Leif Ove Andsnes is the opposite of the “show biz” pianists of today and he’s nothing like the Dracula Pianist. Here’s an excellent performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Leif Ove Andsnes and the Berliner Philharmoniker. They are conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, formerly of the hr-S in Frankfurt. What I especially like about Lief is that, unlike the “show biz” pianists of today, he plays with the same artistry as that of Artur Rubinstein and the pianists of his generation. Lief makes it look easy — that’s how I was trained — unlike many of the “show biz” young pianists of today who are all about “making it look difficult” in order to impress musically-ignorant and shallow people. Lief doesn’t resort to banging the keys, bouncing around on the piano bench, bouncing his hair, gazing at the ceiling — what is up there that’s so interesting to some pianists? — with limpid eyes and quivering lips. Lief doesn’t resort to cheap theatrics, and sweating profusely with wet hair to try to impress the audience like many of today’s young, tacky “show biz” pianists — females often half-naked seemingly trying to show labia — where they make it all about themselves rather than about the music. Have you seen the get up some of these females are wearing these days to “sex up” their performance of a piano concerto? I guess they think they’re not good enough to allow the music and their performance to speak for itself. So they resort to trying to ‘sex it up.” During the bows, most of the orchestral musicians don’t look at her, neither does the conductor because she’s embarrassing. Why did orchestral management choose to select Ms Labia? Imagine if a guy showed up looking half-naked. Some of today’s tacky “show biz” pianists show up half naked as if trying to show labia in an attempt to “wow” a shallow audience. And unfortunately, many audiences fall for these “show biz” antics, stunts and cheap, tacky gimmicks even at international piano competitions where one would think that the audience would see this crap for what it is. But others see them for what they are: pop-culture musicians trying to play to the lowest common denominator. Also, the piano should be placed more inside the Orchestra — the way the hr-S/Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra does piano concerti — rather than stuck out on some pedestal/added stage.

The Dracula Pianist — whose Dracula facial expressions and other antics whilst performing — looks like he’s going insane during his performances. His first name is Daniel. He’s also one of the show-biz pianists of today.