MJ has to be the most completely talented entertainer of the last 50 years. No, not the best singer, but a complete being of entertainment. To see the passion that he brings, the complete involvement and mastery is inspiring as well as riveting. I’m getting goose bumps watching him flawlessly execute complex dance moves with an ease and facility that is astonishing.

Yes I’m a fan, but I’m biased. This guy is a complete utter professional, immersed with his whole being into his craft and art. It’s a level of involvement and dedication and focus to strive for.

Yes, the guy had issues, but how can he not. He has been in a hot house of visibility his entire life . He probably did not really know how to be a normal person

I could see an opera based on his life….just sayin’.

The Rest Is Noise is a wonderful exploration of the important composers of the 20th century. The 2nd, Listen To This, is a collection of his writing for The New Yorker.

Throughout both, Ross conveys the sublime wonder of serious music in a way that brings the reader along, no matter their level of knowledge and experience. He doesn’t limit himself to classical music. In Listen To This, he explores Bob Dylan and Bjork with the same thoughtfulness and sensitivity that he shows for Mozart, Berg and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Ross shows that understanding a little about what goes on behind the music only enhances the experience. He is a wonderful guide.

I’ve returned to the cult of active piano playing.

If you’ve never been a member, you’re probably scoffing at my romantic, smarmy language. But that’s ok. As members of any cult know, standing up to public opposition and ridicule is part of the experience and it makes the rewards that much sweeter.

I did it in 2 simple steps. First, I decided that I wanted to rejoin and then I started taking lessons again from a wonderful doctoral candidate at NYU.

Bach, Schumann, Scriabin and Stephen Sondheim have come back into my life as my personal friends. When I’m not sitting at the piano I’m thinking about sitting at the piano. And even at my lowest, when I think about where I’d be if I hadn’t drifted away the last time, I take great satisfaction in knowing that already I’m beyond where I left.

Being in this cult does not depend on a single messiah. There is no single personality dominating me nor have I pledged my worldly possessions. All it takes is willpower (and a piano). I’ve committed time and attention and in return some of the greatest minds in civilization have come into my house and my mind, hopefully to stay.

I hope I remain a member for the rest of my life.

If you’ve been exposed to marketing in the piano industry you realize that just about any construction trait can be justified and explained, even if it seems in direct opposition to other makers. For example, the proponents of the new Phoenix bridge system say that it eliminates the need for down bearing in a piano. However in traditional design down bearing is, next to tuning pin torque, a fundamental requirement. More important, frankly, than 88 keys!

Quality is not necessarily the most important trait of a piano. Calling a piano high quality may mean next to nothing especially if the characteristic of a particular maker falls short in a more critical area: consistency.

To be consistent means that you can build something the same way more than once, and in the piano world this is important since most pianos are lifetime purchases. In fact with most pianos, their true tonal nature is not necessarily obvious when they are brand new. Consistency means that the high quality a particular company’s marketing material refers to is more than just random chance. If you can do something consistently, it means you really understand what you are doing and mean for it to turn out that way. Consistency implies quality, because it is intentional.

There is a prominent piano maker who is known for “quality”, but they are also known for being maddeningly inconsistent. In fact they have turned this, remarkably, into an attribute, stressing that no two of their pianos are alike and one should try a number of their pianos to find one that one likes. It is true that when one is of these brand of pianos is properly made they can be, to those that like their individual sound, wonderful instruments. However the degree of variability goes from sublime to unplayable. In fact, it is a certain badge of honor among accomplished piano technicians that they can make these actions “work”, regardless of the regulation specification. These technicians take great pride in the fact that they use regulation specifications as “guidelines” since regulating an action perfectly to specs does not guarantee that that action will play; that is how great the manufacturing variability is.

Now it is true that pianos by their very nature vary to some degree. They are very complex items made out of materials that are not known for great consistency, such as wood and felt. And yet, there are makers at most price points that turn out remarkably consistent products. There may be one brand that appeals to an individual more than another, but they all play fine, tune and regulate fine, and sound comfortably within the norms of that particular maker.

Consistency does not necessarily mean that you will like the end result. Many makers from Asia are known for remarkable consistency. However you may not be a fan of the sound, even while honoring their consistency of construction. However, I believe that this consistency is a higher measure of quality. This trumps the quality of the one example of a makers output that is beautiful, while 4 are unplayable and 5 are varying degrees of so-so.

