Admittedly, the Liszt bicentennial celebrations are makedly more muted and subdued, when compared to the same for Chopin last year. That said, this week spared nothing in the line-up of not one, but two recitals dedicated to his legacy ( Read more... )

If I felt guilty oogling and perving at the post-pubescent boy on public display, who was showing the crowds just what he could do with his hands to turn them into quivering anticipation, I didn't even bother to disguise it. Ephebophilia. There's a word for you. Go look it up.

Benjamin Grosvenor is all of 17 going on 18, and already has a legion ( Read more... )

Every year in late June, over a handful of evenings starting mid-week through the weekend, the Victoria Concert Hall hosts the highlight in its annual schedule with the Singapore International Piano Festival, featuring a clutch of pianists hailing from as far as their repertoire is wide ( Read more... )

Hüseyin Sermet let on in his interview in yesterday's papers that this evening's concert would be the first time he would be essaying the Piano Concerto No 2 of Chopin. From his fluent and fluid reading of the solo part, it sure didn't seem like it ( Read more... )

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I'd pay to see hear this pianist in concert... Coattails optional, Adidas attire preferred...

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How quaint and typically Singaporean the background is, the whirring stand fan, the graduation family photo...

On the flipside, here's why I've always entertained secret desires to be a little girl...

I had bought my usual front row seats, but for a lark, decided to schooch two seats to the right, only to realise it was a miscalculated judgment and now my view of the piano had just barely missed the keyboard ( Read more... )

It came across as patronising to me, but then again, what do my comments count for? Just in today's papers, an interview with Emanuel Ax revealed that he wasn't against applause at "inappropriate" moments, and thus, the audience deigned to accord him one after the first movement, which he graciously acknowledged, though he may have been pandering ( Read more... )