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200 - 300 years later from now, who do you think will be the timeless composers ? I was checking keywords popularities of famous classical music composers , and realized that, it’s so amazing the number of searches for all these classical composers ! and the present results show below, The keyword ( Global monthly searches from English sites) Johann Bach - 301,000 Franz Liszt - 201,000 Frederic Chopin - 165,000 Ludwig Beethoven - 165,000 Richard Wagner- 165,000 Wolfgang Mozart - 135,000 Robert Schumann - 135,000 Franz Schubert - 110,000 Giuseppe Verdi - 110,000 Antonio Vivaldi - 110,000 Igor Stravinsky - 110,000 Joseph Haydn - 90,500 Johann Strauss - 90,500 Gustav Mahler - 90,500 Richard Strauss - 74,000 Claude Debussy - 74,000 George Handel - 60,500 Johannes Brahms - 60,500 Edvard Grieg - 60,500 Camille Saint-Saens - 40,500 Antonin Dvorak - 40,500 Felix Mendelssohn - 40,500 William Walton - 33,100 Georges Bizet - 33,100 Hector Berl...

  Recently, we had an opportunity to watch the famous timeless classic movie “ The Sound of Music “ which I had been wishing to watch. I had watched the movie when I was around 14 to 15 years old, from my step father’s recommendation ( the sound of music was his top favorite movie ). I remember I was very impressed with the amazing beautiful scenery in Salzsburg in Austria which I’d never seen at that time. It was like a beautiful scenery painting. Also the music,  I love almost all the music in this movie.   Until now I didn’t know the famous music “ Edelweiss “ was made for this movie. Because the music was in our school ( elementary school or junior high school) in the music text book. Also the story, an innocent type of story, was based on a true story. This movie makes our mind clear up.    I think it’s an uplifting movie ! I guess I’m a very dreamer and I’m always attracted by beautiful nature scenery and historical buildin...

Continued from “ Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin’s friendship Part 1”. On 26th of April, 1841 Chopin gave another concert in Salle Pleyel in Paris on which Liszt wrote a long review , published in the Revue et Gazette Muscale, that left itself open to varying interpretations. While Liszt expressed his admiration for his fellow artist, Chopin and his circle of friends, and his family members, were upset about some parts of his review. They were upset by the fact that Liszt did not praise Chopin as a composer, and failed entirely to mention the opus 38 Ballad in F major , opus 40 Polonaise in A major , and opus 39 Scherzo in C sharp minor , all of which Chopin had performed as part of the program. At the same time, Lisztomania was spreading like wildfire. Wherever he performed, audiences were awestruck by Liszt’s breathtaking virtuosity and style, and the audiences reveled and raved, quite beside themselves with wonder and enthusiasm. Very few artists are able to...

Frederyk Chopin   I’m a long time fan of Chopin’s music since when I was a teenager. Started loving his music from hearing his Polonaise , then Noctunes , Etudes … Frederyk Chopin I was using one of Chopin’s Nocturnes as my background music for my answering machine when I was in my 20s. In Japan, many of his music is famous and used in many TV dramas, commercials, movies, and mostly wealthy bourgeois family scenes. My image of many of Chopin ’s music that I’ve listened to is of a cozy, bourgeois world. From almost all his music I’ve ever heard, I often pictured an elegant, wealthy family’s world or a story about a family who are living in a luxury antique style house. Many of Mozart ’s music reminds me of a social life in an older generation, a story about bourgeois world in a gorgeous luxury palace. For Liszt ’s music, his music is very variety, ranging from an image of a sweet passionate love story for couples, all the way to nightmare horror story type o...

This year 2011 is Franz Liszt’s 200 years celebration year (Liszt was born in 1811 ) and many top pianists and also Liszt fans and also Chopin fans community will be celebrating for it. Last year was Frederic Chopin’s 200 years celebration. He was born in 1810. They were born only one year apart. We are glad we are getting into Liszt at such a celebration time. My impression of Franz Liszt, “ He was not only challenging to be a top pianist, he was challenging to be far above the top of the piano world, like paganini was in the violin world . He wasn’t depending on his talent, but was constantly challenging to improve his talent into a limitless level. That may be the most inspiring thing about him. “ Recently we’ve been enjoying listening to this CD called “ Greatest Hits Liszt “ every day. On this CD , My favorites are Hungarian Rhapsody#2 La Campanella Liebestraume ( Love dream ) Some long time Liszt fans said many newbie Liszt f...

More about Camille Saint Saens . This is Part 2. Camille Saint Saens was close friends with the legendary composers Franz Liszt and Pyotr Tchaikovsky as well as with another renowned French composer , Gabriel Faure . As mentioned in my last post about Camille Saint Saens, Liszt was a huge help in promoting Saint Saens music, by including Saint Saens music in his own concerts, by staging concerts of Saint Saens operas, and in general doing all he could to help the younger composer. When Saint Saens was 50 , he began composing another symphony in the early part of 1886. He had scarcely begun, however, when he received word of the death of Franz Liszt . The news affected Saint-Saëns deeply and he immediately decided to compose his new symphony as a tribute to Liszt, and to dedicate the work to his memory. The inclusion of a prominent role for the piano was part of this tribute. Tchaikovsky first met Saint-Saëns during the Frenchman's concert tour to Moscow in No...

I realized there are so many great top level pianists all over the world and I still need much more time to see all the greatest pianists. And I found that once the highest levels of piano playing are reached, at that point who you think is the best or is your favorite all depends on one’s taste and how the pianist performance and personality touches you. Personally , I love mixture of a dynamic performer, wild and also with sensitivity plus elegance with masterful technique and emotion and musicality. I’m surprised that it’s so different impression with same music depending on who is playing it , and also depending on the pianist’s mood at the time of the performance. So far, my favorite pianists of the 20th to 21st century are below, ( no particular order ) Here is the list : * Agustin Anievas (USA) * Yuki o Yokoyama ( Japan ) * Samson Francois (France)  * Vladimir Horowitz (Russia) * Yundi Li ( China ) * John Browning ( USA)  * Sandor Falvay ( Hungary )...