Added: 4 years ago
From: showmanlee
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  • I know that some people made fun of him, but I still love him.

  • Wow beautiful, love it, thanks for sharing/posting.

  • If you want to really appreciate his piano playing skills, go back and listen to his early recordings from the 40's, 50's and even the 60's. When you hear the music without seeing him, you get a very different impression of his skill. Classical radio stations will not play his music which is unfortunate. I would be willing to bet that most listeners including the "snobs" would tend to rate his performances much more favorably were they not to know who was at the keyboard.

  • incomparable, he was a great pianist.

  • Liberace played with such perfection and with such life in everything he played. A prodigy who chose not to pursue the concert stage, but rather to take the music he loved to the people who truly loved him and his music--the common folk. His influence on the entire music world will never be known!

  • @dharstin He was certainly very good, though I wouldn't describe his playing as "perfect". In this video, listen to the run at 2:48. His right hand is quite sloppy after the first few beats, which he covers up by running everything together with the pedal and by playing loudly in the left hand. He also prominently mashes a chord around 4:08.

  • @dharstin Perfect playing wasn't the point, though. Essentially 0% of his audience would notice flaws like I mentioned above. He was a showman: look at his arms waving about unnecessarily but impressively around 1:00, for instance, or the pose he strikes around 5:12. His personal additions to the music aren't terribly deep or interesting, so someone like Argerich, Horowitz, or Gould is much more enduring musically. Liberace is more "entertaining" to watch, though.

  • @pzirejs You may be right with respect to the flaws, but I also know the audio quality is not the best via Youtube. Complex tones get muffled. Also, this was late in his career. To me perfection doesn't mean without error. It means to be fulfilled or to be fulfilling. I've listened to many classical pianists in my 50+ years, and Liberace brought the music to life like no other. The impact he made on all genre's of music is unparalled by any other pianist. I agree with Acurate4103.

  • This is just one more example proving that Liberace easily had the skill to play anything. Thank God he chose not to pursue being a full time "concert" pianist. There are many out there, myself included who never would have been introduced to the classics where it not for the charisma and showmanship of Liberace. As a child, my grandparents would play his records and I of course noticed the popular numbers first then he would play these beautiful classical pieces. Wonderful memories.

  • @Accurate4103 That's definitely right. I believe we need at least two sets of classical pianists: the showpersons who play well and can captivate an audience with their charisma, and those who play incredibly well and can captivate an audience with their musical output even if they lack the flair.

  • So much style with the hands. Never seen him play before.

  • Finally! i found this song! hahaha thnx universe!

  • You know, I'm 20 years old, and Liberace is one of my favorite musicians. Of course I love music anyways, but the way he played was MARVELOUS in every way. It takes talent to play like that. As well as I'm watching this because one of my FAVORITE composers is Tchaikovsky <3

  • Take away the glitter and the man was a truly gifted pianist who could play in any genre; classical, jazz, contemporary, latin. I know of no other pianists that did what he did or as well. Perhaps not the greatest "concert or classical' pianists but argueably the greatest overall pianist of the twentieth century who brought the joy of the piano to more than anyone else, in his own way and definately with style!!!

  • @ftjax I step forward I'm gifted and love sparkly clothing :)

  • this was real music by real people and played with heart and soul

  • Wow, fastest performance ever. Even the Horowitz/Toscanini recording is far over 30 minutes, and Liberace plays it in 5:26!

  • Wonderful rendition.

  • As only Lee could play it... Bravo

  • wow so pro, i didnt know liberace did serious classical works

  • Hm... I adore Liberace playing pop stuff etc but this is painful. Cell phone version of Tchaikovsky... Not for me.

  • Beautiful Tchaikovsky piano concerto 1 .This music played by the Great pianist and the orchestra is simply '' Wonderful''.

  • @43mrssimba I was very honoured to see Liberace in Concert live here in Australia in 1984. He played this Tchaikovski concerto and got a standing ovation . He was enjoying playing for a very appreciatve audience, that his performance went for three, yes thats not a typo ,THREE hours he performed. An evening I will never forget. YouTube doesnt do justice to this!

