Why AdvERtIsE WIth INtERNAtIoNAL PIANoEstablished over 20 years
ago, International Piano is one of the world’s leading piano
magazines, reaching high-standard grade 8+ pianists including
performers, teachers, students and serious amateurs.
Our readers are wealthy individuals and are committed to their
interest in the piano, regularly travelling to attend concerts,
summer schools and competitions. Our readers are avid record
collectors, and our extensive reviews section in each issue
reflects and supports this.
As well as our subscribers, International Piano is distributed
to members of several major organisations through our digital
partnership scheme.
thE FActs» Frequency: bi-monthly
» Readership: 30,000
» Regular advertisers: Yamaha, Bösendorfer, Chandos, Hyperion
Records, Wiener Urtext Edition, Henle Verlag, ABRSM, Van Cliburn
Foundation, Queen Elisabeth Competition, Leeds International Piano
Competition, Honens International Piano Competition, Trinity
College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Bienen University, Boston
Conservatory, PianoStreet, Pianoteq, Piano Logistics, BBC Proms
» Geography: International Piano has a truly international
audience. Our print readership is 50% UK, while our digital
readership is over 80% non-UK
March/April 2015 International Piano 49
E D U C A T I O N
For the Past eleven years, musicians, teachers and students from
all over the world have gathered annually at Princeton University
in new Jersey, Us, for a seven-day symposium on the taubman
approach. the methodology appeals to a broad range of pianists –
from seasoned professionals and dedicated teachers to gifted
amateurs – all of whom come together to share the fascinating
pedagogy and artistry of Dorothy taubman’s unique technique.
although awareness of musicians’ injuries increased during the
last two decades of the 20th century, the roots of the problem are
as old as the art of performing. In the late 17th century,
physician Bernardino ramazzini was the first to describe
‘cumulative micro-trauma’ as the main cause of ‘occupational
disease’. We know that some of the most revered pianists of the
past suffered pain, sporadically or constantly: Clara schumann,
Paderewski, scriabin, schnabel, rachmaninov and Glenn Gould all
cited discomfort throughout their careers. and although the likes
of arrau, rubinstein, horowitz, horszowski, earl Wild and Jorge
Bolet all played well into
advanced age, many younger pianists have been sidelined in their
20s and 30s, purportedly because of ‘overpractising’. taubman
(1917-2013) and her colleagues quickly realised that many of these
problems were due to misuse, not overuse.
ConsIDerInG the sUBtletIes and complexities involved in playing
any instrument, it is easy to understand why many physical problems
have previously defied detection: most movements are minuscule and
some aren’t even visible. Most traditional training was based on
observation of the visible, with disregard for what was operating
underneath. taubman’s approach, on the other hand, was in line with
nobel Prize-winning hungarian physiologist albert szent-Györgyi’s
assertion: ‘Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen
and thinking what nobody has thought.’
In essence, taubman’s approach explains how the fingers, hand
and arm should function in order to make music without fatigue,
pain or injury. this prevents problems from occurring in the first
place and provides retraining pathways for those already injured.
It
utilises almost invisible hand and arm motions to facilitate
movements of the fingers across the keyboard, eliminating overuse
or forced misuse of fingers alone for power, speed and covering
distance. taubman’s combined understanding of human physiology and
the mechanical possibilities of the piano yielded a system of
totally economical motion.
the taUBMan aPProaCh has undergone scientific validation studies
and emerged as ‘the only movement retraining approach with any
non-anecdotal evidence of efficacy with regard to repetitive stress
injuries’ (W Pereira et al, proceedings of the 13th triennial
Congress of the International ergonomics association, vol 4, pp384-
386, 1997).
edna Golandsky is the person with whom Dorothy taubman worked
most closely. taubman wrote: ‘I consider her the leading authority
on the taubman approach to instrumental playing.’ together, they
established the taubman Institute in 1976, where pianists could
come together for one to two weeks to pursue intensive study. the
institute was
HandlewitHcare
Edna Golandsky was one of Dorothy Taubman’s key collaborators
and went on to co-found the Golandsky Institute in 2003
Dorothy taubman’s methodology – which teaches how to make music
without fatigue, pain or injury – has transformed pianists’ lives
the world over, writes Audrey Schneider
⌂
IP0315_48_50_Taubmann_CJ.indd 49 17/02/2015 15:55:01
January/February 2015 International Piano 19
c o v e r s t o r y
London caLLingIn February, Ivo Pogorelich will give his first
solo recital at London’s Royal Festival Hall since 1999. But, as
Jeremy Nicholas discovers when he meets the maestro in Paris, this
is not a comeback concert
Ivo PogoReLIcH enteRs tHe foyer of a luxurious Paris hotel with
an easy feline grace. He is unexpectedly heavily built, still
striking even if the luxuriant dark locks familiar from dozens of
LP covers in the 1980s are now ‘poivre et sel’ and cut in the style
favoured by Rachmaninov. His dress is ultra-casual: loose-fitting
grey cord trousers and a greyish fleece top zipped up to his
chin.
