The Well-Tempered Ear
Today is World Piano Day — so play, listen, watch, celebrate
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
World Piano Day — established in 2015 — falls on the 88th day of the year because the standard piano keyboard has 88 keys.
Because 2024 is a Leap Year, World Piano Day is being celebrated a day later than usual — on today, March 28.
For more background and past playlists, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Day
There are lots of free celebrations online, to say nothing of just sitting down at a piano and playing or listening to someone else play or going to your library of CDs and LPs or using your streaming service.
Here is a list of live international events from March 12-April 7, complete with information links, to concerts and other events marking Piano Day around the world.
Some presenters have put together their own special celebrations. DG is offering a 30-day free trial to its Stage+ streaming site to mark the occasion.
Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s oldest classical record company, has a terrific stable of prize-winning, critically acclaimed pianists, includes Maurizio Pollini who died last Saturday, as well as Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Vikingur Olaffson, Maria Joao Pires, Seong-Jin Cho, Grigory Sokolov, Alice Sara Ott, Daniil Trifonov, Hélène Grimaud and Bruce Liu.
Check it out. Here is a link to DG’s celebration:
You can also find many things to watch and hear — concerts, documentaries — for this year and from past year of YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=World+Piano+Day
And at the bottom, from World Piano Day 2023, is a YouTube video with 88 minutes of piano music from masters old and current — including Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein — to celebrate World Piano Day:
Will you celebrate World Piano Day?
Do you play the piano or did you take piano lessons?
Do you have a favorite pianist?
Do you have a favorite composer and favorite piece for the piano?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Prize-Winning, #YouTubevideo, 2023, 2024, 88, acclaim, Adfrica, African, Apple, Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, Arrau, Arts, Ashkenazy, asian, audience, Barenboim, Baroque, Beethoven, black, blog, Bruce Liu, CD, celebrate, celebration, Chamber music, China, Chinese, Cho, Chopin, Classical music, Columbia, composer, Concert, concerto, critic, critical, critically acclaimed, day, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, DG, documentary, Early music, establish, Europe, European'Asia, event, Facebook, favorite, Fujita, Gilels, globe, Google, Google Search, Grigory Sokolov, Grimaud, hear, Helene Grimaud, Horowtz, Hough, Iceland, Icelandic, international, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Johann Sebastian Bach, Keyboard, keys, Kissin, Korean, Lang Lang, Leap Year, Levit, liberty, library, Lim, link, listen, Liu, LP, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mao, Mao Fujita, Maria Joao Pires, Maurizio Pollini, Mozart, Music, music students, Naxos, ok, Orchestra, OS, Ott, Perahia, Philips, Pianist, Piano, piano lessons, piano music, piece, Pires, play, playlist, Polish, Pollini, popular, RCA, repertoire, repertory, Richter, Rubinstein, Russia, Russian, Schiff, share, Sokolov, Sonata, SONY, Sony Classical, South America, South American, South Korea, South Korean, stage, standard, stream, streaming, streaming service, symphony, tag, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, today, Trifonov, Uchida, United States, universal, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Van Cliburn, Vikingur Olafsson, Wang, Well-Tempered, white, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wong, world, World Piano Day, year, YouTube, Yuja Wang, Yunchan Lim
Today is World Piano Day. Deutsche Grammophon has a free online celebration
6 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Wednesday March 29, 2023 — is World Piano Day.
That is because today is the 88th day of the year — and most pianos these days have 88 keys, with the exception of the Austrian high-end maker Bösendorfer, which also makes models with 91 and 97 keys.
Deutsche Grammophon is the world’s oldest recording label and has signed many great pianists in the past and continues to do so today, including two of the Ear’s young favorites: South Korean pianist and 2015 Chopin Competition gold medalist Seong-Jin Cho (below top) and Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olaffsson (below bottom).
Here’s the press release:
“Deutsche Grammophon is set to mark World Piano Day on 29 March 2023 with its fourth international festival of pianism.
“Available to enjoy without charge on DG’s streaming service STAGE+ and the label’s YouTube channel, the festival will turn the spotlight on artists including Joep Beving, Seong-Jin Cho, Brian Eno and Roger Eno, Jan Lisiecki, Hélène Grimaud, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Bruce Liu, Fabian Müller, Víkingur Ólafsson, Max Richter, Grigory Sokolov and Daniil Trifonov.
