Liberace???

[Shagdac]

What did you consider Liberace to be......

A Pianist
A Performer
Both or Neither


S

[faulty_damper]

I don't know.  I've never seen him perform.  But there's a Liberace museum in Las Vegas mhich I didn't go to when I was down there this past week.  but I'd think he's both.

[rlefebvr]

I would call him a performer. Actually saw him play live in the 70's once and he was very good. However, it was the same stuff he was playing in the 50's and 60's and later in the 80's.

I know he spent many hours every day practising.

[Allan]

Tragic personal life, but a good pianist.   As noted earlier, he used the same "licks" over and over.  I believe he once played at Carnegie Hall early in his life in a classical concert.

[allchopin]

What did you consider Liberace to be......

A Pianist
A Performer
Both or Neither

Pianists are performers.  So in that regard, Liberace was defintely both.  He was actually quite excellent, and I believe he is underrated today, while overrated at the time.  He has many good recordings (including Tchaik #1) but I have to say a lot of his arrangements sound very similar (with cookie-cutter runs and arpeggios).  He could have had a higher place in my heart had he played more genuine classical music, rather than arranging it and adding orchestra.  For example, he ruined Chopin's Op. 10 #9, but what are you gonna do...

[bernhard]

Liberace...

Here is his performance philosophy:

My whole trick is to keep the tune well out in front. If I play Tchaikovsky I play his melodies and skip his spiritual struggles. Naturally I condense. I have to know just how many notes my audience will stand for. If there's time left over I fill in with a lot of runs up and down the keyboard.
(Liberace)

Nice, eh?  

Best wishes,
Bernhard

[Hmoll]

What did you consider Liberace to be......

A Pianist
A Performer
Both or Neither


S

Ponce

[dlu]

Well, logically Liberace did play the piano by that we can say he was a pianist and he did perform so we can also call him a performer.

I personally despise Liberace's performances. He reminds me of that "violinist" Andre Rieu. They both play pale impressions of the pieces, with faint orchestral accompiament that doesn't even belong there. I remembe Liberece played the over-played first movement of the moonlight sonata with orchestral accompiament which I found just plain dumb. And also Andre Rieu announced to his audiences at one of his televised concerts (which I found a complete joke) "We will know play the compete 5th Symphony of Beethoven: which was responded with sighs from the audience. They proceeded with a glittered up version of it for about 30 seconds and then broke into a stupid polk/tango/peasent dance (i don't know what to call it). Does anyone else find this very offensive to the original music, and just to the human mind (it drove me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)? I hated it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this just a stupid attempt to make money by making this so called-"classical" music more accaptable and popular to a main-steam audience (ugh...I hate the main stream)?
What do you think?

[anthonyli]

Liberace was both. I saw him perform about six or seven times. When he played the piano he made it look easy regardless of what he was playing...and we all know how much focus & concentration goes into making piano playing look easy. Most of his audience would have been bored at a Martha Argerich recital and he knew that, so he played the way that he did, and wore the clothes that he wore, to keep his audience entertained.