Volodos - Franz Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13

[maestroanth]

God<Liszt;

just in syntax :P

[K189T]

Liszt: "OMG, I'm fucked!"

[jctman1]

Volodos is good but no the greatest .

[BuwusH]

Is this the original version of the song, cos I can't find a transcription that would match with this performance?

[twooffour]

@BuwusH

It's Volodos' own arrangement.

[123mazeppa]

(cont..--->) If you don't believe me, then do a wiki research

[123mazeppa]

When I listened to the performance, I was very well surprised!!

I have a recording of Arcadi Volodos playing this piece WITH his transcription.

I have to say that the recording on CD was MUCH MUCH BETTER than

this performance!! Anyway, those who say that Volodos destroys music because he adds his own improvisation/transcription in the music he plays, I say, "SOD the lot of you!!" When Liszt performed on stage, he added his own cadenzas on every piece he played full of virtuosity. (cont...)

[twooffour]

@123mazeppa

Wow.. even better?? :D

[CammehYaBams]

holy fucking shit. 6:56, MENTAL.

[animemachinex3]

whoa this version seems so much harder than the one i'm playing! 

[numchuck180]

@animemachinex3 volodos puts the awesomenes in ANY song

[retrogamerdave]

@numchuck180 I have to agree with you

[abmsghost]

Pffffffft.Booooombastic.

[Rossco242]

i love cock

[barbarossa333]

Volodos is an extraordinary Liszt and Rachmaninoff interpreter. All those fools talking up Hamelin have to be tone deaf! Oops, I forgot Hamelin does not play Rachmaninoff, I wonder why! LOL

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 For the tone -deaf.there is a video of Hamelin rhearsing Rachmaninov's 2nd sonata. Just watch and hear him rehearsing the 3 movement with his feet AWAY from the pedals.

[barbarossa333]

@abmsghost I have listened to that video, also a couple of hamelin playing medtner. Problem is hamelin's Rach, as limited as it is, and his Medtner are as poor as it gets. He makes the right choice staying away from Rach compositions! LOL

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 okee,okeeee,okeeeeeeee.You are the master listener and discriminator and we are all stupid morons who dont know how to listen ...however we do not discriminate.You are sooooooooooooo goooooooooood.

[barbarossa333]

@abmsghost funnyyyyyy! there must be a reason why hamelin does not do Rach like every true virtuoso, past, present and future! could it be because Rachmaninoff sounds bad with Hamelin's jazz-fusion interpretations?  LOL

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 You are the expert..apparently..So tell us..Whats the reason? you use the words"there Must be"" and later on "could it be".You dont seem to be sure about yourself wich is proof of your mediocre and consequently provocative nature.I beg you not to go astray again .Please enlighten us.LOOOOOL.

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 1/What is the definition of "a true virtuoso"?2/What are the characteristics of "Jazz-fusion"interpretations? Can you illustrate with examples and clearly indicate where MAH applies jazz-fusion interpretations.Please teach us ,but without discriminating like you did earlier on.You can choose anywhere from the complete Godowsky etudes,and sonata and Passacaglia.,complete Skrjabin sonatas,Iberia,Busoni pianoconcerto,etc.etc.BTW I like Volodos a lot,not only because we are friends.

[barbarossa333]

@abmsghost I like Volodos a lot, he in fact is a great Rachmaninoff interpreter. There are many great Rach interpreters past and present! Hamelin is not even a "good" Rachmaninoff interpreter, in fact he plays little Rach. That's the bottom line, simply put, in plain language, can not be clearer for you, sorry. LOL

Listen to Matsuev's HR2 then listen to MAH's HR2, hear jazz-classic fusion! LOL MAH's cadenza is all jazz!!

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 i agree with volodos being a great Rachmaninov interpreter.But with regards to my questions you dissapoint convinsingly.Bottom line is you have nothing to say or contribute that has really value..Btw. I love the so called jazz-fusion cadenzas from MAH.He is in a class apart.Arcadi told me once he wish he could play like Hamelin.LOOOOOOOOOL.

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 I like Hamelin more than Matsuev.In fact both Volodos and Matsuev are aprentices compared to MAH.MAH is a superior pianist whatever composer..thats the bottom line,simply put,in plain language,cannot be clearer for you.MAH is a great Rach.Interpreter.The reason he does not play a lot RACh.is that there is better music out there.Pollini and Arrau never played Rachm.either because of the Hollywoodmovie-music aspect .LOL

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 I Like Hamelin a lot .I love his Jazz-fusion approach in Rach.Appropriate to hollywood movie musiv.LOL.Woehahaha

[abmsghost]

@barbarossa333 LOL!

