WGBH - Piano RSS

Pianist Jonathan Biss

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:14 AM +0000

The American pianist previews "Schumann: Under the Influence," with music by Robert Schumann and Leos Janacek, presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston on Friday night.

Friday at 4pm on Classical New England

Lang Lang at Symphony Hall

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:34 PM +0000

Pianist Lang Lang performs Rachmaninoff in his BSO subscription debut, and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducts Hindemith and Bartók.

On-demand at Classical New England

Schubert, Live with Paul Lewis

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:51 PM +0000

The British pianist performs Schubert's heartbreakingly powerful Sonata in A, D. 959, live in our studio.

Tonight at 7pm on Classical New England

Lugansky Plays Rach 3

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 09:25 AM +0000

Nikolai Lugansky is the soloist in Rachmaninoff's towering Piano Concerto No. 3, and Charles Dutoit conducts rarely heard works by Debussy and Frank Martin.

On-demand at Classical New England

Pianist Daniil Trifonov at CNE

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:23 PM +0000

The Gold Medal winner of the Tchaikovsky International Competition visits our Fraser Performance Studio.

On-demand at Classical New England

The Cliburn: 50 Years of Gold

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:38 AM +0000

Van Cliburn and Haochen Zhang, co-winner of the Gold Medal at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009

Go behind the scenes at one of the most important - and intense - piano competitions in the music world.

Watch The Cliburn: 50 Years of Gold, Friday, Sept. 28, at 9pm on WGBH 2

Every four years, a group of the finest young pianists takes the stage at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. In the midst of the drama, the beauty, the nerves and the excitement, they know one thing is true — what happens there can change their lives. They strive to feel the joy of victory and achieve their utmost goal: to become a performer on the world stage.

A young Van Cliburn performing

Seen through the eyes and memories of 15 gold medalists, The Cliburn: 50 Years of Gold follows the half-century-long history of one of the world's most prestigious music competitions, set against the backdrop of beautiful music. Walking onto the stage at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is a critical moment in the life of a young pianist. Gut-wrenching drama, strung-out nerves and the joy of victory are elements that make up this extraordinary film retrospective.

Producer and Director Peter Rosen tracked down the Cliburn Gold Medalists wherever they were performing around the world to weave their stories into the legend of Van Cliburn, the competition's namesake, who recalls his victory in 1958 in Moscow at the Tchaikovsky Competition at the height of the Cold War: “I had only a few months to prepare for the Tchaikovsky competition. But, in a way, my whole life had been leading up to it.”

Paul Lewis's Tanglewood Debut

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:56 AM +0000

The British pianist is the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, and Christoph von Dohnányi conducts music by Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

Today at 2pm on Classical New England

Bronfman, Brahms, and Tanglewood

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:10 PM +0000

Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Christoph von Dohnányi conducts Schumann's Symphony No. 4, live from the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood.

Tonight at 8pm on Classical New England

Thibaudet, Live from Tanglewood

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:51 PM +0000

Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 5 by Saint-Saëns, and Lorin Maazel conducts a world premiere by Michael Gandolfi and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

Today at 2pm on Classical New England

Dutoit Conducts Tchaikovsky at Tanglewood

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:45 PM +0000

Charles Dutoit leads Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, and Emanuel Ax is the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3.

Today at 1pm on Classical New England

Pianist Nelson Freire at Tanglewood

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:24 PM +0000

The Brazilian pianist performs a Mozart concerto with the BSO, and Marcelo Lehninger conducts Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Tonight at 7pm on Classical New England

The Lavrova-Primakov Duo

Thu, 10 May 2012 20:01 PM +0000

Two pianists with roots in the Russian tradition come together as a duo in our Fraser Performance Studio with music by Rachmaninoff, Arensky, and Scriabin.

On-demand at Classical New England

The World of Schubert

Fri, 04 May 2012 18:52 PM +0000

Mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, pianist Graham Johnson, and friends explore the incredlble songs of Franz Schubert.

On-demand at Classical New England

Mozart and the Levins

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:16 PM +0000

Mozart's music is at once the simplest and most difficult music to perform, requiring a combination of supreme technical control and an ease and freedom of delivery.