  • 10 people took up against the cursed piano and regret it

  • And to think he didn't believe he was good enough to be a true concert pianist.

  • Im speechless.... wow..... Fantastic !!

  • Nobody could gild the lily like Lee....

  • Hey look, Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto is actually put to good use! Actually, I make good use of it, too... I put the sheet music underneath my piano bench to make it less crooked. :P

  • EPIC!!!

  • Well Liberace is certainly many tiers better than I... That said, he is many tiers below the average concert pianist capable of performing this piece.

    The only thing I can say is that the parallel octaves are like totally a minor concern so far as this piece (or the real one) is concerned Xena lol. Go look at the sheet music on the ISMP's website. It is almost as scary as Gaspard lol.

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  • Parallel octaves! One of the hardest things to play! you can see him concentrating on them and almost standing up to play them.

  • You can tell he is really into the music.  I don't like aspects of his style, but he really was one with the composition.

  • I am posting this in honor of my Aunt Eva who passed away this evening and loved Liberace.

  • Annie Wilkes better get the sledgehammer and break Paul Sheldons ankles after listening to her Liberace albums!!

  • I can't agree that repeatedly lifting your arms after chord strikes makes you a better pianist than, say, Van Cliburn or many other classical pianists.

    But it does add visual flair, and that got him on TV whereas hundreds of others hadn't his arm motions or bright clothes, so weren't as visually attractive to cameras and sponsors.

    And, to his credit, I bet there are a few thousand more people who can now play the piano because they saw Liberace perform on prime time.

  • Mr. Showmanship the best

  • god please bring him back!!!

  • One of the best pianists ever to live.....Liberace, an unreplaceable talent.

  • I have to say that there is no other could comes close to his style in clothes and of playing the piano. He was amazing, like no other! He was good looking and was not afraid of clothing style. His playing is beyond words, he is the greatest when it comes to playing the piano. He would never disappoint you in his performance. Outstanding gentleman, outstanding piano player!

  • I have to say that there is no other could comes close to his style in clothes and of playing the piano. He was amazing, like no other! He was good looking and was not afraid of clothing style. His playing is beyond words, he is the greatest when it comes to playing the piano. He would never disappoint you in his performance. Outstanding gentleman, never before piano player!

  • Liberace acercó los clásicos al gran público, espero que Michael Douglas le haga justicia en su interpretación.

  • Truly top of the game. Mr.Show and Mr. Did. DennisM

  • How to slaughter a piece of art! The orchestral "arrangement" is particularly unbearable. Look around on YouTube for true artistry. "Not all that glitters is gold".

  • @viszla100 Consider its for drunks spending a fortune in Vegas, he could have been a classical performer but needed to make a living when he was young.

    He was a showman who could hold the interest of a non discerning general public, thats more than many classical performers can do.

  • @viszla100

    Yes, but you forget than many of those hearing Liberace play Tsaikowskys beautifil music would NEVER had heard it unless Liberache played it. Maybe a lot of people were introduce to listening to classic music that way. And NONE of the other great players co do that. Give Liberace credits for that. And of course it is limited what you can do with a 10(?) man orchestra with music designed for a full 100 person symphony orchestra.

  • @viszla100 Idiot. Liberace is far better than you've ever heard.

  • For me this is one of the best loved classics. I was at The Liberace Museumin Los Vegas in 2006. They had manny of his costumes and piano's there, since then it has been closed down.  What a shame. So manny will only be able to hear him mostly on you tube. So talented

  • @singerofclassics Why did they close the museum?

  • @TheLpdavis1989 I believe it was closed because of lack of funds. The day I was there there was only myself and 2 others. The museum was not located on the strip but on a side street and you had to look for it. I think that it would have done better if it had been closer to the strip. Think the closing was the middle of October

  • I think there is a piece missing somewhere in the middle :-))

  • @lenglain très constructif comme commentaire

  • spettacolare, per non udire un grido bambino

    

  • bella interpretazione, Liberace è l magnifico

  • 7 people are tone deaf! Listen closer... There is sooo much more to how Liberace plays. 8)

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  • What style.A true genius.A one off.

