Aaron Kurz performs Jardins sous la pluie by Claude Debussy

[egw421]

Oh my god! I don't think I've ever left a comment on youtube before but your unbelievable talent will permit nothing else. While you are clearly extremely advanced technically, the that impresses me the most about your playing is the incredible emotion you are able to express, particularly for how young you are. Your interpretation of Brahms Rhapsody was simply jaw-dropping and you also seem to be an incredibly humble person . Good luck with your amazing talent, Aaron. You deserve to go far!

[tbkurz]

Dear egw421,

Thank you so much for your incredible compliments, especially on the Rhapsody! I spent a really long time perfecting the piece, so I'm really glad that you like it. All of your encouraging words really mean a lot to me. Thank you also for watching my videos, and in addition to my recent post of Ondine, be sure to watch for new videos soon!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[pian0nicky]

I know I'm 2 years late but this is intelligent Debussy. Jardins is the fastest (but by no means the most difficult) piece of the set and you pull it off, as usual, with great musicality and even finesse. It is touching to see a young person so devoted to what he plays. Your initial tempo is perfect, all I could wish for is that at 1:53 you let the theme take its time to settle down - it sounds a little like a polyrhythmic exercise. I would love to hear you play Pagodes and the Habanera, too.

[tbkurz]

Dear pian0nicky,

Thanks for all of your suggestions and compliments about this piece! The section you pointed out at 1:53 was actually one of the most difficult sections for me to play, and in some of my later performances of the piece I think the tempo was better. I've always liked the other pieces in the set, so if I play them I will definitely post videos of them.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[se7ensquar3d]

You, my young sir, apparently have the spirit of Vladimir Horowitz flowing through your blood and the ghost of Debussy smiling at your side. I see that you are a fan of Mozart...there can be no better mentor than he. How can a person centuries dead be a mentor, you ask? Ahh...his soul lives in the poetry and the passion of his scores and speaks only to those who are willing to listen.

[tbkurz]

Dear se7ensquar3d ,

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks so much for your encouragement and compliments! They're very helpful to me and motivate me when I don't want to practice. I'm glad you enjoyed my video, and thanks for watching!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[lostpianist]

Great job

[tbkurz]

Thanks, lostpianist! Sorry for the late reply!

Aaron 

[tscholent]

I'm glad somebody is playing the piano like a "hammer klavier" again.Rubinstein used to get rather upset when pupils played an entire piece as if they were afraid to touch the keys...

love the way you interpret...

[tbkurz]

Thank you so much for your wonderful compliment, tscholent! I really appreciate your comparison.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[paulcopeland]

Hi Aaron.

Yet another great performance. Wow, that is a difficult piece and you played if flawlessly. Well done indeed. Keep practicing and there is no doubt that your future as a wonderful pianist is guaranteed. Best wishes to you and your family.

[tbkurz]

Dear paulcopeland ,

Thank you so much for your wonderful compliments and encouraging words! I really appreciate it. Thank you also for watching my videos!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[ciscoj33]

impressive.......most impressive. great technique....and a great interpretation. In 1993 a 14 y/o stephen bennett shocked a crowd with a performance of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no.3. Just out of curiousity, have you ever tackled that work or had a desire to? I think you could do that behemoth of a work justice.

[tbkurz]

Dear ciscoj33,

I'm glad you enjoyed the performance! I love the Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto, and it is one of my favorite concertos; however, my teacher said it is too big of a work for me to tackle right now. I certainly want to play it, though.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[pragmaticus123]

WoW....I don't think "Bravo' is nearly enough of an accolade after that INCREDIBLE performanmce!

I don't think you had even the most minor of a mis-key throughout the performance....utterly spectacular.  Debussy's Jardins is a VERY difficult piece...and you absolutely nailed it.

How do you do it, Aaron?

[tbkurz]

Dear pragmaticus123,

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful compliments! I'm so glad you enjoyed my performance of Jardins sous la pluie! Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[edgarcr64]

JUST WONDERFULL !!! THANKS !!!

