Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Has anyone listened to David Dubals radio show Piano Matters

I caught the end of a program last week on WWFM and heard Van Cliburn playing a Showmanofski???? Etude that was simply gorgeous. Then the announcer came on and it was David Dubal. His piano program often compares multiple pianist performing the same piece. Last week he had four pianist playing Chopin Opus 10 no 1 including Lhevine, Perahia, Ogden and someone else but Perahia performance from his Grammy winning CD was stupendous. I love his analysis of each pianists performance. Through the years he has heard everyone. He even plays recordings of his students. I would encourage all to get the free podcast just google it Piano Matters. He answers emails too. I asked him why no Richter since the beginning of 2013 and he said I have done over 600 shows with his performances. I would love to here his critique.

I used to listen to Dubal's program when it was called, I think, Reflections from the Keyboard. This was at least 5 years ago or more. He played comparative performances on that program also.

I enjoyed listening to Dubal for quite a few years, but then I grew tired of his broadcast style, which I found too enthusiastic(I know some will think this impossible, but he waxes ecstatic about almost everything)and a bit too talkative(he loves reading lengthy quotes from other books). But it took quite a few years of listening for me to reach this point, and there is little doubt that Dubal is extremely knowledgeable.

I think his book "The Art of the Piano" is by far the best single volume summary about great pianists and the literature of the piano. And his "Essential Canon of Classical Music" is probably the best single volume summary about classical composers and classical music. It has become a required text at several prestigious conservatories.

Do you mean Szymanowski?

I'd no idea Cliburn played his music - very few have done.

Was it this one? http://youtu.be/SiKNHCplZBk

I remember when Szymanowski seemed like a one-hit wonder, and that etude was the hit. It was extensively anthologized, and a number of pianists played it as an encore (and it wouldn't surprise me if many of them never looked at another note of Szymanowski's music).

I've read a few of his books and enjoyed them very much. My teacher is a good friend of David Dubal and speaks highly of his deep knowledge.

Yes, precisely the piece that Van Cliburn played so beautifully that he reminds me so well how he played at one time. It is haunting beautiful. I will be buying the piece later today. It's a nice encore piece.

Yes, I go to the website and listen to the podcasts sometimes. I have it bookmarked. Very enjoyable. It's always interesting to hear two or more pianists play the same piece and compare their styles.