Added: 3 years ago
From: DC788
Views: 189,907
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (268)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • wow this is very rare video... @.@

    thx 4 share

  • thumbs up if Fairy Tail brought you here!

  • @INTERPK Yeah. Anime is culture too.

  • The beginning chords are huge! I don't even know how anyone can play those, even if you do have big hands!

  • Wonderful! A sweet connection between piano and orchestra. The music just sinks deep within.

  • Beautiful.  This one is the best of the all i've seen.

    Thank you so much for posting this! This concerto brings back wonderful memories for me.

  • The Texan who conquered Russia

  • Van Cliburn was and continues to be pure genius on the keyboard.

  • i feel like it is a little bit lack of passion in the first movement. But definitely more romantic than i had expected. i guess that's the so called "tradeoff"?:)

  • Fun historical fact: at 7:17 in this performance Khruschev exploded and the Cold War came to a dramatic and awesome end.

  • Bellissimo!! Complimenti!!

  • Such brilliance. Perfect musical phrasing. Stunning! Bravo to this

    musical genius who has inspired so many.

  • my god ..... i can't have enough of this ... !!!

  • Soo breathtaking, moving and beautiful, he's a magician,

    and that concert...heavenly!!^^

  • Lmao! "fairyofwind:" that was the absolute, greatest, most ignorant statement of the century! Congratulations! You've won the award for being the most ignorant person! I'm happy for you! Truly, I am. I wish you the best with this award. I hope that you go places, travel the world, and use it to your advantage. It will take you to the moon. I'm sure of it!

  • @hoodnjh someone can't detect sarcasm

  • Cliburn pales compared to Justin Bieber

  • @fairyofwind simply cannot compare them. that's a fact!

  • @fairyofwind - Who is J Bieber? hehe... Van Cliburn touches the soul, Bieber just tickles the eardrums.

    ;- )

  • @fairyofwind TROOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO­LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO­LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL­OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLLOL­OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLOLOL

  • I remember when he won. It was amazing.

  • Like magic.

  • John Ogden couldnt do Rachmaninov.

  • To anyone who thinks that musicians tend to be "wimps"...take a good look at the arms and hands of this musical genious. Oh, how I do love this concerto...as well as I do the Tschaikovsky...When will we ever be able to hear music like this composed and played by this generation and upcoming generation? With music and art being deleted from public schools, I fear for our younger people...who is writing music like this right now? Such heart warming melodies! Heaven on earth! Thanks so much !

  • @kasha1932 I'm afraid that this is a global cultural disaster...But as an optimist,the more people listen to this,the more educated and better people become... This shit is going to go...the bad thing is people don't remember ABBA and Elvis (except classical music) and compare Madonna and Michael Jackson (piece of crap) to them which is nothing in common...

  • @kasha1932 Radiohead, Wilco, Pavement, fleet foxes

  • @MrManagerTJ Sorry, Mr. Manager, these names you mention are not in my vernacular at all. Please write exactly what compositions you have in mind. I'm always wanting to learn.

  • @kasha1932 EXCELLENT point, kasha! When I was a musician, football players remarked about how strong my hands were (I played ten instruments, but I specialized on viola, double reeds, and cello).

  • @kasha1932 Unfortunately, such heartfelt music would not be appreciated in today's culture, but in small pockets of people. I can't tell you why, because I don't know why people don't listen to this, play this, and write music that can speak to the subconcious and the basic parts of a person.

  • @kasha1932 It takes a pure genius to compose music like this, no one in the coming generations will be able to do such a thing. Music will evolve it will never stop evolving, in 500 years the likes of Kesha and other artist as such will be part of the "Classics" where-as I doubt anyone will remeber true music like this.. As a musician myself I hate to say that I will envr be able to do this, I can only put words on paper and then put a melody to that..

  • This is the best ever! Best there was,best there is,best there ever will be. In my eyes,nobody can surpass this except Rachmaninoff himself...The anthem of life...

  • I do not think I have heard such a dramatic version with any other pianist. 

  • How do people critique Cliburn? Or should I say, why? Look how relaxed he is. That is genius. People who aren't aware of the fact need to know this was America's first internationally critically acclaimed classic pianist. He played Russian better than Russians. They put the label on him as great. Who are these other people who don't think as much, or think they know better? Get real!

