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Continuation of the interview with Benjamin Frith, British classical pianist with strong links to the Leeds International Piano Competition- having been a competitor at ‘The Leeds’ twice, and a student with Dame Fanny Waterman since an early age.
He won several big awards early in his career, and his recordings are highly regarded- five of his discs are represented in the Gramophone Best CD Guide and his disc of Schumann’s Davidsbundlertänze was chosen as the top recommendation on the Radio 3 “Building a Library” programme.

Show Notes

  • Ben discusses his favourite recordings from his career [0:35]
  • Memorising vs. reading music [3:20]
  • Chatting about a great performance I saw of Ben playing Rachmaninov Trio No. 2 as part of the Gould Piano Trio
  • Composers writing for their own hands and idiosyncrasies [10:30]
  • The merits of Chopin [11:20]
  • The importance of listening when playing the piano, and more elements of Fanny Waterman’s teaching [14:50]
  • Ben as a teacher (and me as a bad student!) [21:40]
  • Ben’s involvement with Chetham’s Summer School for Pianists, and we discuss common amateur pitfalls and mistakes [29:20]
  • Ben’s musical influences and the importance of listening to good recordings [33:30]
  • The psychology of performing and the importance of sleep [36:00]

Recordings Played:

Intro: Schumann- Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6 VIII. Frisch- https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.550493

[1:00] Brahms- Piano Trio in A Major, Op. Post: III. Lento- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Johannes-Brahms-Complete-Quartets-CHRCD129/dp/B0754687GK

[7:30] Tchaikovsky- Trio in Aminor op.50 : I Pezzo elegiaco- http://www.gouldpianotrio.com/albums/rachmaninov-tchaikovsky-piano-trios/

[19:20] Scarlatti- Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K.214- https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.554792

End: Schumann- Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 I. Lebhaft- https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.550493

Other Recordings Discussed:

John Ogdon- Rachmaninov Sonata No.2- https://open.spotify.com/album/2HnbBMePktK3jFf3ip04dn?si=vrPjDDbKRUmk9T8sqkr0Wg (no wonder he said he hadn’t learnt it, this is a complete mess!)

Horowitz- Rachmaninov Sonata No.2- https://open.spotify.com/album/67KSPkAz7OqmsFMPkTvoZj?si=JhmytE9AShOHCHxwjIiJ2g

Alfred Cortot- Chopin- Etudes: https://open.spotify.com/album/0BPBVqsSju6mKjofZTojzB?si=pztNLJfKQe2JfCmcYr787g

Ashkenazi- Chopin – Etudes: https://open.spotify.com/album/52GqKxkh98eIf5OUi5pLAB?si=q_ozgpMWTsu7fz5JmlXMFA

Notes:

[20:20] Oops I was thinking about Moszkowski! https://imslp.org/wiki/Studies_in_Double_Notes%2C_Op.64_(Moszkowski%2C_Moritz)