No. 68 • July/August 2020 • £5.99 www.international-piano.com INSIDE 13 PAGES OF EXPERT ADVICE FOR EVERY PIANO ENTHUSIAST SHEETFREE MUSIC GRIGOR KHACHATRYAN Armenian rising star pays homage to his heroes DEMONIC GENIUS Horowitz continues to stir controversy decades after his death TREASURE HUNT Discovering the piano music of Howells PLUS Lowell Liebermann unlocks the secrets of his celebrated Gargoyles Key resources for online learning during lockdown Discover our New Piano syllabus 2021 & 2022 NEW FOR 2021 A new Initial Grade for Piano, providing a pre-Grade 1 assessment Piano Exam Pieces, available with or without CD, from Initial Grade to New scales requirements and supporting resources Grade 8 o er a varied selection of 9 More choice and variety of pieces per grade from the syllabus. repertoire (30 pieces per grade) A duet option from Initial Grade Piano Scales and Arpeggios to Grade 3 A one-year overlap period - The Piano Scales & Arpeggios all pieces and scales must be from books have been revised the same syllabus to match the new scales requirements. ABRSM supports the teaching and learning of music Discover more and download the syllabus: in partnership with four Royal Schools of Music. abrsm.org/piano www.abrsm.org /abrsm @abrsm_music @abrsm @abrsm ABRSM YouTube #ABRSMpiano CONTENTS 5 EDITORIAL Learning during lockdown 6 LETTERS KLEMENS BEITLICH Your thoughts and comments 16 7 NEWS & NOTES Historic piano recordings catalogue launched online ••• Vladimir Feltsman curates Portland recital series ••• Igor Levit streams Satie’s complete Vexations 10 ONE TO WATCH Italian pianist Filippo Gorini IN BLACK AND WHITE 22 12 Is spiritual fulllment compatible with life as a concert artist? STEINWAY & SONS STEINWAY 14 ILL-TEMPERED CLAVIER Charivari warns against the dangers of streaming music for free 31 BREAKING THE MOULD Innovative design solutions from Phoenix Pianos 34 DIGITALLY DRIVEN Key resources for online study 36 PAUSE FOR THOUGHT 28 Charles Owen reects on some positive outcomes from the lockdown 39 SOUND TRUTHS Arpeggios – the Achille’s heel of exam- trained pianist TULLY POTTER COLLECTION POTTER TULLY SHEET MUSIC 42-48 REPERTOIRE FOCUS Gargoyles by Lowell Liebermann 42 Masterclass with the composer 44 Know the score 49 PIANO RARITIES Schulz-Evler’s Mélodie in F-sharp KENNEDY STACY 74 53 NEW MUSIC Vinterdans by Svein Hundsnes SPECIAL FEATURES 16 HEROIC STRUGGES 26 TREASURE HUNT 59 IN CONCERT Armenian pianist, teacher and Matthew Schellhorn unveils a Live reviews from London composer Grigor Khachatryan pays cornucopia of rare and unpublished homage to his national heroes piano works by Herbert Howells 60-72 NEW RELEASES CDs, DVDs, books and sheet music 22 DEMONIC GENIUS 28 BEHIND LOCKED DOORS Why do Vladimir Horowitz’s A look inside the ultra-secure 74 MUSIC OF MY LIFE Ilana Vered draws musical inspiration from performances and personality Steinway vault in Astoria, New York Eastern and Western traditions continue to stir controversy? www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 3 MORE TIME FOR MUSIC Dorico is the scoring software that helps you write, print and play back music notation to the highest professional standards. It is easy enough for anyone to learn, yet has hundreds of advanced notations, features, options and sounds to satisfy the most demanding professionals. Fast, streamlined and effortless — Dorico feels so natural, you’ll soon forget you’re using software at all. Its built-in intelligence produces beautiful results automatically, so you can focus on expressing your creativity and getting back to doing what you really love: making music. When you’re ready to make beautiful music faster than ever, visit our website to fi nd out more and to download Dorico 3.5. steinberg.net/dorico All specifications are subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2020 Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All rights reserved. EDITOR’S NOTE Finding focus e certainly seem to be living in interesting times. First Meanwhile, there’s a wealth of online streaming content with which came the global pandemic followed by protests calling to engage, thanks to the artists and institutions who in many cases for racial equality, while the latest news headlines are have been sharing their music for free. As this issue of International predicting a global economic downturn on a scale not Piano went to press, several festivals announced that they will now be seenW since the 1930s. streaming content online rather than cancelling altogether, including Playing the piano can seem like a distraction or escape from such Lille Piano(s), Verbier and the Riga Jurmala Academy. Details of these harsh realities but personally I’ve found it to be a source of great solace and many more events will be posted on our website and social media during these di cult times. Aside from the fact that it pages, so please do consider following us if you don’t already. poses never-ending technical challenges which in turn Where, though, will it all end? Our provocative columnist Charivari provide a