Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Some fun, maybe :) WHO is this playing the Grande Polonaise?

(Found this great live recording online.) I don't think there's anything on here that gives it away, but maybe I'm not seeing something there. (Hint: It's not the person whose name is in the web address!)

Chopin's Grande Polonaise (from Op. 22), with orchestra

It's great, even if the orchestra doesn't always quite keep up with the pianist.

(BTW, the Andante Spianato is online too, but the audio on that does give it away.)

You might be able to get it by googling, I'm not sure. But if you want to get the answer, I think you need to cheat somehow.
I don't think it's possible to get it except by looking it up or by just somehow knowing. But it's someone that I think most of you know of.

P.S. Jeffrey, if you're looking, you're disqualified from guessing.

Sounds like Mark C.

You knew what you were doing by adding the

If I posted my recording, it wouldn't sound too much like this.

Who at PW is at this level of playing? I remember Trucrypt was a VERY good pianist. Are there others?

(Not a PW member)

Well that was his Youtube name. I forget his PW name.

Unfortunately, the fact that it links to Jeffrey's page makes guessing a bit too easy for some of us....but I'm keeping my mouth shut!

No no -- I didn't mean 'he' isn't a PW member, I meant the pianist isn't. (BTW Trucrypt's PW name is Vica.)


Good job! (Of both research and restraint.)

But of course we can tell 'eventually,' if nobody else does. (I imagine you can see why it would be almost impossible to just guess who it is.)

Yep. After all, we're talking of someone who is more known for passing on knowledge to others than anything else

Yes it does! And so am I.

Oh -- you mean you can delete the rest of the web address and get to his page?
(I hadn't seen that.)

Double good job by both of you.

BTW, the reason I posted it: I had no idea this person could play like that.

That's one thing, but already being acquainted with the style of the website I was fairly aware of the amount of praise for you-know-who. Getting to the page confirmed the suspicions

I got curious about why this person wasn't better known as a performer. I did a quick search through the NY Times site for reviews and other articles, and quickly found out some interesting stuff. There could be a good book in this, if someone felt like doing it (and it seems there are no biographies, at least nothing that turns up easily). Just a few factoids that showed up easily in the NY Times search:

-- Was extremely heralded as a young pianist -- boundless praise for technique, musicianship, tone, colors and subtlety, and originality

-- .....although, in NY debut, suddenly stopped playing after a few bars of the first encore and walked off the stage; as explained later, had been ill, "felt on the verge of collapse"

-- Continued great notices for a fair while

-- At age 39, recital cancellation due to injuries from fall at home

-- Whether related to that or not, thereafter the reviews were much less good, with criticism on some dimensions that had been so very highly praised before.

That's fascinating, thanks for sharing! I assume you must have a subscription to the site to see those things? They appeared unavailable to me.

Yes -- I think you can still get it otherwise but maybe only by paying a ridiculous amount per article.

BTW, you'd think they could have taken some of that money and used it to send a reporter to the Cliburn Competition....

Actually I didn't do that at first, but I just did and confirmed my suspicion about who it was. I had just assumed who the pianist was based on the sound of the recording and what I know about Jeffrey.

Of course, Jeffery would be perfect for the task. I wonder if he has the time between performing, recording, composing...

To Jeffrey, or whoever else eventually writes the bio (and I gotta believe eventually there will be one): Make sure to tell us about:

-- How she felt about performing (ooops, just gave away the gender) .....like, whether it was at all agonizing for her -- like, whether that thing at the NY debut may have been not just about physical illness

-- What really happened from that fall -- maybe it was nothing, or, was it a key thing that changed the direction of her career

-- Did she ever talk about what happened in that debut, or about the fall and what it did to her

-- How did she feel about making the shift (maybe having to make the shift) from a performing career

-- And, preferably, a words-to-the-wise chapter on how everybody should try real hard not to fall! Obviously nobody wants to fall (duh) but it sure seems like it might deserve more attention than a lot of people give it. Falls can change people's lives, suddenly and badly -- usually in older people, but sometimes it can be when you're 39.

has anyone guessed who it is playing? I can say, I had no idea about the encore mishap, nor the fall. This is news to me--would love to know the sources and links to anything in print about these.