A fountain tinkles as we head into the hotel’s garden and
towards a table at the far end of the paved courtyard. cushions are
brought. Pogorelich’s agent hovers while his publicist takes me
aside and reminds me that the maestro likes to be asked questions
but doesn’t like the fluff in between. I have, as requested,
already provided a list of questions in advance. sadly, I have
forgotten to bring it with me.
I have a present for him – a copy of Alkan’s nocturne, op 22
(we’re in Paris, after all). He examines it at arm’s length. ‘Hmm.
When was this written?’ ‘some time in the 1840s,’ I say. He puts it
aside and that’s that. If he has any views on Alkan or his music,
they are not up for discussion, so I fall back on my
half-remembered prepared questions. We are here to talk about the
pianist’s eagerly awaited London recital, the first he has given in
the capital for some 15 years. It is, I suggest, like a comeback.
He frowns. ‘In what sense?’ ‘You haven’t played in London for a
great many years.’ ‘I have played in London, but not a recital. I
played in London as recently as three or four years ago as a
soloist with the Philharmonic orchestra. so that’s not entirely
accurate information. I would avoid such terms as “comeback”. I
cannot come back because I never left.’ ‘Well, let’s call it a
return, then, after 15 years.’ ‘or just an appearance,’ he counters
firmly. ‘An artist appears.’
tHe cRoAtIAn PIAnIst HAs chosen a big programme for his upcoming
recital: the first half will feature Liszt’s ‘Dante’ sonata and the
schumann Fantasy; and in the second half, he will perform
stravinsky’s Petrushka and both books of the Paganini variations by
Brahms. For 30 minutes, Pogorelich discourses on his programme,
with few prompts from me. He speaks slowly and thoughtfully in a
musical Russian accent,
⌂
IP0115_19_21_Coverstory_CJ.indd 19 11/12/2014 11:09:42
34 International Piano March/April 2015
P i a n o m a k e r s
HungarIan PIanIst gergely Bogányi has unveiled his new ‘super
piano’ – an instrument that he hopes will represent the next phase
in piano building. the piano, which has been in development for a
decade, was created in collaboration with leading technicians and
uses a pioneering carbon fibre soundboard.
at the launch of the piano in Budapest earlier this year,
Bogányi, 41, revealed his motivation for the project. ‘It was not
an intellectual decision but a long and painful inner desire and a
need to create something new,’ he said. ‘that is the spirituality
of musicians, seeking something new and unknown, a path not yet
opened. It was never my intention to make something better than a
traditional
piano – all I wanted to do was something new, using new
materials to create whole new dimensions.’
He was also inspired by the idea of creating a new sound. ‘What
we hear inside our minds is often more colourful and beautiful than
what comes out of the instrument, because our imagination is
endless,’ he said. ‘With a modern piano, you get the attack of the
wooden sound. I was interested in finding a way to diminish that
noise, to allow the tone to live for a longer time. We have new
modern materials, so why not investigate whether they work for the
piano?’
Bogányi enlisted the help of some technicians and began
experimenting with new parts at his home in Vác. He
eventually assembled a team of volunteers including senior piano
technician attila Bolega, industrial designer Péter Üveges and
technician József nagy. By 2012, the team had made sufficient
progress to secure a grant from the eu’s economic Development
Operational Programme, part of a development plan for Hungary. With
this support, they then applied for HuF60m (£143,000) of bank
funding to complete the prototype.
