Prokofiev Toccata

[BasileusR]

NICE SONG!

[simcha181818]

This was quite impressive. If Song Lee receives the right guidance she has a bright future. I wish her the best. She has great potential.

[whorace3]

She's brilliant!!

[Vorticose]

This is insane. I've been trying to learn this piece for a very long time and I'm still only halfway through the first page (at a very slow tempo)!

[Palawancock]

where is the performer now? she has promise.

[Sylvain894]

What kind of a man was Prokofief to do such things like that ?? Pretty joyful ! Carnavalesque !

[Sylvain894]

What kind of a man was Prokofief to do such things like that ??

[9ical]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is utterly amazing!! I have been playing piano for about 12 years, and something like this seems almost impossible. I can't jump around like that, let alone at that pace and for that long, this piece is crazy, and im giving MAJOR props to you for doing that. And for all of you saying that it has too many errors, i personally dont think it has that many, and i would like to see you try to play that anywhere near as well and put up that video for us to see

[bombergal1]

I was going to play this for my first recital on the undergrad degree but couldn't get the last two pages comfortable so didn't do it...it is the most difficult piece of music I've ever played.

[musicanadeebee]

This is the right tempo for this one. For all those who complain of wrong notes - this piece takes a certain amount of commitment just to learn. To sit there and play it in front of others is rather daunting. Interpretation should be more important than simply counting the wrong notes - anyone can do that.

[FranzLisztian]

Neither Prokofievs music or Rachmaninoff's were more difficult than Liszt

[rainedog87]

Also, what's with everyone's fixation on the fact that there are possibly too many errors?? Live performances almost always have errors, that's what makes it a live performance. Mistakes and memory slips happen. The important thing is interpretation, not just hitting all the right notes like a programmed robot.

[interceptor6]

i love her interpretation, but too many errors! where the hell dit tang tang's version go? its removed from youtube, and it's the best

[TaterGumfries]

@interceptor6 Tater'd say it's for the best.

[alexmanzo19]

to many mistakes. But I understand is one of the most difficult piano pieces.

[ChuckAvalon]

@alexmanzo19 You mean like how you spelled "too"?

[BettyCope]

good one.

[refrmcetsryt]

This piece of music should be in the next Tim Burton film. Nightmare before Christmas 2?

[F0XD0NUT]

sweet jesus how do you play something like that?

[ProteusX2]

i THOROUGHLY enjoyyyyyed this

[Yaniss]

congrats, i like your version very much. nice tempo, keep on your great job

[Spelecas]

I got shivers down my spine at 1:30.

[v3le]

prokofiev is more difficult to play than chopin, right?

[danceofthegoblins]

Depends on the piece and the pianist's technical proclivities: what's technically difficult for one might not be for another and vice versa: "difficut" is a very subjective term when it comes to technique.

[danceofthegoblins]

and musicality for that matter.

[englishplayer40]

Yes. more difficult. It's more modern, so as a rule it's more difficult. For a start, try sight reading this Toccata at ANY speed at all!

[rainedog87]

Prokofiev and Chopin are both difficult to play for different reasons. The thing is that you have to approach the two compositional styles differently.

[healthyharajukugirl]

No words for it

[koreanjeenyus]

You missed a note. Just kidding :) Great recording. I really like your interpretation and tempo, it's great to hear all the notes and the articulation that really needs to be shown. The contrast and dynamics are also well shown.

[dallemos]

Good job! Don't care with comments like "you've wrong one note here and there"... "who didn't have wronged before, throw a rock". Nice interpretation, congratulations!

[ZachKooper]

Isn't the section from 2:32-2:40 incorrect? I'm playing this piece and it's totally the exact opposite in how I played it.

[supermanifold]

yah, sounds a bit off

[hodori1984]

yeah she's had a bit of a memory lapse, but crap, this happens to me all the time and i can't bloody help it even after years of practice. and i have my licentiate exam next week!!! she's done a marvellous job!!!

[beena001]

HOw was your licentiate Exam then?

what pieces did you play?

[hodori1984]

i passed =) I played this toccata, beethoven piano sonata in Eb major op.7, and Chopin Nocturne No. 23

[kevinjamespiano]

this is op.11 not 109

[musictheory101]

Very cool!

[frenchmusician12]

One of the best I have heard. Amazing power and control, and it almost seems like her hands float over the keyboard. Incredibly difficult piece to play.

[Grayfog]

A piano is a keyboard instrument, man.