  • Fanfrickintastic!

  • The music itself was interpreter between USSR and US. How beautiful and amazing! Kondrachine and Cliburn! Best Combie ever!

  • @Oistrakhfollower combie! ugh..

  • @steeeeevve I am sorry, my friend. I mean, a TEAM!!! I think they were better than Reagon & Gorbachev : )

  • @steeeeevve purist ugh

  • @gabsylv What do YOU want? the JAZZ version?

  • @steeeeevve  language like culture not static

  • @gabsylv I am not against development, but against the choice that was made.

  • The drama in the beggining is overwhelming. Haven't felt it with any other pianist.

  • It pays to be the best friends with Lucy Bains Johnson, she and daddy open many doors, even into Russia.  Also, he's a wonderful pianist..he just didn't pay his dues. He was a maginificant flash in the pan (no discredit to his playing) and then he was gone for 30 years..University of Texan, I think. He won the Tchaikovsky competition with the help of the Johnsons..many who had paid their due didn't even get a chance at it and who were just a good. so it pays to know money and power.

  • @09WestTexas Interesting view! Some believe that Cliburn was the first and last deserving winner of the Tchaikovsky competition, Gilels made sure Cliburn won :-)) Look at the winners of the Tchaikovsky after Cliburn and tell me who even comes close to him :-))

  • @Bret6464 Well, John Ogdon and Ashkenazy are pretty high up there, especially Ogdon.

  • @OrangeSodaKing Mea culpa - and you are absolutely right, both Ogdon and Ashkenazy are excellent, I have their CDs :-)) Cliburn was one of the all-time extraordinary pianists, IMO, perhaps I was reacting to the comment by 09westtexas.

  • @Bret6464 I do see what you are saying, though. The competition winners today aren't like they used to be! And I do disagree with the comment you first replied to (AKA, I agree with you). Cliburn was 100% deserving. He knocked it out of the park!

  • Comment removed

  • If you push dislike bottom on this beautiful theme, you must have a very good reason for it. otherwise you must be a Total As**ole!

  • AWESOME!

  • SUBLIME~

    

  • I guess there are 5 better pianists who watched this. Amazing.

  • @beautifulsarah100

    great comment, i do agree!!

    Now there are seven...

  • @straycat316 Yep, seven better pianists than Van Cliburn. I sure wish they'd put some videos of them playing on YouTube. Fucking idiots. Van Cliburn = MASTER.

  • @beautifulsarah100

    Ah, really, to me it seems, as if some people are watching videos just for hunting for any tiny 'fault',

    instead of enjoying such beautiful performances...

  • From 7:20-7:46, the timpani player looks pretty badass

  • What, were the five dislikes because it wasn't in colour?

  • Wow, truly amazing!!

  • I grew up listening to this recording.....the original from 1958. I was 2 years old. I started my music education with this and the original cast recordings of West Side Story. Miss you mom...

  • @ImaginePAA note: THIS recording, the dvd, was only issued in the last few years. cliburn's RCA recording of the rach2 (with chicago and reiner) was released in 1963. in 1958 there was no recording of him playing this piece (unless you lived in the soviet union).

  • Just think, a tall lanky talented kid from Texas brought home the prize in 1958; the first year in this world competition!!

    ...No one plays Rachmaninoff like Cliburn. He reigns as the best pianist ever.

  • @enjoyhicks Best pianist ever is quite a stretch. But one thing is certain. I have NEVER heard anyone play Rachs Concertos with such vigor and emotion.

  • Of course it was Kyrill......unmistakable!

  • For Rachmaninoff, it's got to be Cliburn. He disciplines it without strangling it and you can say that of very few other performers. It still carries all that emotion but it also makes *sense*.

  • theres 5 people with no souls passed this place .. :P

  • Anyone know if Van Cliburn's Rach 3 was filmed like the Rach 2? I've so wanted to see him play what I've heard so many times .. wonderful to 'see' this piece after hearing it many times as well. Thanks for posting this.

  • We saw he and his mother dinning ai a supper club in Fort Worth Texas. A real thrill.

  • @dantiger Lucky! I'd have begged him for an autograph of the music (I play the violin, but my mother plays the piano and so we have a copy of this concerto's music). And then felt up his hands for good luck.

