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The article profiles Leon Fleisher, one of America's most popular pianists who has influenced generations of young artists and who enjoys a career as a performer, conductor and artist teacher. Within the years, he had received awards and recognition and he recently has received the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors Awards, Fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the highest order of the French Legion of Honor. His recordings of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. While suffering from focal dystonia, a physical condition that partially crippled his right hand, he devoted himself to conducting, performing repertoire for piano and teaching top young talents.

Presents an interview of Hungarian-American pianist Eva Kovalik regarding the traditions of Hungarian piano practice she learned at Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest in Hungary. Educational background and career development of Kovalik; Interest of Kovalik on the Hungarian heritage and training and with the works of the great Hungarian pianist Bela Bartók; Insights on her mentors and the influences they made on her.

Presents an interview with pianist Garrick Ohlsson, on winning the 1970 Chopin competition. Insights on making the decision between entering the Tchaikovsky competition in June or the Chopin in the fall; Recollection of his performance of Chopin as part of his remarkably broad repertoire and tours to Poland since winning the competition in Warsaw; Understanding of the possibilities of pedaling, texture, color, and what the hands could do technically.

Presents an interview with Hungarian-born pianist Tamás Ungár on his insights and views of teaching young pianists and amateurs with the Forth Worth Symphony in Texas. Insights of the Young Artists Program of the joint-initiative of Texas Christian University and the Cliburn Piano Institute; Characterization of young pianists; Introduction of the Amateur Program for adult pianists; Career development.

The article profiles György Sebök, a pianist and master music teacher. Sebök has died in November 1999 at the age of 77. He began his career in teaching music at the Indiana University in 1962 and was named a distinguished professor in 1985. He was also diverse in his knowledge, which included human anatomy and physiology. He was born in Szeged, Hungary, the son of a lawyer and grandson of a physician. Sebök has always acknowledged how the chamber music classes of his teacher Léo Weiner has had an influence on his works. He is recognized as a master teacher throughout the world.

This article presents an interview with Jorge Federico Osorio. Osorio sought the old masters and their traditions through studies as a young pianist in Mexico with his mother. He lived in London, England, and appeared with major European orchestras as he built a career based in part on the German masters. Osorio and his wife, Sylvana, a pianist and music librarian, and their two sons, Santiago and Dario, recently moved to Chicago, Illinois.

The article profiles Byron Janis, an internationally renowned concert pianist in the U.S. His first performance is at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1948 and had memorable performance in Europe and in Russia. He had received several acknowledgements such as the Chevalier des Arts et Letters in France, the Grand Prix du Disque and the Harriet Cohen International Music Award for a Beethoven recording. Among his released recordings are that of "Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #1" with Fritz Reiner and of "Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition." Despite his suffering from psoriatic arthritis, a debilitating disease, for 25 years, Janis continued to perform and was able to record an all-Chopin album that demonstrate that his artistry is undiminished by physical problems.

The article describes a party to celebrate the 100th birthday of the late Danish-American pianist Gunnar Johansen. Johansen was an artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin's music department. Host of the party was Johansen's former pupil James Colins. Occupational achievements include 140 long playing record albums of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frederic Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Ferrucio Busoni. Johansen was co-founder of the Leonardo Academy, a learned institution of artists, inventors, scholars, and scientists who convened to solve scientific and social problems.

Presents the author's views on pianists and piano playing. Comparison of pianists with storytellers; Recollections of some incidents wherein he found pianists telling stories with notes; Advises for young pianists; Challenges before pianists; Recollections of his days as a teenage pianist.

Anyone who has a full-time career outside of music or family duties faces the problem of finding time to practice. The claims that piano teachers should take a careful survey of the important activities in their lives and include practicing in the list of important tasks. Risk management is important for pianists in using the best out of the practice time. Musicians who cannot find enough time to practice would do well to remember the magic of time spent practicing away from the piano since practice sessions need not to be lengthy.

