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Title: Basic Principles in Pianoforte by Josef Lhevinne ISBN: 0-486-22820-7 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1972 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (8 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Another book.
Comment: I didn't find this book very useful, I recommend saving your money for some of the more recently written books on piano playing, such as the wonderful book by Gyorgy Sandor (On Piano Playing: Motion, Sound, and Expression), or the one by Seymour Fink (Mastering Piano Technique: A Guide for Students, Teachers, and Performers). Those are much more helpful in detailed technical and artistic suggestions.
Actually, those others are so much better you must have a copy if you are serious about the piano.
Rating: 5
Summary: Worth every page
Comment: Perhaps the previous reviewer did not take note of the title - "Basic Principles in Piano Forte Playing", which is just what it is - nothing more, nothing less. Josef Lehvinne is of the old school of thinking, namely, he believes that only meisters should be teaching how to play music, although he grudgingly acknowledges that demand outstrips supply and American "method" teaching has reached acceptable standards. I dread what he would think of me trying to teach myself. I could make fun of his attitude, but in reality he is a perfectionist, and that is what it really takes to make an outstanding musician of any instrument. Furthermore, he shares in a very readable style what is important when mastering the piano. Even a beginner like me can appreciate the value of his very generous advice. Every page has at least one or more important gems, and his style of writing is such that you are sure to remember them!
Rating: 2
Summary: Predictably unhelpful
Comment: This is not a helpful book. It says nothing new and offers very little in the way of practical advice. It tells us that we should concentrate on touch and on producing a singing tone. Did I need to buy a book to find that out? How exactly does one produce a singing tone? Well Mr. Lhevinne had it (as his sister continually reminds us) and basically one must spend hours developing touch and listening carefully to the sounds you produce. How novel! I'm sure no one thought of that before. Need any more specific advice than that? Sorry, this book won't give it to you. Why not enrol at the Juillard School where the fabulous, marvellous Mr. Lhevinne taught?
Why didn't Mr. Lhevinne and his sister write out some practical examples? They could have taken, say, an extract from a Chopin study or from a Beethoven sonata or from a Liszt transcription and talked us through some suggested phrasing, perhaps discussed different ways of using touch to bring out certain notes in the extract. (See for example Joan Last's excellent little book on piano playing which does exactly this). No, Mr. Lhevinne guarded his secrets a little more jealously than that.
What of pedalling? What insights are offered there? Well, to be frank, very little. Now, Joseph Banowetz's book on pedalling, there's a useful book full of practical information and suggestions. But this Lhevinne book..? No, nothing to be learned there, just the usual exhortation to practice and the constant reminder that Mr. Lhevinne knew how to pedal, Mr. Lhevinne knew how to play the piano. Funny that Mr. Lhevinne's recordings aren't as stupendous as one might expect. His playing sounds a little cold and yes his rendition of the Chopin study in thirds is technically very proficient (the book tells us ad nauseam about how well he played this piece) but musically uninteresting.
I didn't even bother finishing this book. If I had never read any other piano books in my life, maybe I would have found this interesting. But there are so many better books on offer out there, why bother with this pompous, uninformative little volume?
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Title: Piano Technique by Walter Gieseking, Karl Leimer ISBN: 0486228673 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1972 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Piano Playing by Josef Hofmann ISBN: 0486233626 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1976 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Super Sight-Reading Secrets: An Innovative, Step-By-Step Program for Musical Keyboard Players of All Levels by Howard B. Richman ISBN: 0961596309 Publisher: Sound Feelings Pub Pub. Date: June, 1986 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Great Pianists on Piano Playing : Godowsky, Hofmann, Lhevinne, Paderewski and 24 Other Legendary Performers by James Francis Cooke ISBN: 0486408450 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 19 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: With Your Own Two Hands: Self-Discovery Through Music by Seymour Bernstein ISBN: 0793557127 Publisher: Hal Leonard Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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