Piano Street’s Top Picks of 2017

We wish you a Happy New Piano Year with a list of highly recommended reading from Piano Street. These are the twelve most read, discussed or shared articles of 2017. Enjoy!

/The Piano Street Team

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Yearly top lists: 2021 2020 2019 2018 2016 2015 2014 2013

New Year Score Hunt!
Welcome to join Piano Street’s New Year Score Hunt and get some exclusive pianos scores for free, as well as a chance to win a Gold Membership (value $129)! Read the rules here >>

Congratulations Maurizio Pollini 75!

On January 5th the Italian pianist celebrated his 75th birthday. Countless, celebrated concert performances are behind him along with awards and recordings. Piano Street congratulates one of the great pianists of our time and shares a lovely filmed portrait on his life. Read more >>

Belated London Premiere for Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel on International Women’s Day

As part of its special day of programming for International Women’s Day, BBC Radio 3 broadcasted a live performance of the Easter Sonata, a major piano work which until recently had been attributed to Felix Mendelssohn, but is now proved to be the work of his sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Read more >>

Immersed in Mozart – Roberto Prosseda on Recording the Early Sonatas

The Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda has previously recorded Mendelssohn’s complete piano works. Now he is embarking on a new, slightly less encyclopedic but equally ambitious project, that of recording Mozart’s complete sonatas. Read more >>

A Glimmering Christmas Celebration from Kennedy Center

A wonderous pianistic display of female artists and piano jazz styles, NPR present A Jazz Piano Christmas – the annual holiday tradition featuring four celebrated jazz pianists performing their favorite seasonal music. Read more >>

Barenboim on Chopin’s Ballade no. 1

Chopin inspires musicians to greater artistry and, as Barenboim says in this video, makes them want to sound as if the music is simply emanating from them as light from a candle. In this ballade, Chopin also takes us on a leisurely stroll through his own private musical world. Read more >>

Now is the Hour by Christopher Norton

Following the successful Eastern Preludes collection by the composer Christopher Norton, the Pacific Preludes are now set to be released on April 4. Piano Street’s Patrick Jovell talked to Christopher Norton, who gives us an exclusive glimpse into his compositional world. He is also generously offering Piano Street Gold members the score to Prelude no. 7 “Now is the Hour” as well as an instructive manual for how to practice the piece. Read more >>

The Media Lounge Debut and a World Gathering in Cremona!

Cremona again marked its presence as the world capital of instrumental music exhibitions with the 2017 edition of the Cremona Musica which combined top level artists, manufacturers, academia and pedagogy. Piano Street was invited to the new Media Lounge where 30 journalists from the major specialized newspapers, magazines, broadcast media and web-based media met to share ideas on musical critics and journalism elaborating on common issues, differences and possible collaborations in the classical music field. Read more >>

French Pianist Goes Wild in German Chorale

As a combination of supreme musicianship and Seasonal Celebrations, what would be more suitable than a traditional German Lutheran Chorale in the hands of the sensational French pianist Lucas Debargue, who is also known as an outstanding improviser and composer? Read more >>

The Audiovisual Study Tool (AST) Updated

In a significant improvement of Piano Street’s Audiovisual Study Tool (AST), all pieces in the digital sheet music library are now connected to hand picked recordings, 11 248 tracks by the greatest pianists on labels such as EMI, Decca, Deutche Grammophon, Sony Classical and many others. All recordings are available for unlimited online streaming for Piano Street Gold members. Read more >>

Mozart Can Tell the Difference

For the first time in the history of The Cliburn Competition, semifinalists were required to perform a Mozart concerto. This was not only based on the fact that the Cliburn Foundation’s CEO Jacques Marquis is a classical concerto fan, but rather from the aim of judging how competitors show musical maturity and the delicate world of the Austrian master. Read more >>

New Year’s Eve Celebration in the Berlin Philharmonie – LIVE STREAM

Thanks to a continuous collaboration with the Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall, all Piano Street members enjoyed free access to the Digital Concert Hall before the champagne corks popped to celebrate the turn of the year. We experienced first-class virtuosic piano playing when Daniil Trifonov stepped up to the podium at the New Year’s Eve concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Read more >>

Ode to Joy at the Proms 2017

Hear Igor Levit’s encore at First Night of the Proms 2017. Liszt’s piano solo version of Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Read more >>

Want more? Here are previous years’ Top Picks:
Top Picks of 2014
Top Picks of 2015
Top Picks of 2016

Please let us know which article you find the most interesting and feel free to share if you have any specific plans or goals for your piano playing for next year!