Concerts

London

  • Early public concerts are collegia musica in Germanic lands and tavern concerts in England.
  • Advertisement announcing concert by Mozart’s children at a tavern (1765)
  • Documentation of J. C. Bach using fortepiano in concert (1767).
  • J.C. Bach’s concerts gained popularity that needed “greater rooms”
  • Hanover Square Rooms opened in 1775
      * Featuring J.C. Bach & K.F. Abel concert series
      * Haydn’s “London Symphonies”
      * Venue for great keyboard virtuosos
  • Keyboard was designed for use in “rooms”. Broadwood’s grand increased stability and reliability

Vienna

  • Mozart settled in Vienna in the early 1780s
  • Frequently performed in the aristocrat’s mansions of Esterhazy and Galitzin
  • Subscription concerts for his piano concertos in converted flour warehouse. Carted his fortepiano for performances
  • Concerts held at private settings at official court, church, theater.
  • Imperial theater and ballroom were expensive halls at Hapsburg palace
  • Piano manufacturers’ showrooms for the “unknown” artists at no charge
  • Society of Friends of the Music (1812) sponsored concerts, founded Vienna Conservatory in 1817, and Musikverein performing halls in 1870

Paris

  • Concert Spirituel (1725-90) was the first known public concert series
  • In the midst of French revolution, an orchestral concert followed by a ball were held in the courtyard of the Palais Royal in 1791
  • “.. Every tiny circle has turned into a concert society, every table into a piano, every woman into a musician…” (Violinist Pierre Baillot, 1790s)
  • Erard reopened in 1796 and Pleyel in 1807. The strength and sonority of French pianos eventually became the preferred piano by virtuosos
  • In 1827, music critic Francois-Joseph Fetis stated that piano occupied throughout a concert, displacing orchestral and chamber music.
  • The elegant concert hall of Paris Conservatory opened in 1811
      * The most stable concert series since the Concert Spirituel
      * Among the concerto soloists including Mendelssohn, Franck, Liszt, Chopin
  • Piano manufacturer’s concert halls were the desirable performing venues
      * Pleyel halls opened in 1830 and 1839, featuring over 200 concerts per season
  • Paris was the center for musicians to make a reputation in 1830s-40s.

New York

  • Sigismond Thalberg arrived in New York in 1856 and gave over 320 concerts in 80 cities within two years
  • Steinway hall with capacity of 2000 opened in 1866
      * Home of New York Philharmonic
      * Sponsor Anton Rubinstein to USA in 1872
  • Chickering hall in New York (1875) and Boston (1883)
      * Sponsor Hans Von Bulow who premiered Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto
  • William Knabe sponsored Tchaikovsky to New York for the opening of Carnegie Hall in 1891
  • “The erection of concert halls by piano manufacturers is entirely due to the influence of the virtuosos.” (Alfred Dolge, 1911)

 

Solo Recital

  • A concert featuring concerto might include solo, chamber music, singers, or multiple pianos. Chopin’s performance in Vienna included symphonic excerpts, solo concerto, operatic vocal excerpts, and ballets in second half.
  • In 1837-38, while on a concert tour to Milan, Rome, and Vienna, Liszt reduced the number of musicians until he play an entire concert himself.
      * Liszt proclaimed: “I am the concert” in imitation of Louis XIV declaring, “I am the state”
  • In 1840, London’s Hanover Square Rooms announced, “M. Liszt will give.. Recitals on the pianoforte”, 1850s seeing more solo “recital”.
  • In 1870s Clara Schumann dare to attempt solo recital
  • By late 19th century, a solo piano recital may include a single-composer program or the conservatory model program (mixture of different periods)

The Idolized Concert: Lisztomania

  • Liszt was considered the greatest pianist by his contemporaries
  • “His fingers have the speed of lightning, the vehemence and might of thunder. He accelerates agitato to the point of breathlessness… One no longer hears the piano, but storms, prayers, songs of triumph, transports of joy, heart-rending despair.” (Isacoff, p.105)
  • Liszt fever: Intense reaction and hysteria from the audience towards Liszt and his concerts
  • “Admirers of Liszt would swarm over him, fighting over his handkerchiefs and gloves. Fans would wear his portrait on brooches and cameos. Women would try to get locks of his hair. Whenever he broke a piano string, admirers would try to obtain it in order to make a bracelet. Some female admirers would even carry glass phials into which they poured his coffee dregs.”

On Stage Charisma (by Andre Watts)

  • The kind of stage charisma that Liszt enjoyed is simply the ability to communicate with an audience. Some pianists seem to be playing just for themselves. They like to peer inside the music, but don’t hold the picture up for the public.   Establishing a connection with audience involves a bit of magic. As Josef Hofmann said, we are all playing a percussion instrument, pretending to make it sing. But the unreasoning interior belief that you have accomplished this can be very powerful. It is the real core of being an exciting performer.
  • Unfortunately, performers with a lot of charisma are sometimes accused of superficiality. There are pianists with absolutely nothing to communicate who are considered profound simply because of the boredom they engender. Curiously, many people are afraid to connect profundity with fun.
  • We often resent a pianist who makes it look effortless. Sometimes this stirs up feelings of envy. It doesn’t seem fair!
  • Chefs often say that people eat with their eyes…

Valentino Liberace (1919-87)

  • At 20 he played Liszt’s Concerto No. 2 with Chicago Symphony
  • Change from classical pianist to an entertainer and showman
  • Eventually he became the “Mr. Showmanship” and a pop-culture superstar who embraced a flamboyant lifestyle
  • His staging was extravagant and large scale in Las Vegas
  • He was the highest paid entertainer in the world during the 1950–70s
  • “I don’t give concerts, I put up a show”
  • He recreated the classical tunes, prettification them and adding sentimentality to his glamorous image and staging

Lang Lang Concerts

  • 2006 FIFA World Cup commencement
  • 2007 Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm
  • 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
  • 50th Annual Grammy Awards, playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
  • 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for US President Barack Obama
  • 2012 London Olympic torch carrier
  • 2013, chosen as a United Nations Messenger of Peace — a role he said to help improve the lives of children around the world through education.
  • Highest paid pianist in the world