Meet Khatia’s competition

Meet Khatia’s competition

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norman lebrecht

November 03, 2016

A new photoshoot has landed from the Italian pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell.

vanessa-benelli-mosell

She plays Stockhausen.

Seriously.

Comments

  • David Osborne says:

    So I followed the link to that old SD article. Before my time it was and funny to read the comments- like seeing old photographs of friends. A surprisingly measured and considered Milka gently challenging the Borstlapian view. Dear, sweet Milka where are you? You are sorely missed.

  • Stephen says:

    YES!! She’d take my mind off the ‘music’.

  • Stephen says:

    DEFINITELY! She’d tame my mind off the music.

  • Stephen says:

    Sorry! I meant “take”.

  • boringfileclerk says:

    She’s the real deal. She studied with Stockhausen at an early age. It’s refreshing to hear someone so young play the old masters like Stockhausen and Boulez. She has the ear and technique of a young Horowitz and Argerich. Out all of the younger generation, she has the best shot at being remembered for her contributions to music.

  • YR says:

    If I remember correctly, one of Stockhausen’s Klavierstücke calls for the pianist to sit on the keyboard, i.e. playing using his/her bottom.

  • Bruce says:

    Fortunately, we all know from reading this blog that if a pianist is pretty, or tries to be, she can’t be any good. So I don’t have to bother with listening to her play.

    • Thomasina says:

      Well, if you could listen to her play without image…

      • Bruce says:

        Listening without watching? Who would do a thing like that?

        • Thomasina says:

          Me (occasionally). For realize if I could love the music…only me who do it?

          • Bruce says:

            That is just weird. The most important thing is to always be evaluating a performer’s sexual attractiveness at every moment. It is the only thing that will enable you to decide if she* is a good musician. I don’t know if you are “the only one” who listens to the music, but I don’t think there can be very many like you.

            *(Yes, “she.”)

            P.S. This is sarcasm. At least I hope so.

  • Respect says:

    With all due admiration for the newcomer, I’m certain that Khatia beats the field in “sat” chords, her immense range defeats all comers.

  • Duncan McLennan says:

    Some years ago I was on a long-distance flight and decided to view a performance of the Prokofiev 3 piano comcerto on the in-flight video system, by a pianist I’d never heard of. Alas the video film never appeared on my screen but I could hear the performance through my headphones. I was so enchanted with it that I listened three times (very long flight). Utterly marvellous music-making!

    On a subsequent leg of this odyssey on a different plane the video component was working so I viewed the performance as well as listening to it. I can therefore claim to be the first male to fall in love with Yuja Wang’s musical attributes before I set eyes on her. Subsequent recordings (and more than a few videos) have not changed my initial assessment..

  • David Osborne says:

    Conversely I look at this clip and find her appearance quite disturbing. Like a child that needs rescuing from a cult.

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