Having a strong urge to communicate ideas when performing reminds me of actors who perform a script they've learned and memorized. There's something humbling about the learning process and self-discovery. The performance can be the reward of all the hard work.
This is a very nice and even intimate sharing of personal experiences. Really good. I think, the basic principles apply to life in general, no matter what we do. There needs to be full involvement to be able to forget about oneself. And musical expressions, especially on stage, are a huge challenge -- it deserves full admiration. And, to add up, if you tell someone to forget about a mistake, you can be 100% sure that he or she will be constantly thinking about such mistake...)
This is overall such a well articulated and insightful video that I hate to highlight the silly parts, but the brief video edits you inject are just so good 😂😂
My favorite stage presence of any pianist was that of Arturo Benedetto Michelangeli. An absolutely aristocrat at the piano. No grimacing, no romantic swooning body movements. If you watch him in Scarlatti he will end each sonata with a little flourish, going so far as to hold his little finger perfectly vertical on the final note. And he's not above adding an additional arpeggiated chord at the end. He carefully adjusts his white shirt sleeve cuffs before beginning each piece. During longer recitals (Chopin) he begins to sweat a little and aristocratically wipes his face with the handkerchief he has laid in the piano, but he refolds it before putting it back. Watching him play Scarlatti reminds me of a master sushi chef carving up the piece to perfection, then serving it to the audience on pristine white bone china. When he plays big Chopin pieces his face remains calm, but you can detect the powerful romantic forces he is containing. His Scherzo 2 and Sonata 2 are as well-done as I have ever heard, or seen.
I agree! It’s so distracting to watch pianists who contort their faces, exaggerate their gestures, move their bodies in odd ways, or sit with poor posture. These bad habits need to be nipped in the bid by their respective piano teachers. My teacher was a certified master teacher whose husband was an internationally acclaimed opera singer. She would often accompany him on piano. Anyway, she made sure to check me during each lesson. When I was preparing for piano competitions, she would also check how I walked to the bench, sat on the bench, played, stood & exited the stage.
I agree! But I would still prefer crippled/humping/grimacing Gould to Michelangeli 😜 It’s a shame when we allow ourselves to make one-sided judgements by limiting our perception and reasoning about the nature of creativity and performance with just one aspect among so many.
@@DenZhdanovPianist when I was in my early teens and studying piano his performances of Bach were hailed as the greatest. It was only years later that I heard so many others and I often prefer their interpretations. Case in point, the Italian Concerto which he plays at an absurd tempo.
@@scottweaverphotovideo you’re absolutely right; Gould’s way of playing Bach was so successful because it was so refreshing in its extremity in comparison to romanticized style of that time, and of course now we know much more about the baroque tradition thanks to the historical practice research, so no sane person would imitate Gould. And nevertheless, I like his personality a lot, and consider him a genius despite I would never agree with something or play like he does. This is the most ridiculous aspect of art discussions that makes them useless: people just create a random criteria based on constantly changing personal preferences, and set up labels. I respect Michelangeli also a lot, but for example his statue-frozen way of self presentation that you would rather call aristocratic doesn’t hit me at all. You might try to convince me that I am wrong and understand nothing, but this is just waste of time, because any of your or mine preferences based on personal subjective criteria that have value solely for you or me. So my comment about Gould was rather an attempt to hint on subjectivity of perception and taste than saying “michelangeli crap - gould top”
I disagree to an extent. Some of the swaying and facial expressions are genuinely felt by the performer some of the time. There are others who get on my nerves. Lang Lang comes to mind. He is very gifted but some of his interpretations are way too syrupy for me and I feel like a lot of those interpretations are plagued with way too much rubato. It's a beautiful thing when a performer is genuinely feeling the music that they are playing and you can see it. They are sharing what is in their very soul. Emotion should never be faked. That's just bad acting. I remember one of my teachers recitals where this young Asian boy, about 12 years old, went up to play his pieces. He was staring up at the sky almost the entire time that he was playing. I think he watched a few too many Lang Lang videos on RUclips lol 🤣.
Ive watch several of your videos and i must say that you are the best teacher ive ever encountered. The words you choose and the way you descibe the subject matter at hand is exemplary. I wish that i had had you as my teacher from day one. Everything you say is so, so right. I can't say enough in your praise. Thank you so much.
