Peter Steiner

[PosauneCat]

I just heard this guy for the first time last week. It’s astonishing playing! It’s like the olympics. Ever four years you see someone break a new record. In the music world, from decade to decade, players just get better and better. When I was in college in the late 70s there were some great classical players but I never heard anything close to what this guy does. It’s really beautiful. However, there were some jazz players who could produce some astoundingly beautiful, lyrical high-range playing, Watrous and Urbie for example.

[harrisonreed]

Peter Steiner is great. He got beat by a Russian guy at the Tchaikovsky competition who is not as famous but whose playing was unequally beautiful.

There is Jorgen van Rijen who is beautiful in the upper register and has very melodic, song like playing.

There is Hakan Bjorkman who I believe just hit the scene at the wrong time -- he sounds fantastic and should have more albums than the one he made.

But to say Peter is the best ever and paving new roads breaking records .... He's not there yet. He said in interviews that he wants to do it and be a full time soloist on the trombone and I hope he does.

Listen to the cataclysmic sounds that came out of the collaborations between Alessi and Rouse, Alessi and Mackey, Lindberg and Aho, Lindberg and 80+ other composers, and you'll see that there are some BIG boots to fill and they are still full of others' feet. Lindberg talked about what he did to get compositions made and the amount of effort and energy that went in. Alessi had posted great videos showing his collaboration with composers as well. It's like a single minded pursuit to further the instrument and our repertoire, and we haven't seen that yet from Peter.

[Burgerbob]

I've heard Peter in recital 3 times now, an amazing player for sure... does some things that I haven't heard anyone else do.

Is there room for touring soloists, full time, anymore? I'm not sure... I feel like the days of Lindberg and Alessi doing their thing at the top (with no other room) are pretty much gone.

I've also interviewed him, and he basically said that he would love to have a full time orchestra job, but since he hasn't won any he's doing the soloist thing in the meantime.

[harrisonreed]

You interviewed Lindberg too. The guy's energy is off the chart as a 60ish year old. Imagine him at 35, smoking 60 cigarettes a day and taking multiple fika with lots of sugar and caffeine.

Alessi's energy seems different, but his absolute commitment to sonic perfection is unmatched. I don't think anyone has come close to being as hard on themselves as these two guys (and come out of it a winner).

Are you still doing those interviews? If you are you should bump your post about them to remind us!

[harrisonreed]

Part of the hang up might be the repertoire. We have epic pieces now that a charismatic soloist could run with, like a violinist can do.

Rouse - Concerto
Mackey - Harvest Concerto
Bourgeois - Concerto
Nyman - Concerto
De Meij - T-Bone
Sandstrom - Concerto 1
Aho - Symphony 9
Takemitsu - Gammeaux
Walker - Concerto

Violinists have made careers out of a smaller repertoire than this list. The problem is, who do you know that we haven't named who actually has internalized these pieces like a violinist? Nobody wants to see someone struggling with a piece as a soloist, or reading off a stand (Alessi being a notable exception to the stand thing!). Peter certainly does not struggle, but he is mostly tackling piano duet material and says he doesn't like most of the trombone repertoire.

How many trombonists reject half these pieces because they deny the actual music?

[Burgerbob]

You interviewed Lindberg too. The guy's energy is off the chart as a 60ish year old. Imagine him at 35, smoking 60 cigarettes a day and taking multiple fika with lots of sugar and caffeine.

Hopefully you heard Lindberg's story about his energy levels... that guy is off the charts in all ways. That interview was also approximately 5 hours after closing down the nightly hang...!

More are on the way, have no fear.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

Peter Steiner is very talented, but I think he is just starting his journey. If you listen to his performance of the Leopold Mozart Concerto at the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition, you will hear that he has a few struggles......so his consistency was not established at that point. Of course, it's easy for me to judge from the comfort of my desk at home.

The recordings that he has released in the past year are very good and show his commitment to a high artistic level. He is certainly making great strides. If he can maintain that high level of playing for many years, then we can give him "hall of fame" status. Let's sit back and see what happens. I am rooting for him......I think we should all be cheering for him and all trombonists who are working towards elevating our art!

