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Topic: Feats of Speed  (Read 2241 times)

Offline comme_le_vent

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Feats of Speed
on: April 25, 2004, 01:18:20 PM
just for fun - what recordings by which pianists do you think are very notable for their sheer velocity?

my first suggestion would be - rudenko's chopin op10/2 played cleanly, live, at around 200bpm.  :o
https://www.chopinmusic.net/sdc/

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Offline bernhard

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #1 on: April 25, 2004, 02:09:36 PM
Two that come immediately to mind are Eteri Andjapridze unbelievable speed on Scarlatti's Sonata K427 for Naxos, and Cziffra's Chopin etudes for Phillips (Great pianists)

What about the opposite? Unbelievably slow interpretations? Claudio Arrau's rendition of the Gigue in Bach' Partita no. 1 (Phillips) is a serious contender. It sounds like a completely different piece. And I hear that Pogorelich has also been slowing down his tempos dramatically in recitals.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.
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Offline thracozaag

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #2 on: April 25, 2004, 07:37:41 PM
Quote
Two that come immediately to mind are Eteri Andjapridze unbelievable speed on Scarlatti's Sonata K427 for Naxos, and Cziffra's Chopin etudes for Phillips (Great pianists)

What about the opposite? Unbelievably slow interpretations? Claudio Arrau's rendition of the Gigue in Bach' Partita no. 1 (Phillips) is a serious contender. It sounds like a completely different piece. And I hear that Pogorelich has also been slowing down his tempos dramatically in recitals.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.


 You should have heard his infamous Rach 2nd concerto.  The 3rd movement was so slow that the cymbol crashes were, well...more like something out the matrix. ::)

koji
"We have to reach a certain level before we realize how small we are."--Georges Cziffra

Offline bernhard

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #3 on: April 25, 2004, 07:54:56 PM
Quote


 You should have heard his infamous Rach 2nd concerto.  The 3rd movement was so slow that the cymbol crashes were, well...more like something out the matrix. ::)

koji


Is that the one where the audience booed him? I read the review somwhere in the net.
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. (Hunter Thompson)

Offline donjuan

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #4 on: April 25, 2004, 09:47:46 PM
Sviatoslav Richter
Transcendental Etude no.5 "Feux Follets" (Liszt)
from the Sofia Concert, that is...

Gyorgy Cziffra
Grand Galop Chromatique (Liszt)hehewhooosh!!

Offline Antnee

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #5 on: April 25, 2004, 11:54:28 PM
Well, legend has it that liszt could play the single notes in Chopin's Etude Op. 25 NO. 2 in OCATVES!  :o :o :o

I would have payed anything to be able to see that. Or him play anything for that matter.

-Tony-
"The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead." -  Stravinsky

Offline DarkWind

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #6 on: April 26, 2004, 03:48:49 AM
Quote
Sviatoslav Richter
Transcendental Etude no.5 "Feux Follets" (Liszt)
from the Sofia Concert, that is...


I read somewhere on this site that Richter omitted many of the bottom notes in that performance. Upon closer inspection, its true... :o As for speed, I would say Martha Argerich playing Scarbo, though i've never heard many other pieces played really fast...

Quote
Well, legend has it that liszt could play the single notes in Chopin's Etude Op. 25 NO. 2 in OCATVES!    

I would have payed anything to be able to see that. Or him play anything for that matter.

-Tony-

Liszt could do anything regarding piano :P. I mean, anyone who plays the Emperor Concerto with only the 4 small fingers in his left hand is truly a piano god.

Offline thracozaag

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #7 on: April 26, 2004, 05:11:09 PM
Quote
Sviatoslav Richter
Transcendental Etude no.5 "Feux Follets" (Liszt)
from the Sofia Concert, that is...

Gyorgy Cziffra
Grand Galop Chromatique (Liszt)hehewhooosh!!



 Nah.  Mei-ting's is much faster (and less fakey to boot).  Which Grand Gallop are you referring to?  I have a live video from Tokyo (1967) that's even FASTER than the one from the Great Pianists Video.  I would also nominate some live video footage of Andrei Gavrilov--of particular note are the two massive chordal passages from the Rachmaninoff B-flat prelude (Op. 23)--mind-boggling reflexes.  Also of note is the Simon Barere recording of the Chopin E-flat Waltz, and Liszt Gnomenreigen.  Moiseiwitsch's recording of the 4th Stravinsky Etude is a marvel of dexterity, and Kapell's 3nd movement of the Chopin 3rd sonata combines astounding speed with even more astounding articulation.

koji
"We have to reach a certain level before we realize how small we are."--Georges Cziffra

Offline donjuan

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #8 on: April 27, 2004, 01:05:59 AM
Hi Thracozaag,  
the Recording of Cziffra- Grand Galop- I was refering to was from the Great Pianists video.  I've never seen that 1967 Tokyo recital.  If that's even faster than the one I saw, than whew! :P I would love to see that!
donjuan



Offline chromatickler

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Re: Feats of Speed
Reply #9 on: May 01, 2004, 12:13:09 PM
Lazar Berman's Liszt transcendental etude #2. (or yeah, the rest too)
Yundi Li's last 2 pages of La Campanella.
Cziffra's Octave section of Hungarian Rhapsody #6.
Richter's 1min30sec op10-4 from the Enigma docu.
Sergio Fiorentino's Liszt tarantella.
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