“Together they will offer a feast of music ranging from the keyboard works of J.S. Bach and Handel to contemporary compositions.
“Music-lovers will be able to tune in free of charge for 30 days by using promo code WORLDPIANODAY. Full details can be found at https://worldpianoday.com.”
Piano students and fans will love the many close-ups and hand shots.
You can also sample the 1 hour, 21 minute-digital celebration on YouTube via this link (be sure to click of HEAR MORE to see the pianist, the piece and the timing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H5ZRqfDZ7Y.
You can hear one of The Ear’s favorite young pianists, pieces and recordings — a new release — at the bottom.
Who is your favorite established pianist?
Who is your favorite young pianist?
What are your favorite piano pieces?
Do you have a favorite piano recording, old or new, to recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BösendorferPiano, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BruceLiu, #BuckyBadger, #ChopinInternationalPianoCompetition, #DaniilTrifonov, #FacebookPost, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #KoreanMusician, #LangLang, #Seong-JinCho, #TheEar, #VikingurOlaffsson, #WilhelmKempff, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, 88, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Austria, Austrian, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Bosendorfer, Brian Eno, Bruce Liu, Canada, Canadian, celebration, Chamber music, China, Chinese, Chopin, Chopin International Piano Competition, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, contemporary, contemporary composers, Daniil Trifonov, Deutsche Grammophon, DGG, digital, Early music, Evgeny Kissin, Facebook, favorite, Gold medal, Grigory Sokolov, Grimaud, Handel, hear, Helene Grimaud, Jacob Stockinger, Jan Lisiecki, Japan, Japanese, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kempff, key, Korea, Lang Lang, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, march, Max Richter, month, Mozart, Music, online, Orchestra, Piano, piece, recital, recommend, recording, Seong-Jin Cho, share, solo, Sonata, South Korea, South Korean, The Ear, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Vikingur Olaffsson, Wilhelm Kempff, winner, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, World Piano Day, year, young, YouTube
How will you celebrate World Piano Day today?
22 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Tuesday, March 29, 2022 — is World Piano Day.
(Below is a restored vintage concert grand piano at Farley’s House of Pianos used for recitals in the Salon Piano Series.)
How will you mark it? Celebrate it?
It’s a fine occasion to revisit your favorite pianist and favorite piano pieces.
Who is your favorite pianist, and what piano piece would you like to hear today?
If you yourself took piano lessons or continue to play, what piece would you play to mark the occasion? Fo the Ear, it will be either a mazurka by Chopin or a movement from either a French Suite or a Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach. Maybe both!
What piano piece do you wish you could play, but never were able to? For The Ear, it would be the Ballade No. 4 in F minor by Chopin.
One of the best ways to mark the day is to learn about a new younger pianist you might not have heard of.
For The Ear, one outstanding candidate would be the Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson ( below), who has won critical acclaim and who records for Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
Olafsson has a particular knack for innovative and creative programming, like his CD that alternates works by Claude Debussy and Jean-Philippe Rameau.
He also seems at home at in many different stylistic periods. His records every thing from Baroque masters, to Mozart and his contemporaries in the Classical period — including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach — to Impressionists to the contemporary composer Philip Glass.
But The Ear especially loves his anthology of Bach pieces (below) that include original works and transcriptions, including some arranged by himself. His playing is always precise and convincing, and has the kind of cool water-clear sound that many will identify with Andras Schiff.
You can hear a sample of his beautiful playing for yourself in the YouTube video at the bottom. It is an live-performance encore from his inaugural appearance last August at The Proms in London, where he also played Mozart’s dramatically gorgeous Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor (also available on YouTube.)
Final word: You might find some terrific pianists and performances on the Internet. Record labels, performing venues and other organizations are marking the day with special FREE recitals that you can reach through Google and Instagram.
Happy playing!
Happy listening!
