Jorge Bolet Master Class-Rachmaninoff Piano Conc.#3-Pt.2

[jjp009]

@MrKALODIA So few pianists (even the best of them) can handle this piece. What a monster! Even if you can somehow manage to play all of the right notes in practice, how do you possibly get through the entire thing in the presence of an audience without having memory slip after memory slip...or a breakdown like in "Shine"?

[Airlon100]

Ira is a good pianist (I mean they all are) but I don't think that he can play this piece mentally

[ChesterFanningChorno]

1983- the only pianist in 2011 I recognize today is Barry Douglas.

Ira Levin: yes, slow down and make MUSIC.

[surgere94]

How delightful!

Horowitz Cadenza!

[physphilmusic]

Ira is really bad here: comapre Bolet's 6:34 to his 6:47! Levin's playing is rough, brash, even slightly frustrated and desperate in this part of the video. There are a lot of technical errors as well - way above the number you would find in an average Rach 3 professional recording nowadays. Bolet completely owns him, and I can see that although I'm not really an expert on Rach 3.

[nojstradamus]

"with great mustache comes great responsibility"

[themanhootch]

I haven't seen this since the mid-80s. This is thrilling.

[gerardbedecarter]

Wonderful!

[richclayderman]

3:00 "this guy....haha..."

[modelstatue]

Rachmaninoff sounds a lot harder than Liszt!!!! This is an amazing piece of music!!!!!

[sanferrera]

It´s incredible how Levin can correct inmediately, Bolet suggests something, and he can more or less play it at once! Thats tallent!!!

[Obaysch]

@sanferrera Not really, Levin was his assistant at Curtis and probably had either coached it with him, or had some idea what Bolet's priorities are. What's shocking is how weak he is technically - which is probably why he's a conductor nowadays.

[coralreef909]

Hi I''m curious about this Master class? is it commercially available on DVD or were you able to record it when aired on television? I've done a search for it and so far have come up with nothing. The people who originally produced it own the rights to it and won't allow student pianist to acquire it.

[laqin007]

That pianist is too tense on shoulder...

[Beethovens7th]

Levin's time is all over the place, yikes!

[Shyrk]

You can hear such a huge difference in the play of Bolet and the guy he's teaching. Really impressive.

[zzzxtreme]

what a precious golden video recording !

[ciprian25]

Levin plays too fast! He loosses all the beauty in the melody, and all its grandious concept! You can hear the difference beetwen him and Bolet! You can tell when Bolet touches the piano!

[prongated]

Agreed, but it's not so much that it's too fast - it's because he's rushing. Either he's too young to grasp the importance of rhythm, or his technique could be better.

[Haeronthegreat]

Levin loses all the wonderful inner voices before the descending thirds in the cadenza. Listen to Rach do it. It's incredible.

[karakallatore]

This guy is great. two thumbs up.

[IloveAlexisBledel689]

Lol his expretion at 4:53, not very polite.

[hadricalifornia]

This is the best part of all the master classes video. How can anyone think of such genius music? And it makes it so much more interesting to have bolets comments... We understand it more. It must feel so good after all these years of practice to pull all this together... And produce such power

[sbcpianist]

So cool! He sounds like Sean Connery!

[4ngry4nus]

lmao at 2:19-2:20 he thought the young guy was gonna start. Look at his face! the sheer suprise!

[gipfeli]

2:59-3:00 has a similar scene... those guys were "mocking" him, lol...

[maxi937]

This pianist is brilliant!

[goodridgewinners]

Loving those russian rhythms man!!! lol...If i were to say what style of music influences how i compose...i would say The Russian style of that of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff do. Its soo....exotic and charming and boistrous and powerful...it seems to burn a furnace into your heart; sending it through your veins and along your nerves...like an orgasmic burst of zest and majesty.

Also, this cadenza is different to the version i have...it starts off differently.

[juzzyfuzz]

There's no doubt, of course, that Bolet is a remarkably wonderful, musical pianist, and brilliant masterclass teacher. I have never seen any other pianist with such square movements as he makes with his forearms, especially when coming off the piano. Has anyone else noticed this? I mean - who cares, he obviously has no technical problems! Just an observation.

[IloveAlexisBledel689]

I love this part do much

[maxi937]

All these pianists are so talented!

[jannokas85]

I'm surprised Ira didn't suffer any injury after this...extremely hard physical work on fingers alone with no other movement (such as walking etc like Bolet is doing...and doing it well)...and the constant block chords and cadenzas etc etc. In reality one has to rest as often as possible after such work or the result is that you end up like Ira did at 4:43

[gnolti]

I've always preferred the ossia.

[ywhorowitz]

So intriguing. I never knew Bolet was such a great (and patient) teacher. And what a gentleman he is.

[katsudonshake]

omg this concert NEVER bores me! so full of passion...

[Obaysch]

One should note that Ira Levin was Bolet's assistant at Curtis for several years. He's currently a reasonably succesful opera conductor.

[vcupiano]

touch,touch,touch,touch.......­

[vcupiano]

how he heard that f# ....

[simonemusic]

The ossai cadenza was written first. Rachmaninoff wrote the shorter one after.

[IloveAlexisBledel689]

the part at 0:55 is very difficult to play, I love this concerto so much, I have it all in my Ipod. :) thanks for uploading this serie.

[ChrisWatch]

no hes not playing the original hes playing horowitz version of what the mood called for. but he also teaches rachmaninoffs recreated(over ossia) version with another guy in these clips. wonder if george bolets prefers horowitz over rachmaninoff because he seems to give deeper pointers in horowitz version.

[nkwebmaster]

Horowitz and Rachmaninoff played the same cadenza, neither played the ossia.

[madderbass]

He's playing the original cadenza, and I would have wished he would have played the ossia!

[AllUserNamesTaken111]

ira Levin is nowhere right now. His expression at 4:53 shows what made him fail.

[ramsmenon]

awesome up load!!!1

[leffondre]

oh, is he actually playing the cadenza by horowitz?

[Dionyseus82]

Horrible performance by Ira Levin.

[ramsmenon]

its a class ..btw

[ChrisWatch]

a class televised.

[ramsmenon]

yeah I think he must have been very nervous

[nkwebmaster]

he's there to learn.

[yerko77]

Re Fa Mi Re Do Re Mi Re, Mi Re Mi Fa Fa Fa Mi Re Do, Si Do Re Re Fa Mi Re Do Re Mi Re, Sol Fa Mi Re Mi, Re Do Si Do Re Mi...

[jjp009]

Isn't it amazing how much deeper of an understanding the Maestro has of this concerto than his student? The old dog in his slower, more relaxed and seasoned way of approaching it, and the impetuous youth trying to please him, playing way too fast and loud, like it's a race to the end? What a master Bolet was.

[BrucknerEnthusiast]

Absolutely! I always recommend to my most advanced piano students that they study Bolet's Decca recording of this concerto. Bolet could demonstrate total authority just by playing a couple of bars and he's thinking on too high an artistic level to be impressed with superficial 'virtuosity'. I think if I'd been asked to play a single bar of this concerto in front of this great musician I would have dropped dead on the spot with nervousness.