Allegro di Wolffgango

And yet more on the "new" Mozart.

A recently discovered piano concerto, believed to be one of the earliest works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, will be performed for the first time today in Salzburg, the city where the composer was born.

Experts believe that the composition, entitled Allegro di Wolffgango Mozart, was written by the child prodigy at some time between the ages of 6 and 10.

Read the rest here.

And just to keep us from getting to carried away, we're reminded by Richard Morrison that

Mozart showed his true genius not by slipping effortlessly into this easy, graceful style at the age of 8 or 9. His greatest achievement came 10 or 15 years later when he was able to transform this “simplistic” language to create operatic and symphonic masterpieces that touch the most sublime heights of musical expression.

Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition

Congratulations to Samantha Ward first prize winner of the competition.

You can read about the competition and performances here on the always excellent "Music and Vision" website.

The Unimportance of Being Oscar

A bevy of choice quotes to mark the birthday of pianist Oscar Levant.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, I am schizophrenic, and so am I."

"I used to call Audrey Hepburn a walking X-ray."

"Everyone in Hollywood is gay, except Gabby Hayes — and that's because he is a transvestite."

"Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character."

"When asked what he does for exercise, Levant replied, "I stumble, then fall into a coma."

"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left."

"I'm a concert pianist, that's a pretentious way of saying I'm unemployed at the moment."

"Leonard Bernstein is revealing musical secrets that have been common knowledge for centuries."

You'll find these and more on the Wikipedia page for Levant. It's found here.

And if you want more Oscar there's always his own writings.

New Piano Work by Mozart

Something new to close out the "Mozart Year" celebrations.

Experts believe the composition to be one of Mozart's early works, written when he was aged between 6 and 10. The music had been compiled by two piano instructors working during Mozart's lifetime at the Salzburg court music school.

Read the rest here.

More here.

Post-Holiday Holla Back

I had a great holiday break!

Not quite back to full-speed blogging yet. Hey.. There's still New Years eve ahead of us

Oldest Song in the World

How old is it you ask? About 3,400 years. Find it and more about it here.

Garrick Ohlsson: Interview

Ohlsson's recording of the Beethoven sonata cycle is shaping up to be one for the ages. In a recent interview with writer/pianist Joseph Smith, Ohlsson provides an glimpse into this approach to the project: 

In recording, though, I really put the screws to myself. I stretch my own limits, because I take all the experiences I've had with the individual work, with Beethoven and with performing altogether, and I try to distill them. It isn't just a matter of effort, though, but also of absolute time — a live performance takes exactly as long as the piece, whereas a recording of a single sonata might take eight hours of takes, listening, making judgments, and balancing possible choices.

and I think he gets it right with this observation:

"If a man from Mars were dropped on the earth and the only Beethoven left was the piano sonatas, he could actually form a pretty complete idea of who Beethoven was. They present a full, accurate portrait."

Read the rest of this fascinating interview here.

 

 Currently listening to: Schubert,  Impromptu D.935 - 3 in B flat 

Gershwin Revisited

Check out the excellent review of Howard Pollack's new biography of George Gershwin. A work that clears away the debris and reveals Gershwin's work in a different light.

"It's helpful to be reminded that the clarinet introducing "Rhapsody in Blue" echoes the flute that begins Debussy's "Afternoon of a Faun," that Rachmaninoff attended many Gershwin performances, and that Gershwin not only witnessed the American premiere of Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" but played tennis with the composer, painted his portrait , and subsidized recordings of his string quartets. Under Schillinger's tutelage, Gershwin even composed 12-tone rows."

Currently listening to: Milton Babbitt - Reflections for piano and synthesized tape

Link of the Day

"There ought to be but one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works and from which he could carry away whatever he needed. " - Beethoven

the Internet? A website setting out to make good on Beethoven's wish is today's "Link of the Day":

MuseOpen.Com

Providing a forum for musicians (soloists and ensembles) to post their performances of works in the public domain. There is a eclectic mix of things and a forum to chat with others.

Give 'em a visit.

tone deaf ?

Wonder no more.

Now there's a clever little online test you can take to find out. There is also a test for pitch perception and one to find out if you are rhythmdeaf.