  • I can't help but think of the Monty Python sketch they did with this song...

  • Il est mort maintenant j'espère ? non sérieux, sinon, il faut lui interdire l'accès à tout piano !

  • @Parangon94

    bravo pauvre con!

  • Moon landings & Liberace, what a guilded age it was.

  • It's simply great.

  • @wayneredhart: It's an opinion.

  • Yes, he was the real deal. Amazing man.

  • While through the years I have seen better pianists, I have yet to see a better performer and entertainer. He knew how to hold an audience's attention and make them feel good. He was a very talented man the likes of which we will probably not see again. Still don't care to this day about his sexual practices, that was his business. I'm just glad he shared his amazing talents with the world.

  • you have to admit he is real deal, not like today's rappers, etc.

  • @sandwichtube You cant compare this to rapping its a different genre of music.

  • He memorize all the theme, he was unique !

  • Damn! His control, voicing, even scale,...this guy was NOT just a Vegas act. I know, I know...he waters down somethings (I've performed this piece), but his HEART...is music. Liberace was NOT about notes. He was all about the music. Someone please bring this back.

  • i may seem selfish but i wish his musical talent reincarnated into me. hahhah

  • Tchaikovsky's bottom jaw would be sitting on the floor if he saw Liberace playing this :) LOL Liberace is the only pianist that took the piano "beyond" what it's imagined capabilities were. In my opinion, Liberace was the GREATEST pianist (although there are only one or two closely as good) that ever lived. I miss him terribly.

  • @starg8t1 dont be funny, just search in youtube to see how an avarage russian piano player is playing Chaikovski ..... this is not only "to play good" its soul at the first place.

  • @starg8t1 your "opinion" is ill-informed. Go and listen to Horowitz or Gilels play this concerto.

  • So great Liberace! RIP

  • superb!

  • lol i was JUST at a piano store and they had a white baby grand signed by him and of course PLAYED by him. I got to play it too :D It was 40,000 dollars! LOL

  • A masterpiece by a master

  • gotta love this

  • thank you for posting this great video of this great man !!

  • The movie comes out in 2012...Michael Douglas will play the role of Liberace.

  • I love this one as well-you know the more of these vids of Lee I watch,the more i realize he was a rather attractive man regardless of anything

  • Absolutely divine!

  • Was Liberace married?

  • Liberace was engaged at one time, but he never married.

  • @12345678927269 he was gay

  • @annoniemer Soooooo!!!!!!!

  • @LuckyBlueEyez Soooooooooooooo!!!! he was in reality not into women!!!! soooooooooooo!!! he was NOT married!!!! i dont know a lot of liberace's personal life, but i know he was gay. (read my response to someone else's question "was he married?" before trying to make a smartass comment.)

  • @annoniemer so what? what harm it does to you? anyway, it doesn't take away from him th fact he was talented, more than a lot of so called musicians we have to listen to nowadays...

  • @Deathscythetransform. dude.... i was giving a reply on the comment of a guy who asked if he was married.i simply wanted to state that that chance wasnt very likely, not knowing his personal life though, and even if he was married, giving a notice of the fact that he was in fact gay. i never said anything about it being harmful to be gay, or harmful for his music. You guys dont think anymore: the phrase: "he is gay" is nowadays enough for some of you to think you're dealing with a gay-basher.

  • @annoniemer okay then sorry my bad I thought you were a gay-basher... I just hate homophobia that's all and i misjudged your comment

    please accept my appologies

  • @Deathscythetransform well, to be honest, i probably would probably have reacted in the same way as you did. i might have exagerated in defense

  • @annoniemer lets just say we were both excessive ;) anyway we agree that he was one of the greatest!

  • I saw liberace when he was on TV. Yes, in the 50's. I fell in love with him. I was a teeny bopper. I still love him and his genuis.

  • he was the best ever

  • Que maravilloso!

  • you sound smart, sound!!

  • Barbaric use of piano? Every barbarian is a critic nowadays!

  • This was good, but what the hell is up with the muted cartoon fart-can trumpets?

  • Sounds like Jack Nicholson.