VIsually, tHe mOst strIkIng thing about the Bogányi is its two
curved legs. as a result of these two sweeping structures, the body
of the instrument looks almost as though it is suspended in mid
air, floating above the stage. the purpose of this design,
according to Bogányi, is to allow the sound to project straight out
to the audience, instead of being channelled through a third leg
into the floor.
the other major difference between this and a traditional piano
is the carbon composite soundboard. It has been designed not only
to project the sound but also to withstand changes in temperature
and humidity, maintaining a quality and consistency of sound in all
conditions. the piano also comes with a new agraffe system based on
designs pioneered by the Hungarian piano maker lajos Beregszászy,
while the action was produced and delivered by louis renner in
germany.
But WHat aBOut tHe all-important question: what does the Bogányi
sound like? at the
© Zen
gA
fon
s Ltd 2015
© Zen
gA
fon
s Ltd 2015
Back to the futureHungarian pianist gergely Bogányi has built an
instrument that he hopes will change the face of piano
manufacturing. Femke Colborne reports from Budapest
IP0315_34_35_Piano Makers_CJ.indd 34 17/02/2015 09:37:05
50 International Piano January/February 2015
s y m p o s i u m
JEREMY SIEPMANN: For a very long time, the piano duet was the
most popular musical partnership in the industrialised world, but
unlike its grander sibling, the two-piano duo, it was a domestic
medium. Today, it’s just as much a public one. Gathered below, as
it were, are some of its most distinguished, experienced (and
public) exponents: the Labèque sisters, the Pekinel twins, Tal and
Groethuysen (Yaara and Andreas), Roland Pöntinen and Love
Derwinger, and Paul Badura-Skoda, whose partnership with Jörg Demus
in the 1950s and 1960s is still well remembered some 50 years
later. When we met, I asked if there was any way of describing the
particular rewards of this uniquely intimate medium.
PAUL BADURA-SKODA: Musically, the piano duo can create a richer
sound, with the potential for ‘symphonic’ textures. Beyond the
purely musical, the ‘give and take’ with your partner is, of
course, a wonderful experience.
ANDREAS GROETHUYSEN: The sound is certainly part of the joy, but
it’s also part of the problem. The balance of sound is the first
and main task of all four-hand piano players. Besides, when the
players are striving for the ideal of really sounding like one
person, rhythmical homogeneity and flexibility remains for quite a
while
the crucial point. And it’s this, of course, that really
determines the quality of each ensemble.
ROLAND PÖNTINEN: Much of the original repertoire is wonderful,
but orchestral arrangements can still play a big role in our
discovery of music. Playing orchestral works in four-hand
arrangements can reveal huge scores in ‘black and white’, so to
speak; it’s a wonderful way of viewing complexity in a raw state.
And of course there’s the chamber music aspect of constantly
following and reacting to each other’s impulses, breathing
together, etc – and this from very close quarters!
LOVE DERWINGER: And of course in our childhood and youth it was
also a perfectly legitimate way to sit very close to a girl!
PÖNTINEN: It certainly was!
YAARA TAL: That goes both ways! I’m the sort of person who likes
very much to be together with someone. I really appreciate this
intimacy. This kind of emotional disposition makes it very easy for
me to play together with someone whom I like or love. It’s not a
matter of mere reward here but of sheer joy!
KATIA LABÈQUE: Absolutely! The joy of playing with someone you
love is
THE PANEL (top to bottom): Paul Badura-Skoda; Yaara Tal and
Andreas Groethuysen; Güher Pekinel and Süher Pekinel; Katia Labèque
and Marielle Labèque; Roland Pöntinen and Love Derwinger
Music, like great cuisine, is a social lubricant as well as an
art. Jeremy Siepmann meets nine international
pianists who know this better than most
Two’s coMPAny
s y M P o s I u M
Pau
l Ba
du
ra-S
kod
a ©
Jea
n B
aPt
iSte
Mil
lot;
Ya
ara
ta
l a
nd
an
dre
aS
Gro
eth
uYS
en ©
Mic
ha
el l
eiS;
Gü
her
Pe
kin
el a
nd
Sü
her
Pek
inel
© c
iha
n a
lPir
aY; k
atia
la
Bèq
ue
an
d M
ari
elle
la
Bèq
ue
© u
MBe
rto
nic
ole
tti
IP0115_50_55_Symposium_CJ.indd 50 11/12/2014 07:19:50
March/April 2015 International Piano 35
P i a n o m a k e r s
launch event in Budapest, several dozen journalists were ushered
into the smart chamber music hall of the Budapest Music Centre for
the grand unveiling. The room fell silent as Bogányi proudly walked
onto the stage and shuffled into position on the matching piano
stool. When he started to play, there was a ripple of concurring
nods, perhaps a slight sense of relief – it sounded pretty good.
