The wrong note threshold - in professional concert

[opus10no2]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=J_DpaCP5JRg

In my view, this is on the edge.

The thing is, MUSICALLY, this is a stunning performance...full of colour, flair, and spirit.

But to achieve these musical delights, one cannot play it safe...one must play a balancing act, a trapeze artist...submerged in a tank of whales.

This is the ultimate, the true example of mind over matter.

Do you mind? does it matter?

No, you see through the cracks in the mirror and bear witness to the beauty of your own reflection.

[general disarray]

Bravo!  The Florence Foster Jenkins of the piano!

[viking]

2:28 - end = Xenakis

[Bob]

Professional?  There shouldn't be enough to be distracting.  Even if there are mistakes, they should be directing your attention to the music.

[slobone]

I doubt very much he's a professional. More likely a student who's scared as hell and not as well-prepared as he should be. And I disagree that it's "musically exciting" unless you enjoy watching car crashes. Come on.

[tompilk]

lol. 

[Bob]

I just watched it.  Or part of it.  Ouch.  Not worth watching the rest. 

He doesn't even look professional.  Is this thread a joke?

[Etude]

Omg this piece sounds like crap i think list just rote randome notes

...

Really, though, I've heard worse, like the Miss Texas Chopin Scherzo.

[dnephi]

This is a story of a girl who tried and tragically epic failed.

[Etude]

2:28 - end = Xenakis

Haha, it does remind me a bit of herma 

[Bob]

I'm watching it.

Painfully.

Wondering if someone will pop into the thread and say, "Hey!  That's me!"  Haha.

I wonder if he's just not adjusting to the piano.  The piano might just be that bad.  Although... if other people are playing on it for a recital... who knows?

What must be going through that guy's mind? 

If it's a piano for recital, you would think it's halfway decent... Maybe not though.  Myabe the keys are really stiff.

[Bob]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y9Wiqsd9xY&feature=related

Kissin.


I wonder if they sell wigs like that.  They have those afro ones.  I wonder if that would help me play better.

[Bob]

....and a white tuxedo.  I'll need that too.  Mine's black.  Silly me.

And a British announcer.

The audience.  They could just be added in with CGI. 

[slobone]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y9Wiqsd9xY&feature=related

Kissin.


I wonder if they sell wigs like that.  They have those afro ones.  I wonder if that would help me play better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnfZjqMSy0&feature=related

Yundi Li. A stunning performance, much more passionate and brilliant than Kissin's. First time I've heard this guy, he's great.

[slobone]

....and a white tuxedo.  I'll need that too.  Mine's black.  Silly me.

And a British announcer.

The audience.  They could just be added in with CGI. 

Next time you're wondering if your neighbors can hear you practice, try to figure out how far it is from the stage to the last balcony of Albert Hall...

[mattgreenecomposer]

Im just happy it says Ennio Moriconne on the projector behind him!   

[opus10no2]

But this is Good, not Bad nor Ugly at all.

[opus10no2]

This is a story of a girl who tried and tragically epic failed.

She is beautiful in my eyes, she will never be a failure...she has won the heart of many.

[pies]

This piece annoys me but I love how Gavrilov rapes it.  This dude rapes it in the wrong way, however.

[gyzzzmo]

I dont understand how you can think that guy is even close to being 'professional'.

I like the Yundi Li performance alot too, best i've heard. Kissin is less pure and he even makes mistakes in that YouTube recording.

[richard black]

I can't tell what the piece is, so I don't know how many of the notes are right and how many wrong .... 

[cloches_de_geneve]

The whole thing is a complete joke. Even if one wanted to play only wrong notes it would be hard to match the performance of this unfortunate dude.

[Etude]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=daiLb8cPYcg&feature=related

Some interesting polyrhythms at the end of this piece.

[chopininov]

[Getting ready to generalize]
And to think, Eastern Asians used to be admired for their work ethic. I see that they too have been Americanized along with the rest of the world.

