Richard Meyrick, anyone heard of him?? Options

[John Willett]

Your post has been very interesting, thanks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

You don't need to be a student to post here. I'm sure many of us would find it interesting to hear the perspective of someone from a different part of the industry, so please feel free to continue contributing if you would like to. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Thanks skylark.

To put in perspective / background.

I work for a major microphone / headphone manufacturer (which pays the mortgage) and run a location recording unit in my spare time, specialising mainly in solo piano (people seem to like what I get from a piano).

As well as Richard Meyrick, I have recorded John Lenehan (his Satie CD in Classic FM's "Full Works" series) and I have also recorded Chloe Hanslip (violin) and the Thurston Clarinet Quartet and much more.....

If you want my philosophy - it is to let the performer perform so the music comes from the heart and is not just a load of notes edited together. When the music comes from the heart you will listen to a recording again and again and again.... Even though I recorded John Lenehan many years ago I still often listen to the Satie CD because the music comes from the heart and speaks to the listener.

Too much short snips edited together may be note perfect but you will listen once, say "that's nice", put the CD on the shelf and never listen to it again.

John

[skylark]

Couldn't agree more with your philosophy. Sadly at my level I'm still trying to get the notes right!

Quite a number of students here would like to make a career in some aspect of music, not necessarily performing or teaching. In particular, sound engineering and related careers are options some people are interested in, so the fact that you work for a mic/headphone manufacturer makes you a potentially very valuable member of the forum! It's possible that a lot of people won't see this thread as it is in the piano Viva, but I'm sure many students would find it interesting to know more about your particular industry if you had the inclination to post a topic in the Students forum.

Incidentally, some of us forum members are doing our first studio recording session ourselves in March, there's about 15 of us (I think) meeting up in Surrey to record music composed by forum members. Fortunately everybody else plays at a standard worth recording! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[melody_maker]

John Willett - thank you very much for your information, it was very interesting. I'm sure he mentioned you in the lesson I had with him, so this is very exciting!! =)

I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post much about my London lesson with Richard Meyrick. It was amazing, he is such a talented pianist. He helped me understand the music better, and my performance of Scarlatti's sonata in D sounds a lot better! His tips were so helpful, and he had a brilliant way of explaining things.

As I said in a letter to Richard, the piano we played for the lesson was fantastic - it was a Blu(umlaut!)nther grand, and although I do love my own Yamaha upright very much, it sounded so much better on the grand!

He worked wonders with the Chopin Nocturne I played, and we discussed the fingering in some depth.

I hope to go and see him again in concert this year, so please keep me updated, John!!!

m_m xx rachel

[AntonPiano]

I know him.
He came to my school for that masterclass thing.
It was rather good.
He proper ripped my Phantaise in D minor apart.
But it was okay. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)
And when he played the Katchaturian (sorry about the spelling)
I was blown away.(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[John Willett]

Well - for four days next week I will be with Richard in Menuhin Hall recording the next sessions for his forthcoming CDs.

The first CD should be Chopin, to be released mid year.

Menuhin Hall is a good venue for recording piano.

[Chris H]

I'm horrified that some classical CDs are made from short snips edited together, I thought it was just pop/rock music where that happened. The best CDs (in any genre) are always those that are done in one take - who cares about mistakes, it's the real performance that matters. Good for you, John.

[John Willett]

I'm horrified that some classical CDs are made from short snips edited together, I thought it was just pop/rock music where that happened. The best CDs (in any genre) are always those that are done in one take - who cares about mistakes, it's the real performance that matters. Good for you, John.

The normal way is halfway between the two.

Yes, I absolutely agree that you want a recording of a performance. The performer will be performing with adrenalin running and putting blood sweat and tears into the performance (ideally) and you can certainly hear this.

In practice he/she will nearly always make some mistakes.

So - when I record we do a couple (sometimes more) of full takes of a real performance. The producer will be ticking off the notes and listening carefully for mistakes. Hopefully, between the two everything will be in the bag. If not, there may be some shorter takes to correct the mistakes.

