Chopin - Scherzo #1 in B minor (Cecile Licad, 2003)

[PhilPhilUSA]

equisitely nuanced contrasts! i love this performance

[colinthepianist]

Eh, a little too bangy in my opinion.

[uknico]

Fantastic performance! Especially the middle section.

[chiv78]

what is she doing with the rhythm? I know there is artistic license, but my God, if Chopin wanted it that way, he would have written it like that...IMHO!!! But it's not bad overall...

[mzwgd]

@chiv78 yes i think the same way she is going little too far

[allwedoissell]

I swear If you close your eyes you'll see Tom & Jerry in action!

Love this music.

[cmessier51]

lol and whats all this nonsense about not comparing i wish ppl'd shut up about that you must always compare and hold up agianst otherwise there can be no good great best and worst duhhh

[cmessier51]

the beginning is sooooooo rushed through and tumbled over

[Wiegenlied09]

we should not compare a pianist to another pianist because they have their own skills and style

[Toscanini2008]

If you are not happy with her rendition GO WATCH A PACQUIAO OR EDDIE PEREGRINA VIDEO, you critics. At doon kayo magbagbakan sa text.

[asusminor]

I think this piece is not ready to be performed at the time this was recorded.

[NOSEhow2LIV]

Obviously brilliant pianist but very flawed musician & artits. Rythmic instability undermines so much here. The alternating octaves at end make not only a poor choice,(un-Chopinesque in the extreme),but are poorly played.

Not a great musical moment.

[Petootiepie]

This my first time hearing Cecile Licad 'n also first time purposely hearing 1st Scherzo, but I will say it was a creditable performance. I agree with some of the comments that it was extreme in some ways, but it is always rewarding to see a performer who puts their whole soul into everything they do. I am also happy to see that she is a Filipina.

[PiningGersha]

Enough with this "Filipina" or "Pinoy pride" thing, you idiots! You are just displaying your utter ignorance! By saying such, you just give credence to your country's inferiority in world affairs!

[MrSammyConcepcion]

Her repertoire is too old and too limited. She should completely change her repertoire so she can have a comeback before it's too late. Talagang nalalaos na siya. There are so many good young pianists in the radar now, and Licad thus far is unable to rise above them to be seen and heard. She needs to refresh her program and reinvent herself --- FAST! Or she will slide down the slippery slope towards obscurity. NOTE: This is an advice from an ally, not an enemy.

[riconallariconalla]

it's just the same.. she just did the octaves alternately.. same sound it will produce.

[riconallariconalla]

nope.. iya ning anak hahaa

[RicAbapo]

@riconallariconalla kuya ikoy! hahaha, mama nimo tinuod?

[jjg7]

I only have one comment with regards the ending - that I prefer more the original Bm scale in the score instead of the octaves she did here.

[caveman3461]

the part around 3:35 reminded me of another song but its more of an opera peice and not one of Chopin's works

[andreybeci]

when you were playing i shat my pants. wopuld like some of it sent to your ?

[cctunes]

This has got to be one of the goofiest interpretations of this I've ever heard, and I love Ms. Licad's playing.

[MaLillyBoogan]

Why is her hair so flat and oily here? Did she not shampoo her hair before the concert?

[Rahajo1]

she has beautiful hair. but we are not discussing her physic, but her performance!

[LuzCunt]

Can't she play some modern pieces like Clavicembalisticum, The Rude Poem and The Road? I'm so tired of her playing Chopin......

[izamonkei]

music describes everything

[chopinasi]

This is one of the best renditions of this style of music '' Chopin ~ Scherzo no 1''

I loved her performance. ..truly one virtuoso pianist . Brava Cecile!

[hailkayy]

This was : " Cziffrette ".

Liked it !

[TheChai23]

This was a very dynamic, passionate and technically complex performance. What made this piano recital work so well was Miss Licad's obvious passion and love for the music she makes.

[gwgn02]

You're an idiot DJprodKK...go spin some C&C music factory...lol

[DjProdKK]

This piece is terrible

[shutupLau]

grabe..i want to be like her...im proud that she's a filipina..

[lokopiano]

This wonderful Scherzo ,( maybe the best of all 4 despite many people give the "Award" to the 4th) is one of the pieces who anticipated Scriabin 1st period, with his Mazurcas and 1st and 2nd sonata phantasy.

Unfortunately Licad take this magic piece as a bravura piece, and of course the message is wrong. More wrong is trying to be exxpresive making faces in the 2nd liryc theme. We need sound, not faces.

lokopiano

[gjbs55]

Are you as good as her?

[lokopiano]

How old are you?.

Since your question is very childish.

If i say No,you will be very happy.

If i say yes,probably you will say:is to easy to say yes, but i would like to watch any of your videos, etc.bla bla bla..You have not idea who i am. But one simple tip: I am here every half year for a short period with different alias to help amateur people to aprecciete music in a more professional way.I consider myself better than Licad. Actually i have many videos in YT. Sorry i cannot say who i am.

