La Campanella Liszt-Busoni Performed by Lhevinne

[giuseppe76761]

essuno ha eguali

[giuseppe76761]

grande grandissio grande velocita' e tecnca il fraseggio impeccabile.questa versione penso sia ancorz piu' difficile dell originale busoni uno dei piu' grandi pianosti di tutti i tempi non a caso italiano come paganini :PPP

[giuseppe76761]

grande grandissio grande velocita' e tecnca il fraseggio impeccabile.questa versione penso sia ancorz piu' difficile dell originale busoni uno dei piu' grandi pianosti di tutti i tempi non a caso italiano come paganini :PPP

[paulostroff99]

Awesome.TY for posting.

[Theonedue]

HOLY FUCK!!! NO MORTAL MAN CAN PLAY LIKE THIS!!!!

[ReminiscenceS2]

hey who cares about the originality of the song. can't you hear this ecstasy?

[Ianthe22]

Oh i just read the post form Eristhenes...XD so it wasn't from the original Liszt arrangement.

[Ianthe22]

Why is this version different from the one i've got?Are there different Liszt versions?

[Juliet0307]

So great,so perfect...and so musical!

[aslanov]

everytime i listen to this...im just so shocked by how...perfect it is.

its mind-blowing; the clarity, delicacy, the interpretation. almost makes me sad.

[sgivas]

this is for brassmonkdyjew... you have simply taken leave of your senses...Lang Lang better than Lhevine???Lang Lang doesnt even belong in the same room as Lhevine

[Lassannn]

I just heard parallel thirds. I swear to holy God, from 0:37 to 0:41, those are parallel thirds in an ascending run. That is absolutely insane. There is no pianist alive today who can do that.

[ngpiano72]

this is more simple than the paganini liszt version

[ReturnOfTheStienway]

The way he really plays this is kinda similar to Jorge Bolet's approach- even though his isn't fast, he makes a lot of music with the same notes.

[brassmonkeyjew]

This guy is good... But Lang Lang is the best!

Lang Lang is the piano king!

This guy is not even worthy of turning the pages for him!

[npholla]

@brassmonkeyjew you're joking right??

[stefthe80]

it's one tone up. GREAT performance

[Beckmesser2]

The recording is properly pitched in G sharp minor, the key in which Liszt originally composed La Campanella. Glad you enjoyed the performance.

[drwaynejohnson]

I've owned an LP of this recording for years, and to me it's the "gold standard" of technique and interpretation of this piece. I once asked pianist Daniel Pollack (who studied with Lhevinne's wife Rosina at Juiliard) if Josef Lhevinne really played in live performances with the kind of unbelievable delicacy and accuracy one hears on the piano rolls. His response: "I heard Lhevinne play many times, and yes, he played exactly as one hears on the recordings." Unbelievable!

[peteklat]

If you look up about Ampico piano rolls you find that they are all fitted with hand levers for the performer to vary volume and speed to imitate a live performer. As such they may be regarded as the first truly interactive acoustic music making machine ; something without any parallel until only the past half-decade with the advances in modern computing technology and software.

In others words, tempi and dynamics can be "fixed" by the player.

[aardvaark069]

@peteklat No.....All the dynamics are encoded in the rolls and then played back via a very refined pneumatic system . These old systems, when properly maintained and restored could really knock your socks off. I refer you tothis on youtube. 'Ampico B Tannhauser Moisiewitsch' try that on and tell me what you think.

[hilocomtoot]

Simply magnificent!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kelimu]

This is one of the best performances of this piece ever. It could be compared only to those of Barere, Hofmann and Friedman

[harald144]

hey what perfect trills !!!!!

[dquibs2]

I never heard of Lhevinne. But his profile looks much like the great Vladimir Ashkenazy.

[SimonDanellPiano]

If Ashkenazy and Rubinstein would get a baby, he would look exactly like this. Great playing ofc, so leggiero and elegant.

