International Piano offers a rich mix of inspiration and guidance to pianists and piano fans around the world, from dedicated amateurs and students to professional pianists, teachers and aficionados. Celebrating the piano in all its forms, including the fortepiano and digital keyboards, each edition of our magazine is packed with interviews, features, news and reviews showcasing the top artists of today and yesteryear.
Recording then and now
International Piano
LETTERS • Write to International Piano, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, email international.piano@markallengroup.com or tweet @IP_mag. Star letters will receive a free CD from Hyperion’s best-selling Romantic Piano Concertos series
A tribute to Nelson Freire
Cliburn Competition receives record number of entries
German pianist wins Beethoven Competition
Frederic Rzewski remembered
NEWS IN BRIEF
Along contemporary lines • The German pianist Anton Gerzenberg is known as a champion of new music, but his first competition appearance earlier this year showed off the impressive versatility of this insatiably curious musician. James Imam reports
Into the light • There is a long tradition of classical pianists flirting with lighter repertoire, but it is not always easy to incorporate it into serious recitals, says Benjamin Ivry
The Ill-Tempered Clavier • Let’s give credit where it’s due, says Charivari (if you can remember what you have sat through)
Impish reflections • Call him a French pianist at your peril: Jean-Yves Thibaudet does not believe in pigeonholing by nationality or anything else. As he celebrates a big birthday with a new recording, he tells Jonathon Brown why we should all break out of our box and have fun
Give the gift of music this Christmas
Ingratiating charm • A free spirit or a venomous reactionary? For many, Camille Saint-Saëns’ music is beset by shallow superficiality, but an exhibition at the Paris Opera makes the case for a musician who had more to offer. Benjamin Ivry assesses the composer’s stature 100 years after his death
Going global • Eva Doroszkowska reports from Warsaw about a new online portal offering free access to 400 years of Polish music
Best of British • Korean pianist Franziska Lee has embarked on a series of recordings exploring 20th-century pianism through national styles. Following the success of her first album of French 20th-century repertoire, her latest release offers a thoughtful and rewarding examination of British music
Sound techniques • Tony Faulkner, one of the recording industry’s most respected and experienced sound engineers, describes his approach to capturing pianists at their very best in the recording studio, with some advice on how to record your piano at home
Spatial effects • Alice Sara Ott’s latest album was recorded using a groundbreaking new technique that claims to bring extraordinary new presence to the sound. Colin Clarke is impressed
TWELVE KEYS TO THE PIANO REPERTOIRE • Part IV – Modern & Contemporary
MASTERCLASS • Leon McCawley explores the quirky first movement of Haydn’s Sonata No 30 in D major
Sonata
Rondo à la mazur
Rondo
Alone, for a while
Alone, for a while • Homage to Erik Satie
Chopin in all his colours • Eva Doroszkowska reports from this year’s record-breaking Chopin Competition, which drew pianists from across the world to Warsaw, the cultural focus and spiritual home of Chopin’s music
State of innocence • Korean-German pianist Jimin Oh-Havenith travels through 200 years of musical history in a new recording that reflects her wish to reconnect with the musicality of a child. Colin Clarke reports
CONCERTS • REVIEWS
ALBUM OF THE...