Ruth Slenczynska | |
|---|---|
 Slenczynska, c. 1957 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | January 15, 1925 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist |
Ruth Slenczynska (born January 15, 1925) is an American pianist with Polish roots.
Ruth Slenczynska | |
|---|---|
| Slenczynska, c. 1957 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | January 15, 1925 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist |
Ruth Slenczynska (born January 15, 1925) is an American pianist with Polish roots.
Slenczynska was born in Sacramento, California. Her Polish father, Joseph Slenczynski (Józef Ślenczyński), was a violinist. Pushed by her father and starting at age three, Slenczynska was forced to practice the piano relentlessly. [1] When she was four, she began her piano studies in Europe, later studying with Artur Schnabel, Egon Petri, Alfred Cortot, Josef Hofmann, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. She played her debut in Berlin at age six and made her debut in Paris with a full orchestra at seven years of age. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
At the age of fifteen, Selanczynska was overwhelmed by the pressure of a career as a concert pianist. To escape the pressure, she left home, abandoned her career as a musician, and attended studies at the University of California, Berkeley. [7] In 1944, when she was 19, she married a student named George Born, but the marriage ended in a divorced in 1953. [1] After the divorce, Selanczynska started teaching piano for a living. She returned to performing in concerts in 1951 after a break of more than ten years. That same year, she took part in the Carmel Bach Festival. [8] [9]
Slenczynska was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley. In 1964, she accepted a full-time position at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as Artist in Residence, a title she retained until 1987. [10] A large assortment of her memorabilia and recordings constitutes a Special Collection in the Lovejoy Library at SIUE. [11]
In 1957 she published a book of memoirs, Forbidden Childhood, which deals with life as a child prodigy, and a book on piano technique, Music at Your Fingertips: Aspects of Pianoforte Technique. [12] [1]
"Complete American Decca recordings", Chopin: Les 24 préludes, Les 24 Études, Les 16 valses, Les quatre impromptus, Les quatre scherzo, Les quatre ballades, les 16 valses, Polonaise op.53. Liszt/Chopin: Six chants polonais. Liszt: Rhapsodie espagnole, Rhapsodie hongroise n°15, Étude n°5, six grandes études by Paganini, Concerto pour piano n°1. Saint-Saëns: concerto pour piano n°2. Decca (1956/1962). 10 CD DG Eloquence 2020. Diapason d'or 2021. "My Life in Music", Decca (2022). [13] [14] [15]
Claudio Arrau León was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.
A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. While, during the Baroque era, for example, it may have served as an introduction to succeeding movements of a work that were usually longer and more complex, it may also have been a stand-alone piece of work during the Romantic era. It generally features a small number of rhythmic and melodic motifs that recur through the piece. Stylistically, the prelude is improvisatory in nature. The term may also refer to an overture, particularly to those seen in an opera or an oratorio.
Josef Casimir Hofmann was a Polish-American pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor.
Karl Tausig was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer. He is generally regarded as Franz Liszt's most distinguished pupil and one of the greatest pianists of all time.
Dmitri Alexeev is a Russian pianist. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and additionally under Dmitri Bashkirov. In the 1970s, Alexeev made his debuts in London, Vienna, Chicago, and New York City, and also won the Leeds Piano Competition in 1975.
Grigory Lipmanovich Sokolov is a Russian pianist with Spanish citizenship. He is among the most esteemed of living pianists, his repertoire spanning composers from the Baroque period such as Bach, Couperin or Rameau up to Schoenberg and Arapov. He regularly tours Europe and resides in Italy.
Elena Kuschnerova is a Russian-born classical pianist.
Ruth Laredo was an American classical pianist.
Andrei Gavrilov is a Russian-Swiss pianist.
Frédéric Chopin wrote a number of preludes for piano solo. His cycle of 24 Preludes, Op. 28, covers all major and minor keys. In addition, Chopin wrote three other preludes: a prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 45; a piece in A♭ major from 1834; and an unfinished piece in E♭ minor. These are sometimes referred to as Nos. 25, 26, and 27, respectively.
Constance Keene was an American pianist, who was renowned for her 1964 recording of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Preludes and won critical acclaim for her recordings of the works of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Maria von Weber and Felix Mendelssohn, as well as Rachmaninoff's Études-Tableaux, Op. 33 and Études-Tableaux, Op. 39.
The composer Sergei Rachmaninoff produced a number of solo piano pieces that were either lost, unpublished, or not assigned an opus number. While often disregarded in the concert repertoire, they are nevertheless part of his oeuvre. Sixteen of these pieces are extant; all others are lost. Ten of these pieces were composed before he completed his Piano Concerto No. 1, his first opus, and the rest interspersed throughout his later life. In these casual works, he draws upon the influence of other composers, including Frédéric Chopin and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The more substantial works, the Three Nocturnes and Four Pieces, are sets of well-thought out pieces that are his first attempts at cohesive structure among multiple pieces. Oriental Sketch and Prelude in D minor, two pieces he composed very late in his life, are short works that exemplify his style as a mature composer. Whether completed as a child or adult, these pieces cover a wide spectrum of forms while maintaining his characteristic Russian style.
Min Kwon is a Korean-American pianist and professor of piano at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Stewart Lynell Gordon is an American musician, teacher, writer, editor, composer, and impresario. Gordon is Professor of Keyboard Studies at the USC Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California as well as the music faculty at the Claremont Graduate University.
Piano Summer is an international summer institute and festival dedicated solely to piano music it was founded in 1995. It features an integrated approach to learning and performance under the artistic direction of master pianist and teacher Vladimir Feltsman. Gifted students from around the world join devoted musicians and teachers to learn more about the art of the piano. The Piano Summer is a part of the SUNY New Paltz Music Department.
Santiago Rodriguez is a Cuban-American pianist. Rodriguez is an exclusive recording artist for Élan Recordings. His Rachmaninov recordings received the Rosette award in The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music and he is a silver medalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Anna Borysivna Fedorova is a Ukrainian concert pianist. Fedorova performs as soloist, chamber musician and with symphony orchestras in the major concert halls of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Ukraine, Poland, the US, Mexico, Argentina, and parts of Asia. Fedorova is a David Young Piano Prize Holder supported by a Soiree d'Or Award and Keyboard Trust.
Craig Douglass Sheppard is an American concert pianist and educator of Scots-Irish, English and German descent.
Zlata Yuryevna Chochieva, is a Russian pianist of Ossetian origin.
• "The Music Show, ABC, Ruth Slenczynska Interview with Andrew Ford". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 5 December 2020.
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