Join us for Boston Baroque and conductor Martin Pearlman in an All-Mozart program, with soloists Robert Levin and Ya-fei Chuang.

To hear the concert, click on "Listen" above.

Hear Robert Levin and Ya-fei Chuang talk about the concert

>> Download the program notes

See the entire 2012-2013 Boston Baroque season

The challenge of Mozart's music involves the same qualities that make it such a joy to hear. It lies in the clarity, simplicity, and proportion Mozart envisioned and wrote into the music. There is an undeniable virtuosity, to be sure, but rather than being an end unto itself, that virtuosity is at the service of the overall picture of grace and beauty.

Fortepiano made by Paul McNulty, following an 1804 original by the Viennese maker Anton Walter (by Opus33 [CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons)

The challenges - and rewards - are exponentially heightened when Mozart's musical thoughts are channelled through a keyboard instrument of his time. Today's grand pianos, built for projecting massive Romantic creations into large concert halls, constitute a wonder of human invention.

But, as you can see in the videos with Robert Levin below, they are something of a leap away from the sound world of Mozart. On a fortepiano of Mozart's time, that control and virtuosity must be delivered with an even finer sense of gradation, subtlety, and color. Likewise, the listening experience brings a new sense of discovery to Mozart's creation.

For this performance of Mozart's Concerto in for Two Pianos, Boston Baroque, now in its 39th year, invited two performers known around the world, but based here in Boston. Robert Levin is one of the world's foremost authorities on Mozart through his musicological work at Harvard University, and his wife, Ya-fei Chuang, travels the world as a soloist in both recitals and orchestral collaborations.

On the program:

Symphony No. 29 in A, K. 201

Concerto in E-flat for Two Pianos, K. 365
Robert Levin and Ya-fei Chuang, fortepianos

Arrangements of fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, K. 405

Symphony No. 36 in C Major (“Linz”), K. 425

Videos with Robert Levin, describing Mozart's music and the fortepiano:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

A Burst of Colors in the Easter Oratorio

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:49 AM +0000

Matthew Halls leads the Retrospect Ensemble in Bach's vibrant, riveting Easter Oratorio (translation).

On-demand at Classical New England

Pianist Kirill Gerstein

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:55 AM +0000

Russian-born Kirill Gerstein has drawn on childhood roots in Boston to build an already dazzling career highlighted by major awards and an omnivorous approach to music.

To hear the program, click on "Listen" above.

Gerstein's masterful technique, musical curiosity and probing interpretations have led to explorations of classical music and jazz, advanced degrees by the age of 20, a professorship in piano by the age of 27, and a full performance schedule at the world’s major music centers and festivals.

In January 2010 he was named the recipient of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award. Only the sixth pianist to have been so honored, the Gilmore Award is made to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma and who desires and can sustain a career as a major international concert artist. He was also honored by being awarded a 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant in April 2010.

Gerstein visits Classical New England's Fraser Performance Studio and host Cathy Fuller. On the program are songs by George Gershwin as transcribed by Earl Wild and music by Gyorgy Ligeti, all in a preview of a concert he gave on at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston.

Here is video of a concert performance by Gerstein, in which he joins the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and conductor Gustavo Dudamel for part four of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety:"

(Photo of Kirill Gerstein courtesy of the artist)

Chameleons Play Korngold

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:57 AM +0000

Boston's Chameleon Arts Ensemble performs Korngold's extraordinary Suite, Op. 23, for two violins, cello, and piano left-hand.

Pianist Gleb Ivanov

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:33 PM +0000

The Russian pianist and protégé of Mstislav Rostropovich performs Haydn and Liszt on the Steinway in our Fraser Studio.

Pianists Ya-Fei Chuang and Robert Levin

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:27 PM +0000

The wife and husband team talk with host Cathy Fuller about Mozart's music and their performances with Boston Baroque.
On-demand at Classical New England

Pianist Christoph Eschenbach and Oboist Keisuke Wakao

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:59 AM +0000

One of today's great conductors performs Schumann and Schubert with the BSO oboist in our Fraser Performance Studio.
On-demand at Classical New England