Please leave a comment and let The Ear and other readers know what you think of the piano — which seems to be falling out of favor these days — and which pianists and piano pieces you will identify this year with World Piano Day.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AndrasSchiff, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarlPhilippEmanuelBach, #Classicalera, #ClaudeDebussy, #CompactDisc, #ConcertGrandPIano, #CriticalAcclaim, #DeutscheGrammophon, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FredericChopin, #FrenchSuite, #InstagramPost, #Jean-PhilippeRameau, #JohannSebastianBach, #LivePerformance, #PhilipGlass, #PianoConcerto, #PianoLessons, #PianoPiece, #PianoTranscription, #RecordLabel, #SalonPIanoSeries, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #TheProms, #UnitedKingdom, #VikingurOlafsson, #WorldPianoDay, #YouTubevideo, Album, alternate, always, András Schiff, anthology, arrangement, Arts, audience, Bach, Ballade, Baroque, beautuful, best, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, CD, celebrate, Chopin, clarity, Classical era, Classical music, Claude Debussy, clear, Compact Disc, composer, comtemporary, Concert, concert grand, concert grand piano, concerto, conviction, convincing, cool, creative, critical acclaim, day, Debussy, debut, Deutsche Grammophon, DG, dramatic, Early music, encore, England, Facebook, Farley's House of Pianos, favor, favorite, Frédéric Chopin, free, French Impressionism, French Suite, Glass, Google, gorgeous, hear, Home, Iceland, identify, Impressionism, inaugural, innovative, Instagram, Internet, Islandic, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach, knack, learn, lesson, link, listen, live performance, London, Love, mark, Master, movement, Mozart, Music, occasion, Orchestra, partita, performing, period, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, piano lesson, piano piece, play, playing, post, precise, program, programming, Rameau, recital, record, Record label, records, restore, Salon Piano Series, sample, share, special, stream, style, stylistic, symphony, tag, terrific, The Ear, The Proms, transcription, UK, United Kingdom, venue, video, Vikingur Olafsson, vintage, water, way, wish, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, world, World Piano Day, young, YouTube
Today – Monday, March 29 – is World Piano Day. Here are links to free online recitals. What does the piano mean to you? Did it play a role during the pandemic?
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today – March 29, 2021 – is World Piano Day.
That is because today is the 88th day of 2021.
Gotta have some kind of code or symbolic meaning, after all.
In any case, there are virtual online celebrations all over the world. Here is a link to the official welcoming website that also lists Spotify and SoundCloud playlists from past years and dozens of worldwide events this year, running from March 25-30: https://www.pianoday.org
You can also find more on Google, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The piano means a lot to The Ear, who listens to it and plays it. He loves, loves, loves the piano.
What has the piano and piano music meant to you in your life?
What role did the piano play for you during the past pandemic year?
Have you listened to or discovered newer, younger talent?
Do you have favorite pianists, either historic or current? What do you like about them?
Or maybe you have favorite piano pieces?
Please tell us all about you and the piano in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
In the meantime you can listen to the World Piano Day “monster recital” by 17 pianists who record for Deutsche Grammophon. The “Yellow Label” – the first commercial record label — has signed a lot of great pianists in its time, and still does.
Here is a link to the YouTube DG recital, which lasts 2 hours and 50 minutes. If you go to the actual YouTube site, click on Show More to see the complete list of performers and pieces. Otherwise performers and programs are displayed on the screen:
Tags: #AliceSaraOtt, #ArthurRubinstein, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChickCorrea, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DaniilTrifonov, #DeutscheGrammophon, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FredericChopin, #HomeWebsite, #InternationalDoubleReedSociety, #JacobStockinger, #JanLisiecki, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #LangLang, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MariaJoaoPires, #OnlineConcert, #PhilipGlass, #PianoMusic, #PIanoRecital, #RecordedMusic, #RecordLabel, #RichardStrauss, #RudolfBuchbinder, #Seong-JinCho, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SviatoslavRichter, #SymbolicMeaning, #TheEar, #VirtualConcert, #VladimirHorowitz, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPianoDay, #YannickNezet-Seguin, #YellowLabel, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, 2021, Alice Sara Ott, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Bach, Baldwin, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Blog post, blog posting, celebration, Chick Correa, Chopin, Classical music, coe, commercial, composer, computer, Concert, coronavirus, Correa, current, Daniil Trifonov, Deutsche Grammophon, DG, discover, display, Early music, Europe, European, event, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, favorite, first, forward, Frédéric Chopin, Google, great, hear, historic, home website, Horowitz, Instagram, international, Jacob Stockinger, Jan Lisiecki, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Strauss, Kawai, key, Lang Lang, life, like, link, listen, local, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, march, Maria Joao Pires, mean, meaning, Mozart, Music, national, new, online, pandemic, performer, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, piano music, piano recital, piece, play, post, posting, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, recital, Record label, recorded music, regional, Richard Strauss, Richter, role, Rudolf Buchbinder, screen, Seong-Jin Cho, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, sign, Sonata, SoundCloud, Spotify, Steinway, Strauss, Sviatoslav Richter, symbolic, symbolic meaning, tag, talent, tell, The Ear, time, today, Trifonov, Twitter, United States, video, virtual, Vladimir Horowitz, Website, welcome, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, world, World Piano Day, Yamaha, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, year, Yellow Label, you, your, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
 | Robert Graebner on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Today is World Piano Day. Why do you love the piano? Do you have a favorite piano piece? A favorite pianist? Something to say about taking piano lessons? Want to thank your piano teacher? The Ear wants to hear
5 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today – Saturday, March 28, 2020 – is World Piano Day.
