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| NY Piano Party report; updated with video | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 13 2018, 06:06 AM (238 Views) | |
| jon-nyc | Mar 13 2018, 06:06 AM Post #1 |
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Cheers
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Ok, we had a great time. First NY-area piano party (with this crowd anyway) since i last threw one in 2009. The cast: Ax Bernard Bootsy - former PW guy, early WTF poster (not in years) but a fixture of the NY piano parties. Grotriman. Pretty much the same description as above. Also brought his clarinet. RealPlayer and Mrs. RealPlayer Son of Bootsy (high school aged, great payer. I met him when he was 3! My Neighbor. He's never been a forumite. Classically trained. I mentioned here once before his license plates for his cars are Op 118 and Op 119. Me and Rachel. Cameos by the boy. The music Ok, I'm going to miss a lot here but I'll post what I can remember. Would love for other attendees to chime in if they can. One cool thing about this party is that there was a lot of duet play. Ax - he played some Khachaturian and some Rzewsky as solo pieces. Also he played a duet with Bootsy that one of his kids wrote. He also rescored for piano and clarinet another piece one of his kids wrote, and played it with Grotriman. I recored snippets of the Khachaturian and Rzewsky. Bernard - he played two pieces by Debussy, Voiles, and Claire de Lune. Also two pieces by Ravel, Oiseaux Tristes and Vallee des Cloches. I think I have snippets of one of the Ravel pieces and one of the Debussy. Bootsy - he played some Brahms, but mainly participated in duets thanks to his awesome sight reading skills. He played piano duets with me, Ax, and Grotriman, and played the Brahms F minor Clarinet sonata with Grotriman. Grotriman - he played some Mompou, Cage, and Ravel (Forlane, and Minuet sur le nom d'Haydn). Plus the duet work I've mentioned. RealPlayer - he introduced us to a composer named Hauer who was a contemporary of Schoenberg. By the way, I'm really glad he made the effort to come, the day before he had a concert that lasted nearly 5 hours. That's a single piece, a trio with him at the piano. Son of Bootsy - he played a Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableaux, Chopin's Barcarolle, and one of the Op 19 Schoenberg pieces. (no 1, I think). By the way, the kid likes to play pieces in the wrong key just to troll his Dad. Seriously. It's amazing and funny. Oh, I played a Rachmaninoff Prelude (32/12) and the Brahms Chaconne for the left hand. Also a four-hand version of the Gluck Melodie with Bootsy. Some still photos Here's Ax at the piano. ![]() Bernard: ![]() Bootsy playing some Brahms: ![]() RealPlayer: ![]() Another of Bernard, with Bootsy's son looking on. He's paying Debussy, IIRC. ![]() Here's Grotriman playing Mompou. In the background are Ax, Rachel, and my neighbor ![]() Grotriman and Bootsy getting ready for a duet (Brahms Op 120): ![]() Here's an action shot of Ax turning the page for the Brahms. ![]() Some duets - Bootsy and Ax, Grotriman looking on: ![]() Now it's Grotriman and Bootsy, another action shot with Ax. ![]() Bootsy's son. ![]() Some video snippets coming later today. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| George K | Mar 13 2018, 06:21 AM Post #2 |
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Finally
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Wonderful pics, Jon! |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Klaus | Mar 13 2018, 06:48 AM Post #3 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Very nice indeed! I wish I had been there. Please post videos, too, if you can.
A reference to Brahms? Schumann? Mendelssohn? ![]() So you wanted to talk Ax into playing the Bach/Brahms Chaconne? |
| Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman | |
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| Mark | Mar 13 2018, 06:54 AM Post #4 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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___.___ (_]===* o 0 When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells | |
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| Klaus | Mar 13 2018, 07:04 AM Post #5 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I assume your piano looks like this now? ![]() If so, please leave the screws etc. in. They can only be an improvement. |
| Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman | |
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| jon-nyc | Mar 13 2018, 07:11 AM Post #6 |
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Cheers
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Some caveats on the video snippets. I am holding the camera in my hands, so it'll shake now and then. Also they are all just snippets. No complete pieces here. But they are worth watching all the same. If you only watch one, make it the Brahms Clarinet Sonata (second from last). Ax plays Khachaturian: Ax plays Rzewski: Bernard plays Debussy: (short) Bernard plays Ravel: (short) I love the little gesture at the end of the birds flying away. Bootsy plays Brahms: Grotriman plays Ravel: (cameo by Rachel and the boy) Grotriman and Bootsy playing the Brahms F minor Clarinet Sonata: Son of Bootsy plays the Barcarolle: |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| jon-nyc | Mar 13 2018, 07:13 AM Post #7 |
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Cheers
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@Klaus - Brahms. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| jon-nyc | Mar 13 2018, 07:17 AM Post #8 |
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Cheers
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By the way, the piano was not horrible. Remember it had gone 7 days with no DC and at 40F or so. By the last day with no power I could hear that it had drifted out of tune, even though it had been tuned not one month prior. But 48 hours of DC and heat seemed to have brought it back to life. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| Klaus | Mar 13 2018, 07:25 AM Post #9 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I love the Oiseaux tristes snippet. Nice twist of the ending ![]() I didn't know the Brahms Clarinet sonata. Not in a hundred years would I have guessed that this piece is from Brahms. Interesting! |
| Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman | |
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| taiwan_girl | Mar 13 2018, 12:45 PM Post #10 |
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Fulla-Carp
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That is awesome. There were some really talented people there!! Great pictures and video. |
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| brenda | Mar 13 2018, 12:51 PM Post #11 |
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..............
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Thanks, Jon! Appreciate the pics and post. |
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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| Tav D | Mar 13 2018, 08:10 PM Post #12 |
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Junior Carp
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Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed the performances |
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| Rainman | Mar 13 2018, 08:31 PM Post #13 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Very cool, Jon! Thanks for sharing. The Brahms clarinet thingy is actually very well-known. It is an intermediate "staple" for a whole host of solo instrumentalists. A very beautiful work IMO, although I would encourage a more lively tempo. Your piano was out of tune, even listening on my tiny laptop. No excuses. Please buy a new piano. Thanx
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| Tav D | Mar 14 2018, 09:52 AM Post #14 |
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Junior Carp
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Ax, what is the Khachaturian piece? |
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| Tav D | Mar 14 2018, 09:54 AM Post #15 |
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Junior Carp
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Maybe Jon’s Bosie hasn’t been properly seasoned for destination. After all Viennese climate is different from NYC!
Edited by Tav D, Mar 14 2018, 10:02 AM.
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| Axtremus | Mar 14 2018, 01:59 PM Post #16 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Toccata in E-flat minor (excerpt). |
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| jon-nyc | Mar 14 2018, 02:30 PM Post #17 |
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Cheers
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The word you’re looking for is ‘snippet’. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| CTPianotech | Mar 14 2018, 03:14 PM Post #18 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Looks like a great time... Thanks for the vids! |
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