I got a phone call to run through Brotha 4 with him as he’s playing it this weekend.
Really nice guy! Really humble, easy to talk to.
He was telling me about Kocsis and his insane talents - at 3am, Kocsis started playing though Bluebeards Castle at the piano completely from memory, singing all the vocal lines.
Then, there was some Sancan sitting on the piano. He was bowled over - Sancan was his teacher and he bought his house. Also, Debussy’s great niece lives down the road from him.
I’m seeing the concert this weekend. It’s a different way of playing Beethoven - very French, takes some getting used to I think.
I like his playing.
Not sure I’ve heard him in Beethoven before.
For some reason he doesn’t seem to play here much, or at least not while I’ve been around.
That is surprising, he was very congenial.
It was a rapid learn, but he did compliment me so dunno, maybe he can be.
My friend saw the solo recital (I had my 4th cold for the year so couldn’t go), he wasn’t so much taken with his classical repertoire as his French. He has a very direct sound, perhaps not so cultivated for the classics.
I heard him in Amsterdam a few years ago. Very nice recital, sound, style. I feel you go to hear him for those things, to enjoy the music. It’s not going to be a transcendental experience.
Joseph Haydn Sonate in c, Hob. XVI/20
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonate nr 21 in C ‘Waldstein’
Claude Debussy Études, boek I
Bela Bartók Sonate, Sz. 80
He played Reflets as an encore - absolutely stunning! Never heard Debussy like it - I need to listen to my Mickey disc again, I think along the same lines from what I remember.
The slow mov of the Beethoven was interesting - a true battle, refusing to budge and almost condeming the orchestra at the end.
It’s not Beethoven I’m used to - he has fingers of steel & it’s not prettified.
Has anyone heard his Prokofiev concerti? I can imagine that being quite good.
Haha well it’s a long way to travel for one concert is all.
That said, I do remember da doc coming all the way just to play in Radz.
Cool, I’ll have to check their site for the broadcast.
Zuckerman does Adelaide exclusive shit coz his mother in law lives here.
The international piano series manages to drag a 3 names a year out. The dude that runs it is in real estate so can afford it I’m guessing. Bavouzet did a solo recital last Tuesday and Gavryluk is a few months.
It’s good that you have that.
Only Hough came to Canberra, so I had to drive 4 hours to Sydney for every concert.
Bolet and Cherkassky came in the 80s I think but that’s about it.
Speaking of Zuckerman, when I went to see him I was 2 hours early by the time I got to outer Sydney.
Usually, it takes 30mins to 1 hour to make it into the city depending on traffic but this time some truck ripped up the top of the M5 tunnel, so I went from being two hours early to missing the first half.
I’ve never caught the worst of Sydney traffic luckily, but I did cop it in London. On a 48 hour tube stirke, decided to catch the bus. I can walk in 40 minutes what took me an hour and a half on the bus! 45 minutes just to get around Padington station, was an absolute nightmare!
I think a lot has to do with the time difference. Even Japan and the US have had difficulties coaxing artists there lately. Still, Hough, Wang, Mustonen, Leschenko, Grosvenor, Kissin… have visited in recent years, no? That’s already better than we did 20 years ago.
Hough is an Aussie now so that’s easy and when most come it is mainly to Sydney and or Melbourne.
I guess I’m thinking along the lines of Argerich (who just cancelled), Perahia (who came for the first time few years back to sydney and melbourne), Lupu, Zimerman, Uchida, Schiff (Although I think he’s coming next year)…
Basically, I want what London gets haha
Don’t get me started!
Only way I can get Italian citizenship is if my parents relinquish their Aussie one and move to Italy for a year which ain’t gonna happen.
I checked every way possible to try and stay in UK 5 years ago and aside from the law changing every week and lawyers telling me wrong info, there was basically no way.
That sucks man.
Don’t understand how that Nationals senator got it allegedly without even being aware.
If you were in France you could’ve gotten a talent visa, I guess the poms don’t have one of those.
Still gets my goat that everytime they needed someone to fight a war for them we were there and yet we need a visa to live there while the people they fought against don’t.
Actually, there was the exceptional artist visa of which they release about 50 a year I vaguely recall. The criteria being what grammy awards and international press have you received? Doesn’t really apply when you’re busting your arse helping students with their exams.
So I thought what’s the bloody point? Until I heard that a guy I went to Uni who I never thought was anything crash hot just picked one up.
Yeh, Commonwealth don’t mean jack. You have to know people…Or have $100,000 to invest in a company.