[damgoodballers]

Hooooooollllly shit.... this guy is good LOL. I thought Hamelin's was phenominal imagine what i think this is lol... Both really good interpretations except Volodos did it a bit faster which I think is insane.... crap i want to play these music sooo bad but i cant sacrifice the 7 hrs a day practice dammit! BRAVO interpretation 10/5 in my book LOL

[lovesGenet]

notespinning doesn't make a pianist better than Brendel.we all can move our fingers.What imagination ,dynamisc,line,textures. it just shows how narrow one's knowledge is .Volodos is exciting and has everythng but to say his liszt is better is just foolish.structure,balance of ideas and musical elements stuff not readily discerned.Stop comparing unles u have studied at these higher levels keep yo idiocy to yoself!

[mestreliszt]

but He does this version? or is a transcription?

[Snuggelz220290]

It aren't those who criticize that are pretentious, it's the performer.

you'll never have the intention of weakening a piece so if you change it that means you find it as good or better as the original.

EVERY added improvisation here is completely out of style and distracting from the essence of this piece, it just exists out of effects and useless notes. I love improvisation.. but not if its flat, contentless rubish.Its Not becaus he's a "great pianist" that everything is good all the sudden..

[flouz2]

He always uses 2 hand for the fast downing scales at 4:02 and 4:09...................Cziffra never needed that !!!

What else to say?

[JHeifetz100]

that's irrelevant. it really doesnt matter, what matters is how it sounds and it sounds good

[JHeifetz100]

actually i meant that those 5 seconds specifically.

the performance is quite horrible..

in a matter of fact, this is not liszt!

volodos does whatever he finds right to do.

for instance, the whole part from 5:24 to 6:17 is a total invention. i play the piece, and liszt didn't write this.

and he rushes the slow parts... what a shame.

awful interpretation! Brendel's interpretation is so much better.

[liltobe9]

This performance was absolutly amazing!!

I don't know how ANYBODY can criticize this! Honestly!

This piece is fine until somebody comes along with this technical stuff.

[JHeifetz100]

Maybe you didn't get what i wrote.

I have nothing to say about his technique.

My only complain (and its a huge one) is that he improvises all the time. that can be good sometimes but not to often.

Volodos changed the harmony, the melody etc.

i HATE this interpretation, it doesn't fit Liszt at all.

[petethepianist]

musicians are artists. if you want a performing metronome, then stick to a .midi file, if you don't like the artistic license that volodos uses, don't listen to it.

[JHeifetz100]

artistic license is great. but, volodos took it to another level, which can be good or bad.

in this piece he exaggerated with his "artistic lisence".

[wayneredhart]

Nevermind the fact that Liszt played differently every time he performed a piece- with totally different cadenzas...

Nevermind the fact that he sanctioned his students to freely rearrange his pieces to their liking...

[n00belicious]

seriously, i mean really seriously,

what is wrong with doing what you find right to do???

tell me that JHeifetz

[JHeifetz100]

he can do whatever he finds right to do, and I really don't care about it. as long as he calls this piece "volodos- variations on Liszt's hungarian rhapsody no. 13".

i recommend you to listen to Brendel's interpetation to this rhapsody.

[n00belicious]

brendel is good but not as good at volodos at liszt,

by the way the beginning says: ''Bearbeitung von Arcadi Volodos''

[n00belicious]

i do think brendel has a more wide sound, but maybe that's becouse this is a live recording. on the rest say note colours and rubato etc i think volodos is far better

[abmsghost]

@n00belicious Why is Brendel inferior to Volodos?ont get me wrong I love both of them but please explain..I love to learn.

[InSaneTK]

i never thought people would be so obsessed with the technicality that they forget about the music, which this is all about!

[MishaTandler]

The music inspires the technique / the technique inspires the music.

[InimeKai]

Completely irrelevent and useless statement.

Enough with the technical analysis, just listen and stop being so pretentious.

[penguinshin]

u do know flouz that this is a transcription- it differed from the original piece and its much much harder

[K189T]

What else to say? I think you didn't watch the part from 6:43 to the end.

[ageletv]

what a beautiful mind

[dawidmysle]

How come he ain't sitting on a piano stool?

God, he makes it look as easy as making a cup of tea by the smile on his face - my hands would fall off if I tried to do that :/

[JakWho92]

0:41 right pinky

pianist rule #1 (maybe #2 ) broken =)

[demosj]

When you match Volodos in skill, you too can break rules at your whim. =)

[JakWho92]

Yeah .. if i would have the skill of volodos :D

i love this piece but on his latest cd it's better (if that was possible) because his added some nice things.

