173. Virtuosity: from Chopin to the Courts (with Leonard Gilbert)

Law, classical music, and virtuosity have a lot in common.  As a Steinway Artist and tax lawyer, Leonard Gilbert found great commonality succeeded in both worlds.  By the age of 19, Leonard Gilbert won four Canadian Music Competitions, won the 2010 Canadian Chopin Competitions, and became the first Canadian to represent Canada at the prestigious International Chopin Competition, viewed by most pianists to be the “Olympics” and “Paralympics” of classical music competitions.

Join Amos Vang and Leonard Gilbert as the two classical concert pianists discuss in great detail the wondrous world of classical concert piano performance, the similarities between pianistic practice and athletic practice, the prestige of the International Chopin Competition, the philosophies of piano performance and virtuosity, the philosophies of piano technique and preparation, the centuries-long evolution of piano tuning and musical counterpoint, and the importance, benefits, and transferability of a classical music training into a legal career.

0:00 for the Introduction.

8:09 for the beginning of the interview.

Below is a list of the piano pieces that you heard in the audio version of this episode, along with the respective performing pianists and composers.

4:51 to 6:36, 6:46 to 8:22: Leonard Gilbert – “Andante Spianato Et Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op 22” by Frederic Francois Chopin.

29:03 to 30:54, 1:04:59 to 1:05:15: Amos Vang – “Après Une Lecture Du Dante: Fantasia Quasi Sonata” by Franz Liszt.

32:26 to 34:08: Krzysztof Moskalewicz – “Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 60” by Frederic Francois Chopin, played on Chopin’s own piano, the Pleyel No. 13819. 

34:09 to 36:48: Daniil Trifonov – “Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op. 60” by Frederic Francois Chopin

1:03:26 to 1:04:18: Tiffany Poon – “La Campanella” by Franz Liszt.

1:05:16 to 1:06:14: Arcadi Volodos – “Après Une Lecture Du Dante: Fantasia Quasi Sonata – Volodos Transcription” by Franz Liszt (transcription by Arcadi Volodos).

1:07:51 to 1:08:28: Vladimir Horowitz – “Piano Sonata No. 2 – Horowitz Transcription” by Sergei Rachmaninov (transcription by Vladimir Horowitz).

1:40:48 to 1:41:41: Yundi Li – “Etude No. 3 in G Major, Op. 28” by Frederic Francois Chopin.

As an interesting note, five Canadians have qualified for the main competition of the 18th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw! They will be proudly representing Canada from October 2 to 23, 2021, in Warsaw, Poland, so if you want to know more about just how much work goes into perfecting classical piano performance and how far a classical pianist can go with their performative and virtuosic aspects, be sure to visit https://chopin2020.pl/en/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInri_iIyj8gIVlHNvBB0dnA8mEAAYASAAEgJXF_D_BwE for all the details on how to cheer on our fellow Canadians in the Olympics of piano!