The Piano in Compartive Performance is on, tonight at 10:00pm--WQXR.com or 96.3FM(New York City). It has been a couple of weeks since I had sent all of you a reminder. Hope that you can catch this program, and post your thoughts/reaction. Take care.
Sincerely,
Kenney

I think that it's a shame that there is almost no discussion of each week's program on this forum!There also seems to be very little discussion of concerts here or on the other place where we are officially supposed to discuss concerts.

True, I've seen no discussion nor contributed anything regarding the program. But I appreciate the notices, because otherwise I would never have known about it. I've caught it about 2 or 3 times now, and it's great to hear multiple performers performing the same piece. My only difficulty is that Wednesday night is church night, and the program is half-done by the time I get back home. (I'm in the Dallas area so the program starts at 9:00PM local time.) Unfortunately I missed tonight's program, but I was busy watching the news about Iraq.

Chris

I missed it tonite because my stupid computer clock had lost almost an entire HOUR since I set it a week ago. But I have listened to a couple of the programs and have enjoyed them.

Just ANOTHER reminder that Martha Argerich is on TONITE (ie THURSDAY) at 6:30 CENTRAL playing Prokefiev. Its interesting to note that searches of "Argerich" on the radio site don't SHOW this particular perfomance. Well what the heck, I think its going to be on anyway.
Bob

I would like to see/read reactions to these WQXR programs, but if live is the only way to get them, 10:00 p.m. is well past my bedtime; I would not be able to contribute!

As for "discussing" concerts: it might be pretty difficult to "discuss" concerts on this forum. Since we are so widely spread around the world, it's unlikely that more than two of us at any one time will have heard the same concert. It would be interesting to hear a few "reviews" of concerts, but they can sometimes be so subjective (depending on who is posting) that, without the filter of other opinions, they might not be too meaningful. And that would hardly be a discussion, would it?

Regards,

Bringing this to the forefront of the Board, just serves as a reminder for tonight. Enjoy listening.
Sincerely,
Kenney

PS If you get the Discovery Channel you may be torn because Thomas Friedman has a documentary about the purpose of those who rejoiced after the attacks of Sept. 11th. He was on Charlie Rose last night. A few clips were shown and they looked interesting. The show starts at 10pm EST.

10:00 pm central?

EST (Eastern Standard Time). Hope this helps. Take care.
Sincerely,
Kenney

how do you get to listen to this program if you are not in the ny area? is it on the internet?

I believe that station is NPR, which is 89.9 here, am I correct?

valarking, where is the "here" of which you speak? and how would you know the dial number for NPR where i live? do you live in the same town, or are you hacking into my computer, hm?

pique, I'm sure that its nothing to get alarmed about.

If it is NPR, then you should be able to get it anywhere nation-wide. I can't remember the NPR station here in Seattle, despite the fact that I used to listen to it all the time. I'll have to look it look.

Reflections IS on at 10pm Eastern Standard Time on WQXR, but its not syndicated across the nation at the same time on other PBS stations. In Kansas, it is never aired at all, for instance. SO best bet may be to listen live on the Internet by going to

http://www.wqxr.com

and then clicking the "Listen Now" button. You'll need RealPlayer or WindowsMediaPlayer, which are available on the same window.

Bob

Yup, I'm hacking into your computer.
:rolleyes:

Anyone from Seattle area, do you know if they play it on King FM?

Yes, it's on the internet. Start at http://wqxr.com and then click on the Listen Now link. That's how I listen to it here in Dallas, TX. It's on from 9:00PM to 10:00PM Central Time.

Chris

Bob I was going to ask you where I could hear that in Kansas, I never quite got it in my brain that that was an internet station (inspite of the .com) Thanks for re reiterating.

valarking, i was joking about the hacking. but i am curious as to if we live in the same area.

thanks for the online link, gentlemen. something came up, however, and i missed it tonight. what did they play? i'll try again next week.

jgoo, I'm from the seattle area, and it's not on king. By the way, I think our NPR is 92.1, or 90.1. I've heard classical on both those stations as well.

Thanks tom. Its been about a year since the last time I listened to NPR.

Not on King eh? Well, I'll just have to tune into the internet radio then. Do they archive those for people who want to listen to them again later online?

Jgoo, they may archieve some stuff, but not "Reflections".

I think it's a mistake to assume this program is related to PBS or NPR or any of their offshoots.
WQXR is owned and operated by the NewYorkTimes, which probably does not need to hold pledge drives very often. I think the only outlet avialable is the 10PM (Eastern) broadcast, whether you listen on the radio or on the internet.
I could be wrong, (NPR could purchase the show)but I searched for "Reflections " on the NPR.org site and came up empty.

On a related topic, the NPR radio station at the University of Kansas (kanu.com or .org) is broad/netcasting a 13 part series about Robert Schumann every Monday evening. It has broadcast the first 4 programs already. They are 60 minutes long and I'm not sure if they are at 8pm (CENTRAL) or 9PM (Central)...so I guess specifying the time zone doesn't really matter. From their website it doesn't appear that this show is archieved either. I'll try to post the correct link a little bit later.

Edit with more Schumann Info:
OK the Schumann show is Monday at 8 PM CentralStandardTime
This brings up the information page about the Schumann series.
http://www.ukans.edu/~kanu-fm/classical/schumann.htm

This page contains the "click to listen live" button.
http://www.ukans.edu/~kanu-fm/listennow.htm

Bob

Heres most of what he played on Wed March 26. My internet connection was broken several times and I may misspell some of the names so bear with me.

