Added: 5 years ago
From: thepolonaise
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  • How beautiful!

  • Who can surpass Claude Debussy when played in such a way?

  • this is really a great piece!!

  • Oh my godness !

    Incredibly perfection reached by Arturo Michelangeli, that's an incrdible artist as we don't see anymore...

  • That was POETRY ... and no one does it better than Michelangeli! I have his recording of Image Books I and II, plus Children's Corner and it is simply wonderful!

  • Debussy's music is impressionistic no matter what. Nobody can deny that. In this recording it sounds more towards Ravel than Debussy.

  • Insuperabile interpretazione

  • che eleganza, che bellezza...

  • ABM could be amazing sometimes as he knows how to cool the blood in your heart by playing absolutely "from outside the music" - I know my expression might not be the max and be easily confusing -, and nobody will shake off my ears and heart Gieseking and Richter here...

  • Magnificent.

  • I dedicate this magnificent rendition to my late brother Paul who loved this so much. Thi is in honor of "Brother Week".

  • Too much push and pull, and agression. Not the right "mood" in my opinion.

  • benedetti rocks on this

  • Benedetti at his best,simply great

  • so clear, so rich in the choice of colours, such a great legato ...it's a lesson !! absolutely fantastic !!!

  • Satie the mentor of Debussy? No way.

  • I have listened to this a lot of times , and always it gives me a lovely shiver !

  • pure beauty

  • En una nota la caga

  • There is nothing better than watching and listening to an amazing pianist play Debussy.

  • Professional with allot of Heart !

  • 1:59 ... How the hell do you get your right hand to play so tight like that? Just endless Hanon drills? Special technique, anyone?

  • @titusbeertsen

    Patience and many precise and relaxed repetitions with a metronome at a slow pace with the accurate, current rhythm. Slowly and then a little faster and again a little quicker, but stop if you become inaccurate or begin to tighten the muscles. Wait instead for the next day and start over. If you are patient, diligent, and persistent follow this method you should probably reach your goals!

  • @stoklund Thanks, I'll start today. :) I guess that I'm usually not patient enough, and once a sloppy pattern is incorporated into your motorique... well, you know what I'm talking about. Takker!

  • @titusbeertsen avoid any technique connotative of the word drill. RELAXED HANDS allows fast playing. Roll your wrists, this shifts the centre of gravity of your hand over the keys you are playing. The force pressing down on the keys comes from your hand, NOT the muscles in your fingers; fingers act as a suspension system controlling how much of that weight is applied.

  • veri good nice 

  • Superb.TY the polonaise for posting.

  • 18 people....Ok I dont' express

  • the sound is poor but his play so cool..so clear..

    3:17 how sick..

  • Just close the eyes and imagine.. the water.. some shapes.. their reflects moving on it's surface..

  • Who else is expecting Sheik to show up and teach us a new song ;)?

  • It's an echo of a dream of the past...

  • so beautiful

  • nice

    

  • nice

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  • whoever dislikes this is just jealous 

  • Arturo plays this magnificently!

  • Dry and colourful... right and great! wonderful performance

  • Sometimes, Debussy sounds almost like American jazz, not quite but similar. I love the impressionists so much. Love Michelangeli and these old videos too.

  • @alscai You know, I don't mean to bash here but according to wiki (yeah I know) it says he hated being categorized as an impressionist. I don't remember why but it's in the description somewhere there.

  • @maxh0725 "I am trying to do 'something different'- in a way realities- what the imbeciles call `impressionism' is a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics," his words exactly. How disappointing.

  • @alscai Listen to 'la danse du puck' -- very jazzy.

  • tight shit

  • Technically good, but lacks some of sensibility, warmness ... for me are like reflects in frozen water...

  • Maravilhosa música....até a última gota.....

  • Pure beauty!!!!

  • "Dat shit is tight, yo." are you fucking kidding me???

  • commossa! sublime!

  • 18 people were far too bidazzled that they missed the like button :D

  • para uma manhã de sol,

    a primavera que apenas se inicia,

    para um dia que logo vem à frente,

    mais realistas são estes reflexos

    'reflets dans l'eau'

  • Oh man, the interpretation here is perfect. It's frothy, but with enough gusto to hold you. Truly, this is some tight shit.

  • Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti it's only a SUPER pianist just like Gould Glenn and others

  • never heard this one, it's really nice :)

  • All the song of debussy have very poetic title !

  • One of you two gentlemen is more manly, has a longer penis and a stronger intellect, as well as a better sense of humor and a noble visage. I need to know which one of you should easily get the finer things in life and seem to be everywhere and do everything, and which one should content himself with pumping gas for his betters, and masturbation.

    I need to know.

  • I would also like clarification on the subject of which one of you should be paid attention to, which one should be busy having the iconic experiences and setting the pace of history and popular culture, while the other only catches sporadic glimpses of that carefree and elevated narrative becuase he's so busy dealing with the chaos, petty drama, and oppressive dullness of his everyday life.

  • are you two arguing about which way is best to express your admiration of this music? lol.

  • il punto di riferimento per tutti i pianisti che dovranno interpretare questo brano e si troveranno questa montagna impossibile da superare a meno che non nasca un altro genio di questo livello ,ai posteri................

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  • Breath taking performance.

  • Awesome! TY for posting.

  • This level of perfection is not even believable. Not even the other great pianists come close to this.

  • "killer" meaning "awesome"

  • Michelangeli infected Glenn Gould with his humpback! Shame on this murderer!

  • bass note at 1:27 is killer

  • @releasethefrogs I'm sure you can play much better...

  • che naturalezza Dio mio,e' inarrivabile...

  • The epitome of cool. Doesn't even break a sweat. I love hearing him play, but watching him conveys his mastery even more. Priceless footage. Thanks

  • italians do it better...bravissimo arturo!

  • ay, dis is da bomb, holy shizz.

  • Michelangeli produces a perfect and iridescent wonderworld.

    I think his hieratic attitude goes perfectly well with this almost untouchable landscape he miracolously manages to bring to life.

    Eternity!

  • Both Debussy and his mentor Satie disliked being called "impressionist", in their own day. Satie billed himself as a "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures sounds")

    I believe, from a century's distance, and no witness, that Debussy was by far the stronger performer, and works from either demand subtleties beyond master's level to fully present the gossamer beauty suggested in even their middle works.

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  • Arturo Michelangeli plays fantastically beautiful!!!!! I wish that he also played Jeux d'eau by Ravel!!!!!!!!!!!! He could probably have smashed in beauty both Georges Cziffra, Sviatoslav Richter and Martha Argerich's superb versions..... lol

  • he makes the notes turn into water...they dont just sound like it...they ARE water . i love his playinggggg

  • This is wonderful :) The music is entrancing, but I'll admit I enjoy the tail-coat and the shoes even more!

  • M I C H E L A N G E L I

  • MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!

  • Fantastic piece, one of my favorites by Debussy. Very elusive and enchanting.

  • Astounding! TY.

  • Reflets dans l'eau

  • Pure magic!

  • I have seldom seen tighter shit.

  • @NoGee06 your comment made me laugh for about five minutes. :D .....so funny

  • @NoGee06 But you like Lang Lang.

  • @MintySpunkBubble I like his interpretation of that particular Chopin waltz, sure. I'm not a fan.

  • @NoGee06 Apologies, I was probably being rather defensive. I just think that Michelangeli's version of this is probably the most perfect, beautiful thing I've ever heard. I understand he seems anal, overly precise and cold to some (I don't much like his Chopin compared to Richter's really), but his restraint up until the end when he lets everything go is explosive... God, did I say that pretentious load of b'lava?

    There's something going on beneath the notes I don't think people pick upon.

  • curiously businesslike. but interesting!

  • JAZZY right? i keep hearing that in music from this time period, it's like jazz naturally followed musicians who were already bending the rigid rules of melody and harmony in classical...

  • @inicc Especially jazzy at 0:27

  • LIKE...

  • Debussy is made for him

  • Michelangeli plays everything without preciosity... certainly not dry or stiff - he just rolls it out - this is his approach to Chopin, too - refreshing. Uchida, the Mozart specialist, tried her hand at Debussy's Etudes (I don't believe Michelangeli recorded those, but I wish he had) - sounded like a butterfly was playing the piano - all was lost!

  • La migliore interpretazione che esista!!!!