It’s a big, pure sound, with each individual note reverberating for
a noticeably long time.
British jazz pianist John Tulville was among a handful of
pianists who got the chance to try the piano at the launch event.
Tulville was impressed by the sound, but said the most striking
thing about the instrument was how it felt to play. ‘The action
feels completely different,’ he said. ‘It’s really sensitive, so if
you play very quietly it responds well and also keeps the tone, and
when you play loudly it doesn’t become harsh – you don’t hear the
hammer sounds as much as you would on, say, a Steinway.
‘It’s like pressing into water, somehow – on any other piano,
you almost feel the hammers when you play, you can almost visualise
them. But the Bogányi is obviously very cleverly designed to make
you more aware of the actual tone. It’s got the precision and
projection of any other modern piano, but there’s less noise,
basically. If you want evenness, that’s an even piano.’
That evenness is likely to appeal to jazz players in particular
– and indeed, Bogányi invited renowned jazz pianist Gerald Clayton
to perform at the launch event to demonstrate the instrument’s
capabilities in that genre. But Bogányi insists he doesn’t have a
target market in mind and he hopes the instrument will appeal to
players in all genres. ‘People ask me who my target is, but I’m not
a businessman and there is no target group,’ he says. ‘I don’t want
to exclude anyone. It is not our aim to produce something only for
certain people. We are open and welcoming everybody.’
At the moment there are only two Bogányis in existence: the
prototype and the instrument that was unveiled in Budapest. But
Bogányi is considering commissions and says he has received
hundreds of enquiries since the launch event. Though he can’t
put a figure on it yet, he hints that anyone who wants a Bogányi
of their own is likely to have to be pretty well heeled: ‘It will
be expensive. It is impossible for it to be cheap. We had to fulfil
all the requirements of a traditional piano and also add new
elements, so it should be more expensive.’
Bogányi doesn’t know how much of his own money he’s put into the
project – either that, or he’s unwilling to admit it – but he has
no regrets. ‘I have not done
it for success or any business reason – I have done it out of
the necessity to create something new,’ he says. ‘In the past
century, there has been no relevant change to the piano. That’s
partly a good thing, but I felt there was space in the modern
world, with all the new materials we have, for some development. My
team and I were looking for something new. According to our
philosophy, tradition and innovation can go together.’
‘We have new modern materials, so why not investigate whether
they work for the piano?’
© Zen
gA
fon
s Ltd 2015
© tÁ
MA
s Bujn
ov
sZky©
tÁM
As Bu
jno
vsZky
IP0315_34_35_Piano Makers_CJ.indd 35 17/02/2015 09:36:54
January/February 2015 International Piano 51
s y m p o s i u m
indescribable, and part of the very essence of the piano duo.
Well actually of any duo.
JS: What can you learn from four-hand playing that you can’t
learn by playing on your own?
MARIELLE LABÈQUE: This is like the difference between chamber
music and solo, really. Piano duet, duo-piano, whatever you call
it, this is chamber music. It takes you out of yourself. It gives
you companionship, partnership; you explore and learn together, and
from each other, and from accommodating and persuading each other,
and from discovering together. It offers a whole world of discovery
and relationship that solo practising and performance can never do.
And on a more than practical note, it has none of the solitude –
let’s admit it, the loneliness – of a solo concert artist’s
life.
TAL: You learn to give up (or to be able to give up) your own
individual musical identity and work together to create a new,
mutual-individual musical identity.
BADURA-SKODA: And you really learn to play in time (often
counting the beats aloud), and to listen very acutely not only to
yourself but to the ensemble, to get a ‘global’ view of the work.
You also learn to refine your touch (delicatissimo for much of the
secondo, more intense for the leading parts).
GROETHUYSEN: As the secondo player in our duo, I sometimes feel
more like a conductor than a pianist, seeing my role as both
servant and leader at the same time – comparable with an opera
conductor who on the one hand is the musical director and on the
other has to serve the singers. That forces you to give very clear
musical signals – which of course should be understood by the
audience not as signals but simply as music!
JS: Before we discuss technicalities, like ensemble and
pedalling, how do you arrive together at an interpretation? Here
you are, two very distinct musicians. Do you sometimes have quite
different ideas about how a phrase, even sometimes how a whole
piece goes?
KATIA LABÈQUE: Of course we do. That’s inevitable, sometimes.
