Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Valentina Lisitsa and 21st Century Marketing

Gary,

It would seem the "new" is ushered in for at least two reasons, It is good and it is different.

"Good Bye to the Old" in my opinion, is very short sighted. The "Old" as you say, came in and endured because it was and still is good. It is familiar, has been here for a long time and therefore, new is the release.

When I was given the opportunity to prepare a piano for Valentina, I was fortunate she was so prolific on YouTube. It gave me so much to listen to and know her as a performer.

BTW, Her husband, Alexi, is also a very good pianist. Alexi deserves significant credit for establishing her success on the "Internet".

I was very fortunate, as many seem to be, to have Valentina here in Lowell for two appearances. So may I offer, Valentina is a generous and very gracious personality. Suffice to say, this is also a key ingredient in her success.

I have deplored the lack of interest in classical music in the United States compared with European countries and many other parts of the world, so anything that promotes new interest in the world of serious music is fine with me. I admire Valentina Lisitsa's online performances. She is fascinating to watch. I am one of those 20th century fossils someone was writing about. I, too, collect multiple recordings of important works to compare performances and artists. I am a collector. I confess to having dozens of recordings of most of Chopin's works, as well as multiples for Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, and so on. I won't even get into symphonic and operatic works.

I believe Valentina Lisitsa is a solid, top-tier performer in the same level as other top piano artists today. But even if I am wrong, who cares? She is trying to do something about the lack of interest in the genre. She is trying to promote a career. Why is that wrong?

I have played Bosies while looking for my special piano. I am not a fan of the smaller models I tried. I avoided playing the big ones because I knew I couldn't afford one and didn't want to have a piano spoil me for all other pianos. When I hear Valentina's talks about Bosies and listen to her play them, I am glad I didn't play the big ones. She is a great sales tool for the brand. I know Steinway has used their Steinway artist program this way for years, but her widespread popularity on YouTube has got to be one of the most successful campaigns in a long time for a piano brand.

I enjoyed reading the OP's post. Fascinating. I didn't know anything about this, and wonder if anyone else has any interesting information like this about other piano artists, etc. I really would like to know more.

(I want to add, I recently completed my piano search very happily with a slightly-used American Mason-Hamlin BB piano that fit my taste and budget. I love it. But would I trade it for a slightly-used grand Imperial 290 if cost were the same? What do you think?)

Very true!

I'd never heard of Lisitsa (not being a fan of Youtube) until I joined this forum two years ago, but my curiosity was really only piqued when people mentioned that she preferred Bösendorfer, as my dream piano is also a Bösendorfer Imperial (which I first played in Bösendorfer Hall in Vienna when I was a poor student many, many years ago).

Then I met her when she practised for her RAH concert in a London piano showroom earlier this year - she played the entire program (3 hours of music...) for the 20 or so people who turned up to hear her 'practise', plus a few other pieces that she had no time to play during the concert. I'd say that the secret of her success is not just due to her YouTube appearances, but also her warm and charming personality (she was happy to chat to everyone, regardless of how musical they were) and the fact that she so obviously loved to play the piano. The latter is also part of Lang Lang's enormous success - he radiates joy in performing, unlike some classical pianists I could name who look like they are undergoing water torture when they play....

I think what he "radiates" are the most nauseating affectations I've ever seen. I can't bear to look at his stupid face when he's playing. Less is more. Always. Give me Horowitz or Argerich or indeed almost any other player over that clown.

I can't speak about Lisitsa; however, I have heard C. Carpenter twice. The second time, I walked out at intermission. I guess I am one of those old fossils. The program was more about him and not the composer IMHO. There is also that famous Youtube of him playing in drag at Dickinson College. What is the point?
On the other hand, CC is bringing new converts to the organ. Or are they just his disciples? Virgil Fox was out of the mainstream but I do think he brought people to appreciate organ music. With CC, time will tell.

Did you see "Do or Die: Lang Lang's Story" on BBC One in November? It told a very remarkable story indeed.

May I suggest that you close your eyes and just listen to his sound. That could be a revelation!

Kind regards,
Robert.

