Eldritch
02-01-2011, 11:04 AM
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Japan pianist plans marathon Chopin concert
A renowned Japanese pianist on Tuesday announced plans to break his own Guinness world record by playing all 212 of composer Frederic Chopin's solo piano pieces at an 18-hour concert in Tokyo.
Yukio Yokoyama will challenge the Guinness record by playing Chopin's all existing solo piano pieces at a 18-hour concert in May.
Yokoyama told a news conference he wanted to "better understand Chopin and let many more people know about Chopin".
He said he would play the 212 Chopin pieces by ear at the May 3 concert at Tokyo Opera City from 8:00 am to 2:00 am the following day, with intervals.
Yokoyama's record-breaking Chopin concert in May last year saw him play 166 pieces in chronological order over more than 16 hours to commemorate the bicentennial of the composer's birthday, without using sheet music.
The feat saw Yokoyama take the Guinness world record for "most pieces of music performed by a solo artist in 24 hours".
Along with the 166 pieces played last year, the pianist said the upcoming concert will see him play 46 pieces that the Polish-born Chopin himself decided not to publish, including a work that he composed at the age of seven.
"Rather than perfectly finished works, you can glimpse the human nature of Chopin in his unpublished works," he added.
Born in 1971, Yokoyama studied from the age of 16 at the Paris Conservatoire. After graduating in 1990, he was awarded the third prize at the XII International Chopin Piano Competition in the same year.
"I have kept playing pieces of music by Chopin since my debut and have been trying to see how close I can get to him," Yokoyama said.
"I hope to convey the beauty in some of Chopin's works that he himself was not even aware of," he said.
The concert will be open to the public and will also be broadcast by a Tokyo radio station.
Link. (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/219338/japan-pianist-plans-marathon-chopin-concert)
Japan pianist plans marathon Chopin concert
A renowned Japanese pianist on Tuesday announced plans to break his own Guinness world record by playing all 212 of composer Frederic Chopin's solo piano pieces at an 18-hour concert in Tokyo.
Yukio Yokoyama will challenge the Guinness record by playing Chopin's all existing solo piano pieces at a 18-hour concert in May.
Yokoyama told a news conference he wanted to "better understand Chopin and let many more people know about Chopin".
He said he would play the 212 Chopin pieces by ear at the May 3 concert at Tokyo Opera City from 8:00 am to 2:00 am the following day, with intervals.
Yokoyama's record-breaking Chopin concert in May last year saw him play 166 pieces in chronological order over more than 16 hours to commemorate the bicentennial of the composer's birthday, without using sheet music.
The feat saw Yokoyama take the Guinness world record for "most pieces of music performed by a solo artist in 24 hours".
Along with the 166 pieces played last year, the pianist said the upcoming concert will see him play 46 pieces that the Polish-born Chopin himself decided not to publish, including a work that he composed at the age of seven.
"Rather than perfectly finished works, you can glimpse the human nature of Chopin in his unpublished works," he added.
Born in 1971, Yokoyama studied from the age of 16 at the Paris Conservatoire. After graduating in 1990, he was awarded the third prize at the XII International Chopin Piano Competition in the same year.
"I have kept playing pieces of music by Chopin since my debut and have been trying to see how close I can get to him," Yokoyama said.
"I hope to convey the beauty in some of Chopin's works that he himself was not even aware of," he said.
The concert will be open to the public and will also be broadcast by a Tokyo radio station.
Link. (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/219338/japan-pianist-plans-marathon-chopin-concert)