Hi, today Nov.30th, 2008, I saw and heard both of your videos on Norma's Casta Diva. You are a very sensitive expressive player. My congratulations to you. You have what I seldom find on very good piano technicians: attenuated expression and subtleness (subtlety).
Thanks. I wouldn't claim to be a particularly good pianist, but I do consider that there are many pianists out there with outstanding technique who at the same time communicate very little in musical terms.
Thank you very much for posting this performance. I am not sure if the run up to the high notes (in bel sembiante etc.) was correct though... then again, i am used to Norma, the opera, not the piano arrangement.
If i ever bring my production to town will you accompany my singing? Casta Diva is one of my favourite arias and i have posted a video of me singing it, for your convenience.
And i admire the tactful way in which you handled the comment from 52dalibor - very gracious.
It wasn't my idea to have the piano outdoors, but it was rather a pretty location. I have memorised this piece since this performance, you are of course right in saying that it is better to do so. I;m not sure that I have a "career" as I primarily play piano for my own enjoyment, but I suppose it would be nice to think that playing occasionally in public equals a career. I have in fact looked at a few pieces by Tausig eg Das Geisterschiff; I think he is a very underrated composer.
sorry i thought you were doing something professional. you play well and i am even more respectful of your taste and imagination.. memory helps one to rehearse at a sub conscious level. i look forward to hearing you play Taussig and Thalberg in a sympathetic acoustic. it would be great if you could do the norma with good sound.best wishes from prague.
I 100% agree with the "rehearse at a subconscious level". I'm in a slightly unusual situation, as realistically I am an amateur pianist, but I have managed to give quite a few public concerts. If you're interested, I have another video (indoors, from memory!) on youtube of the Thalberg Casta diva which I personally think is better. Unfortunately the quality of the sound is ultimately limited by the capabilities of my camcorder.
Go to the henseltlibrary dot org site; it has a lot of rare music. At the bottom of the home page there is a link for scores O-Z, click it and scroll down to the section for Sigismund Thalberg. Click the download link for "L'art du chant applique au piano, op 70" - it is no. 19 in that collection.
eheh, yeah it's a pretty funny situation. I was actually quite impress how you can keep playing the tune so nicely while having such a disturbance, I would start to stress out and play badly ;) Well done then! you're very stoic.
Hehe. You are right, of course. But I suppose it was my fault that I got there, not having memorized all the pieces, and discovered there was no pageturner - so she kindly volunteered and therefore I won't fault her if she did something wrong. The wind certainly didn't help.. there was a mini-comedy later on in the recital, hahaha.
Wow! Bravo! This was a beautiful rendition of Casta Diva on the piano. I loved it very much.
MastersoftheOpera 1 year ago
Very nice. Do you have the opus number on this? I can't find it on IMSLP. Thanks.
juufa72 2 years ago
It's no.19 in the op 70 set ("The Art of singing applied to the piano").
alkanliszt 2 years ago
Two words :
BRAVO & THANKS =)
keyserbwa 2 years ago
I think your touch is beautiful...and I find nothing wrong with your technique from my view lol. Geez. Quite nice!!!
htshoward 3 years ago
Hi, today Nov.30th, 2008, I saw and heard both of your videos on Norma's Casta Diva. You are a very sensitive expressive player. My congratulations to you. You have what I seldom find on very good piano technicians: attenuated expression and subtleness (subtlety).
tonytony1945 3 years ago
Thanks. I wouldn't claim to be a particularly good pianist, but I do consider that there are many pianists out there with outstanding technique who at the same time communicate very little in musical terms.
alkanliszt 3 years ago
Thank you very much for posting this performance. I am not sure if the run up to the high notes (in bel sembiante etc.) was correct though... then again, i am used to Norma, the opera, not the piano arrangement.
If i ever bring my production to town will you accompany my singing? Casta Diva is one of my favourite arias and i have posted a video of me singing it, for your convenience.
And i admire the tactful way in which you handled the comment from 52dalibor - very gracious.
belcunto 3 years ago
I don't know where you are playing this but:
1. nature and art seldom mix.
2. you owe it to Thalberg and Liszt or any composer to memorize the music. you cant sight read for public performance at this stage of your career.
3.the left hand pattern needs to be like the surface of a Monet painting. Infinite modulation and variety, no two brush marks are the same.
I wish you very well for having the imagination to play this. Now try Taussig.
52dalibor 3 years ago
It wasn't my idea to have the piano outdoors, but it was rather a pretty location. I have memorised this piece since this performance, you are of course right in saying that it is better to do so. I;m not sure that I have a "career" as I primarily play piano for my own enjoyment, but I suppose it would be nice to think that playing occasionally in public equals a career. I have in fact looked at a few pieces by Tausig eg Das Geisterschiff; I think he is a very underrated composer.
alkanliszt 3 years ago
sorry i thought you were doing something professional. you play well and i am even more respectful of your taste and imagination.. memory helps one to rehearse at a sub conscious level. i look forward to hearing you play Taussig and Thalberg in a sympathetic acoustic. it would be great if you could do the norma with good sound.best wishes from prague.
52dalibor 3 years ago
I 100% agree with the "rehearse at a subconscious level". I'm in a slightly unusual situation, as realistically I am an amateur pianist, but I have managed to give quite a few public concerts. If you're interested, I have another video (indoors, from memory!) on youtube of the Thalberg Casta diva which I personally think is better. Unfortunately the quality of the sound is ultimately limited by the capabilities of my camcorder.
alkanliszt 3 years ago
Perfect!!!! Amazing!
Bravooooooooo!!!
DanBarthy 4 years ago
where could I get the sheet music? Do you have it on computer? Thanks!
stacattos 4 years ago
Go to the henseltlibrary dot org site; it has a lot of rare music. At the bottom of the home page there is a link for scores O-Z, click it and scroll down to the section for Sigismund Thalberg. Click the download link for "L'art du chant applique au piano, op 70" - it is no. 19 in that collection.
alkanliszt 4 years ago
Beautiful!
julia59 4 years ago
Amazing! So beautiful!Everithing is perfect, even the nose of the wind!
ClanKonung 4 years ago
beautifully played :)
agnellodei 4 years ago
Gosh...i wish i could play that
iangatsby21 4 years ago
Bravo ! Bravo!
hiramatsu2500 4 years ago
eheh, yeah it's a pretty funny situation. I was actually quite impress how you can keep playing the tune so nicely while having such a disturbance, I would start to stress out and play badly ;) Well done then! you're very stoic.
mynameisviince 5 years ago
How can you play with this lady messing with your scores all the time? :)
I would stress out! Better memorise the all tune ;)
mynameisviince 5 years ago
Hehe. You are right, of course. But I suppose it was my fault that I got there, not having memorized all the pieces, and discovered there was no pageturner - so she kindly volunteered and therefore I won't fault her if she did something wrong. The wind certainly didn't help.. there was a mini-comedy later on in the recital, hahaha.
alkanliszt 5 years ago
Beautiful - no other word for it. I love Thalberg, let's see more of his music
stjj1985s 5 years ago
I have a video on youtube of another of his compositions (Moses Fantasy).
alkanliszt 5 years ago