Russian School of Piano performance

It was a huge pleasure to welcome our highly respected colleague Dr. Daniel Pereira last Monday 1st of March 2016 to start the series of masterclasses, taking place at WKMT, about the “Russian School of piano Performance”. The talk started with a brief capitulation about the contents which are going to be explored throughout the entire course. It worth mentioning that Pereira has recently published his book about this particular school’s chronology which synthesizes 15 years of work and research on the matter.

The sense of Academia is fundamental for the existence and development of any serious practise. At WKMT we actively work towards forging an inquisitive team of professionals focused on both cherishing the knowledge we bring from our previous educational experiences and creating new by gathering and exchanging ideas.

The Russian School of Piano performance started quite late in comparison to Western Europe Keyboard tradition. The opening of the Saint Petersburg Conservatoire in 1862 by Anton Rubinstein marked the beginning of an age of proper academia within the Russian Classical Music metier. From this point on classical music studies were not more ostracised and secluded to the court chambers; instead they were turned into a serious discipline which inspired both 1st class musicians and amateurs on a much larger scale.

The Russian school of Piano performance is a paradigmatic occurrence which not only involves some of the most renowned names in the history of piano performance like Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, but also defines the personality of the best piano pedagogues across the globe. Learning about the Russian helps us to understand how the their culture translates itself into music. The explosion of creativity which has always enhanced the currents from the western reaching its apogee with Rachmaninov the biggest of the last “post-romantic composers. The culture of sacrifice that characterizes high achievers in piano performance is forever changed by the Russians and their Russian school of Piano performance.