Gilels plays Scriabin: Etude op.2 no. 1

[Parsnip361]

There is room for both ! This is also a brilliant, passionate interpretation.

[Fuciento]

Horowitz is amazing, but I like Gilels' interpretation more than Horowitz'. Gilels hits a soft spot in my heart when playing this, that I don't get from hearing Horowitz'. This is a true piece of art , and those 4 who dislikes don't know what they're disliking!

[k0it123]

its so beautiful song, made by Scriabin to his friend who died. I learned the song but still to get to inside of the song, it takes time. Gilels seems to have managed to do that.

[phortion]

My god, look at those massive hands! They match his head!

[cembalobill]

defies words. defines Scriabin.

I heard Gilels live a few times (Horowitz as well twice) and every time it hit me like a sledgehammer. Liszt's b minor sonata opened up new dimensions for me at that time (early 60ies) and I still can hear it my mind. It has remained the definitive performance.

[Bret6464]

@cembalobill Envy defines what I feel having just read your comment :-)) That would have been an incredible once in a lifetime priviledge for me to see Gilels, or Horowitz, live :-))

[cembalobill]

@utubuser10 yes on TV, a live performance last year in Switzerland.

She is fantastic, young or not.

[elicandondo]

WHY LOSE TIME TO DISCUSS "WHO IS MORE BIG THAT WHO" :) ... HOROWITZ AND GILELS ARE BOTH 2 GIANTS !!!

[Bolkonskya]

@elicandondo but I really don't like listen or look horowitz, I feel like no soul in his music,sorry I feel like that

[Bolkonskya]

@Bolkonskya I'm sorry now to wrote this about Horowitz, I don't feel always like this. He is really great pianist. But some part from him I like and another not. I can just listen to all of them great maestros.

[Bret6464]

But for Horowitz's Moscow concert, no other Scriabin 2/1 performance is at this level. In Horowitz's I hear immense pathos and a life time of emotion, in Gilels' I hear pure poetry. Both performances are surreal, both pianists are extraordinary, no others surpass them except for Rach :-)

[OverFjell]

@Bret6464 Richter? :P

[Bret6464]

@OverFjell I consider Richter one of the greatest who have performed, together with Horowitz and Gilels :-) Some of Richters' Scriabin is surreal, haven't heard him perform 2/1. I also put Benno Moiseiwitsch there with them. But Rachmaninoff will always be the one extraordinary pianist, a gift from God, even if he never did compose anything :-)

[OverFjell]

@Bret6464 right on! I've got a recording of richter playing 2/1 somewhere, will have to upload it sometime

[Bret6464]

@OverFjell That would be great :-)

[Bret6464]

@OverFjell There is a clip on YT (channel of trucrypt) of Richter performing Scriabin 8/11. That is the most poignant and deeply emotional performance I have ever heard, along with Rahcmaninoff playing his "Elegie" :-)

[piano345]

Shura Cherkassky also played this piece as beautifully as Horowitz or Gilels.

[MrFrenchBulldog]

...this is a stupefying and provocative reading of a masterpiece.

[caricama]

Emil Gilels is one of the greatest pianists we can listen to these days. I love this one, but listen to some of his other recordings too. You will be completely blown away.

[leahgwilliams]

too fast

[janvkimm]

@leahgwilliams

You can play it slower.

But it has to be played by great artists.

Gilels is,Horowitz is

Or better said : Were

With greetings to you

Janvkimm.

[AristYdes]

are there two flowers on the piano? gay!

[ComradeKomaron]

@AristYdes not...it is encore

[ComradeKomaron]

@AristYdes not...it is encore.

[allanikitskaya]

It is such a great Gilels's performance of Scriabin!!!

[lisag6]

Absolutely lovely. So poignant.  I wish he had made more of the counter melody at :15 to :26. As marvelous as this interpretation is, Ashkenazy is even better!!!

[36beachbum]

@lisag6 Ashkenazy? This is Gilels. Maybe Horowitz :-)

[janvkimm]

@36beachbum

it is gilels

[36beachbum]

@janvkimm Yea, and it is out of this world, pure magic :-)

[KinkGamer]

Is there anywhere i can learn to play this piece?

[richclayderman]

would u like the sheet?

[KinkGamer]

sure message me

[alex2east]

love scriabin's music

[pianopianissima]

More I listen to Gilels, more I love the way he played...What a wonderful sound in this piece, so deep....Thanks so much for posting this moment !

[FlyingMelbournite]

I prefer this version to Horowitz, or any other version. Gilels is a master, no less.

[hedones]

wtf jacques mesrine is doing in here....????

[sugarve]

Grandissimo Gilels!

[seremerow]

史克里亞賓式的情感...

昇華了chopin豐富了自我~

i love it!

