A remarkable performance of a wonderful obscure transcription

[burnttoast]

         There's no denying it; my teacher, Vladimir Leyetchkiss, is a masterful transcriber. His transcription of The Rite of Spring for solo piano was so good that Stravinsky himself wrote him a personal letter giving him glowing praise (the transcription is published by Schirmer if any of you are interested). However, there is another transcription of his that I love, and I'm here bring it into some light. It's Rachmaninoff's famous 2nd Suite for Two Pianos, transcribed for one. It has never been published, so I feel honored to be one of the few people to possess a copy of it; despite this, there is a tremendous recording of it that has been released. I found it on Youtube; unfortunately, only the first and second movements have been uploaded.
        Below is the link to the second movement (my favorite), the waltz, played by my teacher's dear friend, Cyprien Katsaris. The man truly has the greatest technique of any pianist alive (in the Liszt/Alkan pantheon, I would say). The first melody is normally played with one note on each piano, but here it's in thirds, and Katsaris plays them just as fast as any two pianists play the single notes. And not to mention those OCTAVES at 1:16 and 5:30 (they sound like a motor revving up). 
        I couldn't bear seeing this recording shoved into such obscurity (most of the views on that video are from me, haha), so I hope you enjoy.
Peter

[liszt1022]

I own two other Rite of Spring piano solo transcriptions on CD... I can't find a recording of the Leyetchkiss! Perhaps you know where to get one?

[burnttoast]

I own two other Rite of Spring piano solo transcriptions on CD... I can't find a recording of the Leyetchkiss! Perhaps you know where to get one?

There's CD of it out by Svetlana Belsky, professor of piano at University of Chicago. There's some recordings of the Leyetckiss on Youtube, including one where he plays one part of it and the Belsky performance.