Your Favorite Pianist Sucks.

[classitope]

Hey! 

Do you recognize hearing people compare their favorite pianist without any arguments?
Well, this was me a while back. Everyone was shouting their favorite pianist left and right without actually giving a clear explanation why... I got deeper into this and came up with some ways to actually tell recordings apart. I decided to share a little video I made about the topic here since I figured it would fit perfectly here. If you have a different view on the topic, I'd be interested to get to know it!

For anyone interested:

I'd really appreciate it if you could give their opinion on the video and some feedback. 

[frodo4]

Hello,

Your video has some excellent points with examples and helps educate the listener.  Here are my thoughts after a quick listen and a second listen to sections.

My main suggestion:  Change the title of your video.  “Your favorite pianist sucks.  They suck.”   I was about to skip your video based only on the title.  Why are you trying to be so provocative with this title? 

You came up with “5 pillars to listen for during a recording”.  Some of the pillars and examples are better than others IMO.  Just a couple notes.  I would add more if I had more time to listen.

1st pillar: Phrasing – Barenboim playing slow mvt of Beethoven op 13 sonata – Great example here.

3rd pillar: Timbre - This Liszt sonata excerpt you chose is among the most moving passages in all of music.  Your preferred performance (Jean Dube) is far superior to the weaker performance for the reason you gave – wide variety of colors and Shading. 

4th pillar: Rhythm – Bad example of Chopin op 10 no 4 is played by Harrold Vettar?  Who is he?  Sounds like an average high school level of performance.  But he does illustrate the 4th pillar well.

It is important for people to keep an open mind to music and continually work to educate themselves and evaluate their preferences in order to get the most enjoyment possible from the music they play and hear.  This is where your video comes in. 

[ranjit]

I think where your video fails is in the examples. You compare terrible recordings to good recordings. While some people have tin ears for whom it might be useful, I think even the layman can immediately tell who's better in your examples. It would be far more interesting if that were not the case and if you could actually elicit an aha reaction from the listener.

[frodo4]

I think where your video fails is in the examples. You compare terrible recordings to good recordings. While some people have tin ears for whom it might be useful, I think even the layman can immediately tell who's better in your examples. It would be far more interesting if that were not the case and if you could actually elicit an aha reaction from the listener.

I can't disagree with anything said here.  Look at the bad pianists presented:

Luis Kolodin - Google search - nothing significant comes up
Jim Miller - Google search - nothing significant comes up
Gleb Ivanov - Google search - concert pianist
Frank Levy - Professor of Piano at San Jose State University School of Music and Dance
Harrold Vettar - Sounds like average high school performer

The problem is:  This video is to try to help you pick your FAVORITE pianist.  NONE of the 5 listed above would have any chance of being another person's favorite pianist - unless they were his mother, maybe.

Maybe the OP can pick well known pianists to put in the bad list.  The difference between the bad and good will be a lot more subtle though if he does.  Still - "As is", the video could be helpful to MANY that are starting to listen to classical piano music IMO.  EDIT: The Barenboim OP 13 slow mvt does show great phrasing and Jean Dube does a great job with the Liszt sonata.

[ranjit]

Along the same lines, I found this video interesting. You have high school students playing really well, and your ears get used to it. Then, a professional pianist comes along and somehow the difference is evident to everyone (there are English subtitles).

[frodo4]

Hey! 

Do you recognize hearing people compare their favorite pianist without any arguments?
Well, this was me a while back. Everyone was shouting their favorite pianist left and right without actually giving a clear explanation why... I got deeper into this and came up with some ways to actually tell recordings apart. I decided to share a little video I made about the topic here since I figured it would fit perfectly here. If you have a different view on the topic, I'd be interested to get to know it!

You say:
"Do you recognize hearing people compare their favorite pianist without any arguments?
Well, this was me a while back."

I take it that you are fairly new to hearing classical piano music.  My assumption was that your intended audience is classical piano music listeners that are also fairly new to hearing classical piano music.  As such - I think you do a nice job here for the most part.  You would not want to pick great pianists in the "bad list" if newer piano music listeners are your target audience.  Just IMO.

[frodo4]

Along the same lines, I found this video interesting. You have high school students playing really well, and your ears get used to it. Then, a professional pianist comes along and somehow the difference is evident to everyone (there are English subtitles).

