Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Carnegie Hall overdoses on adjectives :-)

Get a load of this thing they say in their e-mail blurb about an upcoming "Keyboard Virtuosos" series:

....It’s not to be missed, with the distinctive Murray Perahia and the inquisitive Jeremy Denk, the charismatic Piotr Anderszewski and profound Maurizio Pollini, and last but not least, the pyrotechnic Yuja Wang.

I wonder how many hours of committee meetings it took for them to come up with those. Or maybe they just entrusted it to some intern who's an English major....

Question is, which of those artists is most annoyed with his/her adjective? I'm guessing Murray and Yuja. Denk's is all right; Pollini's is the best.

-J

Well said!
And Pollini is probably thinking that somehow they confused him with Schnabel or somebody.

I don't know, I'd be pretty pleased with being described as "pyrotechnic"!

Me too... But I bet that if we really were pyrotechnic concert artists, we wouldn't be.

-J

Absolutely!

If you're pyrotechnic, you want to be thought of as....uh......profound!

Better profound than prolost! I mean, obviously deep is not deep enough. It is so... ummm... ordinary...

WOW,

I'm Greek but I can honestly say that this is the best, most awesome, pyrotechnic, with elaborate meanings and distinctive language email blurb ever!

Well done Carnegie Hall people! Very well done!

Miss Wang certainly set off some firewworks at the Hollywood Bowl last year.

Y'know, I was so into laughing at the adjectives that something sort of escaped my notice at first: Pollini is playing in New York this season (yeah, the same Pollini who for a few minutes according to the 'breaking news' on our site last spring was no longer with us). Anyway I immediately went and got tickets for it.

So, stupid adjectives or no stupid adjectives, their e-mail worked.

Last time I heard the pyrotechnic Pollini play in London, he was profound in Beethoven's Op.111, inquisitive in Nono, charismatic in Chopin and distinctive in Stockhausen.

I think that's everything covered...

Sounds like a used car salesman trying to distract you from noticing the brakes don't work...

I will say, however, that from what I have heard, Yuja Wang is spectacular. I posted in a recently closed thread (on an entirely unrelated and offensive subject) that I wish she took requests..

Does that mean Yuja Wang will spontaneously combust on stage?

Or that Jeremy Denk will start randomly asking questions?

...or that Piotr Anderszewski will win an election...

It means the alliterative Lang Lang, the hirsute Garrick Ohlsson, and the unpronounceable Leif Ove Andsnes will be disconsolate at not being mentioned in the same company as these distinguished other artists. Meanwhile, unreliable Yundi Li will be deeply saddened at not even being invited to appear at illustrious and legendary Carnegie Hall.

Cut it out, you guys are killing me!

I mean it!!

If I don't post for the next few days, it means I died laughing.

Very useful when writing an article about the Carnegie Hall

i liked it.

6 months later, finally today's the day.

Program

CHOPIN Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45
CHOPIN Ballade in F Major, Op. 38
CHOPIN Ballade in A-flat Major, Op. 47
CHOPIN Four Mazurkas, Op. 33
CHOPIN Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 39
DEBUSSY Préludes, Book I