[mikejr41387]

you never heard of JOSEF LHEVINNE? :-O

[Classicmozayful]

still cant believe that this is my teacher's teacher's teacher...

[peteklat]

The great problem with Ampico rolls was that they could be doctored (with regard to note accuracy and dynamics) and also speeded up. We really have no way of knowing if JL could PLAY the piece like this, but it is certainly exciting to HEAR it like this.

[Beckmesser2]

You are right. That is why I only have only posted two piano roll performances on my channel, both by Lhevinne. His Ampico roll of the Schulz-Evler Blue Danube Waltz is so similar to his recording (except toward the end) that I assumed that his Liszt-Busoni La Campanella was also a fairly accurate reproduction of his performance. (The Blue Danube roll also has the florid and demanding introduction that was left out of his recording and was the main reason that I posted it).

[Bret6464]

@Beckmesser2 I agree, this is faithful and true to Lhevinne performing.  Extraordinary permance, thank you for sharing :-))

[lapulav]

wonderfull!

[klausknulp]

speachless!!!

[ForeverIsis]

gracias, hermoso

[ForeverIsis]

any time, you play this melody?

[klausknulp]

i have studied the liszt version. but i like the busoni-liszt a bit more. lhévinne plays it best!

[ForeverIsis]

no lo conozco.

[ForeverIsis]

ya lo vi, gracias otra vez

[speedstream001]

I've heard Lhévinne play Scriabin's left hand etude on the Welte piano rolls and was just blown away by his god-like playing. What can I say -- I'm blown away again! Who can listen to him play and dare to call themselves his equal?

[Eztoez]

Have just downloaded the original Busoni sheet music for this and have been listening to this performance at the same time. I'm blown away by the phenomenal virtuouso piano playing from this man. A staggering mastery of technique and tone. To be able to play that fast with such clarity pianissimo is truly astounding. Its actually rather humbling as well.

[aardvaark069]

Some of those Ampico rolls are pretty damn convincing It's easy to imagine Lhevinne playing exactly like this. Superhuman.

[Barbosapiano]

Wow. This will amaze any experienced pianist. This is the first recording I've heard of him, even after having ready many of his articles on piano technique; Everything he states is proven by his playing. The sound behind his technique reminds me of Rachmaninoff, quite fairly since they belong to the same "school".

The clarity is amazing. He might be deceased, but this is very intimidating- better yet: inspiring.

[richjwright]

@Barbosapiano --

"The sound behind his technique reminds me of Rachmaninoff, quite fairly since they belong to the same "school".

In fact they graduated together at the Moscow Conservatory and it was Lhévinne who won the gold medal. And, a couple of years later, Rosina Bessie won the gold medal and married Josef the same year. He considered her every bit his equal, and the recordings she made prove that out.

[nushki08]

AMAZING CLARITY!!!

[Eztoez]

AMAZING performance

[bluematrix109]

1:39-1:40. WTF!?!?!?!?!? are those chromatics ascending in thirds!?!? how the fuck does he do that with one hand?!?!!? it's unreal!! i've never even heard Liszt's pieaces like that.

[JakWho92]

there are very much pieces for example don juan paraphrase. chopin even wrote a third study (op 25 6) if you are interested to seek the limit =)

[karlakor]

bluematrix109--I understand your amazement. Lhevinne was famous for his double thirds, sixths, and octaves, and he was unrivaled in this regard. The finish of his playing is phenomenal, and he makes it all sound so natural and so easy. Technical difficulties did not exist for him. In my opinion, Lhevinne is, at least, the equal of the more famous Rachmaninoff and Hofmann. The piano truly cannot be played any better.

[farah73]

HE'S NOT A MAN. he's an allien in the body of a man. he has a brain disfunction, i wish that i have his disease. i' m not spreading a rumor here. i'm JK

[klausknulp]

3:08 + how a man can play that fast and easy?!

[klausknulp]

this campanella is my favourite!

