Why we love off-duty pictures of pianists

Why we love off-duty pictures of pianists

News

norman lebrecht

September 21, 2022

Today’s headliner is Khatia Buniatishvili, singing in the rain.

Don’t know where. This is all the information she has posted.

Buniatishvili is a Paris-based Georgian soloist. She also has a serious side (see video below).

We are sometimes criticised for sharing pictures that leading pianists put out for public consumption.

We make no apologies for it, any more than The Times does for putting a picture of a woman on its front page 364 days of the year.

It is vaguely newsworthy that two female pianists choose to present themselves in this way, perhaps a sign of the times.

Why they do so and what good it does, for them or for their music, is yet to be determined.

Like all other news media, we share what is there.

It’s up to readers to decide how they receive it.

Maybe it’s just singing in the rain.

Comments

  • Ernest says:

    This is Telok Ayer Street in Singapore. She was here playing with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on 14 April 2022.

  • soavemusica says:

    Classical music, as all performing arts, is, by no means, alien to exhibitionism issues. Still, they are usually sublimated, or somewhat more subtle than in pop.

    Usually. Or used to be.

    • Jobim75 says:

      Between humility, discretion, concentration and circus show, each artist must find it’s place and pace …was Horowitz an exhibitionist???? his playing was a lot for the show, but the man seemed tortured. At least nothing sounded fake. Social media riggs the game

  • E.R. says:

    Nice photo. Thanks to Ernest for
    identifying city and street. (Would never have known who was in the photo, without NL’s
    comment.)

  • Ludwig's Van says:

    Better she sings in the rain, rather than butcher piano repertoire in concert halls. If people listened with their ears rather than their eyes, this gal would have disappeared years ago.

    • Duncan says:

      Absolute rubbish. A pianist with a commanding technique and musically thought-provoking. You may not agree with all her interpretations but that’s the nature of music-making.

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