A 21st-Century Etude: Ursula Oppens Performs Carter's "Caténaires"

Watch Ursula Oppens' complete lesson on Carter's "Caténaires," exclusively on tonebase!
➡️ app.tonebase.co/piano/artists...
Join five-time Grammy nominee Ursula Oppens for a discussion and performance of Elliott Carter’s party piece, Caténaires ("chains"). Oppens is ideally equipped to help untangle the difficulties: her 2009 Grammy nomination was for a recording of Carter’s complete piano works.
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[@IFStravinsky]

I remember seeing Ms. Oppens play this for the first time at Symphony Space in NYC. It was the last piece on the program. The audience kept calling her out back out for an encore, and she was having none of it. I, who was standing down front near the stage, caught her eye, pointed at the piano and mouthed the words "Do it again!" She shook her head at me and said, "No, it's too hard!" So maybe it wasn't so much fun back then.

[@mjc7771]

What a brilliant woman. I could listen to her talk about pieces all day

[@stueystuey1962]

So profound. To hear Carter discussed and then played with such elan and dignity - gives hope that a new gen of performers will approach Carter with the same wonder and awe that advanced students bring to the piano works of Chopin and Prokofiev.

[@HP_____]

Performance starts at 5:03. Thank you for the excellent upload!

[@mikern2001]

She has been championing Carter’s music for around 50 years.

[@michaelrogers5495]

I am finding this content to be more and more impressive with each video. Cheers Tonebase!

[@robkeeleycomposer]

Enchanting! Ursula plays this as real music, unlike some slicker, more robotic players. One of my most prized possessions is the score of 'Night Fantasies', a work of absurd difficulty, signed by both Ursula and the composer, Tanglewood, 1988!

[@robhewett7602]

Carter has from the earliest made deliberate use of the unison to enhance other contrasts, which here show up necessarily as repeated notes, to thrilling effect.

[@1954farmall]

Absolutely wonderful. I’m a huge fan and this is such a treat. You’re truly giving back in a beautiful way. Thanks a million.

[@m.a.3322]

Amazing video, I have notifications on for this channel!

[@GizzyDillespee]

Uuggghhh... of COURSE I was going to come here after you teasee us with the "short" excerpt you just re-posted. Cool.

[@accorbett7485]

This is wonderful! She plays so playfully that I feel like the piano is having as much fun as she is.
To me, this piece sounds like the internet. Great music, great musician.

[@shumiatcher]

She’s marvelous and knows these composers personally !

[@WBradJazz]

Bravo!

[@TheTheurgist]

Lovely

[@antoniavignera2339]

Grazie!

[@Wyatt333]

Why are the dampers on her piano marked with different colors and dots and lines?

[@grahamk5]

Probably for pieces that require work inside the piano such as plucking strings.

[@TheTristanmarcus]

Sounds like a kind of Toccata-type piece 🎉

[@MrRuplenas]

Playing this piece non-legato is a "problem"?? I'm guessing if you look up "non legato" in the Harvard Dictionary of Music (assuming it's still in print), they have a picture of this score. BTW, she couldn't afford a page turner?

[@ejb7969]

1. Have you ever played a piano?
2. She can afford plenty more than a page turner.