focus for the mind, making music connects can always be relied upon to take a contrary view and this month us with our inner life of feeling more keenly than warns about the dangers of musicians giving too much away for almost any other kind of activity. free – however honourable their intentions (page 14). I’d love to As Charles Owen points out in his excellent know your views about this too – please feel free to write to me piece in this issue (‘Pause for thought’, page 36), at [email protected] people have responded to the lockdown in many di erent ways, ‘ranging from utter despair to hyper Owen Mortimer, Editor motivation’. Charles himself has summoned the will to focus and immerse himself in practice, leading him to ‘fall in love anew with the aural and tactile contact International Piano o� ers a rich mix of inspiration and guidance to pianists which the piano o ers every committed pianist’. and piano fans around the world, from dedicated amateurs and For those of us who haven’t reached the students to professional pianists, teachers and a� cionados. heights of Charles’ artistry, we may Celebrating the piano in all its forms, including the nd it harder to throw ourselves fortepiano and digital keyboards, each edition of our into practising without a teacher or magazine is packed with interviews, features, news and reviews showcasing the top artists of today regular lessons. is is where online and yesteryear. Practical advice for players runs the learning can become a lifeline, gamut from articles on technique and repertoire to providing the stimulation, structure learning resources and study courses, plus the latest and support we need to pursue developments in piano technology. our playing. Some recommended Our goal is to draw together the fascinating strands resources are given on page 34 of that make the piano such a popular instrument, enhancing every reader’s knowledge and supporting this issue. those who strive to master its challenges. @IP_mag fb.com/internationalpiano EDITORIAL ADVERTISING © MA Music, Leisure and Travel Ltd, 2019. All rights reserved. No part of International Piano may Phone +44 (0)20 7333 1702 Phone +44(0)207 333 1741 be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted Editor-in-Chief Owen Mortimer Title Manager Edward Croome in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, [email protected] photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written [email protected] permission of the publishing director. The views expressed Editorial Director Ashutosh Khandekar Group Sales Manager Alisdair Ashman do not necessarily represent those of the editor. The International Piano Assistant Editor Josephine Miles Production Controller Larry Oakes, presence of advertisements in implies no endorsement of the products or services o� ered. Every Design Louise Wood Leandro Linares, +44 (0)20 7501 6665 www.markallengroup.com e� ort has been made to ensure the accuracy of statements Music Typesetting Beautiful Setting [email protected] in this magazine but we cannot accept responsibility for [email protected] errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical Piano or printers’ errors, or an advertiser not completing their PUBLISHING International , ISSN 2042-0773, contract. We have made every e� ort to secure permission EDITORIAL BOARD (USPS 7295) is published monthly by to use copyright material. Where material has been used Phone +44(0)20 7738 5454 MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd, St Jude’s Church, inadvertently or we have been unable to trace the copyright Iain Burnside, Peter Froundjian, Adam Publishing Director Owen Mortimer Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB, United Kingdom. owner, acknowledgement will be made in a future issue. Gatehouse, Stephen Hough, Donald Manildi Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy Please read our privacy policy by visiting Simon Markson, Charles Owen, Roberto http://privacypolicy.markallengroup.com. Luca Da Re The US annual subscription price is $91.99. Airfreight and This will explain how we process, use and safeguard your data. Prosseda, Johan Sandback, Mike Spring Marketing Manager John Barnett mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Printed in the UK by Group Institutional Sales Manager Jas Atwal Pensord, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood, NP12 2YA SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. Production Director Richard Hamshere US Postmaster: Send address changes to International Newstrade distribution by Seymour 020 7429 4000 Phone UK 0800 137201 Circulation Director Sally Boettcher Piano, WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA Overseas +44(0)1722 716997 Managing Director Paul Geoghegan Subscription records are maintained at MA Music, Leisure Email [email protected] Chief Operating O cer Jon Benson & Travel Ltd, Unit A, Buildings 1-5 Dinton Business Park, Subscriptions Manager Bethany Foy Chief Executive O cer Ben Allen Catherine Ford Road, Dinton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5HZ.