I’m a Korean pianist and I play Mozart quite well

I’m a Korean pianist and I play Mozart quite well

News

norman lebrecht

November 25, 2022

The latest interviewee on Livin the Classical Life is William Youn.

He talks revealingly of the mood-swings of his legendary teacher, Dmitri Bashkirov. ‘He was mean,’ says William.

Comments

  • Ludwig's Van says:

    Having attended Bashkirov’s masterclasses, i can certify that the man is a psycho and a clown who believes that he is a deity. Studying with him was a total waste of time.

    • Ivan says:

      If you really studied with him you would have known that he died (not the nicest way to talk about the diseased btw) so using “is” shows that you either never studied with him or simply don’t know the grammar.

    • Sue sonata Form says:

      It’s the notion of the ‘masterclass’ that’s at fault. Lang Lang has run these and that provides a clue to their validity and effectiveness.

    • Had Enough says:

      Many other’s MC’s are equally useless. It’s a tired concept that never completely leaves the scene due to the occassional true Master that leads one. Murray P gets my vote.

  • Clarification says:

    William Youn actually says “he WASN’T mean” (“just very agitated”)

  • lamed says:

    No, listen again, Youn actually said:

    “He wasn’t mean”

    In full, he said “He wasn’t mean, he, I think he was more, he was very agitated all the time and very intense, and impatient … he would stop you and just slaughter you, but at the same time … he was also very motivating … you had to be one of his pupil to really feel his support or wamth ” etc etc

  • Gerry Feinsteen says:

    Korean pianist who says he ‘plays Mozart quite well’—is he implying all Korean pianists play Mozart well or Korean pianists don’t typically play Mozart well?
    Or—he doesn’t play much else well besides Mozart?
    Fascinating either way

    • Listen to the interview says:

      If you have listend to the interview, you would have understood what he meant- how he is fighting against the stereotype against Asian musician.

    • Bedrich Sourcream says:

      Playing well and understanding, conveying culture, are not the same thing. Koreans are deeply musical people, in their own way.

    • Karsten says:

      No elite classical musician in their right mind would ever utter such a thing. This industry is in a sad state.

  • Don Ciccio says:

    I’m a lumberjack, and I’m okay.
    I sleep all night and I work all day.

  • Rudy says:

    I wonder if Bashkirov was BPD. I feel that would explain his daughter Elena being matching Barenboim (BPD).

    We normally choose partners that have some features our parents had.

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