Everything Gets Easier
[youtube]qKXy1FPTdvg[/youtube]
Steve Reich’s seminal 1967 Piano Phase has always been a fantastic challenge for any two pianists. But here is the Russian Peter Aidu (b. 1976) going them all one better, by performing both parts solo, on two pianos at once.
Released on the netlabel Top-40, the complete recording is available to freely download at Archive.org. (There’s also a link there to further information on the pianist and release, and the MP3 download at Archive.org is fine, but I would recommend NOT visiting directly the Top-40 homepage. There may be some malware lurking there!)
This was originally done a few years back by a student at Baldwin-Wallace College named Rob Kovacs. He played the whole piece. It was with a student performance of “Music for 18 Musicians” and Reich was in attendance.
I must admit I am not a fan of Reich or the minimalist tendencies in modern music BUT this was impressive. He does a good job here and is to be applauded. I think I may actually go and get the mp3 =)
The video clip is just a condensation. The MP3 recording is of a complete live performance.
I have to play this with Anthony Coleman at Merkin on Thursday. Does this guy play the whole piece? It’s a very impressive feat, but in this clip he starts with the second theme, doesn’t do many cycles, goes back to the first theme, doesn’t complete that either, and skips the final pattern altogether. Has he actually performed the entire piece this way? I must say, it makes me curious to try it myself….
Don’t be scared, Paula, it’s only the label’s homepage that I found to be weird.
The link to the MP3 file kept on Archive.org:
http://www.archive.org/details/top.09
is perfectly OK & respectable.
Wow. But you scared me away from the website…
Many thanks for posting this!