  • I've never thought the influence of gamelan, indonasian traditional.

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  • I love his sense of rhythm on this one...very well thought out.

  • horrible logic

  • this was wavy..

  • how old is this thing!!!!!!!????????

  • One of the greatest pianists to ever graze the keys.

  • A perfect example of impressionism in music.

  • merci, maître.

  • c'est magnifique c'est....magique

  • Is this the way Debussy wanted it played?

  • @nicodagger does it matter? :O just a question

  • @Steinwaytoday it was a rhetorical question, and it does and it doesn't....it's irrelevant, because Claude-Achille isn't around to tell us.....it's a beautiful performance, I just wish i could sit down with C.A. and have him listen to this performance and see what he thought. I have heard Debussy play on one recording, "Golliwog's Cakewalk", and it's interesting to hear how his playing of it differs from subsequent interpretations. So..to answer your question: yes and no.

  • What a beautifully clean and unfussy performance. Michelangeli was the best of artisits - just letting the music speak for itself and not getting in the way.

  • Grande interpretazione: la migliore!!!

  • Quedaría por escuchar la Obra completa de Debussy interpretada por Jean Boguet, solista, profesor de la Escuela Normal de Música de París, especialista en Debussy y en Roussel. Quizás, después de su audición cambiarían algunas formas de pensar y - sobre todo - de escuchar e interpretar a Debussy... siempre que no se quiera permanecer en lo "políticamente correcto" en música.

    Dicha grabación está - o estaba - disponible (si no se ha agotado) en la Editorial musical Tudor.

  • minuto 2,46 ...senza parole......grazie a tutti e due di essere esistiti !

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  • Incredible clarity, especially given how fast he plays it

  • el mas grande interprete de Debussy: Arturo B. Michelangeli

  • 724 peoplewith a heart, 17 deaf to the beauty of this world.

  • I can't think of eloquent enough words to describe this masterpiece that teleports you to dream places. All I can say is, "Dat shit is tight, yo."

  • @Traveler246 Eloquence indeed!

  • @Traveler246

    suuuuuuureee isss ah yuckkk :)

  • @Traveler246 LOL! Thanks your comment made me laugh so hard! I really needed it today.

  • @Traveler246 pls get yo' english straight, it shud be, Dat shit be tight, my man, Holmes, yo.

  • @cliffworks4321 Yeah, readabookyillitratesonvabitch.

  • @hymnofashes Grasshopper, the correct spelling is ILLITERATE with the vowel E in the third syllable after the consonant T in the second. I played once with John Lee Hooker who was illiterate but man did he kick arse.

    which trailer park u live in my man, where b yo' hood?

  • @Traveler246 "All I can say is, "Dat shit is tight, yo"

    Yeah, we can tell you are illiterate

  • @TheDeusmechs Such a dichotomist as yourself cannot see beyond two opposing terms. In this case it is either literate or illiterate. By the way, I'm the one getting the likes on my comment and not you, beyotch. Troll my way.

  • @Traveler246

    dichotomist, perfectionist, racist, chauvinist--the likes of you thrive on simple platitudes like these, which is always the sign of a simple mind, not that we needed to go this far though. "Beyotch", yeah, let me count the ways in which I can say 'idiot'.

    Now, do yourself a favor and teleport yourself to an education because, evidently, votes on youtube don't make you smarter.

  • @TheDeusmechs Did I say they make me smarter? Apparently your not smart enough to realize that being smart isn't the acme of excellence in life. It makes things easier, but it is only a part of life. With what you have shown me, I can safely conclude you're smarter than me. However, the dedication you invest in insulting me also shows how little a life you have, but that doesn't matter to me either, since whatever life you have I have less of. So if you think I can out-troll me, you're mistaken.

  • @Traveler246

    I came back just to point out that while you level the charge of 'no-lifer' at me, typical in this situation, for taking offense at the vulgarity of your comment and pointing out its imbecility with my own posts you then simultaneously challenge me to a troll-out and also indicate that I am already defeated. Yet didn't the point of the no-lifer charge rely on the belief that I was taking things 'too seriously'? Yeah, those votes really mean something!

