|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
50.98.116.189
On Youtube performed by number of young japanese pianists, as arranged by Vladimir Willshaw:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-QIjbcmDVY mobile device link
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z-QIjbcmDVY
Follow Ups:
I'm becoming more convinced that they actually encourage this kind of "emoting" when playing, in order to demonstrate their (supposed) deep immersion in the music. Anyone who has seen Bang Bang in concert has observed this. Eyes rolled back in the head, swaying, grimacing, hunching, facing the heavens, alternately gasping and smiling and oooohing -- this sort of oozing is quite tedious.The blue-haired ladies seem to love it. Like many men, I close my eyes, read the program, or look around at others to keep from howling in laughter. Unfortunately, with Bang Bang at the keyboard, the playing leaves a great deal to be desired as well. I've witnessed him slaughtering Beethoven's 1st concerto. You couldn't pay me to attend another concert featuring him again.
I minimized the window to avoid having to look at an entire group of emoting keyboardists. The piano reduction does indeed highlight the complexity of Rachmaninoff's orchestration buried behind the sweeping melodies. Some of my orchestra friends have commented how challenging his music is. And I've commented before how only a few recordings of Rachmaninoff's 1st Symphony actually "get it right" in certain passages. So I'm not surprised that a premier performance, played by unprepared musicians under the baton of a drunk conductor, made a mess of it.
In this case, the four hands reduction was really interesting to listen to. Thanks for the link.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
Edits: 07/31/14
When I am forced by my wife to attend a YoYo Ma concert, I'm the one with the eyes closed during the entire piece.
=:-0
And when it comes to emoting, I think Mitsuko is the godmother of them all! ;-)
(I remember when our kids were very young and I was watching a Mitsuko Uchida video, our kids were asking, "Why is she doing that?". I answered that she was trying to show how Mozart was suffering in his music. They thought that was hilarious!)
Yes Lang Lang show boats. It's nothing new. He wasn't the first and won't be the last. Why do people call him "bang bang?" His name is pronounced long long.
I do a great impression of him playing John Cage 4:33. It has gotten a lot of laughs in certain circles. Sorry, not going to name names.
Bong Bong may fit.
Congratulations to all EIGHT performers! Every one of the players was very accomplished, and, as a listener, you can learn so much about texture and balance by listening to arrangements such as this one. We often don't realize just how complex Rachmaninoff's textures can be - it's by no means just the "big tunes" that define his style, as emotionally riveting as they can be, and a piano 4-hand arrangement certainly brings this textural aspect of his complexity into strong relief. I was also struck by how parts of the symphony, shorn of their orchestration, sound like parts of that Second Suite for Two Pianos.My wife didn't make it past the first movement - like, jimbill, she couldn't take the coordinated writhing! ;-)
BTW, youtube also has a similarly wonderful 4-hand performance of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, apparently from the same concert. I'm listening to it right now and it features the same high level of performance as the Rachmaninoff. The Erlkönig-like repeated notes in the first movement have got to be SO hard! (Last movement too!)
Edits: 07/30/14
So I listened all the way through. Still think their teachers should have corrected them on the excessive movement and emoting.
They were all pretty good but I wished the adagio had been more romantically played and the guys in the final movement were a bit of a mess.
I would love to hear a great pair of pianists give this a go.
Synchronized piano playing?
Their body swaying and raptured expressions were a bit distracting.
But I did like the arrangement.
They were moved by the music...
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: