Which musician (non-pianist!) inspires you most?

Dominic_Cheli
2 yrs ago
36replies

Many of us are inspired by our favorite pianists, but which other musicians have left an influence on you? I am curious to hear your thoughts, and check out some new artists!

- Dominic_Cheli
- 2 yrs ago
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She is quite famous, but Maria Callas made a HUGE impression on me! Just love this recording from one of my favorite operas: Norma!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-TwMfgaDC8
- Pauline
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Dominic Cheli Gorgeous! Her voice is phenomenal!
- Jessica_Pizano
  
  7 hrs ago
  
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  I adore Maria Callas. Her voice is incredible.
- Rebecca_Penneys
- 2 yrs ago
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I was lucky enough to grow up when Heifetz, and Piatigorsky lived and worked and taught in Los Angeles, They were involved in encouraging young talent like myself. Their lessons and performances made a huge impression on me, as did hearing Rubinstein. Hearing him live transported me to the world I wanted to live in, and I am still living in that world!
- Have a growth mindset, no matter what!
  
  Gail_Starr
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Rebecca Penneys You were truly blessed to learn from the best!
- Philip_U
- 2 yrs ago
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How to narrow it down? Wilhelm Furtw:angler -- both his conducting and his writings. Lotte Lehmann, whom my father accompanied for 14 years. Thomas Hampson and his dedication to young singers and art song. Andras Schiff. Peter Schreier, especially the late collaborations with Schiff. The Jussen brothers.
- David_H_A_Fitch
- 2 yrs ago
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Yes, where to start? Mom (a flautist) taught me music basics, and Dad gave me my first piano. Joseph Celli (oboist) introduced me to new music, and how to use one's core to express music (which I only understood 30 years later in martial arts). Charlotte was a piano teacher who introduced me to Schumann and Vladimir Horowitz, who in turn inspired a love for the Romanticists. Claire Chase (flautist) and her exuberance continue to inspire. And I continue to be thrilled everytime I hear Yevgeniy Sudbin interpret Scarlatti or Rachmaninoff. Everyone on Tonebase deserves the utmost accolades for not only inspiration but also giving the chance for mere mortals to improve, savor, and approach understanding.
- Jenny_Harrison
- 2 yrs ago
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I heard Gustavo Dudamel conduct the SF Symphony several times before he became famous. He is way up there in my list.
- Mom, fitness instructor, lover of music
- Michelle_Russell
- 2 yrs ago
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I am inspired by Ana Vidovic, classical guitar. There is such clarity and passion in her playing.

https://youtu.be/inBKFMB-yPg

Away from the classical genre, I'm a big fan of Johnny Cash. His ability to tell a story and draw the listener in to the songs is legendary. ( https://youtu.be/8AHCfZTRGiI - from the end of his career/life, his cover of Trent Reznor's - of Nine Inch Nails - "Hurt")
- Andrea_Buckland
- 2 yrs ago
- Reported - view
The voice that keeps touching me most deeply is Kathleen Ferrier. In this recording she sings Gustav Mahler’s “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”. Sublime! https://youtu.be/Md-JfajEtzM
- HengPin_Chen
- 2 yrs ago
- Reported - view
I don't know how to just mention one musician out of so many I like -- Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), Janos Starker (cello), Andres Segovia (guitar), and, lately, Lucie Horsch (recorder), etc. There are many many more, actually.
- Pauline
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Heng-Pin Chen Pavarotti is high on my list, too!
- Daniel.28
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Heng-Pin Chen Dan from tonebase Cello chiming in here, just to say Janos Starker was one of my teachers at Indiana University, Bloomington. What a supreme master of the cello! One of the greatest instrumentalists of the second half of the 20th century, no question. Even in his 80s I was witness to him playing perfectly the concerti of Dvorak, Walton, Shostakovich, both Haydn, etc. One of the most beautiful experiences was him playing the slow movement from the Schumann "5 Pieces in Folk Style," there was a tear in his eye, incredible.
  
  Once I came for a lesson and it was a very rare occasion there wasn't an audience-- just me, Starker, and the pianist (we were playing Beethoven Sonata No. 4 in C major). Very special to have played for him alone like that! As usually his studio was packed with onlookers, as every lesson he gave was open.
- Have a growth mindset, no matter what!
  