My hands always sweat before performing, but then I’m very calm during my performance. Afterwards, my hands would shake. When I was a little girl, my teacher had me playing duets with her in church each & every Sunday for offertories. Duets helped me develop good rhythm, & being in front of people on a regular basis in church & at piano recitals prepared me for becoming church pianist at age 12, & for performing professionally a few years after that.
Excellent points that do work ! Experience seems to help with improving stage presence and convincing that making oneself anxious and scared is unnecessary. We can order ourselves to stop any thoughts that we know are unjustified and focus on soothing ourselves and being confident even if it does not feel natural. What worked for me in the past is almost getting upset with myself that i was feeling over scared and anxious as if negating months of practice, that i had a duty to my work and to the music, so i was not going to leave the performance be determined by those hours and minutes before getting on stage in comparison to months of practice. And then thinking about the chance of playing the music to members of the audience who never heard it before rather than those familiar with it.
Thank you for this! Uniquely valuable content, as this subject is rarely “taught”; and a brilliant mix of practical tips and powerful inspiration, especially at the end. 💕
Excellent video! I’ve struggled with stage fright, trembling hands, disastrous memory slips and similar calamities, and I’ve learned it all comes with the territory. Thankfully it’s getting much better since I’ve been making it a point of keep playing for others to desensitize myself. I’ve been to piano camps, I started a monthly piano club, I also make my own recordings for my humble You Tube channel. None of these performances are perfect but I enjoy playing these pieces. As I am older, it’s been harder to memorize and have some hand stiffness, but since I don’t depend on this for a living, I just do it for the love of art, and I’m learning to feel “comfortable with the discomfort”. Thanks for your well-done videos, they are much appreciated!
I’ve never played with orchestra (I’m not that good) but the most memorable memory slips were during the first movement of the Italian Concerto, when I totally lost my footing and had to jump ahead 4 pages. Then many years later I was playing a beautiful rendition of Albeniz’s Evocacion and halfway through I went into a total blank. I crawled to a painful ending and walked offstage with my tail between my legs. It was being recorded and to this day I refuse to listen to the recording. Since then, I try to practice “mistake recovery”, I pretend I’m on an ice skating competition, I might stumble but have to pick myself up, thinking to myself “I just lost a few points”. Just today I was playing at our piano club’s monthly meeting and had slips in unexpected places, but it’s a very supportive atmosphere and it was all good. Being on stage, however, is quite different, but I don’t claim to be anything but an amateur and I don’t promise perfection.
Really great insights and advice!! Stage presence and performing is definitely its own skill where one must slowly experience and develop to find the most optimal way to present music that speaks and connects
Dying less likely than killing! Once I’ve attended a piano recital. An old lady got a heart attack during the concert and was evacuated while a pianist was tearing apart the piano with Mussorgsky’s heavy artillery. “I hope it’s not because of me” - he told then with a concern in his eyes. At that point I understood that this job is not as safe for the environment as it seems 😂
Wow. I really needed this video. This content is pure gold 🥇 I want to let you know that you are creating a very positive impact on many lives. Love from India ❤️
@@DenZhdanovPianist Definitely you are a happy person. I recently started following you. I wish RUclips had recommended You to me sooner. It takes a lot of empathy and maturity to share these types of contents. You really inspired me. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for these really important insights and tips. I, unfortunately, suffer heavily from anxiety with my new teacher and will try your tips.
Hold hands a couple of minutes in warm (not hot!) water, and a proper warm up / light stretch exercises right before going on stage. What I have noticed from experience, if you have an optimized technique which I promote on this channel, it’s easier to play without warming up, then if you’d mostly use just fingers.
Having a strong urge to communicate ideas when performing reminds me of actors who perform a script they've learned and memorized. There's something humbling about the learning process and self-discovery. The performance can be the reward of all the hard work.
This is a very nice and even intimate sharing of personal experiences. Really good. I think, the basic principles apply to life in general, no matter what we do. There needs to be full involvement to be able to forget about oneself. And musical expressions, especially on stage, are a huge challenge -- it deserves full admiration. And, to add up, if you tell someone to forget about a mistake, you can be 100% sure that he or she will be constantly thinking about such mistake...)