We will then choose the best performance as the master and then edit in from the second performance to correct the mistakes - this gives an exciting performance to listen to. A straight single performance with a mistake or two left in can be very annoying - at a live performance this is no real problem, but in a recording you will be listening for the fault every time and it ruins your enjoyment of the music. Having a performance with the mistakes edited out is the best compromise.

I don't like recording short snippets because the musician is then playing "notes" rather than playing "music" - it may be a note perfect recording, but it has no life - so you will listen to it once and put the CD on the shelf to gather dust, never to be listened to again.

So, in all of the recording I do with Richard Meyrick we always record at lest two full performances and any short parts to correct errors are normally quite long so he is back in "performance mode".

This is why we end up with an exciting CD that can be listened to again and again and again.

The first CD I ever recorded was the music or Erik Satie with John Lenehan - re-released on Classic FM's "Full Works" series if you want to listen - one track did not have a single edit in it, and the rest very few as John was playing his heart out. I regularly listen to this CD again and again and my wife loves it and plays it over and over.

The most important thing is to capture a great performance - the odd tiny mistake which 99% of people will not hear can be left in, if correcting it means a poorer performance.

I hope this makes it clear.

John

[John Willett]

Well, I have just spent three days with Richard Meyrick in The Menuhin Hall recording some Rachmaninov, Liszt and Bach pieces.

It all went very well.

We have now recorded enough for three CDs - the first two of Chopin and Beethoven are just about ready for the pressing plant (just waiting for the artwork). Now we just have to edit these sessions and we will have a third CD.

The forth CD will be recorded in December.

There is a photo of the first recording session on Richard,s website - the middle picture at the top on this page.

I recorded two of the CDs listed here - the Chopin Nocturnes and the Chelsea Festival ones.

Actually, Richard has just updated his website (Home page is here; which may be of special interest if you have attended one of his Master Classes.

His fingering exercises look very interesting (but I'm not a pianist (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) ).

John

[melody_maker]

Thanks for the post John, it was very interesting!

I have his Chopin Nocturnes CD! It's amazing! I also have some of his other CDs, and I'll look forward to buying the next ones.

Oooh I like the new website! When I had a lesson with Richard in London his own studio was being used at the time, so we were in the Bosendorfer studio, which was fantastic.

Oh my Goodness the excercises are wonderful! Richard gave me a copy last December and they are truly amazing. At first they did hurt a bit, but now I can play them for much longer. They really do improve the technique!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Chopinzee]

Ashkenazy rates him, well that's what it says in the liner notes of Meyricks double CD of Chopins Nocturnes, which I have had for some years. It's still in most of the big record shops, and is relatively inexpensive, and he plays them beautifully.

[DaisyChain]

Richard Meyrick playing the Concerto No 5 by Beethoven is to die for.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) I hope it's on the new CD!!!

[Robodoc]

First thing I thought when I saw this thread was "Wasn't that the Elephant Man?" but no, that was John Meyrick!

[DaisyChain]

First thing I thought when I saw this thread was "Wasn't that the Elephant Man?" but no, that was John Meyrick!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Or Joseph Meyrick according to what book you read about him. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/offTopic.gif) Sorry John!

[John Willett]

Richard Meyrick playing the Concerto No 5 by Beethoven is to die for.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) I hope it's on the new CD!!!

Sorry (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

The Beethoven CD will be:-
Sonata #8 - "Pathetique"
Sonata # 14 - "Moonlight"
Sonata # 23 - "Appassionata"
Bagatelle in A minor - "Für Elise"
Bagatelle in C minor (1797)


I have not recorded this with Richard (yet) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)


But (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Beethoven's Concerto No.5 is on the 3-CD Beethoven CD set on Cirrus (CMS CD 902).

It's the third one down on THIS page on Richard's website. There is a link on the bottom to get it from Richard direct.

[melody_maker]

I love him doing the Strauss on the Classical Piano CD (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)