Amateurs 2007: Ken Iisaka plays Alkan

Ken Iisaka plays Alkan, Etude in G-sharp minor, Op. 39, No. 8 during the finals of the fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs on June 3, 2007.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Cliburn
• Amateur
• Piano
• Competition
• Ken
• Iisaka
• classical
• piano

[VanCliburnFoundation]

Hi Juiiobrandao!

It is called the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs.

You can find more info at our website, Cliburn"dot"org

[VanCliburnFoundation]

Anyone can audition! Look for an application available online closer to the competition date. The next one is in four years -- 2011.

You'll send in your application with a statement about why you want to be in it, a list of repertoire, and a CD of your playing.

Good luck!

[VanCliburnFoundation]

hi there. ken's entire uncut performance is posted on our Cliburn website. Go to Amateur section, then Watch Videos. All the Final Round videos are there, in entirety (YouTube has a ten minute time limit...)

Cheers,

Van Cliburn Foundation

[nearenough3]

Ken is an amateur and plays Alkan. LOL!

[anonymousQ45]

alkan is not favored by more professionals because not many can play his compositions

[OrangeSodaKing]

@lovesGenet Oh, I'm sorry if it sounded like I was saying he was NOT a romantic, because he most definitely was.

[lovesGenet]

Mr.Lisaka thankyou for giving me an understanding of Alkan as a neo-classicist. I would say he was a neo-classicist working in the romantic 's new language. Chopin is much more of a classicist to me . alkan can be a classicist in form but a romantic there too.Look how extended are his forms.The more I thyink about it the more I disagree with you. not in method or content. His large forms ,his titles(madwoman on the beach gminor piece) hint at the themes of Bryon,Chateaubriand ,morbidity etc.

[OrangeSodaKing]

@lovesGenet Alkan was a neoclassicist, and sometimes I feel like almost to too literal of a level. He used the technical extensions of Liszt (although some he discovered himself), but seemed to have a harmonic language similar to the classical composers. It's different, that's for sure, but I enjoy some of his music with a balance of all the amazing romantic works of Brahms, Chopin, and all the eras of music in general. Having played (and performed) Alkan, I found surprisingly good reward in it.

[dasklavierleben]

@lovesGenet Well you see, Franck's music contains a lot of Franckism... and some say he was lazy which is not a commendable quality in a hard working man.

[lovesGenet]

Any well trained pianist can play ALKAN .He is not bothered with because his music is not that fascinating compared with others like him not well known.Busoni prolly chose him because he was jealous of Scryabin or felt it was unhealthy.I know not!compos are TOO LONG and noone wants to make deserved cuts in his music. some of the etudes are ridiculously over long.His sense of scale was immature.One wonders really what he was getting at.FRANCK had better sense .

[OrangeSodaKing]

I uploaded the audio to all 30 minutes of it!

[OrangeSodaKing]

I found the entire uncut performance of this piece!

[MajesticFerret]

Very well played, but I agree this piece could have used some editing.

[OrangeSodaKing]

I don't believe that that is true. Alkan is not favored by professionals, but not because his music is unplayable. They prefer more standard repertoire (for the most part).

However, I hope to play some of Alkan's music whenever I grow up.

[nearenough3]

I actually enjoyed many parts of this etude. It need(ed) editing. It is too long, somewhat bombastic and lacked focus. Some melodies are somewhat modal -- foursquare, but others are lurical and beautiful. Chopin (aside from juvenilia) only produced masterpieces. Only the best stuff was released. Alkan simply lacked discrimination.