[maalga2008]

I know a version of him with speedy tempo ...

find outdoor video of him on youtube

[spinneuroffpsb]

5:24

[einstein401]

I agree.

[libetta]

this really makes me wonder why many think kissin is the best pianist

[maalga2008]

totaly agree ....i know Kissin like great master but the way he plays very not my favorites in any pieces ...

Volodos just amazing ....( for me spiritual son of cziffra )

[flouz2]

because he is !!!!!

[cmtnt]

Show!!!

[jghancockjr]

The Liszt HR 13 recording that Andre Watts

made for EMI is my favorite. Busoni made a

fabulous, mind-blowing recording of Liszt's

Reminiscences of Bellini's Norma that is

unforgettable.

[sayasterling]

Can anyone tell me where to obtain the Liszt/Volodos arrangement. It appears to be out of print. Would appreciate any info. Thanks.

[nashnetties]

what does much mean?

[nashnetties]

please eat me out

[afscn]

huh huh...cool

[eggplant1994]

horny much

[heyamy09]

oh wow.

[prestomoltoagitato]

that left hand melody at exacty 7:18 is so nice on the ears.

[piano345]

Liszt didn't object to freedom in the performance of his Hungarian Rhapsodies. Listen to the playing of Liszt pupil Stevanhagen. Improvisation is very much in the Hungarian gypsy style and that is what Volodos does here. There are too many stuffy comments about playing just whats on the printed page - no surprise there's so much boring playing these days. Volodos is an exciting player but having said that I prefer Liszt's original version rather than over virtuosic embellishment.

[paolohudson]

Certainly more virtuosic than the original...but I don't know if I'm convinced by it. Sometimes, it's too bad that some performers feel the need to completely alter a piece that in and of itself is amazing already. Occasionally, it's alright and even really interesting. But this one, I'm not so sure.

[Mogget1]

As much as I dislike Volodos he is correct in his improvisations. It is very much within Liszt's own performance practices. I asked my piano professor and he cleared it up.

[lacrymosa85]

why do you dislike volodos?

[darnmat]

Critics critics critics... I hope to see you guys play ... Critics are so contained by their own thoughts... What a shame... they don't enjoy music anymore... tsk tsk...

[murraytaylor123]

show this to the guys who think that Maksim is the greatest pianist in the world *scoff*

[innerswedish]

those small improvisations distract greatly from the "music" intended from this piece.

[dawoodsta]

I think he's trying to be like Horowitz and create his own transcription because this is not the piece. I don't like it personally. Volodos is not Horowitz.

[AlexPxr8]

pure awesomeness!

check out 0.28... & 1.26 so that's where the James Bond theme came from!!! LOL

[mitgerol90]

This music is heaven, and I really don't care if he improvises or whatever. He is the best pianist nowadays, and I just laugh at those who criticize him. XD

[Bodybuilding4Ever]

DID YOU SEE THIS LANG LANG !!!!!

[heroicpolonaise]

volodos is the best living pianist on earth

[pedroborges78]

I agree with you ! I saw him in Casa da Música - Oporto, Portugal, and he is absolutely fantastic. I recommend you (if you have a chance) to see him playing. A video is good but "live" is better.

He is awesome! What a musical/technique pianist, OMG (: (: (: I'm really happy.

[classicalalways]

@heroicpolonaise He might have been at one point, but he certainly does not show the same type of intensity that he did when this video was filmed.

[beyond9001]

he has a very characteristic octave chromatic

[afertyus1000]

even the great liszt took this music from the original hungarian gipsies folk songs etc and apparently if you read your history even he ornamented them too much and was'nt faithful to the original musical text,but aside from that liszt is my idol

[twooffour]

@ibclappin

Anyone with their ears somewhat outside their ass can hear that this is a heavily, um, "altered" arrangement of Liszt's original. Why spell it out?

[ibclappin]

musicians have always recreated each other's music, but they SAY IT!!! not like: oh i think this sounds better so i'll just have the people who don't know believe it's the original. also, Volodos just changes the piece like it's a bodily function. it's a different one everytime.

[ccen1]

he has changed the piece a bit and he also changed the hungarian rhapsody no.15 aswel.

do the originals even exist?? i hear it different everytime.

PLEASE SOMEONE ANSWER.

[beyond9001]

i think he tends to improvise at times

[flowerblossom777]

lol he told you not to answer...

[beyond9001]

? he asked someone to answer...

[ibclappin]

Liszt would bitchslap Volodos to the ground with his giant hands if he was alive.

[GeorgeOfZala]

ibclappin, Liszt would hug Volodos and call him brother. He was a very compassionate man. Can you believe if they had a chance to play a duett? Well... maybe in Heaven they will...