Listening to this now.  YES - your ears do get used to lesser quality playing.  For me personally - I ALWAYS* (see edit below) need to "tune up my ear" by listening to a great performance before trying to judge a lesser quality performance.

*EDIT: Example: Comparing local college professor FINE performance of Chopin Ballade #3 with a GREAT performance such as K Zimerman.  Below a certain point - I don't need to tune up me ear - as is the case with everyone.

[frodo4]

I edited my original post here to remove material that was not relevant to this thread.  My apologies to everyone for including this in the first place.

[perfect_pitch]

I can't disagree with anything said here.  Look at the bad pianists presented:

Luis Kolodin - Google search - nothing significant comes up

THAT'S because he's a pianist who posts his videos on Reddit... also he's a wannabee porn star (do NOT ask me how I know that).

Actually, no - I'm going to have to explain it. I heard a recording of his once, and it wasn't too great - so I clicked on his reddit page to see if he had posted other videos of him playing piano.
LO AND BEHOLD, dick picks on the very top of his reddit page. Didn't expect it, can't unsee it...

I think the user merely created this to be extreme, derisive and in my opinion - picked people who as Frodo said... it seems that most of your bad pianists aren't pianists... they've hobbyists who just play for fun... and the porn star.

Also... who wants to bet OP is going to post his video here, bugger off forever because he's mainly here just for youtube views.

[frodo4]

THAT'S because he's a pianist who posts his videos on Reddit... also he's a wannabee porn star (do NOT ask me how I know that).

Actually, no - I'm going to have to explain it. I heard a recording of his once, and it wasn't too great - so I clicked on his reddit page to see if he had posted other videos of him playing piano.
LO AND BEHOLD, dick picks on the very top of his reddit page. Didn't expect it, can't unsee it...

Lol   

[perfect_pitch]

Lol   

Thank you for your sympathy. One would at least think he'd keep the dick pictures to a different user login... you know - one for piano... one for porn; but no.

[frodo4]

Thank you for your sympathy. One would at least think he'd keep the dick pictures to a different user login... you know - one for piano... one for porn; but no.

THANK YOU FOR THE WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lostinidlewonder]

Lol! Pp saw a pp.

I've always thought that great art changes your perception and leaves you with a lasting impression. When looking for this I feel it opens up a deeper understanding of the depths of creativity and allows you to even see greatness in something that might not necessarily be "the best". Think of art children create for instance or art created through the prism of great adversity (a pianist that comes to mind is Helfgott, his story so filled with drama they made the movie Shine).

Sure we can use all sorts of ways to measure why one pianists performance is so good. However not everyone will agree, it is not as if art can be reduced to mere mathematical measurements and accepted by all. A piano competition with multiple judges will never have scores that totally agree with one another.

What makes appreciating art transcend any language or intellect is that you don't need be bound by any measurements to enhance the impact it has on you. This is not to say that people do indeed feel they appreciate art more when they understand why on an intellectual level, this makes perfect sense too. It however is not something that commands what everyone else requires to appreciate in art, that would be rather devastating and art would a fragment of what it represents.

[perfect_pitch]

THANK YOU FOR THE WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW... that's a big warning. Are you displaying it in that size and font just to warn others in case they go looking, or is that a passive aggressive 'thank you for saying that, but I wished you told me sooner because now like you, I can't unsee what has been seen'?

[frodo4]

WOW... that's a big warning. Are you displaying it in that size and font just to warn others in case they go looking, or is that a passive aggressive 'thank you for saying that, but I wished you told me sooner because now like you, I can't unsee what has been seen'?

To warn others.  You know, when I originally googled his name, I saw something about SEX.  I assumed it was another person with that name.  Anyway, I can only imagine your shock and displeasure.  YUK! Maybe try eating some honey mustard sauce.  No wait, that was Newman's way of getting rid of broccoli taste in his mouth (Seinfeld episode).  Never mind. 

[perfect_pitch]

YUK! Maybe try eating some honey mustard sauce.  No wait, that was Newman's way of getting rid of broccoli taste in his mouth (Seinfeld episode).

You know... the fact that you know that reference means...

...you are *** awesome.