[elevenwhy]

Go ahead and say you prefer Horowitz. But you MUST understand that Gilels is also one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, and that 99.99% of people on youtube, myself included, cannot fully appreciate what he is doing with his playing.

That said I prefer Horowitz, I'm just saying my opinion isn't worth much.

[TheClassicalGuy]

@elevenwhy now that's wisdom.

[demosj]

@elevenwhy In his interview with Horowitz in the 70s, Don Newlands recounted asking Gilels whether he had heard Horowitz play Scriabin. Gilels said he had, and he would probably not play Scriabin himself.

So we have an objective instance of one pianist being a greater Scriabin interpreter than another, by the other pianist's own admission.

That said, Gilels would have had much to offer in the sonatas and etudes, I wish he'd recorded more Scriabin than he had.

[Safari528]

@elevenwhy To anyone who knows a few things about classical music Gilels IS one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century.

Still, I also prefer Horowitz over Gilels in interpreting Scriabin's Etude :):)

There is nothing to debate here - both Horowitz and Gilels were in the club of geniuses in the 20th Century.

[HAMDIABEY]

horowitz is much better,he does the absolute scriabin with full of emotions

[kempff95]

WHAT a master gielels.........

[lievecomelanve]

Wow...beautiful

[CodyNelsonMusic]

If you are a pianist, you can almost feel he is holding back. He is using a very tight control of the emotion of this piece. Perfectly played!

[afertyus1000]

yes amazing, you'd think he'd have a lot of tension in his shoulders and pupils are taught against that

[28jadufer]

GILES, con mayusculas, uno de los grandes pianistas de la Historia,que el destino hizo nos abandonara con tanta musica por interpretar. Cada interprete tiene su personalidad, y su interpretación es unica, personal e intransferible. ¿que critico puede poner en duda esto y en consecuencia la grandeza de Giles? Dios te bendiga Giles donde estés, por el placer que tu musica ha generado a la humanidad.

[meredull]

I hate it when people just say things superficially perhaps making shallow comparions such as horowitz is better or this interpretation sucks. If you really wanna write something here learn how to criticize and how to admire. I'm not talking about a particular individual here but rather the general tendency of people. They just dont know what being a pianist is. Even the bad critics of the emil gilels here should admire him.

[Enthusiast2008]

For me, Gilels misses opportunities to build this piece into a dramatic experience. I think this piece is meant to have much more dramatic effect. Gilels seems bored and sounds a little stiff.

[schumannetudes]

you just don't understand this interpretation

[JimmieBluffdweller]

I don't see boredom on his face here...I see deep concentration; watch his mouth and brow. I rather like this rendition, the tempo doesn't drag...clear rhythms, precise accents.  Indeed it is not as 'passionate' as others, but I think he conveys the emotionality of this etude well.

[Ravel87]

i like horowitz version better, far more sensitive. ^_^

[HarpoMarx22]

Wonderful performance of a beautiful piece - all the more amazing because Scriabin was 14 or 15 years old when he wrote it!

[Rachmanomaniac]

17, but you were close! And 17 is amazing for this standard anyway.

[HarpoMarx22]

You're right, I've just checked. I don't know where I had read 14 or 15, but as you say, it's amazing for a 17 year old as well. In fact, it's a beautiful composition period - regardless of the composer's age.

[iansquared3]

funny lookin guy in the bottom right corner

[leotheotai]

hahah!

[jefflai87]

That guy looks like Michelangeli.....

[firefws]

@iansquared3 Its Chopin Reincarnated

[regaldrifter]

@iansquared3 funny lookin girl in the bottom right corner.

P.S. I LOVE GILEL (NO HOMO, ALTHOUGH HE PROB WOULDNT CARE)

[karakallatore]

@iansquared3 I think it's the devil at the concert..

[Botchlae]

@iansquared3 That's Wagner, back from the dead.

[vaseintibet]

@iansquared3 dracula often attends these recitals to get music for his ipod

[twooffour]

@iansquared3 THE DEVIL!!!!1!!1 AHHHH

[hmpfdroop]

Another great interpretation you can listen on youtube is by racha arodaky, very sensible, a magnificent pianist to discover.

[alexongcs]

This can be Russia's Anthem!!!!! So overwhelming.

[MrFrenchBulldog]

Magnificent.

[horses1]

It's amazing how much one can learn from such a 'simple' piece of music. Takes me back.

[vincecharus]

This piece is not simple by any means. The legato melody is constructed out of the top notes of successive chords, which has to be played by the little finger of the right hand, creating notorious control and pedaling problems.

Just get the score and try it. If you think you've got the phrasing right, put your own performance on YouTube. I'll be the first one to give you a 5-star.

[horses1]

I think you misunderstood my comment. This is why I put the word "simple" in quotation marks--precisely because it indeed is NOT simple. I found it one of the most challenging "simple" pieces ever.

[tHEnOOSEsWING]

just roll the runner, gilels is bored

[Ellinidara]

Gilels bored??????Oh god.

