Synopses & Reviews
Charles Rosen is one of the world's most talented pianists -- and one of music's most astute commentators. Known as a performer of Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Elliott Carter, he has also written highly acclaimed criticism for sophisticated students and professionals.
In Piano Notes, he writes for a broader audience about an old friend -- the piano itself. Drawing upon a lifetime of wisdom and the accumulated lore of many great performers of the past, Rosen shows why the instrument demands such a stark combination of mental and physical prowess. Readers will gather many little-known insights -- from how pianists vary their posture, to how splicings and microphone placements can ruin recordings, to how the history of composition was dominated by the piano for two centuries. Stories of many great musicians abound. Rosen reveals Nadia Boulanger's favorite way to avoid commenting on the performances of her friends ("You know what I think," spoken with utmost earnestness), why Glenn Gould's recordings suffer from "double-strike" touches, and how even Vladimir Horowitz became enamored of splicing multiple performances into a single recording. Rosen's explanation of the piano's physical pleasures, demands, and discontents will delight and instruct anyone who has ever sat at a keyboard, as well as everyone who loves to listen to the instrument.
In the end, he strikes a contemplative note. Western music was built around the piano from the classical era until recently, and for a good part of that time the instrument was an essential acquisition for every middle-class household. Music making was part of the fabric of social life. Yet those days have ended. Fewer people learn the instrument today. The rise of recorded music has homogenized performance styles and greatly reduced the frequency of public concerts. Music will undoubtedly survive, but will the supremely physical experience of playing the piano ever be the same?
Review
Stuart Isacoff
author of Temperament: The Idea That Solved Music's Greatest Riddle
An eloquent and intimate look at the concert pianist's experience -- perceptive, erudite, and disarmingly honest. Whether describing the physical aspects of making music or unveiling the foibles of teachers, judges, and professional rivals, Charles Rosen's observations are always perfectly pitched.
About the Author
Charles Rosen is a distinguished concert pianist and music critic. He has twice been nominated for the Grammy Award, and his landmark book,
The Classical Style, won the National Book Award and has been reissued several times. Today he maintains an active performance schedule around the world, as well as writing for
The New York Review of Books. He lives in New York City and Paris.
Table of Contents
ContentsPrelude
CHAPTER 1 Body and Mind
CHAPTER 2 Listening to the Sound of the Piano
CHAPTER 3 The Instrument and Its Discontents
CHAPTER 4 Conservatories and Contests
CHAPTER 5 Concerts
CHAPTER 6 Recording
CHAPTER 7 Styles and Manners
PostludeAcknowledgments
Index