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Wow! I was just looking through the PTNA (music teacher's association in Japan) YouTube Channel and I found some true gems from some amazing young Japanese pianists. Of course, technically it's absolutely flawless, but from an expressive standpoint, they are ethereal (especially the Glinka). I had to share. Please enjoy.

Mendelssohn: Fantasia (1st movement): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM8A4Zg5pKw

Glinka (arr. Balakariev): The Lark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9mATWgUv8E

I mentioned that first piece on the Mendelssohn thread. Indeed it's wonderful, especially (IMO) the first movement, although the last movement is fabulous from a technical-excitement standpoint, and the middle movement ain't bad either.

Andre-Michel Schub played the piece at the Cliburn competition in 1981. (He won.)

chobeethaninov,

Enjoyed your links. While there I discovered this one which I thought was exceptional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1YGbRj_1A&NR=1

Bech

This young boy is quite into the music and plays terrifically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnsLlWUVpPA&feature=related

This really old guy plays a Chopin Mazurka amazingly well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bspgmDuusM&feature=relmfu

I don't know how I feel about having these very young students dress in tuxedos or Cinderella/prom dresses. Seems a bit much but I guess it's not that important eiher way.

speaking of young talent, i saw part of a PBS special with this young lady (13 now, was evidently 10 yrs old in the following vid):

Entheo,

Thank you. Outstanding! Not piano but it belongs ANYWHERE!
The accompanying orchestral music is beautiful!

I watched it twice and it goes on "my list."

Bech

I have very mixed feelings about this. There is no question that the young lady has musical talent and a surprisingly unusual vocal quality. What bothers me, however, is that this aria is quite inappropriate for a ten year old, and as lovely as the singing is, the girl doesn't convey the content of the aria, even though one presumes she was told what she was singing about. Whoever chooses her repertoire - and I believe she has already issued one CD - should be looking for material more appropriate for her age. Next, they'll have her singing "Vissi d'arte," if they haven't already!

I feel somewhat the same way about listening to 12 year olds performing the "Appassionata" although I know that there are those who disagree with me saying that if young people have the technique, they should play whatever they can.

I guess if one doesn't know what this aria is about, one could pile kudos on the performer for her singing, but its content makes this performance somewhat ludicrous; it's more of a stunt than a performance for me. I know that if I were a judge on the show, I would be booed off the stage for this opinion! However, the context was "America's Got Talent," and saying that covers a multitude of artistic sins! I suggest that Bech listen to a recording of a mature artist performing this work and add that performance rather than this one to his "play list."

That said, I was quite enchanted by the Glinka/Balakirev linked above; a good performance for all the right reasons.

Regards,

Agree 100%.
I think I also feel that way about 20 year olds playing late Beethoven, but that's another story.

her PBS special was with David Foster, the musician/producer/arranger who discovered singers Michael Bublé & Josh Groban; he's worked with Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey, Cher, Neil Diamond, Céline Dion, Gloria Estefan, Whitney Houston, Beyonce Knowles, etc. etc., so you get the idea of where her career is headed.

As I recall (I channel flipped because this isn't my cup of tea) most of the material was Lloyd Webber type stuff, real crowd pleaser material.

What concerns me is less the age-appropriateness of the material than the direction she is being taken. Many incredible talents opt out of 'serious music' careers in lieu of fame & fortune; Bocelli and Dion to name two. When Celine first came on the scene I thought to myself that she could blaze new trails with that voice of hers, perhaps as a jazz vocalist, in the tradition of an Ella Fitzgerald or even a Rosemary Clooney, but instead she's now a Vegas act. That's more of a sin to me than biting off more than you can chew.

Here's Jackie performing Nessun Dorma on the PBS special. Whatever criticisms we may have she IS a phenomenal talent:

+1 I saw her on the pbs special and one other time singing some love song. My first thought was "this is just wrong."

Also a +1 on the Glinka. That was very nice.

You have to recognize that the voice is not like the piano. The thing that's worrying in this case is not that she's singing music above her maturity (like a 8 year old singing a late Beethoven sonata), but rather the song is not suited for her yet. She could damage her voice by singing such a song. Every voice teacher I met strongly discouraged any young girl singing such a song as it could possibly damage her voice. I don't really get how, but I just know every professional singer takes extreme care in their voice and it takes proper training and practice to learn how to protect one's voice. That's really the issue rather than maturity, but technicality. I guess you can compare it to a low level technical pianist practicing a Liszt Etude. But it is possible for a 10 years to have that technique with piano while voice is more associated with age. No one her age is ever technically able to handle that piece while strictly technically speaking a young pianist can easily have high level technique.