The MTT Files - Program 8: Five Degrees of Separation

A program about teachers and students – about how teachers pass on technique and musicianship, but also about how they use stories about their own teachers to pass on the spirit of a musical life.

As a young pianist, MTT studied with John Crown, who’d studied with Moritz Rosenthal, the last student of Liszt, who’d studied with Czerny, who’d studied with Beethoven. In this program, MTT explores what it takes to be a great teacher, and takes us backward in time to hear the stories passed down through five generations of great pianists. Included are interviews with pianist and Liszt expert Garrick Ohlsson, and with pianist Ralph Grierson, a fellow student of John Crown.

This is the 8th episode in The MTT Files radio series.