Ashkenazy plays Rachmaninov Prelude in C sharp minor, Op.3 No.2

[A11I5T3R]

Good god my piano teacher is insane.

[bach5861]

I think, this is a funeral for Russia

[spacebender]

Ashkenazy's interpretation of this piece is exquisite, and very kindred to Rachmaninoff's own. Breathtaking!

[1006parc]

This peace was my child's dream peace. Now am 82 years old, still practicing the piano regularly. I started this particular peace at age 14 and still don't believe the correctness of my playing. The best on you tube is Askhenazi's. Those louder notes are the church bells sounds of Moskwa. No funeral. Gabi

[1006parc]

church

[trp8155]

By far the best version.

[0011486]

Did anyone notice, the last few measures were quite like the beginning of his 2nd piano concerto in character. Since that piano concerto was the first piece he wrote after his three silent years, which is almost like the real start of his career, so I was thinking perhaps it has some connection, or am I just thinking too much.

[freeqwerqwer]

The only 2 versions played right on are this version by Ashkenazi and that by Rachmnaninoff himself.

[NoOtherNamesWereLeft]

I'm quite picky with this piece - but this edition is really good!

[08ori]

Wow. Ashkenazy is so great.

[cyril0697]

its harder to play than i thought at first :S but i love it >:O

[rikku38]

Does anyone else hear birds chirping in the background...?

[cyril0697]

@rikku38 not really dude -.-

[rikku38]

@cyril0697 You can hear them around 1:32 - 1:53 kinda quietly. Either that's a reallyyy rusty pedal that makes a bird sound or I'm just going insane from learning and memorizing this piece in a week haha

[cyril0697]

@rikku38 hahaha i guess its the second reason XDD i listened to that part several times and i just didnt hear anything

[underwoodamy95]

@rikku38 In a WEEK? Wow. Why?

[nowinterweather]

@rikku38 White noise from the equipment... No John Bonham pedal here.

[underwoodamy95]

@cyril0697 hahaha!

[Sylvscats]

two people have dreamt of their own funeral

heheh

[iluvKH4eva]

Probably one of my favourites.. I would love to learn this piece!

[Pelorubio1975]

playing this prelude always gave me a deep trhill and strong emotions, although I've never been a talented pianist

[SophosVII]

This is the only version that I like, none other I've heard has married that fluidity with that expression.

[SuperRedNova]

2:25-2:39 omg....

[finemellow]

Rachmaninoff, you move me!

[AAxaXaxAA]

So beautiful and peaceful. Thank-you for posting this music.

[vica0202]

elképesztő. fantasztikus.

[Jimpsterz]

this is the hardest one to play.....i gave it a go once and failed miserably......it did infact drive some dude mad for life trying to play it....FACT

[jerome609]

@Jimpsterz this piece, or the rach 3? Because I thought it was the rach 3. :P

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

I'm sorry if you can find this score a little bit "small"... but if you expand the screen is quite normally readable

[danceratops]

@newFranzFerencLiszt Thanks! Finally I can play it!

[ContraereaSerba]

This piece was inspired by a dream Rachmaninoff had. He dreamt he saw a funeral, people and a coffin. He goes near it to see whose the funeral, and finds out 1:55 it's his funeral! he's in the coffin, and agitates trying to go out. In the end he resigns himself to death.

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@ContraereaSerba Where did you read this?

[ContraereaSerba]

@newFranzFerencLiszt My piano teacher told me

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@ContraereaSerba ask him/her more info :D

I really want to know this tale...

[AKAtheA]

@newFranzFerencLiszt BBC made a nicely narrated document about his life named Rachmaninoff - The Harvest of Sorrow... I suggest you have a look at it...

[ImmortalSpecies]

@ContraereaSerba I'd like to hear more, ask her please! :D

[Vesivian]

@ContraereaSerba Actually... he had a dream of him burning...

[9MartIan2]

@ContraereaSerba Also Ingmar Bergman made a film with a similar scene.. is called "Smultronstället"..

[9MartIan2]

Look for Ingmar Bergman - Wild Strawberries on the Tube if u want to see it ;)

Oh, very nice video, i love Rachmaninoff (:

[vuongey]

@ContraereaSerba cool story bro! haha but seriously, that is pretty interesting :)

[minasgekos]

@ContraereaSerba nice story, but maybe your piano teacher invented it.

[IronHorse4642]

@ContraereaSerba

IIRC, Some old lady asked Rach is the piece is about being buried alive, and he politely said yes to her.

[ericisindebt]

@ContraereaSerba holy shit, thats deep stuff.

[joaoijripm]

@ContraereaSerba Anyway, that's genious!! :P

[elishebaal]

@ContraereaSerba

Ever seen Bergman's Wild strawberries?The main character, Isaac, has exactly the same dream...

