Gregor Piatigorsky plays Chopin Sonata

[kolopaper123]

We can not compare so great musicians with each other....Each one has his own style and he express his feelings through the instrument different...so..all of them are GREAT!!

[TheCourtwick]

Casals remarked: The greatest cellist of all time bar one. At his early death, A huge turnout of top artists attended his funeral including Tossanini, Heifetz and Hubermann and Paul Hindemit.

[TomBarrister]

@TheCourtwick What cellist are you talking about? Toscanini died in 1957, Casals in 1973, Piatigorsky in 1976.

[TheCourtwick]

@TomBarrister Hi, Just noticed your question. I was refering to Piatigorsky and 'bar one' Casals himself.

Reference to Toscanini attending the funeral is not correct, sorry about that.

[cellizzimo]

Wonderful, but I wonder as to what extent, the time when this recording was made have or had on the quality of sound, its most certainly from a distant time. Im old enough to know !! Its like listening to an old 78 RPM record and trying to compare it with a 33 RPM or a more modern CD disc. either way, all respect to a great cello man.

[Rephrat]

2'20 wow what an emotion.what a sound,what a styll. THE BEST King Grisha

[Cantormatis]

What a great sound he made- so even and singing!

[omnisquebe]

ωραίος

[MrLacidaremlamano]

This the best cello sound I've heard to this present day on this sonata I more than adore, worship

[stradiuarius1709]

Thanks for posting!

[googolplexxx]

Yes, this is the third.

[mdoub]

the conversation at the end is so cliche and forced, but it's pretty classy haha

[meredith21846]

What a divinely beautiful movement. One could easily describe the piece as a nocturne.

[Jooseef95]

Do you have any ather movements of this piece?

[buju]

I'm reading his book "Cellist" its great. he is a great muscian.

[Alexutadamania]

Peaceful...

[schelkensmatthias]

This is the third mvt. of the Chopin cello sonata...

[Jooseef95]

Yes, it is. Not the second.

[LittleSatine]

Greate vibrate

[morinoroba]

thanks！

[Unexpec7ed]

Beautiful music!!

[anisometropie]

rostropovich / argerich

[EtrofOnaip]

I like the pianist - What is his Name ?

[MasqueradeBall]

Rubinstein

[SCManagement]

That is not Rubenstein playing piano. It is Ralph Berkowitz, who accompanied Piatigorsky for decades. He's still alive - 98 years old - and lives in New Mexico.

[bigcity233]

@SCManagement Thank you - I was wondering who the pianist was. I surmise these film clips of Piatigorsky and Berkowitz were made sometime in the 40's (maybe late 40's). The music is beautiful and haunting.

[TomBarrister]

@bigcity233 If memory serves me, they were shot in 1953.

[TomBarrister]

@SCManagement Mr. Berkowitz was also the frequent accompanist to Eudice Shapiro.

Mr. Berkowitz passed on a few weeks ago, a month short of his 101st birthday.

[peepsrock21]

unbelievable

[iampauleybaby]

Is this the Piatigorsky whose wife the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer had a run in with?

[munkybrain]

I dunno he was married to a good chess player though

[lckemp91]

This is the third movement..

[hugotoxxxxx]

great quality...all older vid are in better quality

[sofiaclassic91]

Bella.. non l'avevo mai sentita.

[bilstew]

Mi pensas lia muziko estas la plej bona kaj cxiam gxi estos la plej bona.

[vlnvlaclogbaerhpno]

Very narrow and fast vibrato...almost looks like it's coming from his wrist, or even fingers (violin/viola) as opposed to his elbow (cello/bass)...

[ldeliane]

if anyone here has ever taken an Alexander Technique lesson.. this is the single most extraordinary example of "perfect use" (related to but so much more than 'posture') I've ever seen--

just gorgeous.

[aimson]

I actually learned the Alexander Technique in high school for my neck and left shoulder. Turned out that my posture was very terrible and when I played the violin I could only stand the pain for about 5 minutes. After about 20 sessions I was completely cured and my posture has been great ever since. Normally it is singers who learn the technique for bigger breath.

[welltuned24]

Cool ear yummy(ness), totally and for sure!

[earshape]

It is not the second movement, but the third movement.

[violaplayer1995]

the other lady n zelnova or sumthing like that..has a huge vibrato compared to him

[scrumhalforegon]

Absolutely sublime interpretation. The DVD is a must-have for any classical music lover.

[BachLoveNat]

Yes, this sonata is amazing especially in Piatigorsky interpretation....

Thank you.

[TomBarrister]

The "greatest" is a matter of personal preference.

I was aware that Mr. Berkowitz was on the staff of Curtis until about 1940, but I didn't know that he was the dean of the institute.

