"And you smile when you play!"

July 15, 2023 12:05 PM

"André Watts, a pianist whose mighty technique and magnetic charm awed audiences and made him one of the first Black superstars in classical music, died on Wednesday at his home in Bloomington, Ind. He was 77." [NYT, Archive link]

Live performances (all on YouTube):
At age 16, playing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at Carnegie Hall,.

Mister Rodgers asks, "Is there a composition that you learned when you were a little boy, that you could play?"
"Yes! Yes, I remember a little piece by Schubert, a musical moment..." (wiggles eyebrows). Schubert's Moment Musicaux in F minor
"Would you play something else?"
"Oh! Well... with pleasure! But I'll have to ask you to move, because I'd like to play a piece by Chopin, a study, an etude - I move my right hand a lot, and I wouldn't want to hit you in the chest by accident." Chopin's Revolutionary Etude - Op.10 No.12

Liszt: Paganini Etudes Nos. 1 (Trémolo) and 2 (Octaves) , Nos. 3 (La Campanella) and 4 (Arpeggio), and Nos. 5 (La Chasse) and 6 (Thème et variations)

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto # 2 (1988 Performance)

Chopin's "Sonata #2" in b flat minor....Op.35
Chopin: "Revolutionary Etude," Op.10 #12
George Gershwin: preludes #1, #2, #3
Liszt: "Transcendental Etude" #10 in F Minor
Claude Debussy's "La Plus que Lente", "Danse", and "L'Isle Joyeuse"
Edward Macdowell: "Moto Perpetuo," Op.46 #2

Liszt: Sonata in B Minor

"The most relaxed person around here seems to be André himself..." Scarlatti sonatas, in D minor and A major

Brahms - Piano Concerto N2 op.83 first movement, second movement, third movement, fourth movement

Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto N2, op.22 g moll first movement, second movement

Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto no.1 first movement

Beethoven: Sonata 2, Op.2 27 Moonlight

1993 interview with Charlie Rose.

Tracks from a number of Watts' recorded albums are also available on YouTube.

posted by rrrrrrrrrt (20 comments total)

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posted by fredzo718 at 12:54 PM on July 15, 2023

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posted by Thorzdad at 1:11 PM on July 15, 2023

My father was a good amateur pianist. I remember watching the 1963 performance of the Liszt Piano Concerto Number 1 while my father shook his head and said several times "Sixteen years old! Sixteen years old!" My father died three months later. While this is by no means the last memory I have of him, it is a very happy one, and that shared moment made Watts very special to me, in a personal, as well as artistic, way.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 2:07 PM on July 15, 2023 [10 favorites]

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posted by AnyUsernameWillDo at 2:59 PM on July 15, 2023

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posted by Schmucko at 3:33 PM on July 15, 2023

Watts was the first truly great pianist I ever heard play live, and it was magical. RIP, thank you so much for your music.

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posted by LooseFilter at 4:18 PM on July 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by lalochezia at 4:35 PM on July 15, 2023

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:37 PM on July 15, 2023

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posted by falsedmitri at 5:55 PM on July 15, 2023

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.
posted by ob1quixote at 7:12 PM on July 15, 2023

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posted by Coaticass at 9:15 PM on July 15, 2023

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posted by sammyo at 12:23 AM on July 16, 2023

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posted by inexorably_forward at 3:54 AM on July 16, 2023

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posted by dannyboybell at 4:22 AM on July 16, 2023

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posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 6:43 AM on July 16, 2023

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posted by little mouth at 9:11 AM on July 16, 2023

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posted by adekllny at 10:31 AM on July 16, 2023

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posted by ikahime at 8:44 AM on July 17, 2023

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posted by larrybob at 4:39 PM on July 17, 2023

Pianist Lara Downes remembers André Watts.
posted by larrybob at 5:08 PM on July 17, 2023 [1 favorite]