[tbkurz]

Thanks so much, edgarcr64!

Aaron

[WiK3]

you should start thinking about writing your own music! doing cover is really good but its way more fun to creat what you have in your heart

[tbkurz]

Dear WiK3,

I actually do write my own music, though not very much because of my tight schedule. I do find it more fun to create music, but it is (in my opinion) much tougher.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[tbkurz]

Dear tuber23504,

Thank you so much for your wonderful compliments regarding my video! I've never heard of Menuhin until now. I'm so glad you liked my interpretation!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[tbeibei]

Wow! That's good,

[tbkurz]

Thanks tbeibei!

Aaron

[MsSelenda]

O WOW! Amazing!

Your fingers looks like flying, I wish I can play THAT good.

:)

[tbkurz]

Thanks for the nice words, Ms Selenda!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[seasofpoppies]

Debussy is very hard to play convincingly, but your performance is both sensitive and commanding. Congratulations.

[tbkurz]

Dear seasofpoppies,

Thanks so much for your compliment regarding my interpretation! Thanks for continuing to watch my videos!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[gerardbedecarter]

"Gardens in [under] the Rain" is a difficult piece to play. I enjoyed your performance very much. [Years ago when i was practising this piece I broke a string on the final E !!]

[tbkurz]

Dear gerardbedecarter,

I'm so glad you enjoyed my performance!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[Brocaserter]

Very well done.

[tbkurz]

Thanks so much!

Aaron

[pianoboy01]

i love how you personalize your messages

[tbkurz]

Dear pianoboy01,

I'm sorry that I didn't respond sooner! I mistakenly overlooked your message.

Thanks for visiting my channel.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[pianoboy01]

i really love your personalized messages. its ok it you over looked my message. i would love to play like you some day. are you a good site reader?

[flabbsagail]

have you tried 1st arabesque by debussy, if not you should consider it, it is a very beautiful piece...... btw great job on this one! :D

[tbkurz]

Dear flabbsagail,

I have never tried any arabesques, but I have heard that one and I like it. I'm glad that you enjoyed my performance!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[zephyrina2000]

My comment is.... Wow! First time I've heard Aaron Kurz's playing. Aaron, I like your interpretation better than some of the famous adult performers who have recorded this piece. Not only do you work extremely hard on your technique, you have that gift that can't be taught: Real musical sensitivity. Wonderful interpretation. Kudos to you!

[tbkurz]

Dear zephyrina2000,

Thank you so much for your wonderful compliments regarding my performance! I really appreciate your encouragement. Thank you so much for watching my videos!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[ded234]

I love playing the piano and I went to Carnegie Hall and competitions.  My teacher wants me to learn this piece and your playing will inspire me to play this piece. Keep up the good work Aaron! Thank you for your so much for inspiring me to play this piece!

[tbkurz]

Dear ded234,

I'm so glad that you enjoyed my video and that you want to learn this piece! Looking back on it, originally I hated the piece while learning it - as I found it very hard to learn - but it eventually became my favorite piece. I hope you have fun learning the piece!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[soigotbze]

What a wonderful talent you have Aaron. Your appreciation of the music you're playing is apparent in all of your videos. I wish I had been exposed to this kind of music at your age, you're a very lucky young man!

Are you going to be putting up new videos anytime soon?

[tbkurz]

Dear soigotbze,

Thank you so much for your support and encouraging words! I hope you continue to watch my channel as I will probably be putting up more videos within the next month.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[OldRabit]

Wonderful playing and imagination! I can hear rain drop and thunder; I can see change of cloud, lightning and sunshineAnnie is learning this piece, your playing sure will inspire her!

[tbkurz]

Dear OldRabit,

Thank you so much for your compliments on my performance of the piece! I'm glad that you enjoyed my interpretation.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[carri6522]

Clear and well played. Lots of movement.