[trevjr]

Opus 2 is pretty early, this is an amazing piece for early Scriabin. I give the nod to Horowitz though, only because he brings out the other voices and plays a little bit slower.

[ipublica]

Have you ever heard Sophia Lisovskaya, a contemporary Russian pianist from Moscow? She plays this wonderfully, and has a great sound. I love her Scriabin. You find the CD on iTunes, the title is 'Sophia Lisovskaya plays Scriabin' and the producer is BIS Digital. You may find her rendering superior to Gilels', while their sentiment on this piece is very close. Lisovskaya has a sound quality for Scribian that is extraordinary, and her sense of poetics is absolutely unique. She's not on Youtube.

[hedones]

nothing to say or to do, except to cry...

[erszebeth92]

:] lo amo

[amantedipiano]

amazing!! thanks for posting this video

[donoses]

WOW! Amazing! I love Scriabin!!

[Codeacon]

It is amazing how difficult this piece is. It doesn't sound that way, though. This piece rivals Rachmaninoffs first prelude in difficulty.

[curiousspectator]

Really beautiful playing. Also listen to Richter's wonderful playing of this piece.

[dizygotegemini]

Listen to horowitch performance.

[grietuke]

unbelievible(: snd numinous

[stephenTGV]

This Prelude sings the suffering and glory of Russia and its great people.

It should be used as the National Anthem.

Marvelous performance.

[tomokioh]

Scriabin was only 14 when he wrote this masterpiece

[Amasius0621]

Actually Scriabin composed this while studying in the Moscow Conservatory at the age of 17.

[tomokioh]

I'm quite sure he composed it at the age of 14... I read it in 4 different books :)

[jazzlover06]

I have urtext infront of me here. It was published when he was 17 with other juvenilia but he was 14 when he actually first wrote it down...

[JakWho92]

Do you say "Urtext" also in england? =) or are you a german living in gb?

[jazzlover06]

as far as I know, that is simply the english word for it. What does it literally mean in German? I'm semi-fluent but that's one word I don't know! =D

[JakWho92]

it has the same meaning (origin text / score) but its a german word like "kindergarden / kindergarten". I was just curious about that because we have so many english words in our language like pullover and i dont no any german word for it =)

[jazzlover06]

Das Sweater? lol, no we have loooooooads of german words in English!!! Zeitgeist, Doppelganger, Rucksack to name a few...

[slothvader]

it's easy to hit the notes, of course; the art is in the voicing, which imo gilels manages admirably.

lots harder to play well than it sounds to most folk; like its key-mate moonlight sonata that way.

[lacrymosa85]

Such a beautiful interpretation. I cannot think of a better interpretation of this piece.

[sasha42196]

Try Horowitz

[lacrymosa85]

perhaps in his earlier years, but I still think this interpretation is better than Horowitz's later performances. But I still think both are great.

[leenett]

im learning this now:P

but i sound like crap abhahaxx

[aewanko300]

me too.

[goldberg72]

istreba penso anche io che sia stupendo

[istreba]

je suis tellement heureux de lire de telles commentaire sur ce merveilleux musicien merci a vous tous car c'est vrais il a un son tellement profond et parlant qu'on dirait par moment qui parle vraiment ,tellemnt c'est expressive et emouvant

[filz76]

la seule interprétation comparable à celles de horowitz...

[claudemanfre]

Cette interpretation est bien superieure a Horowitz, Gilels etait le Dieu du piano!

[sir1920]

Horowitz made the definitive recordings of these Scriabin Etudes.

As for Gilels, I think he plays too powerfully and without a sense of pathos.

[mike11992288]

scriabin etude, not scriabin nocturne or scriabin pathos. I don't know why people always says: "..more this, more that". Watch baremboin master class: this is the language musician understand. More pathos ? I think a musician don't understand ! but, ok, maybe for poetic guy. To a mathematician, try: "your equation have no pathos! ". Music has also its own language, no philosophic vocabulary at all.

[HaparukuU]

I absolutely agree with you. I think the creation of the critic is utterly pointless. Perhaps you can translate words into music, but you could never translate music into words.

[kajohada]

....how wonderful and awesome mr.gilels plays these musical diamonds!!

i´m seized with emotion listen to this!

[LVB1770]

Search Gourari Scriabin for a really inspired version of this. She is Amazing!

[arsforsa]

no comments...i cry

[chlagaguel]

J'acquiesce tes propos godisdead92.Quel son, quelle conduite de phrasé, quelle énergie intérieure ! Tout est présent pour nous émouvoir au plus profond. Quel artiste !

[godisdead92]

Emil Guilels fait partie du panthéon très fermé des génies de la musique, ceux qui font et sont musique...

[LVB1770]

Wow! I feel like i just struck a gold! Thanks for this, BIG TIME!