[Moegiust]

What a wonderfully interesting document. Thank you for locating and posting it.

The only "stupid" thing is to reject an artist at the height of his powers and profession, just because one may admire another of the great ones even more. Can't we simply learn from each and all of them, without quarreling?

Besides, you are all mistaken. The greatest cellist was Leonard Rose, followed by Janos Starker. (We can all play that silly comparison game. But let's not.)

[cello4ever]

Stop it!

[cellobuko]

It is amazing to compare techniques like this. Piatigorsky, like Rostropovich was very musical in his approach. His teaching also reflected this. He was apparently very philosophical in his approach. I only wish more videos like this were around of him. He was such a passionate man in his music and his teaching.

[stxer]

Anyone know who is the pianist?

[Phernamar]

The pianist is Ralph Berkowitz who was once the dean at the Curtis Institute. Also dean at Tanglewood. He was Piatigorsky's accompanist for several decades. Now almost 97 years old, he lives in New Mexico. Still plays and teaches. A brilliant and wonderful man.

[TheTradge]

Not a great fan of Piatigorsky myself, much more partial to Du Pré, Gendron and Gutman. I think Piatigorskys vibrato is too fast, it just sounds tight, for my liking anyway. That's just my opinion, others are likely to disagree, but he's not my favourite to listen to. No doubt he was a great cellist, and dynamic contrasts are wonderful!

[jizhengsunye]

No doubt Piatigorsky would have played much better had he only had the opportunity to learn from James Tradgett

[1234bassy]

what the frigg?? lol you're a character and a half

[pix40]

What's really amazing is the hours you can now spend really seeing the different techniques and styles.

[cellodude1]

Your right. When it comes to music one can easily only see their opinion as the right one and blocks out all others. Piatigorsky may connect to RIHARRIS32 in a different manner than you and I.

[aimson]

That's a good attitude to have and I wish more people on Youtube had it. Everybody should be entitled to their own opinion, as long as that opinion is honest and well-formed. And yes, I happen to you agree with you that other cellists besides Piatigorsky have probably been more influential in history. However, I disagree with you about Casals - he was the first cellist to turn the instrument from a novelty into a truly great instrument (much like Andres Segovia for the guitar).

[cellodude1]

100% disagree RIHARRIS32. Piatigorsky was amazing. I will give him that. But Rostropovich has done more for the instrument than Casals and Piatigorsky combined. Rostropovich has the most amazing technique and that comparing others to him is just stupid.

[aimson]

Well, you can't prove what you just wrote any more than RIHARRIS32 can. Therefore, both of you simply voiced your opinions, neither of which are stupid. All you've really done by calling him stupid is start a meaningless pissing contest that will get nowhere. Simply disagree with his opinion, voice your opinion, and move on :)

[abburidotakaria]

well obviously he must be amazing if Ivan Galamian referred to Piatigorsky as the greatest string player of all time

[celloman79]

Done more for the instrument? What is that supposed to mean? Sorry, Rostropovich was an incredible artist. Seriously, absolutely incredible. But Casals did 100 times more for the cello than Rostropovich. No exaggeration. Until Casals, they practiced holding up a book in their left arms. That contribution alone was huge. Not to mention rediscovering the Bach Solo Suites, unknown before Casals. THAT was a serious contribution.

[munkybrain]

I don't think Casals did 100 times more for the instrument. i agree he did more, but alot was written for Rostropovich, and he had a lot of students, and he recorded a lot.

[celloman79]

"A lot" is very relative my friend. Things written for Rostropovich likely would have been dedicated to some other great cellist in his absence. This written for Casals were written because he was really the first great solo cellist that ever existed. Before him, it wasn't really considered a solo instrument. Now it's equal to the violin. Rostropovich built on what Casals started.

[munkybrain]

Rostropovich really did enlarge the repertoire by a conscious effort, and urged composers to write pieces for cello. you're quite right that we couldn't have done without casals

[mrn93]

But as you can see, piatigorsky does not keep his arm at his side (the book way). Piatigorsky was from the school of julius klengel, not casals, thus Casals is not that only one to have that idea.

[colonelcobb74012]

But can you discount the contribution of Starker? Clearly, he is the greatest contributor to the cello repertoire in the last half of the 20th century

[RIHARRIS32]

Wonderful! No cellist has approached this talent, Perhaps Casals, but in a very diferent manner.

[scrumhalforegon]

Spectacular.... best largo I have ever heard! Everything's just right - speed, tone, interpretation.

[commk7]

Actually this is the third movement, Largo. Not the second. =]

[Borriss7]

Just a cello Genius!