[gyzzzmo]

I think they should have stoned him to death (at least, if there was any audience).

[slobone]

[Getting ready to generalize]
And to think, Eastern Asians used to be admired for their work ethic. I see that they too have been Americanized along with the rest of the world.

Well... until we know where these videos are coming from, not fair to critique them according to professional standards. We need somebody who reads Chinese -- for all we know, it was a Bad Piano Contest, like those Bad Hemingway contests...

[dana_minmin]

I read Chinese.

and... that was not a contest, it's so-called a piano "performance", organized by a "workshop" or "society" in a university I guess (because I can only see part of the words)

I hope it's a joke. He played every piece in this way, and he enjoyed in it.   

omg...

[piano_ant]

More like La Shitanella....

[the grand pianist]

loss of concetration during playing piano lead to such cases
& fear mixed with exaggerated tempo with difficult piece results in what i heard
in Iraq (Baghdad) I heard worse than that

[invictious]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vQt73nQl6zA&feature=related

Revolutionary....literally..

[franzliszt2]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 I thought the guy was joking....then the audience clapped! hahahahahahahahaha

[thierry13]

Who the hell does this guy think he is ...

[slobone]

Maybe this was the annual recital of people who learned to play from the Internet...

[Bob]

Still... He attempted it.  I would imagine it was just an off day.  And maybe a piano that couldn't keep up. 

Although I wonder...  What's the line for working on a piece versus still playing it poorly?  Although this was performing the piece, not just working on it.  I have sat through a few performances like that by stubborn students who insist (or think) they can play a piece and then do a half-baked version of it a performance.  The worst one was listening to a virtuoso piece played very slowly.  Not that bad, but it made the piece sooooo   veeeeeeerrrryyyy looooooooong.  And not virtuosic anymore then.

[tompilk]

I really do think that this is terrible and not due to a rubbish piano (unless you were being sarcastic).
You have to be really bad to play like that... it's like he's trying to play it from hearing it a couple of minutes earlier.
That said, i can't really comment when I attempt (with much futility) Alkan: http://www.mediafire.com/?ezye1azmi1k
that's what i call on the verge!!!  I just wish I could play it to show people what good music it is. If I played it and one person went out to buy a real CD of the piece, it'd make me so happy.

[chopininov]

Still... He attempted it.  I would imagine it was just an off day.  And maybe a piano that couldn't keep up. 

Although I wonder...  What's the line for working on a piece versus still playing it poorly?  Although this was performing the piece, not just working on it.  I have sat through a few performances like that by stubborn students who insist (or think) they can play a piece and then do a half-baked version of it a performance.  The worst one was listening to a virtuoso piece played very slowly.  Not that bad, but it made the piece sooooo   veeeeeeerrrryyyy looooooooong.  And not virtuosic anymore then.

Stop humanizing it.

[Bob]

I can just give him some credit for attempting it.  I don't think the performance was a wise choice, but...  I have a piece I sound horrible on and don't have the technique for.  I'm glad I did it, but I would never perform it.  I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to attempt a piece you can't play just to get to know the piece better.  Not actually being able to perform it though later wouldn't be a great motivation.

But I wonder if he knew if would turn out that way when he went up to perform.  How could you do that?  How could a teacher let you do that?  So then I thought maybe he didn't get a chance on the piano or couldn't adjust.  Still... Yes, ouch.

[marik]

Looks like the same dude who played Chopin Op.10/1 posted last year by the same poster.
No doubt, the "performer" has his own unmistakably unique style, passion, colour, flair, and spirit, which he consistently brings from "performance" to "performance" (if you can call it so).
Indeed, it would be hard to mix him up with somebody else.

I have to say, at least in the Op.10/1 I was able to recognize the piece (albeit rather due to a sustained LH). I liked his jacket better then.

Best, M

[michel dvorsky]