Pianist Valerie Tryon plays the Schubert-Liszt 'Ave Maria'

[99hoolio]

This is great - better than the (few) other versions on youtube which take themselves a bit too seriously I think - too ponderous and mannered.

By they way, yes, this is no walk in the park, but as far as Liszt goes I wouldn't call it treacherous. It's dense, yes - there are lots of notes, but nothing particularly technically impossible. Well worth having a go!

[Ingridtxt]

Beautiful! 

[hazelleaf]

Valerie was the best teacher I ever had. :) Love that woman dearly.

[DancerAbby12]

Oh you know allan? He is very nice!

Funny story...her sister is my neighbor!

I have cat sitted

But that's not how I know her.

Ahhh I like that festival!

Have you ever heard of Chris Teeuwsen?

[markarama23]

@DancerAbby12 Apologies for my delay here ... don't know Chris. Small world, though...!

[DancerAbby12]

@markarama23

Oh wow you know allan??

Actually funny story.....her sister is my neighbor!! I have cat sitted for them :P

Ahhh I like that fesitval!

Have you heard of Chris Teeuwsen?

[DancerAbby12]

@markarama23

Yes she is!

There are not many pianists that play the way she does! She's fabulous!

How do you know her?

I just saw her last week!

[markarama23]

@DancerAbby12 Apologies for my delay... I wrote an article about her for International Piano magazine because I enjoyed her Schubert-Liszt so much and remembered having seen her and Alan talk about and perform Liszt back in the late 80s in Montreal. I visited them both twice in Ancaster last year and I presented at Alan's Great Romantics Festival. She is indeed fabulous!

[DancerAbby12]

I know her!

Personally:)

[markarama23]

@DancerAbby12 So do I - isn't she lovely? :-)

[angersd1]

Magnifique interprétation

[ukks63]

Mi prendi al paradiso

[NOSEhow2LIV]

Sublime interpretation of a piece which should always disguise its difficulty(the most difficult thing to do!).Rich singing tone&long line thru complicote writing,plus"decorative"figure­s in second verse jewelled beauties in themselves,always expressive.

Amazing coincidence to find this: Recently in London(GB)i saw VT's name,forgotten since my teens,playing a fantastic,varied program,went to hear it,was bowled over by the beauty&perfection of her playing with all qualities found here.ThankYou

[markarama23]

@NOSEhow2LIV Lovely! Thanks for sharing!

[Ybarchov21]

Liszt was a Machamp in disguise.

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

if you have other Liszt recordings by her please post them

[markarama23]

@newFranzFerencLiszt I do...this one is on a very affordable Naxos CD, a truly marvelous compilation... I will see what else I can post...

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@markarama23 from Naxos, yeah.... much appreciate.

Naxos' is 1000 times better than Hyperion's

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@newFranzFerencLiszt (even if I've listened just a few... I know Andaloro's recordings and they're simply wonderful...)

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

wonderful!!!!!

[lovellespice]

where can i get the sheet music for this?

[lovellespice]

this is 3D piano.. darnnnn!!!!

[lovellespice]

how do you even begin to crack this piece..??

[Oliver154678]

@fortissimo. Schubert wrote this.

[123mazeppa]

@Oliver154678

No he didn't.

It's true he wrote the original melody of the piece, but Liszt transcribed it for piano solo.

i.e. This piece is Liszt's transcription of Schubert's Ave Maria.

Look up the facts.

[pianistlover2008]

Fantastic.........it seems that you have 3 hands, Congratulations for this superb interpretation of this difficult piece. I favorited it!!!

[eljuego3000]

beatiful..

[roylikeswaffles]

I don't understand how how it only takes 1 person to play this

[louismagie]

I still wonder how it's possible to play such a piece. It's astonishing

[jcracker]

for me the hardest part of playing this is making the main melody line louder than everything else. i have no clue how to do this

[louismagie]

@jcracker I totally agree. My answer is; practice I guess. lol

[FrancisArief]

My deepest gratitude for you for uploading this music, many many thanks :-)

[markarama23]

@FrancisArief So glad you like it!

[paulprocopolis]

I heard quite a bit of this pianist when i was a teenager. It's good to know that she is still around and still playing beautifully.

[markarama23]

@paulprocopolis It's wonderful to still be able to hear her 

[themanlywoman]

I wish I had three hands

[fortissimo25]

wow - another CRAZY DIFFICULT liszt piece - beautifully played!

[markarama23]

@fortissimo25 Yes!

[cherryxcola1]

I sat barely a meter away from her when she played this at my college a couple of days ago... such a beautiful version of this this song! Valerie is amazing.

[markarama23]

@cherryxcola1 I saw her from about the same distance in November and couldn't believe how effortless she made it look. She is amazing indeed!

[chutdigadut]

so freakin beautiful....

[markarama23]

@chutdigadut Yes it is!

[louismagie]

She must have three hand. It's not possible otherwise.

Wonderful.

It looks impossible. I wonder how she can play this.

Great ... Amazing Job.

[markarama23]

I saw her perform this in concert two weeks ago and I didn't notice the third hand :-) She really does make it look easy! And looking at the music you can see it's not!! Most pianists play it one or two minutes slower so that they can manage...

And this was a complete unedited take - no splicing. Amazing...

Glad you like!

[louismagie]

Are you sure for the 3rd hand? lol

It's amazing.

I've been doing piano for 8 years and I'm ok for reading music but this ... it's another planet .

Thanks for uploadind this video.

[SsteinwayS]

AMAZING. I have watched in concert, and it's awe-inspiring how EASY she makes everything seem.

[markarama23]

I just saw her perform this in concert two weeks ago and she really did make it look easy - and I know it's not!! Glad you enjoyed it.

[SsteinwayS]

Yes, she moves very little when she plays, yet the music just radiates with emotion and expression. Thanks again for posting this! She's really fantastic!

[markarama23]

So happy you like it. Go to my videos to see another I posted of her, of a rarely-played piece from an unpublished concert performance.

[SsteinwayS]

Great stuff! :)

[poek1e]

Thanks for uploading this video; as far as Youtube performances go this is right at the top together with the interpretation of Wibi Soerjadi.

The thing that sets these two performances apart is that Wibi plays this on a Bosendorfer Imperial; the Bosendorfer adds more depth to the performance.

[queenofthedragonfly]

I recently read an article in the International Piano about her. She really is a marvellous pianist! I hadn't heard about her at all, it's a pity she's not so well-known, for this performance proves her a very talented artist.

[markarama23]

I wrote this article - delighted you read it. She really is a marvelous pianist. So happy you enjoyed this performance. I will be posting more.

[queenofthedragonfly]

You did? That's great, meeting you on youtube.the web really does connect the world. Let me say I enjoyed reading the article. Are you a music critic/journalist?

[markarama23]

Had replied to this a while back but I guess it didn't 'save'... I do some writing for International Piano and some other magazines, and have done lots of research into lost historical recordings. The internet certainly is a great way to meet people and find information!

[bvbwv3]

A performance as lovely as the performer.

[markarama23]

Agreed!

[markarama23]

Posted in honour of this marvelous pianist's 75th birthday on September 5, 2009! Many happy returns!