E12: Interview with Olga Georgievskaya, Russian Concert Pianist

Olga is not only a superb pianist- her CD shows off her deep soulful & expressive playing with a highly refined ear for counterpoint, layers and structure- but her concert transcription of the Vitali Chaconne for solo piano is an absolute masterpiece, and she has also done a PhD on polyphony in Rachmaninov... I absolutely had to interview her! I'm afraid my enthusiasm for details about bells and the structure of the Rachmaninov 2nd Sonata made the beginning of this episode perhaps a little self indulgent! But from 8 minutes in, you can learn about how Rachmaninov was influenced by Russian folk music (and I guarantee this will be new information for you!), and we spend quite a while chatting about the importance of learning to really listen when developing as a pianist- particularly with counterpoint and polyphony. Anybody who's serious about becoming a better pianist will pick up many important tips from the Russian School of Piano Playing which Olga explains passionately and clearly. All audio clips are from Olga's CD 'Chaconnes & Songs'