[Fruupp5122]

ibclappin (3 months ago

why do you say this?

here on youtube i'm tired of foolish motherfucker's like you.

do you have any reason to crityisize THIS?

if you do then you're a liszt yourself

(but i guess he(liszt) would have liked it)

[ibclappin]

then he should come up with a new name for the piece. Liszt didn't write this. Volodos changes the piece thinking he's making it better is like changing Shakespeare's words to improve his play, it's stupid and disrespectful; just like guitarike down there.

[ibclappin]

i can't understand how he could get himself to change Liszt's piece, that's very disrespectful. if he thinks his version sounds better it's simply because of his lack of understanding. please listen to Hamelin play the TRUE piece.

[guitarike]

chill out, nobody is disrespected except you. liszt himself was an incredible improviser, and encouraged all of his students to compose, improvise and even write. i don't think he was half as close minded as you are.

[twooffour]

@ibclappin

Hamelin wrote a whole bunch of re-arrangements himself.

[troppofiato]

Phenomenal! Anyone know what he's up to these days? Have not seen his name in a long time - heard him a few seasons back in NY playing Prokofiev 2nd (incredible performance) and he seems to have vanished from the musical scene since then.

[gervaseclarke]

check out his lastest album volodos plays liszt. incredible.

[west1234]

First become liszt and then criticize him you fool!!!

[Amrpiano]

Listening to Dreyschok,Moschele said...:this man has no left hand he has both right hands...THIS APPLIES i think to the fantastic VOLODOS inspite of all the criticism (Mainly on adding his paraphrases&Naming of his works) He is another liszt,Rachmaninov or Horiwits

[Audiophile87]

He changed it so much much it's almost unrecognizable. It's still beautiful but with a lot of adoptation and improvisation.

[ibclappin]

i don't understand why Volodos would change this masterpiece and present it with it's original name...

[cantac]

"Liszt's original piece of shit." Yeah, buddy, you're the one who' "on fucking drugs", according to your post. You're disgusting and ignornant and I'm surprised you're even posting classical piano.

[lacrymosa85]

You are all on fucking drugs. Anyone who dares criticize the great Arcadi should be hanged. This is a wonderful recording, and much more exciting than Liszt's original piece of shit.

[jasonextreme]

Don't dis Liszt.For your information, Volodos wouldn't be who he is today if it weren't for Liszt's inspiration.

[ccen1]

WTF?? wats wrong with u, u retarted freak!! this is NOT better than liszt's version. u can go hang YOUR slf...

[deucelittle]

why does he add stuff?

[MetalBiff]

4:00 Liszt is a shreder

[CorneliusFractogram]

I agree. That passage was like some spontaneous ADHD moment in midst of an otherwise musically coherent piece (at least the original version). I fail to see why or how he'd come up with that. Technically of course this video is still eyecandy.

[CorneliusFractogram]

Actually, when I got to the vivace part on latter half it became obvious that Volodos has some serious restlessness in his hands. My take on this is that anyone who thinks he improved the piece didn't know what the hell was going on in it in the first place. Still, I like to watch him "play" those difficult passages, but it has then become a sport where the artistic value lies solely in the physical execution.

[SwePianoholic]

I like it, does that make me a geek?

[KakashiANBU256]

He said Greek >.>

[lovesGenet]

Hear Volodos'Schumann Bunte Blatter .This man does what so many cant : beautiful considered tone.Yes the Busoni, best recording (he) made .Studio , not enjoy as he wrote wife. not the" best" recording .How can it be soundis execrable 1923 French. There is a recording of great pianists playing all these it's worth checking out.Volodos has it all. .His conception more dreamy hypnotic.One of my faves.Can someone put PaulLewisfromD'Antheron on here.

[suremate]

I like the original version so much more.

[pianozuelo]

Agreed. The most stunning performance of this is the _acoustic_ version by Ferrucio Busoni (available on Pearl and elsewhere).

But, the above video is excellent 'piano-playing'. As sometime happens, 'piano-playing' takes away from the piece....

[suremate]

yes that busoni is his most impressive recording. Volodos is a great pianist but musically he hasn't impressed me much and I got so bored of his transcriptions cd after about 4 listens.

[AvtpeasK]

all hail the greeks, apparently they play piano too now!

[malak789]

you retard he isn't greek

[Sanrus]

Truly magnificent. The best Horowitz would be proud of hearing such a phenomenon.

[appliedprobability]

I'm playing this hungarian rhaposdy now. It's not an easy piece. The transcription of Volodos is a little harder of course :-)

[jbaxt]

btw for those who don't know. this is volodos's own transcription

[jbaxt]

hell yeah he's the man