Tchaikovsky, octaves from 3rd mov Piano Concerto No. 1 (Martha Argerich)

[ThePVGS1]

I play them NOWHERE near as fast. At the part from 0:14-0:19, I have to pause between the G's just to get the right notes.

[KCBellyDancer]

that women is sick!!!wow look hoow fast she moves her hands I could only dream to ever do that ..haha not even dream it..lol

[RobinLSL]

flabbergasted at the speed&precision

[Paracelsus72]

Double octaves are totally over-rated in terms of difficulty. You just have to keep the hand rigid and make sure ONE finger of each hand hits the right note.

[epar1628]

@Paracelsus72 yeah you are right ... that is so easy .

[ClassicSteinwayJonas]

@Paracelsus72 that's easy, but having your hand move that fast....

[OrangeSodaKing]

@Paracelsus72 Well, I see what you mean. Once you get the technique down, it's not so hard. But going at that pace without tension is still difficult and takes lots of practice. Something like Alkan's Allegro Barbaro... Now those octaves are very easy once you get the relaxation and wrist movement down.

[peppersprayinthebutt]

fucking chief

[kozborn]

I wonder if Tschaikovsky himself would be able to play what he wrote :D

[SergeantMuffins]

@kozborn i ask myself that same question about a lot of composers. i remember reading somewhere that prokofiev even had difficulties with his own pieces.

[hideaway3]

She's amazing. I had never cared for her playing after listening to her play my tour de force - Liszt #1, but the Tschai.and her Schumann concerti have totally turned me around. My God, what a gift. My only regret is I've not met her. Helene Grimaud and Spencer Myer, both wonderful pianists and friends; nevertheless, I could die very happy having met Martha. What an amazing spirit and how gifted can one person be?

[ilovefchopin]

lol holy shit ...

[mattandtrissy]

Holy shit! That's a technical wizard there.!

[OrangeSodaKing]

Lol, I'm learning this cadenza. It's so much fun, but it's going to be difficult getting it that fast. With lots of practice, I may be able to.

That's a great thing about Argerich... her technique is very very impressive, and it doesn't hinder her ability to play the most difficult of piano passages.

[BrusselmansPiano]

wtf...?

[VladekMeyer83]

Holy shit!

[Ellinidara]

hahahha she's a monster of piano.The onlyone.The queen.

[Liebromeistal]

good octaves, but what's the point? where's the music? this octaves encloses a purpose, what is not just a circus show...

[davidbaker03]

The octaves are for no other purpose but to show off. Is there a beautiful melodic line, or a complex chord progression? no, it is only just a cadenza for the piano. it is exciting, and fun. In fact, it is one of the only cases in all of piano repertoire where the pianist is given the freedom to play as fast as possible. Chopin Etudes and other things, should not always be played as fast as the player is able to, because it looses its beautiful musicality. this octave section is different.

[Liebromeistal]

oh yeah, and if you want to hear a live performance without any wrong notes in this passage, listen to Horowitz's 1943 recording with Toscanini.

[rigel48]

Where are the wrong notes here, Liebromeistal ? You are not obliged to lie because you have no serious argument against this interpretation !

This being said, Horowitz is extraordinary.

[Liebromeistal]

The B flat is not played at 0:06. Too messy

[rigel48]

No that's wrong . The B flat at the eighth double octave is well here, try to be more attentive.

[PerfectWrongNote]

Right. Like everyone else can play it at 200 mph and hit every note.

[ClassicMusicOnly]

Liebromeistal is correct. There is no B flat played at 0:06 But I don't know if its supposed to be. We would have to check the notes.

[hideaway3]

@ClassicMusicOnly You make me laugh. Worrying about a Bb at 0:06. When you get this passage under your hands (after two weeks) like she purportedly did, then we'll talk. Please let me know where you have an issue because with Martha's tempo I can't tell where the hell 6 seconds occur! What I can say is after playing this at least 50 times the last sixteenth of the second bar of the cadenza DOES INDEED possess a Bb, then in the next measure Tschai. does put in a B natural. So let's talk about it.

[Liebromeistal]

I should also mention that Horowitz's 1948 recording with Walter is also flawless, but a lot quicker (probably a tad quicker than this recording). It sucks that the recording is so hollow and distant sounding

[SirArmengol]

@davidbaker03 Totally agree

[relaxanimal]

I was very surprised at very fast.

[issagele]

She's playing these octaves too fast. She can't even handle the speed, hence the missed B-flat octave at around 0:07

[davidbaker03]

every single live performance of this octave section is missing notes. listen to Lang Lang, or anyone else. even at a slow tempo people miss notes, it is almost impossible to not miss a single note. she plays them amazingly well.