BRAVO ! Brilliant, as always!
This is overall such a well articulated and insightful video that I hate to highlight the silly parts, but the brief video edits you inject are just so good 😂😂
🤣🙏
My favorite stage presence of any pianist was that of Arturo Benedetto Michelangeli. An absolutely aristocrat at the piano. No grimacing, no romantic swooning body movements. If you watch him in Scarlatti he will end each sonata with a little flourish, going so far as to hold his little finger perfectly vertical on the final note. And he's not above adding an additional arpeggiated chord at the end. He carefully adjusts his white shirt sleeve cuffs before beginning each piece. During longer recitals (Chopin) he begins to sweat a little and aristocratically wipes his face with the handkerchief he has laid in the piano, but he refolds it before putting it back. Watching him play Scarlatti reminds me of a master sushi chef carving up the piece to perfection, then serving it to the audience on pristine white bone china. When he plays big Chopin pieces his face remains calm, but you can detect the powerful romantic forces he is containing. His Scherzo 2 and Sonata 2 are as well-done as I have ever heard, or seen.
I agree! It’s so distracting to watch pianists who contort their faces, exaggerate their gestures, move their bodies in odd ways, or sit with poor posture. These bad habits need to be nipped in the bid by their respective piano teachers. My teacher was a certified master teacher whose husband was an internationally acclaimed opera singer. She would often accompany him on piano. Anyway, she made sure to check me during each lesson. When I was preparing for piano competitions, she would also check how I walked to the bench, sat on the bench, played, stood & exited the stage.
I agree!
But I would still prefer crippled/humping/grimacing Gould to Michelangeli 😜
It’s a shame when we allow ourselves to make one-sided judgements by limiting our perception and reasoning about the nature of creativity and performance with just one aspect among so many.
@@DenZhdanovPianist when I was in my early teens and studying piano his performances of Bach were hailed as the greatest. It was only years later that I heard so many others and I often prefer their interpretations. Case in point, the Italian Concerto which he plays at an absurd tempo.
@@scottweaverphotovideo you’re absolutely right; Gould’s way of playing Bach was so successful because it was so refreshing in its extremity in comparison to romanticized style of that time, and of course now we know much more about the baroque tradition thanks to the historical practice research, so no sane person would imitate Gould.
And nevertheless, I like his personality a lot, and consider him a genius despite I would never agree with something or play like he does.
This is the most ridiculous aspect of art discussions that makes them useless: people just create a random criteria based on constantly changing personal preferences, and set up labels.
I respect Michelangeli also a lot, but for example his statue-frozen way of self presentation that you would rather call aristocratic doesn’t hit me at all. You might try to convince me that I am wrong and understand nothing, but this is just waste of time, because any of your or mine preferences based on personal subjective criteria that have value solely for you or me. So my comment about Gould was rather an attempt to hint on subjectivity of perception and taste than saying “michelangeli crap - gould top”
I disagree to an extent. Some of the swaying and facial expressions are genuinely felt by the performer some of the time. There are others who get on my nerves. Lang Lang comes to mind. He is very gifted but some of his interpretations are way too syrupy for me and I feel like a lot of those interpretations are plagued with way too much rubato.
It's a beautiful thing when a performer is genuinely feeling the music that they are playing and you can see it. They are sharing what is in their very soul. Emotion should never be faked. That's just bad acting. I remember one of my teachers recitals where this young Asian boy, about 12 years old, went up to play his pieces. He was staring up at the sky almost the entire time that he was playing. I think he watched a few too many Lang Lang videos on RUclips lol 🤣.
Excellet video, completelly agree with the philosophy 👏
Ive watch several of your videos and i must say that you are the best teacher ive ever encountered. The words you choose and the way you descibe the subject matter at hand is exemplary. I wish that i had had you as my teacher from day one. Everything you say is so, so right. I can't say enough in your praise. Thank you so much.
Thank you for a generous feedback, and I am happy you find this channel useful!
Thank you! Good
My hands always sweat before performing, but then I’m very calm during my performance. Afterwards, my hands would shake.
When I was a little girl, my teacher had me playing duets with her in church each & every Sunday for offertories. Duets helped me develop good rhythm, & being in front of people on a regular basis in church & at piano recitals prepared me for becoming church pianist at age 12, & for performing professionally a few years after that.
