Category Archives: Gusztáv’s blog

Schubert matters

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There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about repeats in first movements of Schubert sonatas and, in particular, D959 A Major and D960 B flat. Many eminent pianists have published their views on the matter, all equally passionately: for Schiff, to omit a repeat is the equivalent to “the amputation […]


Opera producers

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I grew up listening to opera, mainly the Italian repertoire, but also ‘Carmen’ and ‘Faust’. I love the medium and the many great works composed in the genre. Much later, as a young professional pianist, I was fortunate to work as a repetiteur for the Australian Opera company at Sydney Opera House, an invaluable learning […]


Masterclass: real or fake?

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The use of the word ‘masterclass’ (and possibly the concept) in relation to music seems to have arisen at the time of Franz Liszt, arguably the greatest of all pianists, who engaged in teaching, as well as performing and composing, for most of his life. What Liszt meant by the word was a class for […]


Modern recording and quirks of interpretation

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Much has been written already concerning the revolution brought about in the twentieth-century by the advent of sound recordings, from the time of Edison’s invention of the cylinder and then that of the phonograph, the first results of which are of Caruso singing some arias into a horn in his hotel room for an exorbitant […]


Play what is written

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An easily spoken injunction to a piano student, and often well justified, given that most piano students, at least sometimes, don’t take note of dynamics, tempo markings and so on. “Why doesn’t he play what’s written?” – an outburst after a well-known virtuoso on the radio has just given an odd rendition of a well-known piece. […]


J S Bach’s ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’ on the piano (including the infamous pedal)

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The disagreement between musicians about what instrument to use for most of Bach’s keyboard works continues. Leaving aside the works specifically written for organ (and here organists will disagree about what kind of organ is the most suitable), there is a vast body of keyboard music which can be played on a range of instruments, […]