[Liebromeistal]

"every single live performance of this octave section is missing notes."

Don't make such assumptions. This is a very exposed part of the piece, any wrong notes just ruin the experience.

[davidbaker03]

ok then 19/20, no more like 99/100 performances of this are "ruined" because everyone hits wrong notes. Martha does them amazingly well.

[hideaway3]

Issagele,

I can't wait to hear your recording WITH the B-flat. I certainly hope you teach Martha a lesson in octave playing. Oh, and by the way, she hears ALL the notes. The last time I was in NYC visiting our pied-a-Terre, I feel so bad, I missed your performance of the Tschai. at Carnegie where I'm sure you taught the world what those octaves were all about. Now go crawl under a rock. You and Tomasini think you're whirlwind critics, HAH, far from it. Don't quit your day jobs, folks.

[ppaolo2000]

esistono gli extraterrestri

[studio1320]

genial!

[leomulder]

Unbelieveble.

[pianofanatic18]

WOW. That was more than my brain could handle. *picks jaw off ground and puts eyeballs back in their sockets*

[Irelandlass7789]

that is phenomenal!!! Best I've heard EVER!

[vrljikkerssfesst]

octaves are the same as tiempo's......

[voolare]

these are much clearer than tiempo's

[davidbaker03]

ya she has them perfect. and Tiempo hits several obvious wrong notes.

[gjwr]

better than tiempo's for sure

[ajlee1216]

The speed of that is simply demonic.....god.....

[troppofiato]

Phenomenal, so where's the rest of the concerto??

[organboi]

Where may I ask are the triplets? She is not doing what the composer wrote. Shame.

[rigel48]

I think you are hypercritical. Maybe she is not totally faithful to the "Riten." marking of Tchaikovsky for this particulary passage (and she is not alone ! What about Horowitz ?), but to my knowledge she is the only one to respect Tchaikovsky's dynamic markings and tempo at bars 440 to 450 in the 1st movement. So ...

[organboi]

rigel48, yes, horowitz blasts over the triplets there too. i am a big fan of MA, but not at that part. i'll check out the bars you mentioned. who really cares about that octave passage anyway. sergio tiempo respects the composer in that section by honoring the tripets and it sounds more thrilling than if one ignores them like horowitz and MA.

[tothemax91]

Its a cadenza!

[sergeypiano]

It is not the "very free" kind of cadenza: actually, in autograph Tchaikovsky even wrote ritenuto in the triplets measures when going upwards, which means he certainly wanted the character to change through the course of this passage.

[jero13595]

I still prefer Horowitz's octaves.

[mrmonkeybuns]

I am big Argerich fan , But sadly I must agree with you Horowitz octaves were (cough)better

[rigel48]

Horowitz octaves are fabulous, but maybe also a little more showy than Argerich's in this concerto.

Anyway I love both.

[Ellinidara]

really?....I'm not agree with you,couse I think Martha is icredible here,she plays like a man...but I respect only opinion:)

[Morahman7vnNo2]

What happened? I blinked.

[SDreznin]

Bravo! what a great comment! I laughed so hard!

[relaxanimal]

very fast

[hlpianin]

OMG ! is it midi piano?she really hurry to go home)

[FerozaLaBonne]

I must know who she is! I am blown away!

[mrmonkeybuns]

Martha Argerich ,

[toshavery]

Complete Exctasy.

[mauriciostarosta]

No coments, hehe. She's really not from this planet, hehe. Thanks for posting.

[sergeidave]

O.O

[guillaumepilote]

holy fuck

[ElektraShock]

O_O incredible

[mauronastagi]

i want it so baaaaaaaaad

[Aiels]

wat

[marrieter08]

i cant imagine those hands tickling someone

[mayablanca]

She is not from this planet!!!

[missalyia82]

e adesso voglio piangere.

[sasha42196]

Argerich owns this.

[Lezremed]

Well played.

I'm not really a fan of Argerich, but there's something to be said for that.

[daniipod7]

Tchaikovsky must be very proud for having

her playing his concerto like this, with

such a feeling, such technique, such speed

Martha forever!!!

[sergeidave]

what on earth??? O.O

[georgecziffra]

O.O

[englishplayer40]

actually that was incredible. i'm not n Argerich fan to say the least, but what she does there with that particular piece is absolutely right, and to be marvelled at.

[Aristocrat14]

Gosh, she is incredible. I didn't think that that was humanly possible...

[3cplantin]

Yes, these are better than in the video anthology. What a tease this is, too. Can you post the whole movement, kimolerik?  Or at least from the octaves to the end? Thanks for posting this.

[kimolerik]

you are welcome. The whole concerto has been posted alredy, check out my Playlists page.