Korsakov Cziffra - Flight of the Bumblebee

[g3rrar1]

how is this possible to play?!?!!

[CazadorTam]

Virtuoso!!!



[ajbeller]

did you see the sweat!!!??? Makes me want to go practice on my skills as a pianist!

[exitrg]

great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[0530pianist]

WOWWW

[TheDustinnguyen]

i know an 11 yr old that can play that

[TripleRhu]

@TheDustinnguyen i bet its a different version...hopefully D:

[melagads]

@TheDustinnguyen maybe the normal version of bumblebee but not this one. this is one the hardest pieces for piano, transcribed by one of the fastest player ever. if that kid really could play that in this quality he would be the most famous pianist in the world.

or in other words. i would give u 10000000000000000$ if u upload a vid and give an evidence.

[TheDustinnguyen]

@melagads no one will believe me!! fine then i WILL upload a video, just dont know when yet alright?!

and i AM telling the truth so just stop believing the fact that an 11 yr old cant play the version.

YES ITS THAT VERSION!!!!!

and, perhaps, this may make it even harder to believe, but SHE, not HE.

[TheDustinnguyen]

@melagads anyhow, she had to change it a bit cuz it was very difficult and didnt want to spend her time peering at notes she cant even play. at least most of it sounds the same. KK?

[xpeson9]

He was actually dripping sweat from the nose... wow

[cyclingpianist]

This is insane brilliance! Bravo!

[midez19]

wow...he spam the keys XD

[theC00Lgurl]

he look like he was typing on the keyboard.lol

[7MrsLost]

wow.

[Starwalker6978]

Bravo! He can move his fingers!!

[ButtonWhite]

Favola...:D

[TheHjkhsd]

booring

[Sword1479]

@TheHjkhsd I didn't know it was opposite day.

[TheHjkhsd]

@Sword1479 HAHAHA haha ha.

[Orsonpitbull]

diabolic

[perronimorli]

Splendido. Che chiesa è?

[lehah]

You can see the sweat dripping off his nose by the end. An outstanding performance. Cziffra would've been immensely proud to do that well himself.

[geertdehoux]

Mr Russo, you're a fantastic pianist!!

Geert Dehoux.

[clonefan841]

Flight of the bumblebee ON STEROIDS!

[Huddiethegreat]

Good..... But next time FASTER

[carlos90060]

hasta hace q me de miedo esa iglecia

[carlos90060]

miren como suda, nonnooooo

[bomberchicken]

:O that's in octaves! :O :O

[winnietheshyt]

thats one crazy bumble bee

[Pianoman1770]

@winnietheshyt quite.

[cowzilla8]

Lol, he took two and a half bows when he finished.

[musicinmysoul9]

wow tht is hard

theres sweat coming off his face!

[qzpm1980g]

Bad.

The same the Bumblebee, not a jet plane!

[whimsicalmedley]

@qzpm1980g agreed!

[silverbud]

The accoustics in the hall are dreadful. And the excessive use of pedal, too.

But in a Pasolini film I would place this interpretation...

[Launcelot705]

Ese tipo es mi pai!!!

[amandakova]

Fantastic!!!!!!! Brilliant Player

[cowzilla8]

Dude, he actually played it more than what was written in the arrangement. I think he repeated the main part til the end, and did an improved ending. Kudos to him.

[TheDustinnguyen]

@cowzilla8 actually i'm pretty sure he was supposed to cuz there was a repeat sign near the end.

[Pasarnite]

You ppl are so mean, y dun u go onstage ?

[IMightStalkYou]

Sounded really bad. Prolly the worst sound quality ever, or he sucks.

[scarletphoenix23]

He sucks in what he himself composed? Or do you just really want to look condescending?

[IMightStalkYou]

A little of both

[mumming1]

Is that swet falling down from his head? :P

[ExVash]

Probably.  Performance attire can get pretty hot, especially when you're playing something as blisteringly fast and technical as this.

[ethositachi]

don't forget the flood lights

[ExVash]

Oh god yes, stage lighting. How I hate it.

[norman221]

i think he is gonna go backstage and place his fingers in a bucket of ice XD

[sunangel96]

hahahahah dont you just love these things??? lol EH MAH GAWD

[Lennythewinner]

2:39 sweat drips from his chin...