[tbkurz]

Dear carri6522,

Thank you so much for the compliments on my performance!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[VarsityGrl4Life]

Aaron, you are such a great preformer. Be sure to get in more videos. I love how you really put forth so much effort, it sounds beautiful. I hope to see you play live one day.

Brittany.....

[tbkurz]

Dear VaristyGrl4Life,

Thank you so much for your encouraging words! They mean a lot to me. I will continue to post new videos frequently.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[usatennisteam]

wow that was great! I am a kid who plays piano to. But that was very nice Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!

[tbkurz]

Dear usatennisteam,

Thank you so much for your encouragment and compliments! I hope you enjoy playing piano!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[MountCashelTuck]

This is brilliant! Did you ever try Un Sospiro? In your opinion would you consider this piece hard?

[tbkurz]

Dear MountCashelTuck,

Thank you for the compliment. I would consider Un Sospiro to be a more difficult piece than the Debussy.

Aaron

[NordicHealingLight]

Thank you Aaron again for a Fine Performance. How long did it take you to learn this piece and "Memorize" it?

[tbkurz]

Dear NordicHealingLight,

Good to hear from you again. Thanks also for the compliments. It's hard for me to remember, but I think it took me about 3 or 4 months to learn this piece fairly well; it took much longer than that to really polish it.

As far as memorizing goes, I usually memorize pieces pretty quickly.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[LutzKranenborg]

So much restraint! I have looked at many other young pianists who felt they have to emphasize the music with their body language. I have no difficulty with that at all. Yet I admire your ability to perform making it look so easy. Does anyone appreciate how difficult these works are? Thanks Aaron, yet again: you have made my day.

[tbkurz]

Dear LutzKranenborg,

Thank you so much for your compliments and suggestions on my performance. Thank you also for pointing out how hard these pieces are.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[italco312]

Brilliant Aaron! Please add this to Classical Piano Kids so all our members can see it. A wonderful performance. Bravo!

[tbkurz]

Thanks, italco312, for the congratulations. I'm not sure how to add this video on to classical piano kids but will look into it...

Sincerely,

Aaron

[UncleNathan]

The video sound is a bit harsh and clattery but your playing is wonderful. I especially like the contrasting section at 1:51. Excellent job, Aaron!

[tbkurz]

Dear UncleNathan,

The video sound quality isn't the best from our VCR but I appreciate that you looked past that. Thanks for the compliments.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[MayadaJeffery]

Nice!

Heck I played this in college!!

Even the hardest spot at 3:13 is spot on.

You're really something else.

Dad of MayadaJeffery

[tbkurz]

Thank you for the very nice comments!

Sincerely,

Aaron

[calzio71]

Thanks for posting !!!BRAVO Aaron

Michelle from italy

[tbkurz]

Dear Calzio,

Thank you so much for viewing my new video.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[ji94552]

Pretty good, Aaron. Try it faster and don't forget to breathe (phrasing) in some parts. I'm so glad that you are making a great progress. I can't wait to see more of your videos. Thanks for sharing.

[tbkurz]

Thank you, ji945552.

Sincerely,

Aaron

[nonameatall]

Fantastic Aaron. Long time no hear.

[tbkurz]

Dear nonameatall,

Thank you! Hopefully I will have even a few more videos in the next month or two.

Sincerely,

Aaron

Aaron

[nonameatall]

Do you have any Chanuka music?

[tbkurz]

Sorry- no Chanuka music; I'm busy preparing for a regional competition whose state level version I won two months ago. I'm also preparing a concerto movement for another competition in early January. After that I hope to get some new pieces..

Sincerely,

Aaron

[MusicDoLove]

Truly breathtaking - it's an honor and a pleasure to be your first viewer and reviewer.

Keep up the fantastic work!

[tbkurz]

Dear MusicDoLove,

Thanks so much for the wonderfully supportive comments and also for being Aaron's first reviewer.

Sincerely,

Terry Kurz