12 pianists choose the piece of a lifetime . Some usual suspects , but some surprises, eg.Barber Sonata :
https://www.wqxr.org/story/12-pianists- ... f-lifetime
I believe not all have recorded their piece.
12 pianists' lifetime piece
Re: 12 pianists' lifetime piece
Trifonov has the sensible answer to the perennial desert island question: "that would be a nightmare after a while." And in a way, choosing the Well Tempered Clavier is cheating - not one piece but 48 or maybe 96. I've never heard of most of the pianists they asked so I don't really care much about their answers.
I have heard of Marc-André Hamelin, however, and his answer was no surprise. Years ago he played a benefit concert for WHRB, the Harvard undergraduate-run radio station, and after a program of familiar Hamelin specialties, he played for an encore the first movement of the same sonata he speaks of here, Schubert's op. posth. B flat. The audience was evidently taken by surprise, as the applause was perfunctory though Hamelin had played it very well. Afterwards we asked him if he was thinking of playing the whole sonata and he said yes, he was going to depending on the audience's response to the first movement. That may not be quite on the scale of the young Rudolf Serkin playing the complete Goldberg Variations as an encore in a Berlin concert, but it's close enough.
I have heard of Marc-André Hamelin, however, and his answer was no surprise. Years ago he played a benefit concert for WHRB, the Harvard undergraduate-run radio station, and after a program of familiar Hamelin specialties, he played for an encore the first movement of the same sonata he speaks of here, Schubert's op. posth. B flat. The audience was evidently taken by surprise, as the applause was perfunctory though Hamelin had played it very well. Afterwards we asked him if he was thinking of playing the whole sonata and he said yes, he was going to depending on the audience's response to the first movement. That may not be quite on the scale of the young Rudolf Serkin playing the complete Goldberg Variations as an encore in a Berlin concert, but it's close enough.
John Francis
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Lance
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Re: 12 pianists' lifetime piece
Very interesting to see what each pianist selects as their "one piece." I'm with Hamelin with regard to the B-flat, Op. Posth. Sonata. If I could play it in the manner that Clara Haskil did, I would be as happy as that proverbial "pig!" Insofar as the Barber Piano Sonata is concerned, that would not even be considered. The second piece of choice might be Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32 (or all them if one could make that kind of choice).
Lance G. Hill
Editor-in-Chief
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When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Editor-in-Chief
______________________________________________________
When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Re: 12 pianists' lifetime piece
Lance, what a dreadful cheat you are! 
If you can take the 32, "one" of my desert island discs is Mozart 225, the 200-CD collection of his entire oeuvre. It is, after all, in one box.
If you can take the 32, "one" of my desert island discs is Mozart 225, the 200-CD collection of his entire oeuvre. It is, after all, in one box.Re: 12 pianists' lifetime piece
Discs "two" and "three" are the two 100-CD volumes that together make up the 200-CD Philips Great Pianists series. Four might be the complete Verdi operas. I'm up to nearly 500 CDs already.
Re: 12 pianists' lifetime piece
Keep trying, barney! No room for bathing trunks or flip-flops in your luggage!
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