of colors and emotions that it requires from the pianist a heart, sensitiveness, creativeness and imagination more than in any other piano work. The thing is: with Gaspard de la nuit, you can’t cheat. You can’t pretend to be anything but what you are. Read more …
One year ago, one of my readers asked me how I feel about competitions and if I could write something about this hot topic. I really had to think about it (one year!) and find the right time to publish this. But, wait, aren’t we in the middle of a series of posts dedicated to Janáček? Yes, absolutely, but you’ll soon understand the connection. As you can notice in my biography, I didn’t “win” any prize in any competition. Not that I never attended one, I did join one but I decided right after that I will never do it again. But don’t worry, I won’t bother you here with the traditional music-competitions-are-evil. Things are not that simple. Read more …
In my previous post, Leoš Janáček: On an overgrown path, we spoke about the work’s background and its genesis. Today, it’s time to dive into the music itself and talk about one of the biggest issue when it comes to Janáček : the overgrown path to the original text. I really realized how big was this issue when I first played Janáček in Prague: Everyone had a different score with a different text. Read more …