  • Wow, yeah he does talk like Jack.

  • What's with all the hostile proclivities?

  • don't care about them, they only show narrow-minded they are... they belong to the Jurrassic era... with the dinosaurs and the cave men... its their place... enjoy Lee's music, instead!

    see ya!

  • I know it! ;)

  • Liberace was the best!

  • @dietcola475769472983  he was more show then go.......Victor Borga was a better piano player........

    just like Jerry lee Lewis had more talent then Elvis...But Elvis was made famous...we love cliques....

  • come one guys if you're going to be abusive do it somewhere else...why should you care whether he was gay or not? It doesn't change the fact that he had fantastic talent.

  • Gay Smay, who cares; talent like his is inborn and he had it all in his category!

  • @demosj

    Well I thought not too much of him etiher..but then afterwards I realized it was me..so go see a doctor..you sick in the head boy!

  • Gay

  • How come this guy gets a barrel full of talent, and I only get a thimble full?  It isn't fair. So far, I've got the first 6 measures down pat in the last 3 months.

  • Doesn't this inpire you to practice though? He was a genius, rest in peace Liberace.

  • I agree with you

  • @bsam20uk AND NOTICE NEVER ANY SHEET MUSIC ALL BY EAR & FROM MEMORY, A TRUE GENIUS RIP LEE

  • @MyREDTAIL Of course he didn't have sheet music? No concert pianist would ever be caught needing sheet music... He most likely learned the piece from the music however, not by ear...

  • @bsam20uk your right, he does inspire me to practice everyday!

  • BRAVO  Liberace!!!!!!

  • I dont remember Tchaikovsky writing for drum set!

  • tchaikowsky even had e-guitars, human beat boxes and dj-sets in his compostions.

  • This just says to me - why did he waste his talent on all the other crap when he was actually a very talented man ?

  • magnifico para conocedores

  • BRILLIANT!

  • ^^! k grande este tipo =D

  • he did this number with honors

  • He was a great pianist.

    Thanks Bob for sent it me.

  • Thank you, sorry about all the misspelled words but reading some of the comments upset me that there are so many narrow minded people.

  • The man was brillant when it came to the panio and his style is very recongazable. Who are we to talk about his personal life style, the man was so very talented and I grewe up in an era when gays were not accepted. If I can overlook the his liffe style because of his talent what is wrong with some of you people?

  • Well put, singerofclassics. I agree.

  • well said!

  • it will always be that bud, !!!!!!

  • @singerofclassics agreed, he had a UNIQUE musical talent mixed with his musicianship must have been some show to be part of the audience..

  • i LOVE this music!!! got to have one of his cd's!

  • they released a 3-cd set of his show and concerts, if you want 1, youd want them all, trust me!

    Have a great day!

  • how old are these people making crude comments, if i could even play the piano, ide gladly wear a sequin blazer, and shirt, dont know about the pants, maybe a little uncomfortable, but i think their just jealous a little or alot, theyll get over it, lee, you will never be topped!

  • and you listened because?

  • well its obvious to all that your very shallow and havent seen very much now have you now crawl away in your hole little boy

  • He was a very talented man who could truly play the piano with zest. He was a true showman. You may not of liked his personal life, but it was his, not yours to judge.

  • The ultimate blend of showman and musician. Gifted genius!

  • A true genius.

  • go and get ur hole filled you disgusting sausage stabber- i like liberace --i just don't like you shitty cock

  • Wtf??

  • wtf?? and then..

  • lol

  • wooooow-your one cool gay---oops-i mean guy-

  • say what you want keyboard warrior.. the only person you impress is yourself ;)

  • ill do just that fag-boy

  • A mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open. What if your child was gay, would you treat him like that?

  • the problem with our society is...many parents would.

  • this is one of my favorite conceretos in all of classical music!

  • Mine as well :D

  • my birth year..why do I seek up so many things my bearty year? The daila lama has a meaning..

  • Very good! This music makes me remember the movie "misery", based uppon the book "misery" from Stephen King. nice!:)

  • agree. this guy, liberace, has able to meld classic and contemporary music. a real virtuouso.