But we don’t work at this only by ourselves. We have help from
other musicians we completely trust. And we must resolve these
problems while all the time remaining true to ourselves.
SÜHER PEKINEL: A lot of people think that because we’re twins,
we sort of think and feel in unison, that we operate by telepathy.
In fact, we’re very individual. We disagree on lots of things, and
we often have to fight to get our individual points through. But
these are friendly fights – and they’re always resolved. The
interesting point is, though, that these fights often arise
precisely because of our determination to be different! Sometimes,
of course, there are very natural solutions. When we differ about a
sonata, for instance, or any other piece that involves repeats,
we’ll do it one way in the first playing of the exposition and then
the other way in the repeat.
JS: You have, I think, a somewhat unusual way of preparing. You
have a technological assistant.
GÜHER PEKINEL: Yes! And it works very well. First we learn a
piece separately, and each of us always learns both parts, and we
often exchange parts in performance. But for many years now, we’ve
regularly used a tape recorder when we first come together after
studying a piece independently. We record first one person’s
version, then the other’s, and then we listen back together and
discuss which one, or which parts, come closest to realising the
intentions of the composer. Only through this constant analysis can
we find the structural consensus we need. We do the same for the
basic concept of interpretation. After all, when you’re in the act
of playing, you can’t hear and note every detail, every touch of
the pedal, every shade of colouration and so on. Only a recording
can give you complete objectivity and allow 100 per cent
concentration. So we record all our concerts too, and after each
concert we listen back, to hear exactly what we’ve done – and just
as important, what we haven’t done! But this objectivity doesn’t
rule out spontaneity. The most wonderful thing of all is when we
discover new ideas, new approaches – new atmospheres, even – while
we’re ⌂
IP0115_50_55_Symposium_CJ.indd 51 16/12/2014 16:54:13
sIzEs & PRIcINGPrintDouble Page Spread – £POATrim size 420 ×
276mm Bleed size 426 × 282mmFull Page – £1,500 (covers £1,760)Trim
size 210 × 276mm Bleed size 216 × 282mmHalf Page Vertical –
£850Trim size 88 × 252mmHalf Page Horizontal – £850Trim size 182 ×
123mmQuarter Page – £590Trim size 88 × 123mmRecruitment advertising
– £44 per col/cmFull page advertorial – £1,900Inserts – All copies
– £680 / Subs copies only – £520
digitalHeader banner (online, per month) – £1,500980px ×
103pxSkyscraper A (online, per month) – £850196px × 410px
Skyscraper B (online, per month) – £550196x × 308pxSkyscraper C
(online, per month) – £450196px × 205pxE-news banner large –
£750600px × 150pxE-news banner small – £550294px × 200pxAdditional
media in digital editions – from £75
Audio from £75Specs on request Video from £150Specs on
request
Image gallery from £45 per imageBanner (app, per month) –
£250Sizes and templates available on requestSplash page (app, per
month) – £325iPad 768px × 1024px / iPhone 320px × 480pxApp
sponsorship (banner + splash page, per month) – £500Bespoke solus
e-shot to the Rhinegold database – POA
For information on Steinway & Sons pianos or to arrange a
private appointment to visit our London showrooms, please call 0207
487 3391 or email [email protected]
WWW.STEINWAYHALL.CO.UK
IP_03_2014_ADS.indd 4 14/04/2014 12:36:25
PRInT dISPLAY
Mikhaïl PletnevAnne QueffélecGrigory SokolovDaniil
Trifonov...
Leif Ove AndsnesNicholas AngelichYulianna AvdeevaBoris
BerezovskyNelson FreireNikolaï Lugansky
w w w . f e s t i v a l - p i a n o . c o mB o o k i n g s : + 3
3 ( 0 ) 4 4 2 5 0 5 1 1 5
Pianismat its best
Preliminary Selections 20.08. – 29.08.2014
Finals 25.08. – 04.09.2015
Highly esteemed pianists perform in honour of the
60th Busoni Competition
FERRUCCIO BUSONI International Piano Competition
FoundationPiazza Domenicani 25 | 39100 Bolzano (I) | T (+39) 0471
976568 | [email protected]
wwww.cooncoorsobbusooni.itt
Internatiionall Pianno Festivaal
20.008. 300.08..20144
th Inteernatioonal Piiano Coompettition
220114 2015 Boolzano Bozen · Itaaly
Competition Jubilee
Jan Jiracek von ArnimFabio BidiniAlfred BrendelRoberto
CappelloArnaldo Cohen
Alexander KobrinLouis LortieAlexander MadzarBruno
MonsaingeonVladimir Selivochin
Alexander ShtarkmanNina TichmanDubravka TomsicLilya Zilberstein…
and many more!
