You may recall that my husband, Carl, was the recipient of a Philip Belt fortepiano upon the death of his college piano teacher, Else Geissmar. Then when Carl died, he bequeathed the fortepiano to our friend, Mark Russell, and I bought a small pipe organ. Now Mark is moving and will have no space for… Read More The fortepiano returns!
It was another of those crazy weekends requiring me to shift gears quickly for the music at hand: A rehearsal with the Early Music Hawaii ladies for their dress rehearsal for “Triumph Against the Odds;” a concert with the Iolani School Chorus and Hokuloa Singers (John Alexander, director) in which I played a Mozart orchestral… Read More Three choirs in three days … and more!
This week was the annual visit of Carey Beebe, who takes care of all the harpsichords in Hawaii on his way back home to Australia from the Carmel Bach Festival. He not only tuned the two harpsichords in my condo (Zuckermann and Neupert) among others here in Hawaii, but also the Cammack harpsichord at the Lutheran… Read More Magic from the harpsichord man
Today Michael Belt wrote this comment on my post about our fortepiano: My Grandfather passed away this Monday past. I personally watched him build and test a few fortepianos in my time. Truly a talent… We believe that this is the only fortepiano in Honolulu.You may remember from my post, “Our fortepiano is famous (maybe and… Read More Philip Belt, father of the modern fortepiano
Last night’s chamber opera doublebill, La Descente d’Orphé aux Enfers and La couronne de Fleurs by Marc-Antoine Charpentier was breathtaking in its beauty and elegance. The small orchestra, directed by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, was seated on stage, surrounded by a giant garland of flowers on the stage floor (The Crown of Flowers) The… Read More Charpentier Chamber Opera
On October 1-2, 2011, the Lutheran Church of Honolulu’s first Abendmusiken Concerts of the 2011-2012 season featured the music of Mozart and the debut of our fortepiano to the Honolulu community. I posted a picture of our instrument on this blog where it caught the attention of the editor of Early Music America magazine, who… Read More Our fortepiano is famous (maybe and maybe not!)
For this weekend’s all-Mozart concerts, we have advertised the fact that it will be the debut of our fortepiano, built by Philip Belt. You may be wondering what the heck is a fortepiano anyway, and why do some people call it a pianoforte? The fortepiano was the precursor of the modern piano, and was invented… Read More What is a fortepiano, anyway?