CYPRIEN KATSARIS' Goodbye mr. Rachmaninoff (must hear this!)

[storyseller]

Me playing Cyprien Katsaris' Goodbye mr. Rachmaninoff live in Mykonos, Greece, July 2009.

Never recorder before, I first learned it for a competition but stuck to it.

Now, my favorite encore piece.

What do you think of it?

[birba]

I think you probably do it much more justice then it's worth.  A trite sort of motif that'll probably haunt with me until tomorrow...  Would like to hear you do some real Rachmaninov.  The piano sounded tiny.  Was it a baby grand?

[rachfan]

Hi storyseller,

I listened to this piece twice.  You play it very well, so I congratulate you on your performance.

It does capture, somewhat, Rachmaninoff's idiom, but not as well as Earl Wild's many transcriptions, for example.  And for some of the passages in this work, it is quite easy to guess the sources, as they are fairly obvious.  I think that Katsaris would have made a better and more lasting contribution by transcribing a few more of the Rachmaninoff Songs.  As a composition, in my opinion, this farewell is OK, but not great.  

[highcrappile]

What kind of people attend this board really? I loved it! Compared to Earl Wild? Isn't he just on wax rolls and magic scrolls? I love this place.
[mod]Am I incorrect thinking Fliszt (sic) simplified La campanella because nobody could play the original besides Fliszt and Earl W? sry didnt mean to hijack your wonderful thread[/mod]

/still just a complete noob. hcp

[rachfan]

Yes, I guess I'm "one of those kinds of people".

Earl Wild is in his 90s, but until recently had an active and successful concert career, and has released many CDs (not rolls and scrolls) on the Ivory Classics label.  His performances are also on YouTube.  He has done more transcriptions of Rachmaninoff's music than any other known pianist past or present, including Volodos and Katsaris combined.  I cannot understand why he would be denigrated here simply for being old.  It just goes to show that ageism is rampant.  He's one of the few last remaining links to the great artists and pedagogues of the Golden Age of piano.  He certainly has my respect.      

[lontano]

Me playing Cyprien Katsaris' Goodbye mr. Rachmaninoff live in Mykonos, Greece, July 2009.

Never recorder before, I first learned it for a competition but stuck to it.

Now, my favorite encore piece.

What do you think of it?

Nicely played, and a worthy encore. But am I mistaken in believing the opening, indeed the first half, are from Tchaikovsky's "June" from "The Seasons"? While there are numerous "Russian elements", I'm not hearing anything specifically close to Rachmaninoff. Or maybe that's the point. And I am certainly a fan of Katsaris, and this the first composition of his I've heard. Has he written much?

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Very nice playing. But I have to agree with rachfan - I think Wild does a better job of reinventing Rachmaninov. Compositionally I think it's a bit "cut and paste". Maybe it will grow on me.