PARTICIPAATING AARTISTS
IP_03_2014_ADS.indd 14 14/04/2014 11:30:30
APP BAnnER
March/April 2014 International Piano 15
When most PeoPle decIde to Pursue a career in music, it’s
because they know they are good at it. But for sean chen, it was
the opposite: when the 25-year-old californian graduated from high
school, he was offered places to study at harvard, the
massachusetts Institute of technology (mIt) and the Juilliard
school. he’d always excelled at maths and was considering a career
in computer programming, but he chose the musical path – because he
thought it would be more difficult.
‘I’m a very analytical person and maths comes very naturally to
me, but of course music is about interpretation as well as
analysis,’ he says. ‘I knew I wasn’t so good at that, so I saw it
as a challenge.
expressing yourself through music is very difficult and is not
something you can solve with a formula.’
chen was born in Florida and started playing the piano at the
age of four when his family moved to the los angeles area. early
competition successes included an nFaa artsweek award, a prize at
the california International Young artist competition and the los
angeles music center’s spotlight award. neither of his parents has
a musical background but his grandfather taught traditional chinese
instruments and his father played the guitar as a student. he and
his twin brothers, now 21, all played the piano and the violin
growing up, though the twins chose not to pursue music and
o n e t o W a t c h
sean chen turned down a career in computer programming to study
music – a gamble that is
beginning to pay off, finds Femke Colborne
Winning formula
SA
CD
MA
R0
548
AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD STORES, ALTERNATIVELY VISIT
MARIINSKYLABEL.COMReleased in association with LSO Live.
Distributed by harmonia mundi UK
PROKOFIEV
MA
RIINSK
Y O
RC
HESTRA
DENIS M
ATSU
EV
PIANO CONCERTO N
O 3
SYMPH
ONY NO 5VALERY GERG
IEV
PROKOFIEVPIANO CONCERTO NO 3 SYMPHONY NO 5VALERY GERGIEV, DENIS
MATSUEV
MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA
IP_03_2014_ADS.indd 10 11/04/2014 18:27:06
PRInT AdVERTORIAL
WEB BAnnERS E-nEWS BESPOKE ESHOT
contact us today on +44 20 7333 1733 or email
[email protected]
www.international-piano.com
schEduLE 2015-16Issue copy deadline Publishing date Issue
theme
May/June 2015 16/04/2015 24/04/2015 Frankfurt Product review
July/August 2015 15/06/2015 27/06/2015 Young Artists
September/October 2015 13/08/2015 25/08/2015 Education
november/december 2015 15/10/2015 25/10/2015 Competitions
January/February 2016 11/12/2015 28/12/2015 Summer Schools
March/April 2016 11/02/2016 23/12/2015 Festivals
ImPoRtANt INFoRmAtIoN Printdimensions are shown as width x
height in millimetres.
Artwork should be at least 300dpi and measure, at least, the
actual size to be printed.
All colour artwork must be supplied as CMYK PdFs.
All fonts should be embedded within the PdF.
Vital information should be positioned 15mm from all edges.
INsERts: magazine inserts should be sent to the printer as
specified on your insert booking sheet. The insert booking sheet
must be completed in full and emailed as per the booking sheet
instructions.
digital
Artwork should be 72dpi and measure the actual size.
All artwork must be supplied as RGB.
digital artwork formats acceptable: PdF, TIFF, JPG, EPS,
designed to the correct size in pixels.
All formats
Advertisers are fully responsible for supplying advertising
artwork as per the above specifications.
If you have booked Rhinegold to design your artwork, please
supply all content a week before the briefed copy deadline.
For all production queries, please call us on +44 20 7333 1721
or email [email protected]
AddItIoNAL oPPoRtuNItIEsFront cover mp3 downloadsWith our
increasing digital audience, we are always looking for ways to make
our magazines more interactive. We now offer advertisers the
opportunity to supply our readers with a free MP3 download. We host
the download on our website and mention the track on our front
cover, as well as sharing via our social media platforms.Cost:
POA
Free sheet music sectionEvery issue we offer one publisher the
opportunity to supply our readers with a sample of sheet music.