[Lennythewinner]

African KILLER bees !!!

[xixpoisonxix]

This video should be renamed Flight of the Bumblebee HIVE

[Ashatokka]

oh my god

[rukori]

That's not the original...

[igorfizi991]

what is purpose of your comment ?? just stfu

[rukori]

The purpose is to say that this is not the original. Is that too hard to comprehend for you mind?

The original, was arranged by Cziffra, and as it says above, this was played by Russo. I'm just mentioning it since you can't read...

[sirvio666]

The original was composed by Rimsky Korsakov.

Cziffra made this version.

[edziomy]

The orginal wasn't for piano... someone had to arrange it first

[trigalg693]

Then there's the original Rimsky-Korsakov arrangement for piano. This is the Cziffra arrangement of that, where everything is turned into a giant chord :O

[teeraTHEnightmare]

ah, cziffra. for those who think original isn't enough fast.

[funnyazian]

one of the songs on piano id like to learn before i die hahaha hopefully it wont take me too long

[juufa72]

Depending on good you are, you might be the one to break the record of "oldest person to ever live" because this arrangement is off the charts in difficulty.

[cacarotto87]

beteg

[drosophila82]

This guy is obsessed with speed over quality

that's why he reached nowhere

[sirvio666]

Even if he went nowhere, he's light years ahead of YOU.

[drosophila82]

Mediocre people ... all that i have to say

If you add anything , just come back and look at this comment because it's my only reply.....

[aloofistpain]

ugliest sound

inappropriate for piano

[dragons454]

it takes a lifetime to practice that.... almost... XD

[londonswan11]

Extraordinary! We can see the sweat pouring down there near the end and it's no wonder! Very difficult piece already and : this is the most complex version I've heard (even the simplified version is extremely difficult). Chapeau!

[rukori]

Amazing...

[12holiday12]

Can YOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU play it better? Huh? Can you? Can you? CAN YOU? Come on now! You criticize, so show us that YOOOOUUUUUUUUUU can do it better! Come on! Allez hop! Bring it! BRIIIIIIING IIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NOSEhow2LIV]

Very stupid attiude. Doing it better is NOT a requisite for an opinion. Do you go to cinema, watch sport, eat in restaurants, see ballet, go to opera..............? Do you NEVER have an opinion on any of these, just because you are not neccessarily a better dancer/singer/actor/footballer­/cook or whatever?

[12holiday12]

Thanks - this is exactly the answer I was hoping for!!!! Every time I point this point of view out, people act as if they'd like to eat me up! I hope many people read your comment - it's nice to see once in a while that I don't stand all alone with my opinion!!!

[vukproject]

unbelivable

[Jenninecro]

This sounds nice, but I prefer Yuja's video!

[FalconsViewpoint]

If the original composer made the tune based on a phenomenon in nature, Cziffra made the nature based on the original tune.

[Unregisteredbullshit]

The faster the better, anyone had an idea how many hours that it took to learn this?

[barabanka2000]

hours....

years!!!

[TheDustinnguyen]

@barabanka2000 are you sure?? an 11 yr old learned that by heart in just a few weeks. i bet you dont believe me. but believe it or not its true.

[pao2jam]

its supposed to be fast or else it wouldn't be a flight of bumblebees.

listen carefully and feel the buzzing sound of the bees.

[trooper3x108]

what the heck is the camera guy doing from 1:40 to 1:56??

[VinnyTN]

lol, trying to be creative i suppose

[DennisChoy1]

tooooooo fast and loud .

[jerrytomball]

Watch Yuja Wang play this piece. Excellent upclose recording.

In defense of Sandro's playing, check out his performance of Lowell Liebermann nocturnes. So gentle and satisfying.

[Emmzizleez888]

i saw the yuja wang vid, she was awesome. They do a close up of yuja's hands.

[victorTBONE777]

a bit too fast for my taste...but impressive speed...

[Albertthefatcat5]

I think the entire point of this piece is to play it extremely fast. and the guy playing this is trying to show off a bit.

thats just my opinion

[Firesign333]

too fast..butchered...musical masturbation lol...i don't think his trying to play it how its meant to be played..this guy is just merely displaying his speed..get over yourselves and stop trying to be arty snobs..regardless of lack of class or sophistication this video should be admired by any musician..