  • Beautiful. Thank you so much for posting this!

  • i'm shocked...have no words....this is absalute amazing...love Rachmaninoff,he's a real genious

  • Glorious. . . I was 17 when Van won his big Russian award and mother, a professional pianist, sent me off immediately to "learn the Russians." I'm still learning at a ripe old age. Thank you for sharing. This video brings back huge and wonderful memories for me. Thanks again.

  • His hands are huge like big dinner plates. I met him before and when I shook hands with him, my hand was lost in that huge hand. He is a very good looking person just like on the record jackets my dad had of his collection of piano recordings of this great pianist..

  • thiiiiiiiiiiissss isssssssssssssssss greeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt

  • i've seen alot of of Sergei Rachmaninoff videos of Piano concerto No.2

    but this one is the best of the all i've seen .... best Performance ... this guy Van Cliburn is really one of the best i've heard playing the Piano ...

  • @amshg21 : Van Cliburn is legendary when it comes to American pianists. He was winner of the first Tchaikowsky piano competition in Moscow which was held at the height of the cold war. He embarrassed the Russian officials because he, an American, played the Russian piano music such as Rachmaninoff better than the Russian contestants. Yet , the people of Russia loved him instantly because of his ability.

    I've given you a start, do some research and enjoy learning more.

  • @chen0466 thanks for the info ... but do u have any idea when was this video taken ?

  • @amshg21 Hello! Sorry for my delayed response. Honestly I don't know exactly when the video was taken but if I had to guess it would surely be late 50s early 60s.

    As far as I'm concerned, Van Cliburn 'set the standard' for the Rach 2 when he recorded it w/ the Chicago Symphony under Reiner. Hard to beat that one.

  • @chen0466 This is really true- And his recordings with Fritz Reiner are the best in the world, especially the Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto, still the most original playing of this work.

  • @amshg21 Kappell and Richter also have great interpretations of this concerto!

  • Comment removed

  • @MrYou2ber with all respect to Richter, hes very good ... but i prefer Van Cliburn Playing this master piece ... ^^ ... as for Kappell .. i couldn't fine a video of him playing this concerto .. if u know any please put the link here .. thank u .. ^^ ..

  • @amshg21 /watch?v=90W0SFHyEtI

    Enjoy :)

  • His best feature is his amazing looooooonnnnnnng fingers.

  • beautiful. 

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • magnifique! have at least 20 rach II's - this one and Richter's with Mravinsky have been my 1 & 2, not respectively but interchangeably, since I was 17. four decades ago. Janis, Wild, Andy Wattage, Sultanov, Rubenstein, Julius K, Brailowsky also bring joy. But Van Man and his chief champion Moscow 1958, Richter ... in the pantheon.

  • When I was a kid (back in the Dark Ages) I first heard the 2nd at a concert given by Gina Bachauer and the San Francisco Symphony. I think it was in the late 1950'2 or so. It's still my favorite of the three concerti.

    I don't like the opening tempo on this reading of it. Just a little too ponderous.

  • When it was time to announce a winner, the judges were obliged to ask permission of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to give first prize to an American. "Is he the best?" Khrushchev asked. "Then give him the prize!"

  • wow ... so powerful ... yet .. smooth

  • No as fully charged with sparkle and bravado as am used to hearing and yet a valid interpretation.

  • 3 dislikes are you frickin joking!?!?!?!?!?!?! 

  • WOAAAAAH. never heard it before. the conductor.....legend!!!!

  • I wonder why he rolls the opening chords; he has massive hands.

  • Rachmaninoff => multiple eargasm 

  • Glorious performance, typical of Van Cliburn in the 1960s. It is one of my favorite recordings of Rach's 2.

  • this tempo is remarkable i prefer this than the original

  • this is descent at best. in my opinion it is too slow, but this lacks depth. It sounds too linear. your all prob gonna think because he's famous he is good in every performance he does.

  • Van Cliburn rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

  • @yorugua97 Such varied and DEEP commenting... Gheorghij

  • Early Cliburn and what a great sound......I guess Horowitz never recorded the No 2.. Can't imagine why not....But of course his No 3 was ...well ..you know.,

  • Cliburn's conception of this piece (whether in this video or the studio recording with Reiner) holds up virtually over all others before and since. The outer movements are slightly spacious but with plenty of drama and gravitas. With Cliburn it's the music that matters most and not the outwardly virtruosity.

