Not enough practice, too much self-doubt. LOL
Category Archives: Humor
This infographic of composers’ hands is painfully (and hilariously) accurate
Redditor NeokratosRed had an idea: depict the hands of great composers and pianists, according to the characteristics of their music. He shared it on the social media site, and also punted for suggestions of more. It has since received over 300,000 images views, and lots of further suggestions from fellow Redditors and piano geeks.
Whisks for Chopin’s elegant pianistic souffles, feather dusters for the gentle impressionism of Debussy, instruments of trade for the composer of the thunderous Hammerklavier sonata.
Piano, and the internet – top marks to the both of you.
via This infographic of composers’ hands is painfully (and hilariously) accurate | Classic FM.
Tartarov plays in the style of Mozart
Antonei Sergejvitch Tartarov was a fictional Russian pianist whose real name was Jean-Jacques Hauser.
He had an exceptional gift for improvisation.
On April 16, 1968 Hauser fooled an audience of 2,000 people in Zurich into thinking not only that he was a little-known Russian virtuoso (Tartarov), but that much of the improvised material in his program was composed by Beethoven, Mozart, Prokofiev, and Liszt.
Imagine when it was announced that the music the audience had just applauded as works of genius had actually been improvised on the spot by a home-grown Swiss pianist.
Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Danish comedian and pianist Victor Borge gives every impression of having been asked to play a duet with someone whom he not only doesn’t know, but doesn’t particularly like. Forced to come up with a mutually agreeable way of sharing the musical workload, he settles on the most difficult route possible.
It’s not clear why two pianists were needed for this performance of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, S.244/2. I think that they did it just for the fun of it. The result is hilarious.
They’re not the only ones to tackle Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 as a piano duo. We also have these guys:
Finally, for real:
Igudesman & Joo – Rachmaninov Had Big Hands
Pianist/composer Sergei Rachmaninov was possessed of both unusually large hands and a staggering lack of empathy when it came to writing piano music for other people. Hyung-ki Joo is by no means the first pianist to have been confounded by the mammoth chords of his Prelude in C sharp minor (Op.3, No.2).
He probably is the first to have come up with this particular solution helped by his partner in crime, violinist Aleksey Igudesman.
Dudley Moore’s Beethoven parody
This video was also posted on Dudley Moore’s birthday.
In this clip from the 1950’s-60s British comedy group “Beyond the Fringe,” Dudley Moore plays a very funny but also very musically well-done parody of a Beethoven Piano Sonata, using the famous whistling tune from “Bridge Over the River Kwai” as a thematic subject.
The ‘ending’ here is dragged out for a good minute and a half with Dudley showing every sign of wanting to escape from 3’42 onwards.
London 2012 Olympics
The 62,000-strong audience claps politely when Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra strike up Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire theme – but their roar of approval when the cameras pan to an unexpected keyboard soloist is nothing short of heartwarming.
A global television audience of 1 billion+ also loved Rowan Atkinson’s side-splitting performance as Mr Bean, if the subsequent YouTube hits are anything to go by.
MaryO'Studio 