[soulsbreaker]

matt bellamy also plays it very well ^^'

[9461305]

is it a joke? comparing to lhevine matt bellamy is'nt even not a pianist ! How is it possible to read so stupids things here ...

[soulsbreaker]

lol!

I want to see u play like matt bellamy!

and i never sayd that lhevine was Shitty

I sony sayd that bellamy is cool also

U poor Guy.

Bellamy is not reknown by his piano, he is know by his guitar.

He is among the first 25 guitarist in the WORLD!

noob

[9461305]

well you where speaking about his piano :-)

[soulsbreaker]

ye xD!

[troppofiato]

Wow! Amazing everything! One of the greatest pianists of all time.

[karlakor]

Adele Marcus has said that when Lhevinne played Liszt's Feux Follets in recital, the listener had the impression of a bee buzzing around his head, so light and etheric was his playing. Hearing this recording of La Campanella, I regret once again that I never heard the mighty Josef Lhevinne in concert.

[eddiechilvers]

Aside from the fact that this is played with great musicallity sensitivity and poetry, can anyone find a better example of raw technical brilliance. Dwarfs hoffman kissin and horawitz. ( not that the best tec is the best pianist)

[aardvaark069]

Pretty nice piano roll. Very convincing. In listening to Lhevinnes' live recordings I think that he was one of the greatest pianists who ever lived. An absolute aristocratic presence in the history of the instrument.

[everythingistken1291]

It was different, but very, very good. I liked it.

[Leunami02]

Rapsodia Húngara nº 2 o "La Campanella" de Liszt :)

[bigcity233]

Busoni's arrangement is also beautiful - more delicate than the original Liszt. I know there is some skeptisism about the authenticity of reproducing piano roll recordings. However, they were widely recognized and praised by the music establishment of their time.

[ACMAartists]

The Lhevinnes Lineage of instructors goes traces back to Liszt. This is the most amazing version of La Campanella I have ever heard.

[gtimny]

Actually the Lhevinne line (both Josef and Rosina) does not go back to Liszt. Both were influenced by the great Russian pianist of their youth, Anton Rubinstein, and were pupils at the Moscow Conservatory founded by his brother Nikolai. Both Lhevinnes studied there with Vassily Safonoff who had been a pupil of Teodor Leschetitzky who himself had been a pupil of Beethoven's student Karl Czerny. No Liszt in there at all, in fact Liszt famously refused to teach Rubinstein.

[assindiastignani]

@gtimny There's a slight relation - both Leschetitzky and Liszt were pupils of Czerny. The question of course becomes: who "taught" people like Liszt, Lhevinne, Hoffmann or Horowitz? Liszt's refusal to teach Rubinstein (no matter what history may say) was most likely something personal - those kinds of things always are, particularly among rival musicians.

[Bret6464]

@gtimny Actually there is a link in Alexander Siloti (Rach's cousin) who worked with Liszt before coming back to Moscow. Siloti taught at the Moscow Conservatory at the time Lhevinne was a student. Lhevinne and Rachmaninoff graduated the same year :-))

After the revolution, Rachmaninoff moved to New York City; and Alexander Siloti, Josef Lhevinne and his wife Rosina Lhevinne became teachers at Juilliard. Horowitz was younger and came to New York later :-))

[gtimny]

@Bret6464 You're absolutely right in your history of these amazing pianists and their later lives in New York. What I meant was that there was no teaching link to Liszt in the Lhevinnes background since neither of them *studied* with Siloti (though Rachmaninoff did). Incidentally, for a time in my early 20s *my* teacher was Kyriena Siloti, Alexander's daughter, then in her 80s and quite a character!

[Bret6464]

@gtimny It is fascinating that the heart of the Russian School moved to New York essentially "with" Rach, to Juilliard that carries on that same tradition. I am basically hooked on Rachmaninoff, both as a composer and a pianist, reason why I wanted to hear Josef Lhevinne - he was an absolutely extraordinary pianist :-)

[pjioayncoe]

wonderful!