The article presents a narration of the historical tour spanning Budapest, Austria, and Switzerland undertaken by the article author to see the artistic works and museums of the composer and pianist Franz Liszt. The author, along with pianists, teachers and music lovers, visited the Liszt museum in Budapest the first day of their tour following a lecture by Zsuzsanna Domokos, the music librarian for the museum. Later that day the visitors saw the elegant Budapest Opera House, an ornate building designed by Mikios Ybi, with statues of Liszt and Franz Erkel prominently greeting guests. Next on the tour was Sopron, a Hungarian resort town near the Austrian border where the young Liszt gave his first public performance in around 1820. The visitors then crossed into Austria to see the quiet, modest town of Raiding where Liszt was born. In Switzerland the visitors took a boat tour on scenic Lake Wallenstedt, immortalized by Liszt in Au Lac de Wallenstedt. The author further states that by the end of the tour the wonderful music and scenery had renewed his enthusiasm for the music of Liszt, with his colleagues having returned home ready for students, parents, and fall schedules, with no signs of burnout.

Profiles pianist Theodore Lettvin of Cleveland, Ohio. Contributions to the music industry; Views on learning; Style in teaching.

Criticizes the unnecessary movements adopted by pianists while performing on stage. Contribution of great pianists like Rudolf Serkin and Alfred Brendel's arm-waving and facial contortions in their performances; Reasons given by Artur Rubinstein in an interview for making dramatic faces and gestures; Description of an incident where a lady pianists overshadowed the co-performers; Wishes of the article author to see pianists get rid of unnecessary movements.

Shares the author's views on the life and work of pianist Franz Liszt. Recollection of the author's experience in his visit to Hofgärtnerei, the modest house of where Liszt lived and offered masterclasses during the 1870s and 1880s; Preservation of Liszt's house for use as a museum; Comments on the performance of several musicians who played the pianos in Liszt's house.

The article reflects on brilliant performances of pianists who are blind or have limited vision. It names George Shearing, Art Tatum, Marcus Roberts, and Arthur Rubinstein as examples of many pianists with visual disabilities that have performed well. It states that performing at the piano for anyone with vision disorders is ultimately less difficult than learning new scores, which is a laborious process at best. It stresses that piano can be such a fine companion for people struggling with infirmities.

The article describes several incidents during musical performances associated with page turners. Such incident includes the experience of the author during his page turning debut for pianist György Sebök's appearance with the Fine Arts Quartet in Chicago, Illinois. Another is an upsetting incident where a page turner showed with a colorful dress to assist a pianist matching her colorful outfit. Finally, another page turner offered an extreme help for a performer in a concert where he played together with a performer on a repeated note for the finale.

The article looks into the historical connections of Russian pianists. An example of such historical connections are those of Anna Essipova, one of the most prominent and influential Russian teachers. She was known to emphasize a singing legato sound and two of her noted students were Sergei Tarnowsky and Isabelle Vengerova. Some connections appear unlikely such as those of Karl Heinrich Barth who taught both Artur Rubinstein and Wilhelm Kempff. In the case of Van Cliburn, he was pedagogically only one generation removed from Russia when he triumphed in the 1958 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. His teacher Rosina Lhévinne, was a direct exponent of 19th-century Russian piano playing.

The article presents comments of Bernie Sahlins, theatrical director and cofounder of Chicago's well-known Second City comedy troupe, who had read the author's interview with Byron Janis in the April 1998 issue. Sahlins happens to be a passionate amateur classical pianist and once played in a masterclass for one of the great personality pianists, Moritz Rosenthal, a pupil of Franz Liszt. He commented on Janis's distinction between the great and often flamboyant pianists whose personalities take precedence over the music and those who submerge their personalities to service the composer's work. Sahlins counsels actors to do no more or no less than to serve and inhabit the role and to find the courage to become vulnerable on-stage. Pianists, like actors, would do well to seek the same end. It is probably impossible to perfectly judge whether a pianist truly plays Bach as Johannes Sebastian Bach intended. Shalins also believes that audiences can be receptive to a performer's intentions, and they usually know if they are being manipulated or deceived. If these intentions are sincere and honestly attempt to capture the essence of a composition, audiences will almost always embrace them.

The article focuses on the process of making music records. Music engineering and editing has been used in the early 1940 and music engineers make splices and join several portions of music performances to produce classical music CD. Music engineers can accelerate or slow down record passages without altering the pitch. Digital editing have eased the anxiety of pianists when playing in the recording studio, which results to more heavy editing of musical performance. Different reactions from various pianists are also presented.