No, I saw the trailer but thought oh God, I can't watch his ridiculous facial contortions, and so I avoided it. Shallow I know. But no one is going to persuade me that his face-pulling is desirable. A decent teacher should have beaten that nonsense out of him right from the off! It's distracting and completely unnecessary. I know he has many fans and he is at the forefront of popularising classical piano and I give him credit for that - but I really cannot stand to look at him.

Please desist.

This thread is about one artist's attempt to advance her career and the music she loves by somewhat unconventional means. It is not about Lang Lang or his well-known sense of the theatric. To come on here simply to unload a bunch of personal animosity and refer to someone's "stupid face" is completely uncalled for.

It is possible to appreciate or disapprove of Ms. Listitsa's undertakings without knocking or vilifying others. The point was made that her new approach does not lessen the accomplishments of others who have taken more traditional ways to bring the pleasure of classical music to an audience. It's a good point.

We should follow the example of Ms. Lisitsa herself. Other than occasional comments disagreeing with the playing approach of contemporary exponents of the so-called Russian school of pianists, she has never knocked the competition, and certainly never singled out any pianist for abuse or ridicule.

Again, we should all follow her example and resist any urge to burden others with our own subjective negativity.

I'm so thankful you are here to police and censor us! Keep up the good work.

Turandot, +1....This may be the first time I have completely agreed with one of your post. Clearly stated and on point. Thank you.

For those who haven't met Lang Lang; he is a very warm and charitable man. Don't judge his musicianship by a few flashy performances posted on Youtube.

Back to Valentina Lisitsa. I'm picking up the Rachmaninoff set this coming weekend. A hard copy for the car. Thanks.

Thanks once again to all who have posted to the topic of the thread.



I've been thinking about that. I'd like to know too. I'm no piano performance historian at all, but it seems to me that classical piano music hasn't been as successful as opera or dance in freshening its image while holding onto all that is good about the past. Take the Three Tenors phenomenon for example. They transformed opera haters into opera lovers without any loss of self-respect or disrespect for the music. And they had fun doing it. That's important.

Most classical pianists seen and heard on youtube don't upload their own stuff, and definitely don't add a note asking their fans to be the first to own their product for sale. I'm sure it's scandalous for some. Even fraternizing professionally in performance with artists of other musical genres (Friedrich Gulda, Emmanuel Ax, etc.) can get an artist into hot water with the establishment.

IMO Lisitsa's position at present with regard to youtube and social media most closely parallels the position of the symphonic and operatic composer Richard Strauss when in 1904 he brought the entire music establishment down on his head by giving two concerts in Wanamaker's (now Macy's) Department store in NYC. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic wrote that he had cheapened classical music by performing it in a place of commerce. This isn't much different from how old-guard critics pan Lisitsa today. The difference is that in Strauss's day, critics were kingmakers with tremendous power to make or ruin careers. Today it's completely different. With so much content on demand and most of it free, any individual can educate his own ears and come to his own judgment -- professional critics be damned.

Strauss's response to the lambasting he absorbed was to say: "True art enables any hall, and earning money in a decent way for wife and child is no disgrace - even for an artist." I think Lisitsa would see things pretty much the same way. She is not to blame that pianists who can barely play have their own youtube channels. She simply wants to reach as many folks as she can and let them make up their own minds.

turandot,

I have no quarrel with what Lisitsa is doing to advance her career through unconventional means. I just wish I found her musicianship more compelling. As far as I have seen and heard so far, she is within the pack of competent professional musicians but nothing special, and the attention she has garnered seems out of proportion to her actual accomplishments, imo.

T,
I think I've said this a time or two about selling pianos.

BC

Sophial,

While I understand your sentiment, I do think that "competent professional" understates Ms. Lisitsa's talent by quite a margin. Nevertheless, I think you hit on the obvious point that the music biz is the music biz and that talent is only one piece of the "international performing career puzzle". The trouble is that in today's world, the ground game of classical music promotion is changing quickly and we all struggle to find the balance between making ourselves available and playing hard to get.

As to the proportionality of attention to talent issue, I think we can all breath a deep sigh of relief in knowing that in this case, the issue is not one of Lady GaGa proportions...

