Giora Schmidt - World Premiere of Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor for Solo Violin

[martinadler73]

I appreciate the painstaking transcription and performance of this pinnacle in piano literature. This is a wonderful hommage to the great Franz Liszt. Many thanks for this!

[JonathanRabson]

The arrangement and performance are amazing. I suspect those who dislike it may be comparing it to the original and looking for how their favorite parts are handled. Clearly the original is all about sonorous playing, and all those sonorous, romantic chordal moments are lost; the aesthetic is transformed into a more spartan, modern outlook. Nevertheless, the result is a far more thoughtful, introspective piece. If one listens to it on its own terms, it clearly succeeds as a musical experience.

[Toccataquarta]

@JonathanRabson Instrumentation is one thing, distortion of counterpoint is another.

[JonathanRabson]

@Toccataquarta I haven't compared the whole thing to the score; I merely listened & felt that the overall form & story come across. It's possible there are voice-leading errors (common in arrangements), though none stuck out to me. Is there a specific part where you feel the arranger missed a key subtlety? Mostly, what I feel is missing is the big sonorous romantic chords you can get with the piano. But my point was simply that if one listens as a "fresh" piece, it works as a composition.

[IZn0g0uDatAll]

4 words: does, not, sound, good.

Seriously, 37 minutes of Paganini + Ysaye-like technical fest in order to try to reproduce the piano on one of the deepest pieces of the repertoire is just plain stupid. Great performer, great arrangement, great everything, and fucking horrible idea.

[LBP2emo]

Very peaceful piece to be listening to at very late night times (sorry if my english bad, not my native language) I love listening to this, it has it moment of sadness in this song, but I have notice that it also sounds like a trio or quartet being played by one person. This is a truly amazing piece, I'm much very glad I found out about Giora Schmidt :)

[sunyuloveu]

This could be a good technique training, but honestly, the music doesn't fit a solo violin at all. Mr Sivan, if you really wanna do some experiments on transcription, at least do it for a string quartet please!!

[Matteo7419]

Why? :(

[pviola314]

for a good while i didn't notice the music stand. obviously it's just printed in really tiny font

[Mizzles240]

oh. my. god.

[jonifoni]

I happened to be at the premier at Ravinia and I'm really glad I can now show my friends and colleagues what I had witnessed because this in my opinion, if you like it or not, can very well become part of violin repertoire (with proper representation). Congratulations Noam and Giora once again, hope to get the Carl Fischer soon.

[kasyapa]

bravo! what an accomplishment.

[goodmanmusica]

!!!wow!!!

[haodan2003]

Thanks

[FrankP84]

hmph...for me, the only reason this sounds like anything is because I know the original. Can't really see how this serves anyone..

[coqdorysme]

@FrankP84: while i agree this is an amazing violinistic feat, i have to agree with your comment too... worst, some of the original melodies get drowned by the adaptation into a more violinistic idiom.

[EdiEllerymissing]

@coqdorysme But that's the point of a transcription, is not that? To "adapt", to make a translation from one language to another language.

[xRisingForcex]

@EdiEllerymissing i think you're confusing transcription for arrangement

[universalexprts]

“During a transatlantic flight about ten years ago, I started hearing the mysterious opening of the B-minor Sonata played on the violin. I felt it had a special power to it, emphasizing with concentrated energy the diabolical, dark side of the piece. But immediately I said to myself: this piece cannot possibly be played on the violin, be reasonable! The impossibility of it attracted me - to develop a new instrumental language on the way to interpreting a familiar masterpiece." - Sivan

[valdezmiguel2]

@xRisingForcex I think you're confusing "non-profit" with "shit smeared ass-napkin".

[universalexprts]

wow. amazing performance



[bratsheMag]

BRAVO!!

[LisztofKuwait]

Its quite good! but I would have preferred to see some piano accompaniment to help cover some of Liszt's original ideas which could be difficult to do for any other instrument represented as a soloist without accompaniment! Nevertheless, this deserves some recognition! Bravo!

[Tenorgeiger]

@LisztofKuwait rather missing the  point!

[joao975ca]

Combining Liszt and Paganini had to be epic.

[gyx1989]

wow

[bertxo]

Kick ass performance!!

[epessina]

ECCEZIONALE !!!!!! Bellissima versione!

[cadacomica]

It's like his body is breathing out the music.

[Taneyev]

Milstein show the way with his Mephisto.

[Tenorgeiger]

Who would have thought such a transcription possible? It's been well done. And Giora! this is wonderful playing! Congratulations. Superb! RESPECT!!

[PSearPianist]

Much as I love Liszt, this has never been one of my favourite works of his, and I have no desire to hear more piano performances. However, it was great to hear this really ingenious arrangement - which I would be happy to hear again. Congratulations to arranger and performer!

[gerardbedecarter]

An impressive tour de force!

[violin031]

!!!!!!

[classicalchristina]

I never would've thought the Liszt Piano Sonata could be transcribed for solo violin, but it actually works quite nicely! Great performance :)