[jupulipiapa01]

I think that you have played very well. You havea lot of techic and your fingers are very rapid. Congratulations

[ukdavepianoman]

Very impressive performance. She makes it look so effortless

[matrixborn24]

very, very nice job. if you happen to know, what kind of piano is that?

[GreatUnwashedMass]

Is Toccata Italian for 'hard as hell'?

[matrixborn24]

i actually think that she was very delicate during the part in which it was needed, and she just happened to put a lot of emotion into the loud parts. completely undertstandable.

[ukdavepianoman]

Haha, probably. Actually it means "touched"

[SusceptorNebulae]

Toccata (from Italian toccare, "to touch") is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers.

[Querfahrer69]

Souverän ausgearbeitet und mit Pfeffer! Was für eine herrlich sperrige Musik; das möcht ich nicht einüben müssen!!

[princess7417]

Nice job!You rock!!!!!

[n0win0u]

song lee its on he right side ;)

[opl1n4]

What's her name?

[Max11551]

Oh my, look at you!

[z666z666z]

This is OK, but . Do you wnat to listen something great?:

Go to Claire Huangci version.

666

[Reclinerjockey]

This is one tough-assed piece to play, and practicing it usually leaves blood on the keys. She did a great job, and I'd be leaning on that piano too if I managed to pull off a performance like that.

[sunmax1]

Women? I didn't know that they can play that good >:)

[conantwo]

.......... ;)

[fullyfatty]

Martha Argerich is a woman too.

[velutican618]

omg YOU SUCK YOU ASSHOLE

[alkaster]

Nice improvisation at 2:35! With the dissonance, you don't even know unless you've heard the piece before.

[Bruce88keys]

Yeah- this is the real thing!!!!!!

[Buldaner]

Despite the poor quality video, I really like this performance. Lots of fire, clear voices. Mistake at 2:35 but what the Hell, who doesn't make a mistake playing a monster like this. I wish I had the chops for this piece.

[joethepigg]

Why don't you just grow the chops? They're out there for the taking, and why capitalize Hell?

[Nalsii]

I liked the way she covered and dealt with the nonsense she played around 2:35, very professional :)

[ohbabyohbaby13o489]

yeah a bit, but if you didn't know the song you wouldn't know it was there. And she didn't let it get to her or anything. Her arms and hands look really cool in this don't they?

[KearneyPiano]

check out claire huancis version it is superb

[4444matthew4444]

very nice ending...very clean and managed

[thisismyname007]

That's an elite first-class performance... but I'm no expert... Hot damn! Her fingers are moving so fast! And she has the expressiveness too... Bravo!

[tdenusa]

This sounds like a complicated exercise with a touch of melody in there. Actually the melody is nice but Prokofiev does everything but develop it. This young lady plays it well and I have to give her credit for having the patience to learn it.

[ProkofievRules]

The only beef that I have with this performance and every other performance(indicating to me that this is just my opinion, with little or no intrinsic merit), is that they dont make the theme starting at 2:08 inquisitive enough. I think something special should be done there, otherwise, bravo!

[DrAsik100]

Between 2:33 and 2:40 she's not playing what's written on the score at all... BUT, both technically and emotionnaly this is a very good interpretation overall, I am very impressed, especially considering that she seems relatively at ease playing this.

[4444matthew4444]

great comment accurate to my feelings

[herrlogan17]

Good speed, that's what we call stille barbaro - which Prokofjev used in his composition. It technically very difficult with no sense of lyric or emotions. She plays it great!!

[Yaflet]

Oh, there's definitely emotions. I mean, it's not Tchaikovsky in terms of beautiful lyrical melodies, but this piece conveys a strong sense of tension and anger, even though it lacks a strong melody.

[xalamac]

FANTASTIC performance! :-)

[gabkhach]

crapy...

this is not a race, it's music, it's shouldn't be just a bunch of notes playing as fast as you can :/

[VladekMeyer83]

That's actually the tempo and articulation with which it's supposed to be played. The piece is absolutely frenetic--anything but lyrical or expressive. She made a few errors, but overall did a fine job.

[ssprokofiev]

There's nothing wrong with the tempo--most performances go this fast or even faster. Overall this is a pretty good interpretation. Ms. Song Lee has talent.

[ssprokofiev]

I should add that Ms. Lee did have a mental slip in the middle section, but recovered well and turned in a fine performance.

[xalamac]

Geez, what an uneducated comment!

[GamayUtin]

gabkhach....

Crapy??? my you just exposed your total ignorance of the piece! Just stick to your favorite - football.