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 Notes
from the Pianist's Bench by Boris Berman
The shelf
of helpful and practical books on piano study is not a full one;
perhaps only the books by Josef Lhevinne and by Artur Schnabel's
student Konrad Wolff belong there. But Boris Berman has now added
to it. Berman has taken on the difficult aspects of playing the
instrument and has succeeded in several areas. Setting up opposing
ideas--sostenuto versus leggiero playing, fidelity
to the score versus personal interpretation--he sends pianists
to the instrument with a heightened awareness of what the body
wants to show us. Berman is big on images (useful ones, by and
large). He talks about the importance of breath (far too rare
in piano lessons) and is good on the relation of finger stroke
to dynamic level. He offers one fine exercise for voicing of chords
and another--a long scale in diminuendo--for finger control. A
chapter on time falters a bit on tempo--lots of examples but few
concepts--but covers the idea of inner pulse and subdivision of
the measure in an exemplary way. Readers will want more help on
fingering, but that is probably impossible in book format. There
is a good deal of common sense on phrasing and repeated insistence
on informed rather than mechanical practicing.
For a pianist
with a performing career in Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev, Berman
has a surprising amount of respect for the printed scores, and
his background in early music comes through several times. At
the end, he continues into performance (lots of ideas from the
acting teacher Stanislavsky here) and includes a welcome chapter
on teaching. This is, in fact, a book to use with your own teacher--ideas
about "out" stroke, sustained relaxation ("both
impossible and unnecessary"), and wrist height could be dangerous
if misunderstood--but it will be provocative. Many musical examples,
admirably proofread and helpfully cross-referenced, are included.
-- William R. Braun (Amazon.com)
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