After all, it’s your money and maybe you are not the best positioned to judge the ultimate quality of a piano. Shouldn’t you be able to count on something from a maker than just hollow marketing claims and the luck of the draw?

I was back in Berlin recently. This being my 3rd trip, I’m beginning to feel like I know my way around a little. However this time it was freezing and dangerous since clearly nobody shovels snow in Berlin and every single walking surface was covered by an inch thick, uneven, rock hard layer of ice. The streets, however, were fine.

Berlin has any number of places to recommend to visitors, but I’m recommending the Food floor  on the 6th level of the KaDeWe department store.

The store is a huge upscale department store, similar to Bloomingdales in the US, and more upscale than Macys. However the 6th floor is a food lovers delight. Similar to Harrods in London, you can find any kind of food here, from raw meats and fish of any type, to canned, bottled and boxed items in a bewildering array.

However the revelation to me was the variety of food “stations” (for lack of a better word) where one could grab a quick bite. These ranged from a variety of wine and champagne bars, to a number of small individual cooking stations, some with tables and some with only counters, where one could eat whatever was the specialty of that station. I chose fish and had them take a beautiful hunk of salmon from the display and plop it directly on the grill.

Other stations included shell fish (oysters, clams etc), sushi, steaks and chops, wurst and sausages (including some, the ingredients of which I chose not to consider)  and just about everything in between.

While I was having my dinner, a group of casual (youngish) business people sat down and ordered 10 Lobster tails and had a huge plate of oysters sent over from the shell fish station nearby. Clearly the business climate is improving somewhere.

My salmon, salad and rice enjoyed, I moseyed over to a small hidden bar serving genuine  Budwiser beer from the Czech Republic.This is a wonderful true European Pils with no connection to the yellow water called Budwiser in this country.

The real treat was the bartender who looked like he came out of a George Groz cartoon.  Pouring a beer took almost 5 minutes, with a glass rinse, an initial pour then a pause while the head settled. Another pour followed by another head settle, followed yet again. The result was a perfect foam head that clearly was an important part of the beer experience that he served up.

There is craftsmanship everywhere, you just have to look for it.

World Trade Center Tribute

Here is a really great short essay on why serious music is important.

This video is short. Make sure you listen to the end.

www.newportmusic.org

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Newport Venue

This year it takes place from July 10-26 and if you can possibly go, you should.

Here is a list of the pianists performing this year:

Augustin Anievas, Edward Auer, Junghwa Moon Auer, John Bayless, Bernadene Blaha, Gergely Boganyi, Jean-Phillipe Collard, Jens Elvekjaer, Michael Endres, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Eduardus Halim, Alain Jacquon, Jakov Kakoulov, Pedja Muzijevic, Daniel del Pino, Igor Tkachenko and Grigorios Zamparas.

This does not include singers, cellists etc etc of real reknown.

The secret of most great experiences, whether its music, a festival or a piano, is the application of a distinct personality and the Newport Festival has the stamp of Mark Malkovich Senior all over it. For 30 some years Mark has sculpted a deliciously unique festival based on his deep love of music, his encyclopedic knowledge of the repertoire and his sense of humor in creating programs and assembling performers. The result is a combination of sublime standard repertoire and humorous, provoking and sometimes just downright perplexing choices of little known pieces by well known, and sometimes little known composers. While many of these pieces are not in the mainstream for a reason, many of them are delightful and often thrilling.

Frequently one of the reasons pieces are not well known is that they are fiendishly difficult.  One of the hallmarks of being in residence at Newport is that you (must) play a vast number of pieces, many of which are real bears that you will most likely not play again. But what comes out is a festival full of surprises, gems, delights and groaningly witty and sophisticated puns.

But make no mistake, Mark knows his stuff and the list of US debuts of major artists at Newport is legendary.

The great Sergio Fiorentino

During my time at Yamaha, I collaborated with Mark to present a series of recitals at Alice Tully Hall in New York. The goal was to show the Yamaha CFIIIS concert piano in mainstream professional settings and Mark had the connections with the artists. We presented the great Sergio Fiorentino twice and Dubravka Tomsic literally brought the house down. If you don’t know those names, you’re in for a treat. Maestro Fiorentino sadly died about 10 years ago but Tomsic is thriving in her native Ljubljana.

The festival is held inside the various Newport mansions and, I promise you, is a real treat.

Me and Dr. Mark P. Malkovich