More interactive than a traditional display advert, the section
offers seven page of coverage within the magazine plus a front
cover mention.
What you get:» 4-5 pages of sheet music» 500 words of text for
the
‘About the Music’ page» Mention on front cover» Free advert»
Opportunity to provide an MP3
download of the pieceCost: £1,500
www.international-piano.com
PIANO CLASSICS
Conducted by Jun Märkl
Thursday 23 April, 7.30pm, Edinburgh Usher Hall Friday 24 April,
7.30pm, Glasgow City Halls
Saturday 25 April, 7.30pm, Aberdeen Music Hall
SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRAwww.sco.org.uk
Plays
CHOPIN PIANO CONCERTO No 1
INGRID FLITER
Chopin Piano Concertoswith Ingrid Fliter and the SCO
is out now on Linn Records.
IP0215.indd 40 16/02/2015 16:36:13
SHEET MUSIC
international
BEETHOVEN’S SONATA NO 15 OP 28 EARNED THE ‘Pastoral’ signature,
which was ascribed to it by the London Publisher Broderip &
Wilkinson, some three years a er its fi rst publication in 1802.
This four-movement work reveals Beethoven’s intimate and refl
ective nature: the thunderous fi nale of its predecessor, Sonata No
14 Op 27 (the ‘Moonlight’), is now forgotten. Sonata No 15 emerges
from a mist, appearing from afar and gradually coming into view.
Getting the gentle low D of the opening bars right is always a
challenge – and that is just one note!
The challenges don’t end there of course, although this Sonata,
despite the fl ourish of the coda, is technically modest by
Beethoven’s standards. The di culty is interpretive, especially
because this music is, in many ways, unlike Beethoven: it ebbs and
fl ows like Schubert, rather than moving forward with relentless
inevitability. Indeed, the beginning of the fi nale seems to be a
reimagining of the opening, with its pedal point D and lilting
rhythm. Try playing these two introductions l’istesso tempo
crotchet/quaver – it seems to capture the prevailing mood of the
whole quite well.
THE ONLY POINT WHERE THERE IS A DISTINCT sense of onward
progression is in this delightful second movement, cast ABA in the
tonic minor. The Andante ‘walking pace’ tempo needs to be fi nely
judged: I have o en heard this movement played too slowly. I try to
think of Beethoven walking purposefully through the fi elds around
Vienna, jotting down themes and ideas in his notebook, preoccupied
and defi nitely not to be disturbed! Equally, the staccato ought
not to be too short and should match the tempo: detached,
certainly, but never delicate.
Harmonically, the A section is not dissimilar from that old
chestnut La Folia, with additional ‘passing chords’ quickening the
harmonic impetus. Starting in bar 10, we have a favourite
Beethovenian device: an accumulation of repeating phrases and
diminished harmony before the ‘anti-climax’ of bars 16/17 brings us
back to a variation of the opening. The repeats can seem
unnecessary at fi rst, but in performance I fi nd they deliver a
very e¤ ective sense of momentum, so that when the contrasting
tonic major B section arrives at bar 25 it is not too startling.
This cheerful interlude suggests birdsong and requires delicacy.
The staccato, now in the right hand, should be necessarily lighter
and dolce, contrasting not just with the bolder accompanying
chords, but also with the legato theme and heavier ‘tread’ of the
previous section.
The recapitulation (bar 43) appears just that at fi rst, but
Beethoven gently increases the intensity with some lovely
decorative work in the right hand beginning at bar 51, then
subsequently at bar 73. Despite the ‘legato’ le hand (clearly our
walker is getting weary), the pace must maintain, allowing the fi
ligree work to do its job. I enjoy this twisting turning
passagework – it is both decorative and melodic. Little fragments
jump out at you like birds dancing around the tired man’s head
before the music rises to a forte at bar 86.
The coda (bar 87) is relatively static, but a sense of tempo
ought to be maintained – the pauses will do the rest. Finally, the
movement dri s o¤ to sleep with only the memories of a good walk
echoing in the distance.
Andrew Higgins
About the music
BeethovenSonata No 15 Op 28, Andante
From Alfred Publishing
IP0315_41_47_SheetMusic_CJ.indd 41 17/02/2015
09:11:53IP0315_41_47_SheetMusic_CJ.indd 42 17/02/2015 16:46:32
