Petronel Malan

Has anyone here heard of her? I am playing for a master class conducted by her on the 12th. At first I didn't think much of it, because we often have guest artists, and some of us are asked to play (just had one this morning), but I saw today on her flier that she has been nominated for Grammy Awards. I can only find two YouTube videos with her; one is a piece/composer I've never heard of, and on the other she accompanies a violinist:

Eugene Suchoň Sonatina:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G-jN7JPwTM

Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYi9LNp5Xk

She seems to have made her career off of recording transcriptions:

http://www.petronelmalan.com/recordings.htm

 

I think I've read a review of one of her CD's in Gramophone. I think it was favourable but not over-enthousiastic. Can't remember wat was on that CD. HTH, probably no much

 

My teacher has seen her live before, and says that she 'plays so well she should be a household name'.

Anyway, I don't know whether to be more excited now, or just more nervous. Will probably end up being the latter. I hope she is nice; some pianists can be very condescending in master classes.

 

Never heard of her, but I think it's more important how much she has to teach and the way she does than how good she is as a concert pianist. Also, the teacher-pupil relationship is something alchemic that may or may not work depending on the people involved, and beyond actual merits.

Just for fun I've put together a compilation of masterclasses from different famous pianists. Very different styles (some true character building! - I won't say what I think), from 'New Age' Pires to clownesque Lang. What do you like best?

Pires http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt44_q73SGs
Schiff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nia5haHgp_g
Hough http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqyHLwZI ... re=related
Barenboim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5iSdS4wOro
Bashkirov http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXDVJ1c0egc
Lang Lang http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CeuL-Ob0yc

Fry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEuVvSKN__I (Ok, that was a joke)

Good luck with the masterclass and remember... The frothy attitude at the keyboard! :lol:

 

I liked Hough and Schiff the best I think, because they were mild. Hough especially made an effort to make suggestions rather than to dictate exactly how the piece should be played. I think Barenboim would have given me a heart attack, and that Bashkirov guy would have sent me running off the stage. Lang Lang was alright. He did a lot of dictating, but I think he was more fun about it than the others. Fry and Laurie were the best of course. And reminiscent of Barenboim, but the man is old, bless his heart. Pires....I don't know if I would know what to do with her. Would probably end up laughing a lot, which might not be bad. Would put on a serious face for the piano and play some crazy stuff that she would probably dig.

Thanks for the good luck wishes. I will be playing the rondeau and capriccio of the c minor partita for her. I just played the sinfonia, allemande, and courante for another masterclass Thursday morning (was prepared to do the whole thing). It is coming along a lot more quickly than I believed it would. :lol:

 

I could have anticipated your preferences and they're quite understandable. Hough is really lovely plus he really shows what can be done differently (at 2:21). Bashkirov behaves like a caveman but is extremely practical and down to earth in his approach to the facts of music. All in all I think that my favorite ones are Barenboim and Hough. Schiff tends to offer his solution as the solution (to dictate, as you said). The worst of all is definitely Pires's inane blathering.

You learn fast. Have you already started on Beethoven and Hindemith?

 

LOL! I spent two years on the e minor partita, remember? :lol: Turns out that most of what I learned transfers. I memorize fast, but I tend to learn very slow. Anyhow, I feel like I could play anything by Bach now, with a little work. But I will hopefully be going farther with the c minor partita than I managed with the e minor (in terms of cleanliness, bringing out the voices the way I want, and ornamenting the repeats and the A strains of the rondeaux).

I have already played the first and second movements of the Beethoven Op. 110 for semester juries, but they will need reworking, and I've yet to start serious work on the third movement. I have read through the Hindemith 3rd several times, but have done no serious work on it yet, aside from a bit with the third movement. I want to start with that movement, but I think I should start working on the second movement first, since it is the most difficult.

And of course I still have to figure out this French thing. :wink:

In other news, I have decided to enter my school's concerto competition in the fall, playing the Bach d minor concerto. The concerto alternates years for piano/strings/voice and wind/percussion, and this year will be our year.

Also, I figured out how to do record/playback on my digital, so I'm working on the c minor organ passacaglia as well, now that I've recorded the pedal track (this morning, actually). I practice the manual parts hands together without the pedal track, but I also practice them with the pedal, though sometimes I have to drop to one hand. Trying to alternate which hand I drop. I have access to an organ, but I don't want to start messing with pedals (which I have never done before - scary!) until I've got the manual part down (not counting getting used to actually playing on 2 or more manuals, and stops and all that....when I get to that point I will have to ask for some assistance).