Wisdom from concert pianists

Angela Hewitt Performance of Clair de Lune

Angela Hewitt Performance of Clair de Lune

Perhaps one of the most uplifting interpreters and performers is Angela Hewitt, the Canadian concert pianist. Her live performance at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music of Clair de Lune—a favorite of many students of adult piano lessons—is so pristine that it becomes instructive.

Lent’s Thirds in Clair de Lune

Lent’s Thirds in Clair de Lune

Three weeks into Lent, I saw her slumped on a side staircase at Penn Station, her face set with weariness although she was fast asleep.

How Martha Argerich uses Chopin and Tempo Rubato

How Martha Argerich uses Chopin and Tempo Rubato

When I returned to the piano after a 25-year hiatus, I struggled with tempo rubato. I could not conceive how to inject my music with these mysterious elongations and compressions in the tempo.