  • @TheDeusmechs You are serious enough if you replied just to point out the obvious. Also, I like to challenge people in the hopes of winning, which is why I state that you are defeated as I challenge you. This should explain things further for a slow-minded commenter such as yourself. Please, let me know what you think those votes mean, so I can correct you or stand corrected. I would also like to apologize to @mcmike100 since the poor commenter got caught in the cross-fire of our epic battle.

  • @TheDeusmechs I must admit my change in position when it comes to this discussion. It's been a long time and now that I have revisited this masterpiece, I realize how out of place I was. Through much pondering, I have come to consider notions that lead me to believe that neither happiness nor love is the answer. Love is a currency and happiness a result of it. Truly, it is intellect that leads to the better things in life, which I do not abundantly possess. I do apologize for the inconvenience.

  • I listened 100 times.

  • note perfect...but also mechanical...

  • The best person to play Debussy... This song is so beautiful.

  • This is very special music

  • 聽聽那聲音中的顏色變化 ...

  • @ivanoschen Translation:Listen to that voice in the color change ...

  • @luo23579 what does this mean, 'listen to that voice in the color change"? thanks.

  • @luo23579 The actual translation shall be: Listen to the variation of color in the sound.

  • @ivanoschen Very true, my friend.

  • without feelings.....sorry to say....

  • @GianniBarbarona we're sorry to hear your lame comment

  • @GianniBarbarona: What is your reasoning behind saying that this performance is without feeling? It is actually very expressive and technically tight. Those two can go together, unfortunately it doesn't happen often with plenty of players.

  • Really? This is not a bad thing, but, I always thought it had a sort of odd dijointed sound about it. Lovely really. It's one of those songs I'd put in my soundtrack for my life.

  • Such a beautiful piece to listen to, and seemingly effortless on the part of the performer!

  • exquisite....water...

  • What a wonderful pianist he was. Playing Debussy and Ravel so flawlessly, you can tell 20th century music was for him...

  • genius at the work ...

  • absolutely beautiful. Michelangeli is INCREDIBLE. I am playing this in a performance tomorrow, hadn't listened to this amazing video in a while and thought I would, almost wish I hadn't because my performance of this piece doesnt even compare. In my head, even Debussy couldn't play this piece better though! Anyway, I will just have to put in a lotttt of practice today and do my best!!

  • wonderful... that's music!

    by the way I play the same way... so if you like this video YOU have to watch my video called "thinking about life"

    YOU won't regret it!

  • the ending is what it's all about for me.

  • arturo is brilliant.. his note perfection continues to stun me, and his musical quality is incredible

  • Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli is considered the best pianist of ever. And he is. About the question of "thepolonaise", Yes, I consider Debussy impressionistic. Of course. If we didn't know the tilte of this piece, we surely would have imagined reflections in the water...

  • i dunno about that one...

  • anyone else find it a bit fast?

  • Not really.

  • 'dat shit is tight' What a wonderful way the English language has been transformed!

  • @jamesjonesrocket - At the very least, his/her punctuation is correct. (haha)

    And this music is simply timeless. Its beauty will simply be transcribed through time, interpreted by each generation in its own way. It shall always be relevant. This is true music.

  • @jamesjonesrocket

    What the hell are you talking about?

  • @jamesjonesrocket I'm delighted. -.-

  • @jamesjonesrocket

    And i ask you, in what esteem would Chaucer hold of todays English?

    Trust a piano piece to draw in the grammar police.

  • @hallidio it was only an observation mate, dry your eyes!

  • @jamesjonesrocket

    Your the one who took issue with it, joker.

  • @hallidio I'm sure you're a perfectly nice person but you sound like a real stuck up prick, so please don't send me any more messages. That ok? thanks, now fuck off.

  • @jamesjonesrocket

    This coming from the mouth that bought spelling up, ironic for me to be the stuck up "prick".

    PS - good use of English you brainless 80 IQ dunce

  • @jamesjonesrocket

    its rhetorical. Sure, it may lack in a particularly "English" sense of flourish, but it has its own kind of street poetry. Rap is its own verse...rescue the black under-class from poverty and watch the growth of the English language into an entirely new direction. Classical English is no more---the world demands its own versions...and so it goes..

  • @jamesjonesrocket

    (...) that which we call a rose

    By any other name would smell as sweet (...)

    Your comment made me laugh. Have a nice day! (And excuse my poor English)