[Posaunus]

I heard Peter play live in early 2020 - just before the pandemic hit. His performance (of difficult repertoire) was extremely impressive. Clearly he is a talent to be reckoned with. Hope the pandemic shutdown doesn't affect his progress for too long. I know he is still working hard to maintain and improve. He seems like a wonderful guy; I expect we'll hear more wonderful things from him.

[Savio]

So many good trombonists to listen today. We are blessed. I think a new trend is to make the trombone sing more instead of doing technical things like trumpet virtuous solos. Not only Peter Steiner, but as mention above; Håkan Björkman, Lars Karlin, Matyas Veer.....so many. We are really blessed today, so much inspiration.

Leif

[harrisonreed]

I heard Peter play live in early 2020 - just before the pandemic hit. His performance (of difficult repertoire) was extremely impressive. Clearly he is a talent to be reckoned with. Hope the pandemic shutdown doesn't affect his progress for too long. I know he is still working hard to maintain and improve. He seems like a wonderful guy; I expect we'll hear more wonderful things from him.

I second that he seems like the least pretentious, warmest character you could meet. Combine that with his immense talent and you've got a winning combination for stardom.

[hornbuilder]

I have spent some time with Peter, really just general "banter" at trade shows. He is rare in that he remembers you, and will go out of his way to come and shake your hand, say Hi, and ask how you're doing. A very "Human" being!

[Bach5G]

Peter Steiner (and his accompanist, Constanze Hochwartner) was in town this weekend (21/01/24) for a masterclass and recital at the local uni.

Terrific concert. About an hour, all from memory. The program included the David, and a couple of Hungarian Dances from Brahms. One of the best trombone recitals I’ve attended (maybe because we didn’t get a whole lot of the standard trombone rep? Low lugubriousity).

He had the horn with the inelegant X-bracing (a Bach?) and a prototype mouthpiece (think Monette and Megatone getting together, it looked to be the size and shape of an orange juice can).

Came across as a very nice guy. I agree with Harrison who noted above:

I second that he seems like the least pretentious, warmest character you could meet.

[mgladdish]

That's astonishingly good playing.

I'm annoyed by the arrangement though - it's far too inelegant and twee for me. With Ian Bousfield posting this week asking whether trombonists should play the Bach cello suites at all out of respect for the music, I can't help thinking there needs to be a bunch more respect from classical musicians to non-classical music too.

[AtomicClock]

Are they "lip" synching for the camera? Those camera angles seem impossible. Seems fake to me.

[harrisonreed]

Are they "lip" synching for the camera? Those camera angles seem impossible. Seems fake to me.

From the video up top? Yeah I'm sure they are really playing, but possibly/probably along with the actual recording that would later be dropped onto the video and a click track.

That's pretty standard for non-live music videos.

[jacobgarchik]

That's astonishingly good playing.

I'm annoyed by the arrangement though - it's far too inelegant and twee for me. With Ian Bousfield posting this week asking whether trombonists should play the Bach cello suites at all out of respect for the music, I can't help thinking there needs to be a bunch more respect from classical musicians to non-classical music too.

That’s nuts. Bach would not have cared one iota about people adding breathing points to the cello suites. Instrumental adaptation was the norm!

[mgladdish]

That's astonishingly good playing.

I'm annoyed by the arrangement though - it's far too inelegant and twee for me. With Ian Bousfield posting this week asking whether trombonists should play the Bach cello suites at all out of respect for the music, I can't help thinking there needs to be a bunch more respect from classical musicians to non-classical music too.

That’s nuts. Bach would not have cared one iota about people adding breathing points to the cello suites. Instrumental adaptation was the norm!

I don't think it's the breathing/adaptation he's most worried about, more that we just can't play it well enough. He says he can't even do the opening triad justice.



On the other hand, I went down a bit of a youtube rabbit hole in response and found Inbal Segev's channel where she goes bar by bar through the suites and how she approaches them.

What immediately jumps out is the authority with which she plays the opening phrase, and the amount of vibrato. Compare that to how Ian does it and he almost sounds scared of it.