My feet shake on the damper pedal.
This is really excellent stuff! Bravo!
Glad you like it!
Excellent points that do work ! Experience seems to help with improving stage presence and convincing that making oneself anxious and scared is unnecessary. We can order ourselves to stop any thoughts that we know are unjustified and focus on soothing ourselves and being confident even if it does not feel natural. What worked for me in the past is almost getting upset with myself that i was feeling over scared and anxious as if negating months of practice, that i had a duty to my work and to the music, so i was not going to leave the performance be determined by those hours and minutes before getting on stage in comparison to months of practice. And then thinking about the chance of playing the music to members of the audience who never heard it before rather than those familiar with it.
Thank you for this! Uniquely valuable content, as this subject is rarely “taught”; and a brilliant mix of practical tips and powerful inspiration, especially at the end. 💕
Thank you!
Thank you so much for pointing to the ability to forgive oneself and unreasonable self-confidence. Thank you :)
Thank you!!
Excellent video! I’ve struggled with stage fright, trembling hands, disastrous memory slips and similar calamities, and I’ve learned it all comes with the territory. Thankfully it’s getting much better since I’ve been making it a point of keep playing for others to desensitize myself. I’ve been to piano camps, I started a monthly piano club, I also make my own recordings for my humble You Tube channel. None of these performances are perfect but I enjoy playing these pieces. As I am older, it’s been harder to memorize and have some hand stiffness, but since I don’t depend on this for a living, I just do it for the love of art, and I’m learning to feel “comfortable with the discomfort”. Thanks for your well-done videos, they are much appreciated!
Omg you don’t want that during a performance with orchestra 😅 stage fright has always plagued me. I’ve to work hard to overcome it.
I’ve never played with orchestra (I’m not that good) but the most memorable memory slips were during the first movement of the Italian Concerto, when I totally lost my footing and had to jump ahead 4 pages. Then many years later I was playing a beautiful rendition of Albeniz’s Evocacion and halfway through I went into a total blank. I crawled to a painful ending and walked offstage with my tail between my legs. It was being recorded and to this day I refuse to listen to the recording. Since then, I try to practice “mistake recovery”, I pretend I’m on an ice skating competition, I might stumble but have to pick myself up, thinking to myself “I just lost a few points”. Just today I was playing at our piano club’s monthly meeting and had slips in unexpected places, but it’s a very supportive atmosphere and it was all good. Being on stage, however, is quite different, but I don’t claim to be anything but an amateur and I don’t promise perfection.
Golden advice. Thanks!
Really great insights and advice!! Stage presence and performing is definitely its own skill where one must slowly experience and develop to find the most optimal way to present music that speaks and connects
Brilliant advice and insights as always!
0:52 I've always loved that scene lol. We need a video on how to handle *that* stage pressure.🤣 Great advice as always!
Dying less likely than killing!
Once I’ve attended a piano recital. An old lady got a heart attack during the concert and was evacuated while a pianist was tearing apart the piano with Mussorgsky’s heavy artillery.
“I hope it’s not because of me” - he told then with a concern in his eyes. At that point I understood that this job is not as safe for the environment as it seems 😂
@@DenZhdanovPianist Haha that's a brilliant anecdote.
Wow. I really needed this video. This content is pure gold 🥇
I want to let you know that you are creating a very positive impact on many lives.
Love from India ❤️
Thanks, then I am a truly happy person!
@@DenZhdanovPianist Definitely you are a happy person. I recently started following you. I wish RUclips had recommended You to me sooner. It takes a lot of empathy and maturity to share these types of contents. You really inspired me. Thank you so much.
we don't deserve this great content
You get it anyway, so you’d better believe you deserve! 🙏🔥🤗
Thank you so much for these really important insights and tips. I, unfortunately, suffer heavily from anxiety with my new teacher and will try your tips.
Exams and juries. Yes. Competitions yes.
How do you perfom piano when the theathre has the ac system to the lowest temperature? My hands get cold and its hard to play
Hold hands a couple of minutes in warm (not hot!) water, and a proper warm up / light stretch exercises right before going on stage.
What I have noticed from experience, if you have an optimized technique which I promote on this channel, it’s easier to play without warming up, then if you’d mostly use just fingers.