[RoidInjected]

It is played much too fast. The piece is butchered several times. Too bad, KC is technicaly gifted.

[Ayime93]

LOLZ XD!

[fishman017]

Seems a little TOO fast. But maybe it's just the audio.

[pandurate]

musical masturbation

and nothing more

[ViktorDragmire]

Speed hacks.

[addeex1]

Ну, теперь, мой шмель, гуляй,

судно в море догоняй,

потихоньку опускайся,

в щель подальше забивайся.

Будь здоров, Гвидон, лети,

только долго не гости!

[addeex1]

I want to kiss his octavetechnic <3

[Ayime93]

Omigosh..O_O..Its like...He's Sweating a River thar!

[Polyphonic30]

LOL

[BanditVietEx]

one comment....

hes a robot, lol

[pinky0926]

I hate Cziffra's arrangement of this piece. It's flashy nonsense that turned a playful piece of music into a warhorse. .

And I don't like to say that, because I'm a huge Cziffra fan.

[gimelnus]

Dude, it's called artistic license. Why do all "covers" have to mimic the original. The point is that they don't. Appreciate the evolution of music for what it is and stop being a naysaying purist.

[pinky0926]

Artistic licence you say? What's your point? Just because it's different doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't dislike this because it's unique: I dlsiike it simply because I hurts my ears.

This has nothing to do with being a purist. Ultimately Cziffra didn't bring anything new or artistic to this piece, he just made it 10x more difficult.

[etude12]

It's not as though it is supposed to be a deep emotional experience!; it was written so violinists could wow people, then we pianists got in on it, and Cziffra made it great!

If it hurts your ears stop listening, and don't hurt our eyes with you foolish comments- also, it is not a warhorse; not that many people can play it!

[pinky0926]

Yes, even the original Bumblebee was a pretty trivial piece of music. But it had a charm and soul to it, and my personal opinion is that this transcription removedt that playful spirit and replaced it instead with superfluous virtuosity. Bumblebee? More like a swarm of angry hornets.

Rachmaninoff made this piece of music great, Cziffra took it too far. That's just my opinion.

[etude12]

It is more fun to perform bumblebee with a violinist- true. It has a great texture with both insruments playing- this is rather aggressively showy, but it is exhilirating!

[BenMcCormack91]

Would you know what I meant by "10 minutes later, you're hungry again"? I mean, it's impressive, and takes a lot of talent/skill to play. But is it worth it? Personally, I much prefer to play the Rachmaninoff, and listen to his piano roll performance of it. Hearing that version, I actually want to sit in silence for a little while after it's over.

After hearing this, I honestly had no qualms about moving on.

Cziffra's work is largely amusement. He was never a serious composer, to be fair.

[geertdehoux]

Well, I actually agree with you.

I knew Cziffra personally and I consider him as one of the most phenomenal pianists of the last century, but this terrible piece is actually pure 'Kitch'!

Geert Dehoux, pianist.

[IhaveNoOriginalName]

ok, this is amazing. i cant even begin to comprehend that amount of talent

[bentandarkmobile]

an impressive and outstanding performance

[raycharles665]

that's all the applause he got ?!!!!!?????!?!?!?there should have been a standing ovation

[badjaeaux]

this fine gentleman is a rare treasure

[thege6]

It is Cziffra's transcription of the Flight of the Bumblebee (by Rimsky-Korsakov), but it is not Cziffra on this video.

[CHOCSAVEPROB]

is that really Cziffra?

[fhsiaoce]

lol

[ilovescarlatti]

super super super !!!!!

[sayaendo8735]

蜂の羽音をそのまま表現したような標題音楽。。。

シフラの曲は、一つの音符に、不必要な音符が10個ずつくっ付い­ているような感じですね。。。それも、個性です。

[Clymaxx]

LOL Captain Insane-O.

[utopian1129]

lol...this is the rearranged version right? i looked at the score i was like..is that even possible?

[zheng1437]

Wooooww

[ExVash]

Hmm, it seems someone finally put up the digital reconstruction of the piece on YouTube.

/watch?v=MNleymt9gyI

This is a computer recording, but you'll easily get the idea of how fiendish the SF really is.