So yeah. This week I've been practicing vibrato on Dm triads

[harrisonreed]

That's astonishingly good playing.

I'm annoyed by the arrangement though - it's far too inelegant and twee for me. With Ian Bousfield posting this week asking whether trombonists should play the Bach cello suites at all out of respect for the music, I can't help thinking there needs to be a bunch more respect from classical musicians to non-classical music too.

I mean, "Somewhere" is not classical music in the dictionary sense. But I'm not sure it's not classical music in the layperson sense. How is it any different from any other opera aria?

[Kbiggs]

Ian Bousfield’s video seems to me to be more of a caution: choose your repertoire carefully, and when you do choose something like Bach, or Mahler songs, be even more careful about choosing your interpretation.

On breathing and playing Bach: it’s only problematic if the breathing disrupts a phrase or a cadence. The Bach Flute Sonatas and Partitas are very similar to the cello and violin suites and partitas. There really isn’t a place to breathe because that’s not what Bach’s music is about. It’s about phrasing, and the phrasing determines the breathing.

Here’s an example:

[mgladdish]

That's astonishingly good playing.

I'm annoyed by the arrangement though - it's far too inelegant and twee for me. With Ian Bousfield posting this week asking whether trombonists should play the Bach cello suites at all out of respect for the music, I can't help thinking there needs to be a bunch more respect from classical musicians to non-classical music too.

I mean, "Somewhere" is not classical music in the dictionary sense. But I'm not sure it's not classical music in the layperson sense. How is it any different from any other opera aria?

That's a reasonable point. I guess becuase of the style and the composer. Bernstein knew what he was doing harmony-wise, especially when writing with a jazz influence. He'd never write a piano part as harmonically clunky as that, or as rudimentary in its style. It would be like playing an um-cha um-cha left hand to the melody of moonlight sonata. Sure, you can if you want to, but nobody's going to think you're literate in that style or giving the music due respect.

[Posaunus]

Can we get back to the original point please?

Peter Steiner is amazing trombonist - a technical giant, who plays beautifully and artistically.
And, from my limited personal contact, appears to be a truly nice guy, rather humble and not full of himself, who aspires to be a great trombonist.

Isn't it interesting that he makes all this beautiful music on his Bach A47XPS "Peter Steiner Signature" trombone - which has been almost universally lowly rated by all of us TromboneChat critics?
I guess in our minds he'd play and sound even better with the trombone of our choice.

In the meantime, as an enthusiastic fan, I'll follow Peter's career with interest, and attend his concerts whenever I can.

[GGJazz]

Hello all.

Despite the "german-shaped" name , Peter Steiner is a italian trombone player.
He was born in Bolzano , that is the Sud Tirolo' main city . The Sud Tirolo is one of the northernmost regions of Italy , and it borders Austria and Switzerland .

We are very proud of him !

Curiously , there are more opportunities to listen him abroad than here in Italy ..

He play super-great , and who knows him said that he is a very nice guy .

Regards
Giancarlo

[harrisonreed]

Can we get back to the original point please?

Peter Steiner is amazing trombonist - a technical giant, who plays beautifully and artistically.
And, from my limited personal contact, appears to be a truly nice guy, rather humble and not full of himself, who aspires to be a great trombonist.

Isn't it interesting that he makes all this beautiful music on his Bach A47XPS "Peter Steiner Signature" trombone - which has been almost universally lowly rated by all of us TromboneChat critics?
I guess in our minds he'd play and sound even better with the trombone of our choice.

In the meantime, as an enthusiastic fan, I'll follow Peter's career with interest, and attend his concerts whenever I can.

Pretty sure he's on a Thein in the original post. His new recordings on the Bach sound really different.



The Bach has a pretty bright sound. He's also got some massive heavy mouthpiece he's trying out.



It's very different from the sound in the OP video.

[Lamplighter]

If you're anywhere close to Statesboro Ga, (Georgia Southern University) he's going to be there for a concert on Feb 27th, and a Masterclass on Feb. 28th.