Something is dumb and something is stupid. Something is ape with a cerebral cortex. Something is anthropologically awry. Something suspiciously sounds like Dr Seuss version 5.0. These days, with all the hyper-normalisation, the inner self can appear to be on vacation. But let’s try and work backwards, counter intuitively. You’ve heard the old tale about […]
Practice documentation after two weeks of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3. Dedicated to my Mother, Pauline Belviso, my children and to my students. Rachmaninoff 3 isn’t my all time favourite piano concerto. However it is the most deeply personal and significant to me. My Mother played it in piano competitions before I was born and […]
I. FORMING THE PROPER CONCEPTION OF A PIECE It is a seemingly impossible task to define the number of attributes of really excellent pianoforte playing. By selecting ten important characteristics, however, and considering them carefully one at a time, the student may learn much that will give him food for thought. After all, one can […]
The West Australian – 20th June 2018, written by Neville Cohn. Pauline O’Connor/Belviso. Born: Perth, 1936. Died: Perth, 2018 aged 82. In late 1961, in Cape Town’s City Hall, I attended a recital by famed Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Afterwards, I went backstage in the hope of obtaining an autograph. Also in the dressing […]
I first met my lifelong friend, mentor and music teacher, Pauline Belviso at Santa Maria college when I was seven years old. I vividly remember being intimidated by her calmness and talking at 75 words per minute. I also remember her not being intimidated by my lack of calmness and talking at 5 words per […]
An excerpt from My Conversations with the Mystic. An interview with Sadhguru by Shekhar Kapur. Shekhar Kapur: When my daughter was four or five she asked me, “Daddy, am I living a dream or is this reality?” And I said, “you tell me.” She said, “It’s both. It’s my imagination and it’s reality.” And in […]
Rachmaninoff is now 45 years of age. He was born on the 20th of March, 1873, on the estate of his mother called “Oneig” in the province of Novgorod. That is to say, in the heart of the real Russia, where he spent his childhood, until he reached his ninth year. Thus Rachmaninoff comes exactly […]
Ideally, as parents, we would prefer to trust our instincts. However from time to time, we might pay a brisk visit to google and search for an edge, some information that will tick all the right boxes and put our minds at ease. Is that what actually happens? Or do we get lost in all […]
According to scientists, dinosaurs became extinct around sixty seven million years ago. The general consensus was that an astroid hit the earth causing living conditions to deteriorate. It is completely the opposite of recording studios. Somehow, they still exist, but once large, the size of a brachiosaurus, they were hit with the introduction of new technologies. The recording […]
My journey as a musical arranger and producer began in the lounge room of our family home. My Mother was a contracted broadcaster for ABC radio and was a regular on the concert circuit. This inspired me to begin learning the piano and percussion. It wasn’t long before I found an effective way of capturing my own musical performances […]