The international celebration is fitting because today happens to be Day 88 of the year – a timely parallel to the fact that most pianos have 88 keys.
Here is a link to the official website with a list of international events and other links to playlists of piano music on SoundCloud and Spotify: https://www.pianoday.org
Here is a link to the virtual live streaming piano festival — starting at 3 p.m. Central European Time (CET), which is 6 hours ahead of Central Daylight Time or at 9 a.m. CDT) — by the record label Deutsche Grammophon: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/classical-news/deutsche-grammophon-world-piano-day-livestream/
A lot of us took piano lessons.
So today seems like a good occasion to say something about the role of the piano in your life.
Why do you love the piano? The sound? The physical act of playing? The vast repertoire?
Maybe you want to mention a specific piano piece that made a difference in your life, as the Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39, by Chopin did for The Ear. (You can hear Arthur Rubinstein play it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Maybe you have a favorite piano piece or piano composer you like to listen to?
Maybe you wished you had stopped lessons earlier or continued them longer?
Would you like to say thank you to your piano teacher?
Maybe you have memories – good or bad — of a recital you gave?
Who is your favorite pianist from the past – maybe Van Cliburn or Vladimir Horowitz (below), Sviatoslav Richter or Dame Myra Hess?
Which pianist today would you recommend to others? Daniil Trifonov or Haochen Zhang, Simone Dinnerstein (below) or Maria Joao Pires?
Those suggestions hardly exhaust the possibilities. So be creative and leave a Comment with a YouTube link, if possible.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #ArthurRubinstein, #AsianMusicians, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralDaylightSavingTime, #CentralDaylightTime, #CentralEuropeanTime, #DaniilTrifonov, #DeutscheGrammophon, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FredericChopin, #HaochenZhang, #HomeWebsite, #HowardGoodall, #InternationalPianoDay, #LiveStreaming, #MariaJoaoPires, #MyraHess, #People'sRepublicofChina, #PianoDay, #PianoLessons, #PianoMusic, #PIanoTeacher, #RecordingLabels, #Russianpianist, #SimoneDinnerstein, #SouthKorea, #SviatoslavRichter, #ThankYou, #TimeZone, #VanCliburn, #VladimirHorowitz, #YouTubevideo, 88, ahead, American, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Asia, audience, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, celebration, Central Daylight Saving Time, Central Daylight Time, Central European Times, China, Chinese, Chopin, Chopin Scherzo, Classical music, comment, composer, Concert, concerto, creative, Daniil Trifonov, day, daylight, Deutsche Grammophon, DG, difference, Dinnerstein, early, Europe, European, event, Facebook, favorite, festival, first, fitting, forward, Frédéric Chopin, good, Haochen Zhang, hear, home website, Horowitz, hour, international, International Piano Day, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Korea, Korean, label, later, lessons, life, like, link, listen, live, livestream, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, march, Maria Joao Pires, Masterpiece Theatre, memories, memory, mention, Music, Myra Hess, official, parallel, performer, Piano, Piano Day, piano lessons, piano music, piano teacher, piece, playlist, Portugal, Portuguese, possibility, post, posting, recital, record, repertoire, repertory, Richter, role, Russia, Russian, Saturday, say, Scherzo, share, Simone Dinnerstein, Sonata, Sound, SoundCloud, South Korea, specific, Spotify, stream, streaming, Sviatoslav Richter, tag, Teacher, thank, thank you, thanks, time zone, timely, today, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Van Cliburn, vast, virtual, Vladimir Horowitz, Website, why, Wisconsin, world, World Piano Day, worldwide, year, your, YouTube, Zhang