I visited Seymour Bernstein during my recent NYC trip and his home has amazing musical/historical and other treasures plus he sat down at the piano and shared his thoughts about performing Bach and Mozart (interpretation etc.) I embedded two videos. The photos are colorful, in particular.

http://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/...r-and-composer/

Great!!

I worked with Seymour for many years and have had the privilege of performing some of his works. How wonderful that you found the opportunity to work with him, and that you have made so much of it -- not just for yourself, but also for him, by virtue of these great write-ups that you're doing.
BTW we can see from those pics what a great time he has had with this.

Thank you so much!!

Yes, Thank you. We had a great time together and this followed my touch down up a mile or so, West Side with harpsichordist, Elaine Comparone.. who did her own set of videos during my visit, focusing as well on the Bach Prelude in C, BWV 846..She even played a more jazzy version.

http://arioso7.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/...-new-york-city/

You're welcome. What a splendid sanctuary he has off Central Park West.. and it proves that a small space can be even more comforting than a large one.. though the one room studio appears very big from photos.

She's also one of my all-time favorite musicians. Don't know her personally but have heard her in person a few times (and have spoken with her) -- all before she took to playing standing up!

My first time hearing her was at the first big concert at the Symphony Space in Manhattan after it got converted to a performing space, around 1978. The occasion was called "Wall to Wall Bach" and it was a huge hit, and led to the Symphony Space becoming what it has been. The event went on for many hours, I think covering a couple of days, and was PACKED the whole time. The music was divided between scheduled professional performances (like hers) and "pick-up" stuff by people who would just show up and ask for it. (I 'almost' played a Bach concerto. I had sort of pre-arranged it, but didn't know till I got there that there was no piano! -- just a harpsichord. So, I had a 'decision' to make -- would I do the incredibly stupid thing of going ahead playing this piece that I'd never performed before and only recently learned on an instrument that I'd barely touched in my life with an orchestra in front of 1000 people, or would I do the sensible thing and forget about it? Oddly, I chose the latter.)

I had no idea who Elaine was -- didn't even know if she was one of the professional performers or someone like me who just showed up, especially because she was dressed very casually, including red sneakers. I was thinking this is just some girl with red sneakers who said, how about if I go up there and play. Of course she was extraordinary, and before long I learned how accomplished she was.

Thanks for that reminiscence. Elaine will probably read it. I was living maybe a block from her in 1978, not realizing it. But I knew her name from the NY Times and the debut and all. One of the critics said she played "red-blooded" harpsichord, and she sure did and does. Those instruments she has are astounding and the acoustical space, fantastic.