[simmo303]

The Ampico roll used a special technique involving vacuum/air pressure to be able to reproduce the touch of the pianist. Ordinary player-piano rolls just give the notes - crude by comparison.

[uprooy]

I didn't know that a Busoni-version of la campanella exists. Wonderful

[glisenti516]

this is so special than the normal style!!

[sssssersatzen]

damn it, i can't believe it, this rolls, o god, he plays so perfect...i like it more like rubinstein, but, this is just lhevinnes style i guess to play so smooth...sorry for my english, it might be a little wrong

[svensdascha]

Wow. What a performance. Such clarity and reliability of sound. To me, it sounded like someone playing bach; not too much dynamic variation. Not romantic. Perhaps played in the way that Bartok is performed. Da?

Thank you Beckmesser 2.

[Hellspire]

i read this somewhere else but cant recall where: piano rolls could not account for dynamics until later in its run; however, by the time it did, the industry was no longer commercially viable and went bust.

[Eristhenes]

No, Kasyapa. It's Busoni's arrangement of La Campanella, not the original Liszt. Delicious isn't it?

[ProkofievRules]

@Eristhenes

Delicious is the word. Either that, or juicy.

[mephyman]

I'm grateful for such a post! Thanks :)

[kasyapa]

hugely creative - ah, the romantic era! very interesting departures in some of the fioritura - anyone know if those were original to lhevinne?

[paulostroff99]

Sensational! Bravo! TY

[GetMeThere1]

Absolutely lovely! I only wish there were a recording!

[oktalp]

When did Horowitz say that?

[dinoimeri]

Amazing!!

[oktalp]

Horowitz's favorite pianists were Rachmaninoff, Lhevinne, Hofmann.

[op30no3]

Horowitz said that he was not impressed by Hofmann and did not like his interpretations and was bored by them.

[oktalp]

When did Horowitz say that and to whom?

[op30no3]

I assume it was said to Harold Schonberg. From his book, Horowitz: His Life and Music, Horowitz is quoted as saying:

"Hofmann did not impress me very much. Of course he was a great pianist with incredible facility, but I did not like his interpretations. I was bored. Later on, in America, I heard him many times and had no reason to change my initial impression."

[oktalp]

Horowitz didn't care for his interpretations but said that Hofmann had the most natural facility and approach to the piano that he had ever seen.

[op30no3]

Ah, I see—and most certainly agree. I would say that the pianists he most respected as musicians, though, were Rachmaninoff, Gieseking, and maybe Busoni, though I don't think he actually heard Busoni play.

[oktalp]

I think Lhevinne should also be included in that list.

[op30no3]

Indeed—Horowitz called him a "musical aristocrat."

[paulostroff99]

Yes,and Padarewski as well!

[kasyapa]

no, horowitz was still in russia when der busoni died - though v.h. had wanted to study with him.

[op30no3]

I know (hence him having never heard him play). He was, however, very interested in him. He was always asking about him and his playing from people who knew him.

[paulostroff99]

Then why did he see him many times. Was a second opinion not enough?

[lhiram23]

it is really supernatural. this is the only pianist, in my opinion, who makes a dance (and who can make it..the speed) in the finale at 3 min 41 untill the end. i guess that only the young Horowitz could do that. what octaves!

[CoolJay77]

I can't put my listening experience of this interpreation into words.

[lhiram23]

me too!! it's more far that i have imagined

[squishym]

Haha right with ya. Genius and mind-blowing are some words that come to mind, but they are understatements!

[63Attila]

Unfortunately there is only 1 CD of his playing but what a great pianist.

[ChopinRulez]

Quiet orginal and intersting .

He is awsome !

[mustracker]

Simply a very good musician, playing with taste and charme.. Fantastic!

[1singlet]

I am not familiar wiht his playing. So, this was interesting.