The Piano Visions recital series at the Art Academy in Stockholm welcomed British Pianist Imogen Cooper for two recitals on November 20 and 21, 2021. It was truly fascinating to hear Cooper play Schubert live, a composer which has rendered her great acclaim worldwide. But she also offered the Swedish audience a glimpse into her earlier life, by including repertoire […]

“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” — George Bernard Shaw It is often difficult to understand the present even if you know your history, but watching Polanski’s movie “The Pianist” can at least help us to understand the greatness of music as an artform and that humanism can […]

In the world of piano playing the seat is often taken for granted and we rarely read about manufacturers focusing on the design of piano stools and benches. Piano Street has talked to Zayda Jiménez, founder of Kaunus, a manufacturer who takes both the visual and functional aspects of piano bench design to a new height. Passion and vision, art […]

– The Warsaw Omni Face – Interview with Chopin Institute’s Aleksander Laskowski A very familiar face before and during the 18th International Chopin Competition is the one belonging to Aleksander Laskowski. Frequent in official matters, televised transmissions and in social media, the dynamic Chopin Institute’s press spokesman represents forces bringing the competition into the future. He also displays a brilliant […]

The world has during October enjoyed almost one entire month of excellent Chopin performances at the 18th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Taking place every five years, the 2020 edition was postponed one year, in order to make a live competition possible for both contestants and live audiences. Many have enjoyed the performances live and via streaming and the “now […]

It is hard enough to train as a classical pianist, even in a Western country with good access to instruments, sheet music and advanced tuition. If you happen to live in Kenya, where nothing of the above is easily available, the many obstacles make it almost impossible. Yet, there are people with an absolute determination to learn. Piano Street has […]

Interview with tonebase’s piano executive Ben Laude In late 2019, tonebase Piano was launched, with the aim of giving amateur pianists access to high level music education through premium online content featuring great artists. Since then, education has been trending even more in a digital direction because of the pandemic. Piano Street’s Patrick Jovell has talked to Ben Laude about […]

For Nikolas Sideris, editor-in-chief at Editions Musica Ferrum, the Beethoven year 2020 was more than just a great anniversary. It also represented the final stage of a mega project started seven years earlier – the Mount Everest of all LvB 250 homage projects. In cooperation with Susanne Kessel, a pianist from the city of Bonn, 250 composers from 47 countries […]

For more than 30 years, Stephen Paulello has systematically studied all the components of the piano, including the instruments of previous eras. But as a pianist dreaming of more complex and expressive sonorities, he doesn’t content himself with a cult of the past. Instead, he has often used his findings to challenge generally accepted ideas. His unique grand pianos are […]

In this exclusive digital encounter with the praised and enigmatic composer Lowell Liebermann on his premiere recording as a solo pianist on the Steinway & Sons label, Piano Street’s Patrick Jovell meets the pianist behind the composer and the composer behind the pianist. Clearly, Liebermann’s latest album release is in a way an attempt to measure a time span and […]

Zlata Chochieva is one of the most interesting musicians of her generation, with her breathtaking technique and musicality as well as with her choice of repertoire. “(re)creations”, her latest CD, offers an exquisite collection of transcriptions by her great heroes, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Friedman, and in the title lies the secret of this special art form, so closely related to […]

In this second part of our interview with Konstantin Scherbakov about his Beethoven celebrations during 2020, we talk about Liszt’s Symphony transcriptions and the improvisational aspect in Beethoven’s music. Read the first part of the interview here >> Patrick Jovell: We often picture Beethoven in a large sonata – and in a minor key. However only 9 out of the […]