Literature review part 2: Concert pianists’ thoughts on practice and performance

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Introduction

The pianists who were selected for this study bring very diverse backgrounds and experiences to the information they shared in the following interviews. I met each of these pianists during my years of study at The Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music, and they all currently live in New York City. Collectively, they represent 5 different nationalities: American, Russian, Korean, Japanese/English and Israeli. They all have professional management and have performed throughout the world in the most famous concert halls and with many of the world’s leading orchestras. They have received prestigious awards and won top prizes at numerous competitions.

Orion Weiss

A native of Lyndhurst, Ohio, Mr. Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly. Other teachers include Daniel Shapiro, Sergei Babayan, Kathryn Brown and Edith Reed. In February of 1999, Mr. Weiss made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1. In March 1999, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Mr. Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999. In 2004, he graduated from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.
During the 2011-12 season, Mr. Weiss performed with numerous orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Albany Symphony, and Mexico City Philharmonic. He also made his recital debut in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Continuing his close relationships as a collaborator, Mr. Weiss performs regularly with his wife, pianist Anna Polonsky, as well as working again with the Pacifica Quartet and multiple recital partners.
In the summer of 2011, Mr. Weiss made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood as a last-minute replacement for Leon Fleisher. In recent seasons, he has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, and in duo summer concerts with the New York Philharmonic at both Lincoln Center and the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival. He has also appeared with the symphony orchestras of Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Rochester, Albany, Annapolis, Louisville, Vancouver and Omaha, as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, Pacific Symphony and Oregon Symphony. He toured the US with the Orchester der Klangverwaltung Munich in October 2007. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Itzhak Perlman.

Andrew von Oeyen

Born in the U.S. in 1979, Andrew von Oeyen began his piano studies at age 5 and made his solo orchestral debut at age 10. An alumnus of Columbia University and graduate of The Juilliard School, where his principal teachers were Herbert Stessin and Jerome Lowenthal, he has also worked with Alfred Brendel and Leon Fleisher. Mr. von Oeyen lives in New York and Paris.
Commanding an extensive and diverse repertoire, Mr. von Oeyen has performed the major concertos of the keyboard literature – Bartok, Barber, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Gershwin, Grieg, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schumann, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky – with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Slovenian Philharmonic and Slovak Philharmonic. As both soloist and conductor he has led concerti and orchestral works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel and Kurt Weill at Spoleto Festival USA. On July 4, 2009, von Oeyen performed at the U.S. Capitol with the National Symphony in « A Capitol Fourth, » reaching millions worldwide in the multi-awardwinning PBS live telecast.

READ The affective domain, the learning environment and Krathwohl’s Taxonomy

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
1.2 Motivation for the study
1.3 Literature review
1.4 Research questions
1.5 Purpose of the study
1.6 Research methods
1.7 Delimitation of study
Chapter 2: Literature review part 1: Didactic material concerning practice and performance
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Literature review
2.2.1 The influence of Franz Liszt
2.2.2 Early technical methods
2.2.3 The Russian school
2.2.4 The German and English methods
2.2.5 A return to more practical demonstrations of practice and technique
2.2.6 Bernstein, Camp, and Sandor
2.2.7 Various modern studies on practice and performance
2.2.8 Pseudo-scientific studies
2.3 Summary of the examined literature
Chapter 3: Literature review part 2: Concert pianists’ thoughts on practice and performance
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Chopin’s influence
3.3 Concert pianists’ thoughts on practice
3.4 Moving away from the Russian school
3.5 Collections of important interviews with contemporary pianists
3.6 Mach’s interviews
3.7 Dubal’s interviews
3.8 Noyle’s interviews
3.9 Conclusion
Chapter 4: Introduction of the eight concert pianists interviewed
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Orion Weiss
4.3 Andrew von Oeyen
4.4 Spencer Myer
4.5 Soyeon Lee
4.6 Vassily Primakov
4.7 Konstantin Soukhovetski
4.8 Tanya Bannister
4.9 Inon Barnatan
Chapter 5: Interviews with the selected ccert pianists
5.1 Examination of pianists’ early practice history
5.2 University level practice habits, techniques and influences
5.3 Examination of specific practice techniques
5.3.1 Hands separate
5.3.2 Rhythm practice
5.3.3 Using a metronome
5.3.4 Slow practice
5.3.5 Playing throug
5.3.6 Unhelpful practice techniques
5.4 Thoughts on practice two weeks prior to a performance
5.5 Practice and preparation the day before and the day of a concert
5.6 Last thoughts on practice
Chapter 6: Analysis of practice methods
6.1 Themes for investigation
6.2 Eastern and Western European approaches toward technique
6.3 Practice histories compared
6.4 Practice strategies compared and contrasted
6.4.1 Effective practice strategies
6.4.2 Ineffective practice strategies
6.5 Practice performances
6.6 Performance mindset
6.7 Practice on the day of a concert
6.8 Practice after a concert
6.9 Conclusion
Chapter 7: Personal thoughts on practice
7.1 Practice history
7.2 Specific practice methods
7.3 Suggestions for efficient practice
7.4 Conclusion
Chapter 8: Summary and recommendation
8.1 Summary
8.2 Recommendatio
Sources list
Appendix A: Interview schedule