  • What breadth - how bold to take the slower tempo and what a sound!

  • When/where is this from?  Is that Kondrashin?

  • @hophmi Yes, it is. Moscow, 1958. Gheorghij

  • Good head of hair... when was this recorded? The vid seems very out of sync

  • Comment removed

  • @pwhax Kind of repetitious, ain't you? Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi 'scuse me?

  • @angietihi I don't really see what you mean? I'm fairly familiar with the concerto since we performed it with an orchestra two weeks ago and after watching carefully my opinion is that this is in quite good sync. (For example if you look at the violins as the theme change to Maestoso at 7:18 it seems to be in sync with the sound?)

  • Comment removed

  • @pwhax sorry that would be more like 7:16

  • @angietihi The concert was held in 1958, in Moscow; the conductor was Kyrill Petrovich Kondrashin (Кири́лл Петро́вич Кондра́шин, just showing off my Russian...), at least to judge from the bulk of the man standing beyond the grand piano - one of the best Russian conductors ever (one could even say "Soviet", that was the name imposed on the poor guys at that time - I call them "Russians"), B/C the musical tradition and exquisiteness of those people originated long before 1917. Gheorghij

  • @angietihi Yes, you are right about the hair. That was Cliburn's best feature, which doesn't bespeak much for the whole rest of them. Gheorghij

  • @angietihi No YT recording is really good. I'm not sure Internet, YT and a PC are the best way for rendering symphonic music; a good stereo hi-fi system is MUCH better. Gheorghij

  • what a powerful sounded piano! great performance

  • oh this is siiiiickk!!!

  • Rach 2 is the beauty, Rach 3 is the beast. It's really that simple...and we love them both.

  • remarkable finger-independance...

  • i think this debate has been thoroughly exhausted, both by amateurs as well as musical scholars. i think that it is best to agree to disagree; both pieces have their own flashes of brilliance, and either one would have single-handedly defined a composer's talent and genius. to argue that one is "better" is to simplifying a complex issue. better to appreciate each for their own unique design and qualities. or, let's agree that rachmaninov was a genius =)

  • No.2 is good but I like Rach 3 better.

  • Rachmaninoff 2, is a piece that is much more prettier than Rachmaninoff s 3rd, im sure we can all agree on that. But Rachmaninoff 3rd, is much more technically challenging, there is no doubt about that. Can you compare this beautiful harmony to Rachmaninoff 3rd? yes maybe you can, maybe you think Rachmaninoff 3rd is more prettier. But neither of you can deny the fact that this concerto is much more romantic and moving, while the other one is more passionate and fiery.

  • @Martel211996 If one can call this "pretty". What a vocabulary... Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi Hey Georgyi. Why dont you hop off this video? You reply to everyones comment. This is youtube not a "gheorgyi forum". I mean who do you think you are?

  • @Martel211996 Oh, the li'l youngstah gotr burned about sumpin'??!!! got p.o.'d??!!! I'll tell you why, 27-yr-old snotnose: B/C it accommodates me, and I have as much right to STAY on it as long as I want, as anybody else. "Who am I=!Somebody who's got more musical culture under the nail of his little finger, than you from the sole of your dirty feet to your licey hair. I see you like your american jargon, you called me "asshole": a 3-letter + a 4-letter word. Congratulations, TYPICALLY american

  • @Gheorgyi Its clear that no one bothers to pay attention to what you write. Typical American? Woah you totally hurt my feelings. Us "Americans" won this piano competetion, and if you were 1/10th as smart as you brag you are, you would know that im Russian, besides the point. If more than one person is calling you an asshole, maybe it should turn on a light in your little fucking retarded skull. "dirty feet to licey hair"....Get a life, becaues its clear that your kind is not wanted here.

