Faculty Publications
The Stanislavsky System of Actor Training and Piano Performance: The Need for Interdisciplinary Applications
Document Type
Article
Keywords
Interdisciplinary, music, pedagogy, Performance, Stanislavsky
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Stanislavski Studies
Volume
12
Issue
2
First Page
217
Last Page
235
Abstract
This article presents the need to address common performance challenges faced by university-level piano performance majors by adapting techniques from the acting System of Konstantin Stanislavsky, a Russian actor, director, writer, and founder of the Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT) who lived from 1863 to 1938. The common performance challenges addressed in this study are performance anxiety, physical tension in performance, interpretation challenges, and stage presence–the “visual rhetoric” of piano playing. Because the impact of Stanislavsky’s methods on piano pedagogy and performance is not widely understood, this study also gives background and context for the influence of Stanislavsky on a generation of Russian-born and other influential pianists and teachers who became part of the American system of piano pedagogy in the first half of the twentieth century. The article provides support and context for i) the four performance challenges addressed in the study from writings in the field of piano performance and pedagogy, and ii) provides an overview of the Stanislavsky’s acting System, outlining what Stanislavsky described as a lifelong process of learning and implementing his theory of performance. Finally, this article explores iii) the relationship between acting (particularly the methods of Stanislavsky) and piano performance through statements and writings by pianists and pedagogues including Theodore Leschetizky, Heinrich Neuhaus, George Kochevitsky, Rosina Lhévinne, Sviatoslav Richter, and Arthur Rubinstein.
Department
School of Music
Original Publication Date
10-11-2024
DOI of published version
10.1080/20567790.2024.2405481
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Andrea, "The Stanislavsky System of Actor Training and Piano Performance: The Need for Interdisciplinary Applications" (2024). Faculty Publications. 6712.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/6712
