Bach - Partita No.6 BWV 830 - 1/7-Toccata - Kuschnerova

[PianoTHIS]

she's great. and that's coming from a hard critic.

[prodad5]

This is great. I'm not much of a pianist, but the opening is just like I hear it in my head. Most of the pianists posted don't seem to hold the first note long enough relative to the other notes.

[PsanterShelZahav]

Is she using pedal? oO

[aomf58]

Beautiful!

[gianpaga11]

So fantastisch gespielt! Eine schöne weisse Rose für Frau Elena Kushnerova!

Vielen Dank!

[davidhertzberg]

I have listened to this piece thousands of times and can say without hesitation that this interpretation feels very right for me -- not too mathematical but not too sentimental. Very nice momentum. Correct dynamics, tempo, and lyricism, at least to my ear and mind. 

[Icarodefrancisco]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOTE 10

This is really beautiful and awesome.

Hope I can see her performance next time.

So lovely!!!!

[pianolover1004]

This is really beautiful and awesome.

Hope I can see her performance next time.

So lovely!!!!

[CoolPolar]

Capturing emotions!! Great!

[pianogirl98]

Wonderful!

[AngeleDeux1]

thanX D for sending! ThanX Elena for sharing your gift! God Bless...

[zzzooooo]

Beauty of pain,I think!

I wish to get hands of this score in playing the piece like you!

[robertocasitenore]

Fantastico!!!! Bellissimo!!! Gioia per la mi anima!!!

Roberto.

[Icarodefrancisco]

Bravo........

[Chopin1986]

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!!!

This performance of yours really unique!!

I really like it very much!!!!!

Beautiful work!!!

[musicformillions]

Excellent. Ms. Kuschnerova allows Bach's music speak for itself and there's a great intuition in knowing what is being spoken. The give and take are well within what's considered tasteful by today's standards. This is what I expect in Bach by contemporary artists. Gould opened up a great many possibilities; and I think today's artists are correcting the excesses he took.

[bae215]

Stop obsessing about wrong notes. Does she look like a robot? As long as the music isn`t interrupted by the mistakes (which it is not here) then who cares about 2 wrong notes - and NO there is not a wrong note that I can hear in 1.27

[mrtslam]

Many Russian pianists have been influenced by Glenn Gould because he went to Russia during the cold war.

[dgaranin]

This particular performance differs a lot from Gould's two performances that are also on youtube

[ponte34]

@mrtslam great analysis my friend ,,, this is true but also Russia has a great background in terms of rasing many great pianist like Rachmaninioff ,,

[dgaranin]

Who plays this Partita really too romantic is Glenn Gould, listen to his performance on youtube, you will be impressed!

[iedsri]

No one really knows how fast Bach intended it to be played, although each piece seems to allow for a limited range of plausible tempi. I've been listening to new piano recordings recently: Hewitt plays the opening at about this tempo, Schiff in stricter and faster tempo, but Perahia's new version is considerably freer and slower, particularly with the answering runs (prior to the fugue). All three of these, by the way, are miraculously beautiful recordings -- and thanks for La Kushnerova!

[dgaranin]

iedsri: Thank you for a great comment! I was about to remove this video because I have posted the same with the full audio quality but, OK, with so many great comment I cannot remove it. But please, check another one!

[Renshen1957]

@iedsri Bach titled this movement Toccata, the title infers a vituoso piece, quick tempi, and a display of player's manual dexterity. Grigory Sokolov live version fits the definition, many others, including Gould's version, do not.

[BachScholar]

@Renshen1957 Actually, "Toccata" to Bach implied more of a sectional work in improvisational style rather than necessarily a fast and virtuoso type work. For example, the Toccatas of Frescobaldi are sectional works with slower and faster sections as are Bach's 7 keyboard Toccatas. The title "Toccata" to imply a fast, virtuosic, perpetual motion type work did not begin to be used until the time of Czerny and Schumann. Sokolov's performance is awful.

[Renshen1957]

@BachScholar The keyboard Toccatas are varied, however not all works

by Bach titled Toccata are multi-sectional, as an Organist have you forgotten the Dorian Toccata, BWV538? This piece was described as being moto perpetuo by no less than E. Power Biggs. How about Pachelbel's e minor Toccata for example? A composer well known to Bach who also wrote at a non-sectional toccata.

I am glad to see that you avail yourself of youtube's public forum, which you no longer offer in your videos.

[Renshen1957]

@BachScholar Frescobaldi's first set of toccatas were published 100 years before Bach's e minor partita's toccata, almost as much time as between these pieces and Bach as Bach and the works of the romantics. I am well aware of "Schumann tempo," I wouldn't try to pigeon hole Bach into that tempo. As to Sokolov's performance, it may be not be at 63 beats per minute, but it is far from dull.

[BachScholar]

@iedsri I disagree that no one really knows how fast Bach wanted this to be played. My research and analysis shows that it was 63 beats per minute, which Kuschnerova comes very close to reproducing. I think her tempo is better than any others I have heard on YouTube so far.

[saturne46]

Interprétation d'une grande musicienne. Bravo et merci

[KrismanX]

Sounds good to me.

[zzzooooo]

GOOD!

[zykonxt]

A very convincing interpretation of one of my favourite Bach pieces. Bach on the piano is a tricky area, probably why some pianists avoid it altogether. And those that do perform it will always upset as many as they please, there are so many different ideas re. pedalling, tempo, articulation, rubato, how "romantic" or "cerebral" it can or should be etc. I like her approach very much, the tempo and rhythm are just right to me.

[Chopin1986]

I love this Toccata...

Hope I can post it on youtube someday =)

Great performance!

[BachScholar]

I like this. The fugue is very good. This is a much better performance than her G-minor Prelude and Fugue at the Tchaikovsky Competition.

[Schuhann]

just wondering...isnt this way too fast?

[dgaranin]

Are you comparing with Gould? Gould on youtube plays another edition, using extreme rubatos, whereas Elena plays more rhythmically. The feeling of tempo is subjective, and there is no exact tempo indication in the score. Karl Richter on youtube plays somewhat faster than Elena.

[Schuhann]

not comparing it with any. just that i've played this piece before. and my senior told me any bach pieces wouldnt really sound nice if the playing is fast. of course, i do know that different people has different taste.

[chronaden]

Prefer Glen Goulds interpretation, nothing else comes close in my mind :>

[408065016]

exelente es un dios esa banda de bach

[SimplyChubby]

To be honest I rather like Anderszewski's interpretation

[gabrsh]

Sorry but I think Anderzewsi's interpretation is one of the very worst performances I have ever heard of this piece. He races through it with virtuousity and no feeling at all.

[radurak]

Wondefully played.

[dthr23]

very good expression

[dindan4]

marvellous awesome elena chchch..llova

[rynam1217]

Just amazing!