  • @Martel211996 Hey you little snotnose, you ARE funny, you know? In your YT profile, you first give your age as "27"; a few lines down it becomes "14". At your age, are you already that confused about it??!!! Then, giving the list of the pieces YOU say you can play: you SHOW UP as an illiterate: the correct spelling is "repertoire", NOT "reputire" As a pianist, you must be a torture on the ears; as a creature, a sore on the eyes and a bore in conversation. Gheorghij

  • @Martel211996 II - I also have HAD my life, I'm 81... "No attention? "not wanted here"? Maybe by creatures of your american ilk - WHO cares about you bozos??!!! You also confirm yourself as an illiterate in ENGLISH: in addition to that "reputire", look up also that "much prettiER" of yours. Always the 4-letter words from you hillbillies, always the insults... Keep living in Paducah...ТЫ Русский??!!! Не смешите меня, Tы просто грубо американских ... Геогий

  • The opening is so powerful. Like the buildup to, and then the full force, of a storm. The whole piece moves in waves. Beautiful.

  • @mit181

    I have heard some faster beginning , maybe I still like a faster beginning. van Cliburn . no wonder, was playing st movt very beautifully.

  • I just absolutely love the beggining with a passion; for those who have seen it, Nodame Cantabile really makes you appreciate classical music more! :D

  • Interestingly, on record Cliburn does not arpeggiate the opening chords at all, though, here he does.

    A masterful Rachmaninoffian!

  • @dmana3172 He = WHO? Van? He is quite alive. He lives in Fort Worth. He is 75.

  • dmana,

    Van Cliburn is alive and lives in Texas. He is about 74 years old.

  • How does he play sitting so close to the piano?

    I couldn't do it.

  • He's not sitting close, he's just REALLLLLY tall; hence his arms seem more bent than others. If you look at his hands his fingers are so long he plays the opening chords like one might play Mozart. I also attribute his ability to float above the orchestra to his extraordinarily large hands.

  • @GabrielleduVent His hands can be as large as you want, proportional to his 6'4" height - but they aren't large enough to allow him to "fly" (OR "float", at your preference, ;-))- BTW, Rachmaninov himself was known for his extraordinarily large hands. Maybe that's what enables them to play these concertos. My own hands have a span of 6", but I can't stretch them to take nore than the 9th, BTW, even if thet were larger, I can't play the piano anyway. So... Gheorghij

  • I like it more than the others versions here on Youtube...The vinil records has got much better quality...Also,we have to count the fact that Clibern came up in Moscow with a huge programmes,besides,recitals he played Brahms 2nd Concerto,Tchaikovsky,Rachmanin­ov Rapsody and Beethoven 5th - he is just a heroe!

  • a romantic interpretation

  • 2:23-2:30 . If they could tap dance on a piano, that's prob how it would sound.

  • hes a great family friend of mine :)

  • @starfishg Well, of course you mayt be happy about that, but it doesn't entitle you or family to any glory... Gheorghij

  • Yes, it's a bit like ballet

  • ...and Cliburn has a choreography -- a repetoire of non-verbals -- congruent with what the listener is hearing. This strengthens the process of communicating the music.

  • eloquently spoken. cliburn presents with a golden touch that conveys the music to the listener, while never impure of rachmaninoff's intentions of beauty, nostalgia, and passion. colorful and nuanced, but never excessive.

  • 9:00!

  • im so happy i saw him perform at interlochen in june 2004! :D :)

  • I'm in my second year at the acadmy. When were you here?

  • 2002-2007

  • Though Van Cliburn was not full-blooded russian (Anton Rubinstein also wasn`t) he studied with Rosina Levina who was herself a close friend of Rachmaninoff, Hoffman, Horowitz and other greats whereas Lugansky studied with Dorensky-corrupted teacher who was the president of the jury of the Tchaik Comp when Lugansky won the 2nd prize (nobody won 1st) but I didn`t know people who realy liked him - so dry and boring he played. With Richter it`s more a matter of taste - I personally prefer Cliburn .

  • Comment removed

  • Listen to the S P A C E!

    Every Note is as if (it's) the star-of-the-show!

  • Brief Encounter....this piece is featured prominently in the film...worh checking out for film buffs and music buffs.

  • @55westend Matter of fact, this is one of the most used concerto's in the history of movieland. Only a Russian can write this kind of music - and only a Russian can perform it well (see Richter - forget this Texas cowboy!), Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi not many Russians can play like this "texas cowboy".