[hahamichaelscott]

great recording

[aquaticstone]

The first page is really difficult to stay slow on for me, and then the rest of it is really difficult to play fast enough. One day I'll be able to play it all. *shakes fist*

[katchum]

Wow, my wrists hurt when I play this. Also, the first two measures are very difficult to play in rhythm. It's awkward to play it in rhythm, so I cheated.

[WackidWally2]

How is this possible to PLAY?!?!

[zoogiezurtle]

@WackidWally2 veeeeeery carefully. And a little painfully sometimes!



[ImmortalSpecies]

@WackidWally2

It's easier than you think lol.

[DrownMeInGoldDust]

@piano4solihullcein yeah I expected I'd have to improve my ability considerably before I attempted this masterpeice :P it took my friend over a year to play it through without dropping any notes she had just completed her g7 when she started learning it. thanks anyway!

[TheSJeon]

a bit slow

[DrownMeInGoldDust]

Anyone whos a pianist, what grade would you say this peice is? Of this complexity I mean I dont want a simplified version I want to play the official version, I'm currently studying at Grade 5 & I predict this peice to be of grade 7/8 difficulty

[ImmortalSpecies]

@DrownMeInGoldDust

I've been playing the piano for a year, and this's actually easier than what it looks like. If you've played Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin this's LOADS easier. Don't let the big chords scare you ;D.

[nDNrMatt2]

@DrownMeInGoldDust I won't tell you to go up to grade 8 before playing this piece, because I stopped at grade 2, came to University, and this actually my first piece. And now I'm playing pieces 10x harder than this. You should know how advanced you are. If you think you can, go for it. Don't wait for a bunch of folks to tell you that you can. Play harder pieces, it is only by that way you will get better.

[Oldladeesistahs]

I absolutely love how the second to last measure gives a hint of it ending happily but then those last cords tell you it doesn't. Love it!

[smbessone]

man... nobody can say that this piece doesn't transport you and totally beguiles you into the most tetrical facet of yourself

[MrNADPH]

Music that touches the deepest place of the soul...

[josh111994]

I've had this song in my head for the last year not knowing the name of it and now i have found it and i remember why i couldn't get it out of my head.

It is such a masterpiece.

[supermaddad]

I've just done my grade 5 theory and I agree - it's not what "grade" you are - that's bullshit. I can play this piece, and it was because I WANTED to. I hate all those people who think they're great because they're grade 8. It means nothing ... grahhh

[vaseintibet]

2 shity bastards who are seamingly nazis,to not like this music...is like killing someone

[tnick777]

I wish his piano had a bigger sound... at about 2:40 that should have so much thickness and should almost sound like an organ... It should really carry and be thick. Sounds amazing though. My little brother just played this in a competition.

[callmeryn21]

I so wonderful to play.... it just hurts your hands (especially on the last page)

Beautiful

[blizzardballz]

one person went to the concert hall to hear this piece only to realize later on that he/she's deaf.

[doubletom90]

@blizzardballz I sure agree with you!

[1810Chopiano]

I've never liked this song, it always struck me as a "show-off" song with not much real emotion behind it, but Ashkenazy plays this so well, each chord is so well defined and balanced that he really made this song into a work of art for me. The volume of each note and section is so well done and chosen, it's amazing, I couldn't imagine having such a control of my fingers.

[Milucas10]

@1810Chopiano

I totally agree. All comments about the level of difficulty of this piece are somewhat wrong. What you need is a profound sense of interpretation. I've been playing piano for 14 years and I've still not mastered this prelude.

Ashkenazy plays it with beautiful nuances.

[JulijaPocema]

Thank God this type of music exists

[BrandonTJones69]

best interpretation by far.

[BenjaminTheHolyDiver]

its actully zero woh disliked this pace, and thats nice

[elephanta2]

Really great, playing like writing a poem...Ashkenazy did it.

[bradtiscali]

Try Rachmaninov's 2 piano version/transcription at

/watch?v=EL2t8gk4Y_c

[THEPUNISHER181]

i hit the like button every time i watch this video(i know it doesn't count but i can't help not to like it)

[123elzie123]

One of the best versions of this I've heard on youtube. I do think it slows down too much at the end but that's just personal opinion. I love playing this piece, it's incredible :)

[moniquebastos]

how i wish i could play this masterpiece someday...

[monobrow638]

I love my new teacher, she's amazing!!!! My old teacher warned me not to play the third movement of moonlight sonata, but I went to my new teacher and she just said, "I do not believe in the grade system, you should do the whole sonata!!! GO FOR IT..." the problem is, i'll be learning it for about a decade judging by how precise she is!!! LOL

[wizdofaus]

Nope, MattHalfMatthew, look at the printed music in the video - it has printed D naturals in the left hand, 6th bar. I've never heard it performed like this (including by Rach himself), and other scores have it with a D#. It seems a very odd mistake.

[reneeproulx06]

It's so hauntingly beautiful

[tanrio11]

This is fucking beautiful

[monobrow638]

o..k...