[frostishosti]

Did she beat you in a competition or something?

[lokopiano]

What a pitty to observe in YT so many half brained pepole.

have you any different argument to make a question asshole?

Or maybe you are 8 years old............it could be.

lokopiano.

[frostishosti]

lokopiano, I guess I don't understand why you watch youtube vids you don't like with the sole purpose of making the performer feel bad.  It sounds to me like you have a Napoleon complex. Or a God complex. Or both.

[lokopiano]

Of course you don´t understand becuase you have only two neurones: One to survive and the other to make stupid coments. I don´t take any care if the performer fell bad or good. I am also constantly under the critics good or bad of musical reviewers. So? Anyway, if Licad feel bad for my critics, it means i am right , or no? ...Complex? ...well , all mediocres like you think the same.

bye dear..

lokopiano

[pikapuff123]

Lokopiano, I think you're knowlege of piano and music would be better put to use by just offering your comments on different interpertations, instead of crowding the comments section with your senseless bickering. You obviously know what you are talking about to some extent, so please continue to offer advise or opinions, but just avoid getting into such lengthy arguements about nothing. It makes you look like an asshole.

bye dear. :P

[lokopiano]

hello pikachu764...........thank you for your "Advise".

ohh yeahh...i could look as an asshole, but you already are a big asshole. so...

what i "talking about to some extent" is by far more than you can imagine, so you take it or you don´t.. If you want to learn something about piano go to my comments on Argerich(greatest woman pianist on earth), Michelangelli, Rubinstein, Pollini, Goulda, Claire Huangci,Yuja Wang, Alice Burla, Brendel, Lang Lang,etc.

from the bad pinists : Brendel, lang lang

[Wiegenlied09]

@lokopiano how boastful of you to say you're better than Cecile Licad... you Should not compare anyone to your self

[ramonmong]

I have Cecile Licad's CD of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Claudio Abbado is the Conductor). The CD Review Magazine gave it the highest rating 10/10. If you can find it, buy it -- and you will agree with the grade.

[musictaylor87]

she needs to learn how to bow

[chopinasi]

I love this music Scherzo in B minor by Chopin which is well performed by Licad.

Brava.

[choliszt]

Cecile Licad is one of the best pianist

I like her.

[supermanifold]

what an interesting interpretation!

[PolyphonicSeduction]

I thought so too, alot of little things emphasized that normaly aren't. I liked it. I love it when I hear a henuine interpretation of a piece of music as a pose to playing like everyone else. Yundi Li's is still my favorite though.

[Invention0513]

and these are the people that make it fun to read comments

[maestroadam]

Hmm

[flugelmaniac]

too fast

[Timrath]

I agree.

[puntodifuga]

una esecuione orrenda!!!dim un pacchiano kitch a tratti anche volgare"""!!!non si suona con l'idea di sbattersi!!1questa suona come se avesse una botta di diarrea impellente

[lobo48ar]

Je suis tout d'accord avec toi

[SheaKeenanTott]

She is way, way better than Alfred Cortot and Philippe Entremont combined.

[SheaKeenanTott]

She is way, way better than Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Maurizio Pollini combined.

[olipippocinque]

sono daccordo ,piu che stupida versione sportiva ,chi ha letto Chopin e i libri su Chopin di Eigeldinger sà che il maestro odiava la volgarità e il suono forte volgare ,che lui descriveva come l'abbaiare dei cani !!!

[olipippocinque]

Sicuramente il Grande Chopin si sarà ribaltato nella tomba ! Lui che odiava gli abbai dei cani ,il suonare forte ,il gran vacarmo ...etcc questi giovani dovrebbero leggere i libbri ! ...e smeterla di fare il circo mentre si suona ...

[SheaKeenanTott]

Olipippocinque, you are obviously a stupid Italian, very typical. Whoever said that Chopin should be played in a certain way? You should just listen to computer music, idiot.

[olipippocinque]

you are ignorant ! completely ignorant . poor boy!

[SheaKeenanTott]

Hey olipippocinque, you are the ignorant one, bitch! Tu sei cacca!

[tammeosacchi]

olipippocinque is completely right, and don't try to insult italians. we are the incarnation of art, and in italy there is half of the art in the world.

[SheaKeenanTott]

You have half of the art in the world??!!! Well, FUCK YOU!!! You just stole everything from the Greeks! And the Greeks stole everything from the Egyptians!! You ignorant Italian BITCH FROM HELL!!!

[tammeosacchi]

where are you from?? american? english? you are such an ignorant lattant, study before writing stupid things

[daveclark612]

i love cecile licad, she's my fave pianist here in the Philippines. I'm also a fan of Ingrid Santamaria, and Reynaldo Reyes. They're the best!

[Grigor99]

IMO this is not true Chopin playing. Too much rubato and over-indulgence. Licad certainly has the technical ability to pull anything off, but this performance is a tad bit outside the box for my own taste.

