Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Should a pro pianist wear large gaudy rings...

while performing?

Perhaps a frivolous question. I think Aldo Ciccolini is a sensationally good and underrated pianist but he wears two large gold rings(not the standard wedding band) while playing and this looks inappropriate to me. OTOH videos show closeups of his hands that few, if any, in the audience would see so maybe this may be inappropriate only to some watching a video.

Here's a video of him playing two concerti in one night at the age of 85:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbcli...Q&v=M0LY1ApvrM0&feature=youtu.be

Are there any other professional pianists who wear large rings while performing?

Thelonious Monk did.


[img]https://z-p3-scontent-arn2-2.xx.fbc...903b3cc0741ffd9b8632cd91&oe=600B8FC8[/img]

I don't know about professionals, but when I (well, we) got married we had rings made by a friend of the mother-in-law. mine was so huge that I gave up wearing because it constricted the movement of the ring-finger and I couldn't play the piano with it on. His look quite sensible! Nice playing, thanks for the link - I'm currently enjoying it!

Ludovico Einaudi plays whilst wearing quite a large ring on one hand.

I don't like rings, but if someone likes wearing them, there's no reason not to do so when playing the piano.

How can it be inappropriate? It doesn't matter.

Liberace

You beat me to it, but I’ll add Elton John.

If the ring doesn't inhibit playing in any way, I can't see a reason to suggest not wearing it, even if it looks "cumbersome" to the viewer. Ciccolini's playing in the Beethoven seems to be exemplary, beyond criticism.

Regards,

They don't look too bad to me.

I, personally, hate the feeling of rings when I'm playing. Something about the way they touch the webbing when I extend my fingers really distracts me. So I used to constantly take them off and put them on the piano, and then, inevitably, leave them there... I just don't wear rings anymore!

I intended this thread to be about pro classical pianists, male or female, who wear several large rings? Are there any of those besides Ciccolini?

To me, it looked gaudy and distracting but again I think it's mostly because of the close ups of his hands. But I like his playing so much I don't really mind. Here's another video of him with only one ring this time playing a favorite encore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkcHjmXmEg0

Who cares what they wear and doesn’t matter whether a wedding band or not. I think anyone professional or not should wear what they like and not care what the viewers think.

They should ignore their audience?

They should ignore their audience?

I think classical pianists should be more free about the way they dress on stage overall. If they're comfortable wearing big rings, then so be it.

I firmly believe that the dress code for classical musicians, especially males, has to lighten up. Music and art are not formal. They have never been that. Yet people go on the stage almost always either in a suit in boring colors, or a black/white t-shirt. Why? And what bad does a big ring or two do? or some color?

As much as I don't like the music making of Liberace, Lang Lang, or that organ player who's name i've forgotten (he was dubbed the "bad boy of the organ" or something), I do admire their courage. Yes, their outfits may be extravagant and sometimes even exaggerated and gaudy, but they're performers, not office workers. (I just remembered that Pogorelich sometimes also made bold style choices on the stage, and Goulda as well. Both far greater musicians than the afromentioned three.)

So, yes - I think that pianists absolutely can wear those rings if they want to.

The audience would not mind. The audience would be intrigued.

The audience shouldn't dictate what someone else wears. They're paying for the musical performance. How the performer dresses isn't a part of that.

I wasn't put off by AC rings but AG looks like he got his from a quarter gum-ball machine.

https://youtu.be/oh-4F17wlCQ

They don’t need to ignore them but they don’t need care what others think of how they look. I always thought art is about expression just cause some wear suits doesn’t mean it’s a requirement

If it was OK by Hummel...

Why risk chipped keys?