She Is Someone, For Me, I Cannot Imagine As 62 Years Old. But I Am Glad. And Does She Deserve A Place

She is someone, for me, I cannot imagine as 62 years old. But I am glad. And does she deserve a place on Players+Pianos? Well, it's a stretch, I'll admit, but Wikipedia gives me leave, per this, so I'm doing it:

"The box set Enchanted, was released to acclaim on April 28, 1998 with liner notes from Nicks, as well as exclusive rare photographs, and pages from her journals. Featuring successful solo hits, Nicks also included b-sides, rare soundtrack contributions, duets, covers, demos, live recordings, and a solo piano rendition of "Rhiannon" recorded for the set. The box set was supported with a successful US tour with a more varied set list incorporating rare material such as "Rose Garden", "Garbo" and "Sleeping Angel". The set sold 56,000 units in its first week and was certified Gold."

thingsiatethatilove:

Happy 62nd birthday, Stevie Nicks!  I tried to think of a joke but they were all dumb.  “Edge of 62”?  Nah.

Today is an auspicious day.  Tickets are still available for the First Kiss event.

Some Relevance

I believe this quotation has some relevance to my previous post:

His [Pogorelich's] recordings from the 1980s are too extreme to be classics, but they hold up if you're in a mood to hear Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit bristle with extraordinarily menacing energy.

"Too extreme to be classics." I suppose that says it all.

Listen: something either works or it doesn't. Even if it doesn't, it may have value beyond its mere candidacy for classicism. If it works in your mind, why shouldn't it enter the hall of fame?

Source: Philadelphia Enquirer 4/29/2010

Fascinating texturals. I'm not sure this is its ultimate realization, but fine introduction to a composer unknown to me. I assume the performer is Thomas Bjørnseth, although I could be wrong about this. My applause in any event for decoding a difficult text. (I love the video methodology of following the score, brilliant.)

atonalitydotnet:

SCIARRINO Piano Sonata no.5

Complete playlist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDVL6FopD_E&feature=PlayList&p=EE0742EFCB8874F4&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1

84 (and one-half)

Yes, you're right, technically speaking it's not 85, it's 84. Cameron Carpenter is an organist. I'll have more to say about that once we get to talking about op. 10 no. 12, the "Revolutionary".

Sweaty backrooms, cigar-chomping promoters, Bangkok box-office bonanzas, all built around scenarios like this:

But Nancy Pellegrini, the classical and performance editor of Time Out in Beijing and Shanghai says the Lang Lang effect is not something to be celebrated. 'In developing countries, music is seen as a way out of poverty,’ she tells me. 'Since the success of Lang Lang, people think that if you’re really good at piano you can become an international superstar with more money than you know what to do with. So a lot of kids have been pushed into piano.

Vladimir Feltsman plays with an admirable sense of pianistic touch and clarity. He has what was once described to me (with regard to another player, I think Weissenberg) as "steely fingers". And of course if you prefer your counterpoint detaché, he's right in the zone. Why then is his Bach so boring?

I'm not sure I have the answer. I don't know if my view is shared in any way that could provide insight. All I know is: he is throwing in all kinds of extra-Johann variations and improvisations, which is lovely and fine and wonderfully impure, and he's clipping away with his steely technique, and it's boring beyond belief. I don't mean to say it's unlistenable, it's not banal exactly, but the pieces, the positives, don't add up. It's the damnedest thing. Terrific soporific.

(Note: the Courante is provided for example only. I find the above true for all his Bach, and truth be told almost everything else too. But I encourage you to try him for yourself, I hope my experience isn't true for you.)