[ganymed45]

awesome playing :)

[beryllium2]

verry interesting interpretation. I've never heard it played like this... very fresh... I like it... And Cecile is a babe.

[dbs2919]

GALING MO PO TALAGA.

[xalamac]

Man, what an exciting pianist. I hope she comes here to Ft. Lauderdale.

[Florestan1207]

Interesting, personal interpretation, perhaps a bit too slow in the middle section. But a coherent concept, you hear her telling a story.

[BRENZONE46]

I've been a few times to the Philippines and only one person there had heard of this lady, yet she is one of their kababayan. I couldn't find any of her recordings in any shop there either, though a recording of her playing Gottschalk is available in UK. So I've decided to add the above to my FS page, where many of my contacts are from the Philippines, so they can hear for themselves how good she is. Well she played under the baton of Georg Solti - that speaks for itself.

[bcenizal01]

i agree with you about not many filipinos have heard her play because not many around here are classical music fans. cecile only goes here for a few days once a year to have a concert. she used to have a cd under sony records. check out her latest youtube of mephisto waltz.

[flugelmaniac]

excellent playing

[lesrondee]

This is good stuff. Check out the score yourself. lagin007, stop making stupid comments because it shows how ignorant of Chopin's music you really are.

[laqin007]

she plays too fake

[laqin007]

sucks

[gemininer]

It sucks for you that she plays better than Lang-Lang =)

[laqin007]

nope, she sucks.

[gemininer]

nope, she doesn't =) but you suck =)

[carlokalua]

laqin007 you are chinese right? for somebody to say that Cecile's interpretation is fake gives you that credibility...Chinese are fakes...even their gymnasts are fake...shame on you Chinese

[laqin007]

shame on chinese? where are you from?

[MatthewJohnIgnacio]

Five Star!

[terraflux16]

I want to play this.

[lobo48ar]

Would you agree to a performance of the opening theme of Beethoven 5th as a triplet? Where is the limit to rythmic freedom and just simple carelessness for what the composer wrote?

[danbar73]

There are five recurring sections of the same turbulent musical theme here. It is good practice to differentialte one from the other,and universally accepted for the artist to take little liberties-subtle dynamic changes, a quick diminuendo/rallentando here and there-to achieve that goal as long as they do not impede the flow and momentum of the music. Ms. Licad did not derail the flow or diminish the substance and value of the music.

[Cienfer]

You're nuts.

[lobo48ar]

Several rythmic mistakes, such as the beginning chords not lasting as long as written or the descending octaves in the left played as a dotted rythm...

[aspacguy]

Who cares if notation doesnt exactly match the performance? As long as whole piece was performed coherently as a whole then the performer knows what they are doing. If you want to stick to the notation, let a computer play it. You will get the same result everytime. Will it sound good? Probably to some people. I bet the same way that some people are tone deaf, there are also those who do not hear the soul of the music.

[crybanshee]

Lol we've have this discussion... It will sound diferently, because there are many possible intepretations from what the composer wrote, but being careless to what the author wrote is just wrong; but then again, I do agree with rubato IN CHOPIN, just doing the exact opposite to what he did is not good. Before you ask: diminuendos at the beggining when Chopin wrote crescendo.

[aspacguy1]

Among the many possible interpretations, sometimes you can not help but not follow some of the markings.. I know you disagree to this.. let me point you to rachmaninoff himself playing his prelude in c# minor in YT where the video shows the music sheet being played. ( I have it as one of my fav). He did not follow his markings to say the least.. is it the same music? I think so.. but he interpreted his own in music in a different light based on what is 'real' to him at that time.

[op11no3]

aspacguy1- I'm new here but i got wind of what you wrote a year ago and I quote " rachmaninoff himself playing his prelude in c# minor in YT where the video shows the music sheet being played.... He did not follow his markings to say the least.. is it the same music? I think so.. but he interpreted his own in music in a different light based on what is 'real' to him at that time. " I just want to say as an experienced musician that I fully agree with you. Cheers!

[AngelinaTaylor]

Yup. He plays his concertos like that too.. the 2nd mvt or Rach 2 being the most obvious example - he does not follow his dynamic markings at all, especially at the end of the middle section!

[Wiegenlied09]

@aspacguy1 I Agree!!!

[AngelinaTaylor]

Obey the score but don't let it restrain you.

[crybanshee]

Just seen this replies now...

Well I think "disrespecting" the text is also an art. You have to play with it so well and so carefully that you no longer "disrespect" it, you just have another point of view. What I saw Rachmaninoff doing, is interpreting his own work (he's playing home) and I didn't see anything that would go directly against the text, or anything without any logic. What I see here, in the Scherzo, is a sample of virtuosi just like Lang Lang. All they care is about the speed.

[alvinalcantara2009]

I totally agree with aspacguy. She plays with soul, she and the music become one. And for me, that's perfect artistry. Some people focus on the trees and yet miss the forest.