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Την Πέμπτη, 14/5, στις 12 το μεσημέρι στο κοιμητήριο Καλλιθέας θα αποχαιρετήσουμε με απέραντη θλίψη την φίλη και συνεργάτιδα Ευγενία Πατάκη !

I’m sad to announce the passing of another elderly American pianistic master, the third in recent weeks: Seymour Bernstein died peacefully this past Thursday, just a few days after his 99th birthday.

This brilliant musician and creative master had been unknown to me until some time in the last decade, when a colleague loaned me a film that actor Ethan Hawke had made about Bernstein, stating that she knew I would be absolutely riveted by the production. Sure enough, I was truly mesmerised by the grounded yet truly spiritual perspective that Bernstein brought to piano playing, music, and creative expression as a whole.

Hawke created an absolute masterpiece with this tribute and managed to get Bernstein to give his first recital in some 50 years (he had retired due to stage fright and become a teacher instead) and the playing at this small intimate event was exquisite. I’ve linked the trailer to that feature in the comments and urge you to seek out the full film if you haven’t yet seen it. It’s incredible.

There are also several videos of Bernstein sharing fascinating musical and broader insights in a series of videos that Ben Laude produced when he was the head of piano at Tonebase, all of them worth watching. I will link one marvellous extended conversation in the comments.

I will also share a wonderful interview with Zsolt Bognar in his Living The Classical Life series, which offers more insight into the life and mindset of this musical master.

I regret that I never had a chance to meet Bernstein and only exchanged a few emails with him, but I treasure those brief shares. One memorable one came when I sent a feature I had written about Carl Friedberg. His response moves me even more today:

𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯’𝘴 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 20𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘐 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥… 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.

RIP Maestro Bernstein - thank you for the treasures you brought to the world.

https://www.facebook.com/share/17DPmfBdgK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Virtuoso pianist Ruth Slenczynska has died aged 101, after a remarkable nine-decade career.

Born in California in 1925 to Polish immigrant parents, Slenczynska debuted in concert at just four, appeared on television at five, and performed across Europe by six. She studied with Rachmaninov and was believed to be his last living pupil, even once stepping in for him at short notice due to injury.

Slenczynska continued performing into her 90s and released her final album in 2022. She died peacefully at an assisted living facility in California.

TikTok · Classic Divinity 17K Μου αρέσει, 34 σχόλια. «Video information: Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 Okayama Symphony Hall Jan 30, 2005»