  • @LeonidasBasileus RIGHT you are - most of them can play BETTER, even a student in his second last year of conservatory. The American continent has given only TWO half-way decent piano soloists, this one and Glenn Gould (who was Canadian, not American), in comparison with scores originating from the civilized Old Continent. Americans, stick to rock, pop, metal etc. etc. etc. - AND KEEP ALL OF IT TO YOURSELVES. Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi I disagree with you; if you seriously think that the American continent produced that low number of great artist, then surely you are an ignorant fool.Referring back to your other comment, you said that only Russians can play this music truly, not pianists originating from the "civilized old continent", so you are changing your mind already?Those who want to listen to rock, pop, metal etc are about the same in number in America as in Europe,and frankly that doesn't apply to our convo.

  • @Gheorgyi And im sure that Richter always thanked god that he was Russian and not from some other country so that he could enjoy the russian genes which made him a genius...? (actually he was born in what is now Ukraine)

  • @88alan8800 and, mr.88alan8800, to add to the sting on mr.Gheorgyi's wound, Richter was also half German...maybe his Rachmaninov doesn't sound so good anymore...?

  • @LeonidasBasileus "Richter" is a German surname, In a Russian and/or Ukrainian, that's very indicative of a Jewish descent. Now, Mr King Leonidas, WHO's the "ignorant fool"??!!! Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi Yes, in all Slavic countries, a German surname is often indicative of Jewish descent, but it is a known fact that Sviatoslav Richters dad WAS of German descent (he was even an organist at a Lutheran church). In fact, Sviatoslavs father was murdered by the Soviets during WWII (in 1942, I believe) because he was German and was under suspicion of being a German spy. This is what happens when ignorant fools like yourself comment without thinking, Mr.George.

  • @LeonidasBasileus I - You BEGAN insulting me ("ignorant fool") and you continue... never mind, BUT it gives one an idea of WHAT you are. A German SURNAME is INDICATIVE, in Slavic countries, of a Jewish descendancy, but this is not a constant. SR's father or not may have had his birth in Germany but, aside from the tragedy of his killing, what has THAT got to do ewith S. as a pianist??!!! Like, what has "thinking" got to do with knowing his dad was killed? That's a notion, that's all. Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi so now you take offense from being insulted? What, except for insulting others, do you offer with your posts? So you are a hypocrite as well. I won't waste time explaining to you the relevancy of the info re SR's father in our convo, I'll let you investigate that with all the free time you have. How could you possibly listen to and follow a musical phrase if you cannot even follow your own conversation (or debate) with another? Maybe you should give up your hobby of music listening.

  • @Gheorgyi II- This shall be my last post to you: You have lost this duel, and like your fellow countryman,Pushkin, you have fallen to your demise. Except the only difference is that Pushkin left behind a great number of monumental works that would be a great part of the literature for centuries to come. You,on the other hand,left this strand of wall posts with no useful information, or any sort of impact-other than exposing your lack of knowledge in many fields. Goodbye.-LeonidasBasileus

  • @88alan8800 Mr Alan, my reply to you was much longer than the allowed 500 chars, so I replied to you by e-mail through the YT connection. I'm not making comparisons, nor am I going into genomas. Gheorghij

  • @Gheorgyi Well I did not get your email, but I think all I missed was being insulted for being right, so don't waste your time. If you are so musically cultured, how do you know so few pianists of north american origin? And how did you not know the story of Richter's father? Just because some SOVIET pianists happen to be great artists, does not make russia a great country, does not make you any better at piano, does not make your opinion better, or make you more cultured.

  • @88alan8800 @Gheorgyi Well, sorry to "disappoint" you, but my e-mail didn't contain ANY insult. It also is on record, at this end, as regularly sent and received, why don't you check further. It wasn’t me who gave out all the details on Richter’s father, but that other know-all, LeonidasBasileus, “Leonidas the [Spartan] king, I only pointed out Richter was of Jewish descent, and THAT one can find out googling him up (Wikipedia). Cheers, Mr Alan. Gheorghij

  • @88alan8800 I - Good (not to start with another "well"), "Sir" Alan, first: having a musical culture doesn't entail to know a pianist's genealogy and/or familiar misadventures (father killed by the Soviets, or by the Nazi's, etc.; second, I beg you NOW, sirr-ee: give me a list of international level great pianists "of north american origin", it'll be so interesting and amusing to see you climbing a glass sheet. If you can do it, it will improve my culture, oh! so immensely.