Alan Walker on the Fiasco Behind Chopin's Preludes | Ep. 1 The Chopin Podcast

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• BE

  @benlawdy · 1 year ago (edited) · pinned

  Hello Chopin fans! I hope you&apos;re enjoying story time with Alan Walker. Just a reminder that you can listen to full episodes every Wednesday when the audio is released to podcast platforms, several days before the video segments arrive. Here&apos;s Episode 1:<br>Apple: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chopin-podcast/id1765998900">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chopin-podcast/id1765998900</a><br>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2hNW9BuUCK0z2adPHhqArh">https://open.spotify.com/episode/2hNW9BuUCK0z2adPHhqArh</a><br>Audible: <a href="https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Chopin-Podcast/B0DFVRVCX4">https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Chopin-Podcast/B0DFVRVCX4</a><br><br>Meanwhile, did you know the Preludes will be BACK this coming year at the Chopin Competition? It&apos;s been a while since they were actually required, and it&apos;s always fun when they are (this time competitors will be given a choice between groups of 6 consecutive Preludes). You can watch a prelude of the Preludes at the US National Competition in Miami this January, where I&apos;ll be attending and hosting the livestreams from backstage. Make sure to subscribe to the Chopin Foundation channel so you can catch all the talented young pianists and be on the look out for the next medalist in Warsaw: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@chopinfoundationoftheunite8079">https://www.youtube.com/@chopinfoundationoftheunite8079</a><br>You also won&apos;t want to miss my debut as a piano competition correspondent...

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• GH

  @ghuinink · 1 year ago

  This man is prime example of an inspired person who at 95 is still as sharp as a razor. It shows that the brain doesn&apos;t deteriorate when it still has a purpose . &nbsp;very inspiring

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• NO

  @noochinator · 1 year ago

  Alan Walker is 94 this year, he looks and sounds great!

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• LI

  @LisztyLiszt · 1 year ago (edited)

  I can&apos;t wait to read this book. I read Professor Walker&apos;s Liszt biography and the three volumes are so brilliant, and so colourful, that I often think that if I could go back in time and meet one historical figure, it would be Liszt.<br><br>One of my favourite anecdotes from the Liszt biography is Liszt showing up as a guest for dinner and his host asking him for his opinion on a piano piece the host has composed. Liszt, takes it in his hand, looks at it, makes a polite comment, hands it back, sits for dinner, and a few hours later sits at the piano and plays the piece from memory having only looked at it briefly when he had just arrived!<br><br>Another interesting detail was how Liszt dealt with playing wrong notes by altering the harmony to make it sound like the mistakes were not mistakes at all. Interestingly I heard Pavel Kolesnikov, who recently sat on the jury of the Leeds piano competition, and was a competitor in the Tchaikovsky competition ultimately won by Trifonov, play in Ireland shorty after that Tchaikovsky competition. In his programme he included the final three of the Transcendental Etudes, and during Harmonie du soir he had a memory lapse. He had attempted a two hand broken chord run up the piano but ended in the wrong place. Without missing a beat, he descended back down the piano in a similar way to where he started, harmonising with his error but still within the general harmonic and textural style of the passage, before going back up again and nailing it the second time. If you hadn&apos;t heard the piece before you&apos;d never have known something was up. Kolesnikov must&apos;ve read the Liszt biography too!

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• MA

  @MarshallArtz007 · 1 year ago

  Fascinating! Alan Walker’s biography of Chopin is a must read. 😎🎹

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• FI

  @FingersKungfu · 1 year ago (edited)

  Alan Walker is already 94 and still travels for his research. His memory is still so sharp. I thought he is around 75-79.

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• BA

  @bayarbuyan84 · 1 year ago

  What a fascinating person! A real scholar! Absolutely enjoyed this interview!

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• SW

  @SwapneelGhosh95 · 1 year ago

  Ben this is series is amazing!! Thank you for everything ❤

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• K2

  @k2024-b8n · 1 year ago

  Enormously erudite. What a wonderful, multi-faceted interview. A true gem depending on two highly intelligent interlocutors!

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• DA

  @daviddemers9093 · 1 year ago

  After having devoured the Walker Chopin biography, I gave my copy to my friends David Finckel and Wu Han, neither of whom had ever heard of Professor Walker. A couple of weeks later I heard from them both expressing astonishment about the book, just as I had after having read it. I am now well into the third volume of Walkers biography of Liszt which is life changing for me. Wu Han and David were so taken with the Chopin book that they purchased several copies to give to friends as holiday gifts! Can&apos;t recommend Walker any higher!

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• MU

  @murgadrot-70 · 1 year ago

  Wonderful. Thank you so much! This is best video I have seen in a long time. Keep on with the good work.

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• WE

  @wenedsday · 1 year ago

  What a wonderful storyteller, a marvellous speaker... Mr Walker!

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