RSchumann: Traumerei
Played by Martha Argerich then Claire Haskel

Beethoven: Opening Allegro from Sonata #10 G Major Op 14 #2
played by Arthur Schnabel, then by Andrea Foley

JSBach Gavotte from 6th Partita in Emin
played by Petrii Anderszewski (1st time on show) then Roselyn Tereque

Beethoven Adagio Cantable from Pathetique Sonata #8 C minor op 13
Played by Arthur Schnabel then by Amel Gilels
(BOTH THESE WERE GREAT)

Mozart: Rondo from Sonata #16 K 545
Played by Maria Perez then Heidi Lowie (1st appearance)

The last pieces were first timer Oleg Marcheff playing early Prokofiev (Op #3, I think) and a memorial performance of Schumann's 7th Piano Novelette by Michael Bloch who died earlier this month.

He ended the program with a quote from Eric Fromm:
'The drive for life and the drive for destruction are not mutually independent factors, but are in a reversed interdependence.
The more the drive toward life is thwarted, the stronger is the drive toward destruction.
The more life is realized the less is the strength of destructiveness.
Destructiveness is the outcome of unlived life."

But other forum members have probably heard the performers live (perhaps even in the same program)or on CD performing the same works. So I think it is reasonable to discuss concerts a lot more than is usually done on this forum. Also, many forum members live in NYC so it is possible that quite a few would be at a particular concert. You seem to be looking for excuses not to do something that I, for one, think should be an important and interesting part of this forum.

pique, i live in barksdale, louisiana

so, then, valarking, how did you know the dial number for NPR where i live?

inquiring minds want to know!

Here are two links that can help with finding radio station information.

The first was put up-and-running by MIT then farmed out.
http://www.radio-locator.com/

The second has most public radio stations schedules and has pretty exhaustive searching and sorting capabilities.
http://www.publicradiofan.com/

Bob

You can say that again! The price recently went up to $1.00!

I think that you've mentioned where you live before, pique. Somewhere in Idaho, if I'm not much mistaken, which I very possibly could be!

I'm with BuceD on this one. I'm usually sound-asleep by 10:00 or I'm reading bed-time stories to my 4 year-old. I wish the programs were archived but I guess not.

Reflections From Keyboard reminder

Who managed to catch last night's performances? I thought that the Chopin Waltz performed by Paderewski(Sp?) was slightly more enjoyable than Horowitz's rendition(David Dubal thought that Horowitz's was godly--I didn't perceive it as such). Can you get over the fact that Uchida is slamming! No, she is not "hot"--though a good looking gal--but her playing is steamingly gorgeous. I absolutely loved what she had done with that Debussy eight-finger-piece. Hopefully, someone updates WQXR's website to reflect the latest, Wednesday night, program. They haven't updated since the fifth of March. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the very fact that they have updated that much, so far. I love that station.
Sincerely,
Kenney

i caught about half of it, and was very grateful to have been told about the show and how to find it here on this forum. unfortunately the signal kept slipping, so i wasn't able to hear any of the performances in total. it's a great introduction to me of pieces and pianists i was previously unfamiliar with.

thanks again.

That's the genius of this program. It would take big bucks and oodles of time to track down the performances that David Dubal presents us with. And--to think--it costs merely a couple of pennies to turn on your radio for an hour(for those of us lucky enough to be within reach of the frequency). Can you imagine all of the performers that are indebted to this guy, and WQXR? They are, in effect, giving hundreds of performers a second chance at life. Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,
Kenney

Hi Kenney,

I only caught the last half of the program, and I absolutely remember Uchida's performance! Her performance of the Debussy was just like you described, and she put the other performer to shame! Amazingly smooth.

Also in the program were a couple performance's of Gershwin's 2nd prelude for piano (from the set of 3 preludes). It's the slow one in C# minor --- one I've played many times. I can't remember who the first performer was, but he did a nice job, though a little bit on the dry side. The 2nd performer was none other than Leonard Bernstein, who did an awful job (in my opinion) because he played his own improvised, big, emotionally squishy *expansion* of this piece. Gack! Pay attention to the written notes, please!

(Edit: Reminder to folks like myself who don't live near NYC: Use the internet! http://www.wqxr.com)

-- Chris

I finally was able to listen to the entire program from beginning to end and only had to reconnect one time. (I think it helps if you have the minimum number of windows necessary open)
The Etude with No Thumbs was pretty interesting. I would have liked to see a video of it. I fooled around later on trying to play extended passages without using my thumbs and ended up feeling kinda foolish. It reminded me of sociology class experiments where we had to blindfold ourselves and pretend to be blind for 30 minutes or so.

OK, I'm sorry, here's a "Benny Goodman story" I heard. During W.W.II, Goodman had a pianist that was missing a finger.
In spite of the obvious handicap, he was an excellent player and kept a very fast tempo going.
When the other band members would tire of his upbeat tempo they would yell "Hey Charlie, take off another finger"

Somehow I don't think David will use this story in the near future. I like his quotes very much, though.

Off topic a little, how many "Sonatas for Left Hand" exist and who wrote them? (not sure of title correctness either) I think the composer was French but I'm not certain of that.

I listened to the Gershin 2nd Prelude closely since my son played all 3 of them a few months ago as part of his junior recital.

What is D. Dubal's background? Has he performed? How long has he produced this show?

Thanks for the introduction, Kenny.
Bob

Chris, Oscar Levant played the Gershwin before Bernstein.

All those posts made me curious,
I actually would like to hear it.
Is there no way someone can tape it ? :-)

Thanks for identifying Levant!

I don't know about Sonatas for the left hand, but I have a piece by Brahms for left hand only. It's his transcription of a Chaconne by J.S.Bach. There's no opus number associated with this thing. It's title is, "Chaconne by J.S.Bach (arranged for the left hand alone), Study No. 5". This appears to be the 5th of 5 pieces collectively called "Studies for Piano". I've played it before, and it's pretty challenging.

-- Chris