  Gail_Starr
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Daniel Yes, Starker was so generous he even let high school kids come to observe!
- HengPin_Chen
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Daniel Wow, that must a wonderful experience and a precious memory. A CD of Starker playing Dvorak concerto is on my shelf, and it has been one of my favorite. I wish I had a chance to listen to him in real life. I'll definitely go online and search for Schumann "5 pieces in Folk Style." Thanks for recommending this.
- Have a growth mindset, no matter what!
- Gail_Starr
- 2 yrs ago
- Reported - view
The Beaux Arts trio (which, of course, includes Menachem Pressler) pops to mind because I was lucky enough to participate in a masterclass with them as a 12-year-old. Their splendid, singing tone and kind guidance to a clueless kid left an indelible mark. Rest in peace, dear maestro.
- Daniel.28
  
  2 yrs ago
  
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  Gail Starr Dan from tonebase Cello chiming in here, just to say Mr. Pressler was my main chamber music coach at music school (Indiana University Bloomington). Chamber coachings with him were intense musical experiences, some incredible revelations. Often he would sit in for the pianist and play with us. What a sound he made on the piano! He had an impeccable ear and taste, and was just as hard on the string players as the pianists. One day we came for a Schubert Trout Quintet coaching and the bassist was late-- Pressler said to us "He better be home practicing his intonation-- he's a mile off."
  When he gave a compliment, you know you really earned it!
  
  Amazing memories studying intensely with him Brahms G minor quartet, as well as the Schumann Piano Quartet. He had a very special feel for Schumann, a natural affinity. What a privilege it is to have worked so much with a master like this, of which very very few exist in the world.
- Have a growth mindset, no matter what!
  
  Gail_Starr
  
  2 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Daniel Ok, you clearly are checking on my current repertoire! Just this week I'm re-learning both the Trout and the Brahms to prepare for my summer amateur chamber music weekends.
  
  I'm so thrilled to share some of the same Pressler memories with you!
  
  I used to drive up to Indiana to attend the Janos Starker masterclasses when I was in high school. I studied cello with a fabulous teacher who had been Starker's pupil at IU, and Starker used to let us watch the classes. Once in a while, I'd accompany my more advanced cello friends at the tail end of a class. My friends both ended up doing cello professionally with top orchestras!
  
  If I had majored in music, I definitely would have made IU my #1 pick for a university!
  
  I'm so thrilled that Tonebase has added cello! I wonder if pianists could eventually also watch some of the cello or violin lessons? (I started on violin, switched to piano at 9 and added cello at 12...so I'm pretty interested in EVERYthing, LOL).
- Jasmine.2
- 22 hrs ago
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My brother is a cellist, so I know quite a few cellists (not only pianists), and I'd say that Jacqueline du Pré has always inspired me. Her Elgar concerto recording was amazing, and her early death was so tragic, but she really achieved so much during the short life she lived!
- Norman_S_Weinfeld
- 21 hrs ago
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Luciano Pavarotti, hands down.
- Betsy_Wiesendanger
- 21 hrs ago
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I am enamored with two cellists: Yo-Yo Ma, whom I was lucky enough to hear in recital in Carnegie Hall, and Gautier Capucon. a French cellist who absolutely blows me away every time I hear him.
- Fides_Cutiongco
  
  20 hrs ago
  
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  I completely agree with you. Yo-Yo MA is a wonderful person. My sons, a violist and cellist, had his older sister as their chamber music coach. And I watched Gautier Capucon and Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Worcester, MA about 4 years ago. One of the best recitals I have ever experienced.
- Andy.9
- 21 hrs ago
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It changes by the day, but at the moment Bob Marley. I am looking to move to a new location and my theme song is Exodus... movement of the people.
- Blair_BooneMigura
- 21 hrs ago
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No non-pianist has inspired me more than soprano Jessye Norman. I feel deeply grateful to have known her through my dear mentors and friends Dalton Baldwin and Mark Markham, with whom she often collaborated. Her artistry, especially in "Beim Schlafengehen" and the "Liebestod" , moves me on a profound, visceral level; those would be the last pieces I would want to hear at my deathbed. Her voice, presence, and fearless musicality continue to shape how I listen, teach, and perform. Coincidentally, today 9/15 would have been her birthday.

Beim Schlafengehen (Strauss): https://youtu.be/Se0HPsJex04?si=Hb5FN_t2numgIF97

Liebestod (Wagner): https://youtu.be/KKKEupnO8_0?si=nLLICY7FmLLnmk-Z
- JGILLSON
  
  6 hrs ago
  
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  A number of years ago, at a music event at Bard College in Annandale, NY, I had the good fortune to be seated at dinner with Jessye Norman and Leon Botstein (he's President of Bard and also principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra). At one point she was discussing a particular spot in a lieder (can't remember which) where she would typically find herself lost and she had developed the practice of looking at a hand motion by a cellist that would remind me where she was. Leon, in turn, then mentioned a piece he'd conducted that got him similarly lost in one spot, and said that he, too, would usually look for some gesture in the orchestra that would set him straight. Everyone was left shaking their heads and laughing.
  
  Not to drop names while I'd at it, but I'd rank it the best dinner with someone famous at my table ever, other than a dinner with Tom Seaver (ok, another story and I'll spare you, but he might not even count...a celebrity is one thing, a legend is another!!). He didn't report having gotten lost, ever!