I have a feeling that the limited demand in the US for new classical piano cds has driven the music companies to manipulate the public's concept of who the most talented pianists in the world are. If they have a large catalog of one artist and can recycle it in various formats endlessly, they have no urgency to introduce new artists. On the other hand, if sales on these items drop significantly, they suddenly discover a new, wonderful, artist who is rewriting the rules of music with his/her magnificent interpretations. I feel for the artist who must find a way to distinguish himself/herself in this environment. It used to be that a pianist had to win a major competition to prove his worth. That was a slippery slope, but at least we heard of some new artists once in a while. Now that doesn't seem to be enough. Maybe YouTube is the way. I just want classical music to flourish and for more people to find the joy that I find in this magical gift. We may need more people like Valentina to open the eyes of the music-buying public. Good luck to them all.

Indeed, but I put her in the same category as an Andrea Bocelli who has had popular and commercial more than critical success. For an upcoming star with real artistry and musicianship, I'd give the nod to someone like Benjamin Grosvenor. I'd listen to him any time rather than Lisitsa.

We live in an upside down world, their are hundreds maybe a thousand wannabe classical players trying to make a go of it as a career.. if Ms Lisitsa found a way bravo!
they pay bigger prizes for Wheel of Fortune than Jeopardy! go figure, Lady Gaga will make more money in one month than Lisitsa would in 20 yrs of playing
finacial compensation seems to go more to the "popular" than the scientist who discovers
a cure for some dreaded disease would recieve paltry finacial compensation
than some major league ball player...an upside down world to be sure!

Sophia,

I have no quarrel with your opinion of Lisitsa the musician if it is your own opinion. It bothers me a little that you refer to her level of "critical success". I think, unless you yourself are a professional critic, you should only speak for yourself. That's good enough. Professional critics are becoming relatively toothless, but they are still scary, and often nasty and vindictive.

Unless you have paid for her material in live or recorded form, you are in Ms. Lisitsa's debt for giving you and everyone else so much via free electronic media to react to in forming your own judgment. That judgment is different from mine, but that's of no consequence whatsoever.. The point is that in the 21st century we are able to reach our own judgments of what we would rather listen to without a whole bunch of effort.

This thread is really more about the means to the end than anyone's (self especially included) particular categorization or pianist ranking system. If, as you say, the attention paid to Lisitsa is out of proportion to her accomplishments, then it proves that something is clicking, and that Bösendorfer and Decca, rather than reacting slavishly to professional critics, are catching a ride on whatever is clicking.

This morning I listened to some week-old tracks on Lisitsa's youtube channel. I was hardly johnny-on-the spot. Thirteen thousand had preceded me. Here are some notes from her that accompanied one upload.

What you see and hear is basically my first performance, LOL!
Piano is Boesendorfer Imperial owned by http://www.leclavier.ch/
Free sheet music download is available, as always, at IMSLP library:
http://tinyurl.com/cuenc44

This little piece is the best answer to all those "music critics", self-proclaimed experts and other snobs who throughout the years and years belittled, ignored or attacked Liszt music as primitive kitsch designed to pander to primitive tastes of gullible public. What can be closer to perfection than these few pages sparsely "populated" with few notes , easy enough for any amateur to tackle - yet profound and comforting to turn to in the moment of quiet happiness and contemplation - or in the moment of utter hopelessness and despair?



What I get from those notes is a musician who is encouraging her followers to explore some free sheet music and make their own statement with a piece that is not densely populated with notes and is not all that technically demanding. I think it's this encouragement and lack of any condescension that is working. It's also quite obvious what she thinks of so-called experts.

________________

BTW, I'm intrigued by Ben Grosvenoor as well. I'll be making my annual pilgrimage to La Jolla, CA in February to see what's up with him. But let's be clear here. Grosvenor is in the emerging stage where the main challenge is to keep up with all his competition-related obligations without physical and mental exhaustion. Lisitsa went through that long ago with t he handicap that she made her bones on dual piano works. At this point her interest is in resuscitating a career that had stalled badly when the critics moved on to the latest competition darlings and left her to her own devices.