Alkan - Symphony for Piano Solo Op.39 - 4th movement - Presto

[hodi]

ok wait..
this is not a recording by me
but by a friend of mine, an israeli pianist called Ran Zemach
recorded from an israeli radio station "Kol Hamusika"
he asked me to put those recordings here
he is looking for your comments
i will upload the rest of the symphony later
thanks

[daniloperusina]

And who are you, his agent?
When the Worthy Maestro Himself decides to abandon His lofty heights and condescend to this earthly, lowly place,
I'll tell him that the many shouts of 'bravo' at the end
renders any further comments supererogatory

[jakev2.0]

Bravo!!! 

[jlh]

Amazing! 

[hodi]

And who are you, his agent?
When the Worthy Maestro Himself decides to abandon His lofty heights and condescend to this earthly, lowly place,
I'll tell him that the many shouts of 'bravo' at the end
renders any further comments supererogatory

well he isn't any kind of snobbish person or anything and i'm not his "agent"
i just told him that i could post him the recordings in a forum for comments and he said it would be great.

[rachfan]

Truly excellent!  Takes your breath away!

[ranzemach]

And who are you, his agent?
When the Worthy Maestro Himself decides to abandon His lofty heights and condescend to this earthly, lowly place,
I'll tell him that the many shouts of 'bravo' at the end
renders any further comments supererogatory

================================================================
So did you like it a lot or did you dislike it a lot ?? I am the "Worthy Maestro Himself" who "abandoned His lofty heights and condescend to this earthly, lowly place" just for a while and just in order to please you and converse with you.
================================================================

[daniloperusina]

And it pleaseth Us a lot that Thou doest!
As far as I can remember the performance is of a mindblowing proportion!
Welcome, and hope you enjoy this forum!

[rachfan]

Hi ranzemach,

Bravissimo!!! sums up your performance of this Alkan piece.  A tour de force!

Can you perhaps post another piece for us to hear?  Thanks.

[aslanov]

I just tried replying and it says
'Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 500 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.'

I say NEY, this topic deserves a reply, so people can hear this brilliant performance.

Bravo

[emill]

Brilliant !!!!  Deserves to be heard by more here!!!

[orangesodaking]

Thank you for the bump, and Ran, thank you for the promotion of Alkan's music! It is very much needed, especially now that we have the internet to raise awareness of the genius behind some of his music (especially the Symphony).

There were a few wrong notes, but the performance was still very confident, polished, and musically shaped well. I wish I could have been in that audience so I could have been a part of the enthusiastic applause an the end. Does/did Ran Zemach ever play all four movements of the Symphony? It is one of Alkan's best pieces and one of his most important contributions to the piano repertoire and deserves to be studied much more than it is. It contains some of Alkan's best music, and is some of the best "orchestral" piano music I have ever heard, period.

I have the score (not IMSLP, an actual book) with the Symphony in it, and have started looking at the first movement. It is not as technically difficult as the fourth, but is still rewarding and I intend to learn the whole Symphony.

[bbush]

I just want to thank Ran and his friend, Hod, who posted the recording originally for reminding me of the beauty of Alkan's Symphony (four parts of his Opus 39)!  And I also agree with the Orange Soda guy who was appreciative of someone/anyone helping to spread knowledge and appreciation of Alkan's amazing pieces.

Personally, I think I over-rated myself as an "advanced" player, after listening to Ran's interpretation of the 4th movement.  While I can play the Funeral March, I struggle with the 3rd movement and only dream of playing the 1st and 4th at tempo.

Does anyone suggest a recording of Quasi-Faust, besides Raymond Lewenthal's fab one of 1965?

Thanks, Bruce

[orangesodaking]

My favorite recording of the Grande Sonate is Ronald Smith's.

[bbush]

Yes, orangesodaking, the Ronald Smith performance of Alkan's Grande Sonate is available on-line... and soon I'll get to hear more of it than just the beautiful (and intimidating) Quasi-Faust movement.
Thanks,
Bruce
PS - I also saw two "Alkan Project" recordings of Smith's on amazon.com that include many smaller pieces I ought to be able to play, including the charming Barcarolle, Op.65 No.6, which you've shared, here.

[orangesodaking]

I said this in my post in the Barcarolle thread, but I want to restate that my favorite Alkan pieces are now his more lyrical, less energetic virtuosic pieces.

I also recommend checking out his chamber music: Cello sonata, violin sonata, and trio.

My favorite movement of the Grande Sonate is the 3rd, although if I'm in a down mood I like the 4th (haha). The Trois Morceaux Op. 15 are great, too!