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For me, I would love to have dinner with J.S. Bach, mostly because I know that it would be a REAL party, because he would very probably have his 10 children, and wife Anna Magdalena with him! With such a musical family, and one where they often spent dinners singing chorales, improvising Canons, and playing word games it would be a lot of fun!
I would certainly ask him questions about what he thought about the new Cristofori pianoforte from 1720, and also how he is able to write such complex, yet beautiful music such as Goldberg Variations, and Art of Fugue! How does he balance the mathematics with the emotional content in his music? My questions would be endless!
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Dominic Cheli How very exciting it would be! Great questions!
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I would love to have dinner and conversation with singer Barbra Streisand. (Chopin would be too much to ask.)
I have wanted this the last 36 years - even wrote to her, in 1986, when I was only 19 yo. (Now I am 55 yo) She don't even know I exist, but I see her as a fantastic person/woman, and an extremely beautiful singer. -
I would definitely have dinner with CHOPIN
and would ask him how to achieve this beautiful sound quality, how to play really lyrical, any piano advice he could give. I would tell him how much his art means to me and that I would be lost without him…From today I would like to meet MIKHAIL PLETNEV and ask him how he achieves this super-pianissimo („ppppp“) with the notes still having substance. I would ask him how he approaches a new piece. How he practices. Which advice he got from Yakov Flier!!!???
Also I would love to meet MARIA JOAO PIRES….I’d probably kidnap her, so she has to teach me the next years, hehe :-)-
Nana Gonzalez "I would tell him...I would be lost without him." Awwwww. Profound. That is what Music does. It sings to our souls.
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Nana Gonzalez Omg, I just attended a recital by Maria Joao Pires in Chicago this afternoon. I had been looking forward to it all year (she almost never plays in the States, to my knowledge). The most remarkable thing happened. She started the program with Beethoven's Pathetique and struggled a bit — she had a major memory slip (but covered her tracks well). However, she rebounded beautifully and played some gorgeous Schumann (Kinderszenen) and then Opus 111 (UNBELIEVABLE second movement, her lines are so long and the sweep of it was so moving). Okay, but here's the remarkable thing: as a second encore, she turned to the audience and told us that she wanted to play the third movement of the Pathetique for us again because she wasn't happy with her first rendition. So she did. This time, she nailed it. It was a very humanizing and beautiful moment in my concert-going experience. The audience went wild. Classical music needs more such moments, imo. She has always been a favorite pianist of mine, and now she is my absolute hero.
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Heidi That sounds amazing! How humble and human of her.
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Vidhya Bashyam Yes! She is one BOL (badass old lady). It was very funny, too, because you could see her decide to do it. She was heading to the stage wings and suddenly she paused, then turned and walked back, faced the audience, and was basically like, I messed that up, and I want to play it better for you.
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Heidi Love it! Hope she comes to the US again soon. Sounds like a pianist to not miss seeing!
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Heidi how beautiful! Beside her playing I really appreciate her personality . There are a lot of Masterclasses on YouTube- a lot of wisdom is transmitted. Best wishes from Berlin
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Frank Dupree. The man practically bleeds talent and charisma.
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Seymour Bernstein! I love his exchanges with Ben, the stories, the undiluted opinions, everything like music, deeply felt and expressed. More Seymour!
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Jody Great choice!
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No hesitation here…..MARTHA ARGERICH !
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Jeff Aldridge She is superb indeed!
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Clara Schumann. Virtuoso pianist, composer, single mother, loved and respected by other great artists. She should have been a pretty amazing person.
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Vidhya Bashyam She is one of my choices, too! Yes!
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Brahms for classical (where did his inspiration for those chords come from?). Chick Corea for jazz (I heard him LIVE improvising on Scriabin. It was fabulous!). Living musician? John Kimora Parker. I knew him as Jackie Parker when he was a young teen in Victoria, Canada and he was the reason I signed up with Tonebase. I LOVE the musician and person he has become and it would be amazing to hear more about his journey.
Fun Topic!
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Linda Gould Brahms is also one of my favorite composers. And Chick Corey is one of my favorite Jazz pianists. Your entry reminds me that I would also love to have dinner with Herbie Hancock. Founder of the International Jazz Day - first celebrated in 2012.
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Pauline Linda Gould Typo...sorry...Corea!
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Pauline I didn't realize Herbie Hancock was the founder. Thanks for sharing!
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Linda Gould You're welcome!
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Linda Gould We know Jackie! He's the artistic advisor for our Chamber Music Festival (his wife, Aloysia, is artistic director). He's always a lot of fun and would probably be a fantastic dinner companion.
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Michelle R Very cool!
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I would love to have dinner with Hildegard de Bingen (1098-1179 - Germany). She was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath: a writer (including medical treatises), philosopher, visionary, mystic, and musical composer.
From the above hyperlink: "Hildegard’s 'compositions' stand out from other liturgical music because of the almost improvisatory nature of her melodies: they are freer, more wide-ranging and elaborate than the simple, one-octave lines advocated by her contemporary Bernard of Clairvaux."
Questions: How did your faith inform your work? How did you acquire your vast knowledge of music, history, botany, medicine, etc?