[wizdofaus]

Why is it showing D naturals in bar 6? That's not what Rach wrote (or what Ashkenazy plays!)

[MattHalfMatthew]

@wizdofaus That'll be a B natural. ;D In the bass clef you're referring to?

[wodalzz]

Thanks for letting me hear this Sleepmarshes! :D

[massimiliano123123]

@mcvanby 1:39 guarda che quinte parallele.. danno un effetto bellissimo!

[eliasbadager]

Wow, uno de los mejores pianistas, que ha habido,y uno de mis preludios favoritos,me encanta el estilo sombrio de esta pieza.

Gracias newfranzferencliszt siempre subes mis videos favoritos

[Loredanae1978]

respect. This is a very, very good performance and interpretation of Rachmaninov

[RemovdSande11]

i asked my teached what grade 5-6 pieces i could play. she said THIS prelude .. i never heard of it.. amazingly beautiful but wtf ... grade 5-6 :O she must have real confidence in me xD

[Gargantupimp]

@RemovdSande11 Whats up with all this grade nonesense, WTF is this?

[RemovdSande11]

lol, last time I checked I got graded pieces from my teacher. whats the prob dude ?

[Gargantupimp]

@RemovdSande11 All this graded pieces and crap, I always see people talking about " What grade is this" and crap. We didn't have this crap when I was a kid, we all wanted to perform just like Rachmaninoff, and Josef Hofmann titans of piano, they were the grade from which we measured ourselves against, nope not anymore, now they have 'Grades', masterpieces are now Graded by a panel of mediocre music editors they probably pulled out of the homeless shelter. IM SO ANGRY BRAAAAR

[Gargantupimp]

@Gargantupimp When I was a kid there was one Freakin grade, and that was the grade from which you started making enough money to get your family out of the factory slums of New York, what was our motivation? We were sick of breathing in factory soot and eating the crap they served out of the soup line. That is if you didn't lose all your fingers working in a fruckin textile mill!! That was great depression muther freaker, that was real, They just don't make them like they used to...

[chowderandspoon]

@Gargantupimp

omfg me too!

my teacher refuses to let me play some songs because i am at a "6th grade level out of 8" and the song is a grade 8 song. WTF.

WTFWTFWTFWTFWTF

pisses me off that i have to wait till i test into two more grades to even ATTEMPT a piece. WTF.

[Lisburgvid]

@chowderandspoon that's why I don't like music schools, teachers don't let you play anything but what is in the program.. just do it by yourself, if you really want it you will manage everything doesn't matter what grade you are.

[chowderandspoon]

@Lisburgvid

alright thanks ;D

yeah... i started it. I'm done with the first page. it sounds pretty good to me...

I'm just too scared to show my piano teacher, since everytime i try to show her a new piece she just laughs and says " it's too hard. it sounds like you're dropping something heavy during the chords... LIKE ELEPHANT FEET!"

I'm not even making this up. She actually said this to me. I basically just ignored and did the piece anyway :D

thanks though!

[Gargantupimp]

@chowderandspoon What is this piece anyways? Elephant Feet? If shes your flipping teacher than she should be showing you how to solve these musical problems, that is if there are any, not making up ridiculous similes abouts Elephants and what not...

[chowderandspoon]

@Gargantupimp hahaha i knowww.

i cried the first time she said that to me when i was doing mozart's turkish march. after that, i just bite my tongue. yup, i basically just do everything by myself.

[Gargantupimp]

@chowderandspoon You kiddin me? thats RETARDED, yeah just throw away the idea of music as a art and replace it with music as a Class with different grades...

No wonder overall musicality and piano playing has declined so much over the past 50 years, what a joke.

[chowderandspoon]

@Gargantupimp

EXACTLY.

she's always commenting on how i play scales etc like my seven year old sister. it's quite degrading just going to class.

[anonymousQ45]

he really plays it soooo well if i had a piano lesson w/ V.A id take so many notes, completely absorb everything he has to say about technique and comprehension, by far my favorite pianist

[phantomphreak85]

@anonymousQ45 Horowitz is amazing too. You should hear him play Chopin. It makes me cry.

[anonymousQ45]

@phantomphreak85 i cant stand horowitz

[phantomphreak85]

@anonymousQ45 oh... well, nevermind then. just kidding! :D

[classicalRob1]

very cool piece!!

[ioliano]

There was once a Ashkenazy video with this sound but was removed...:( was the best but i see that this almost macth it!

[misantropfagia]

That video may have been the other one where Ashkenazy played this piece. It was deleted, but this is the same one.

[bubblykings]

of course I love Rachmaninov!

[Ellinidara]

Io impazzisco letteralmemte per il repertorio russo e ci sono tanti esecutori,da Berman a Gilels che prediligo e fra questi anche l'Ashkenazy dei tempi migliori quando era pressochè impeccabile prima di andare fuori di testa.Queste esecuzioni sono maghifiche.