[ExVash]

Russo... please... learn the Scherzo Focoso. Only you can do it!

[poncho20011990]

Composer?

[ExVash]

Alkan.

[poncho20011990]

Thanks.

I saw the score... quite difficult... :D

[ExVash]

Note that there are no recordings of it, either. It's so fiendishly difficult (especially the 5+ page coda *shudders*) that nobody has the stones to make an actual recording. Hell, even the Opus Clavicemballisticum has two recordings. There's a .mp3 of a .midi file, though. It's not too hard to find. Just look up Alkan on Wikipedia ad you should be able to find something.

[nighthellfire123]

there is superman.. and this is the super pianist ..... 5 stars

[ivanbunny25]

This is more like an attack of angry hornets, than bumble bees on their task.

[yannook]

Korsakov is a wonderful pianist and this is a very difficoult piece.

I didn't read this score yet but it's kind of pattern made and doesn't look as difficoult as some Godowsky-Chopin etude, Modaro etude n15 or some bad Alkan's music.

[wallhalla64]

BravÓOOOOOO ! i ask myself if Dinu Lipatti would have played IT ever better... I think.. not... congratulations!

[ILuvNymphadoraTonks]

not available? what happened to it? :(

[bahar213110]

woooooooooow

[gcaee]

it is awesome!!

it's just better than the original's.

cause he is Liszt 2nd!!

[musictman]

i have hand cramps just watching...

[loverman22022]

i just can say woooooooooooooooooooooooooooow !!!

[TravianChick]

i wish they'd film him from above, so we could see the keys smoking.

[mathmusicandlooks]

Holy insanity!!!!! THAT IS JUST NOT HUMAN!!!! You can see sweat dripping off of his face!!! I saw it start at 2:17......About the same time that the keys are burning hotter than heck....

[Boogiewoogiekid]

AMAZING PERFORMANCE!

[fleshmannn]

some smokes coming from his keyboard haaahaaahaaa.....

[Gannondalf]

i like the original better

not saying this isnt good though

[jaealan19]

Even though Cziffra was a fine pianist (one of the greatest), his transcriptions are nothing more than bells and whistles. This is certainly impressive, but the original piece is so much better.

[laqin007]

i dont like Cziffra's transcription on this.

[rainIand]

i wonder does he feel his hands after that :D

[cllyG]

my newborn dog can do that an he has no legs

[nateman115]

Your dog plays piano way better than you can?

[krizjaz]

speed..speed..speed..

its his own arrangement..

but its still good to hear..

[JackingtonKensington]

I can play that easily

[YuTubeWeTube]

no one gives a damn

[jgptrademark]

Yeah, and pigs fly.

[JustMakingComments]

People ought to encourage JackingtonKensington to prove it. let's see his video instead of dissing him. this is how art is partly created.

[kakermande]

I have Audio of Cziffra performing Flight of the Bumblebee in Paris, 1957. I will put it up soon, so people can hear the man performing his own arrangement, the way it should be. ^-^

[chipslette231]

I think he has a great technic but it is much too fast you can't identisice the pice in every part!!

[csunt]

what a speed. but sometimes it doesn't count. cziffra was mad. i'm sure. but he was Hungarian.. be proud of it.

[Bumblebeeflyer]

OMG This guy is MAD! (In the good way)

[VeryUndecided]

it sounds a little fast...

which is surprising, considering the song itself is unbelievable quick

[stefanobevacqua]

semplicemente fenomenale..

[Randommelon]

This is madness! In a good way, that is.

Jolly good job.

[nabilahamirruddin]

teruknya...

[allendale1962]

Bravisimo!!!! Wish I could play classical music like that, but God had another calling for my piano playing I guess.

[guitar99999992]

aaaahhh!!!!

[iznustim]

the audio seems not clear cus the piece was being played in this well..chapel?

[Oasisfan427]

THIS ISnT cziffra.. it might be his transcription thou

[setsanto]

Read a description once every little while....

[fenderstratsguy]

fuuuck...

I've never heard this version.

Amazing! A better audio of this would be mind blowing

[KearneyPiano]

i love th original though! its amazing

[JCruz0587]

that's one tough arrangement but not very pleasing to listen to

[nelsith]

Magnifico fantastico fabuloso majestuoso inigualable