Great Pianists and Pedagogues in Conversation with Carola Grindea.(Book review)

Great Pianists and Pedagogues in Conversation with Carola Grindea, by Carola Grindea; Kahn and Averill, London; 316 pp.; 15.95 [pounds sterling]

Great Pianists and Pedagogues in Conversation with Carola Grindea is a series of 48 interviews of internationally acclaimed pianists and pedagogues compiled by Carola Grindea, piano professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1968-1990. In 1978, Grindea founded the European Piano Teachers Association and, from there, launched the Piano Journal, from which these interviews are taken. Most of the interviews were conducted in the 1990s, yet several occurred in this most recent decade. Pianists interviewed include well-known names such as Murray Perahia, Jeremy, Yaltah, and Hephzibah Menuhin, Radu Lupu, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vlado Perlemuter, Russell Sherman, Jorge Bolet, Tamas Vasary, Peter Frankl, Moura Lympany, Abby Simon, Andras Schiff, Gaby Casadesus, Menahem Pressler, Barry Douglas, and Garrick Ohlsson, just to name but a few.

Each person is asked specific questions related to his or her pedagogical training, the profound influences each performer had while developing into a young artist, their extraordinary experiences as performers and their personal thoughts on teaching and competitions with respect to the upcoming generation of pianists.

With certain artists, Grindea focuses on the important aspect of "peak performance" or "flow" that performers seek to experience when mind and body come together in live performance. In many of the interviews, the performers discuss how they arrived at the top of their profession as performers, either through winning competitions or through other connections in the ...