Claudio Arrau - Chopin Prelude 16 live (and lightning fast!)

[lllllllllllllll88]

Holy freak'n molely...

[delamoraraulpiano]

Insuperable. Aparte de una técnica excepcionál y tremenda velocidad, jamás pierde el sentido musical, estetico, profundo y apasionado que debería caracterizar las interpretaciónes de Chopin con los pianistas en común pero la mayoria se quedan en el Show off, por eso resultan muy vacias y poco interesantes.

Raúl.

[jjg7]

i still prefer argerich's 1976 tokyo recital version

[EdiEllerymissing]

@jjg7 So do I, but this still amazing :-)!

[hozman01]

WOOOOOOW - I live in Prague :D

[hjiuhfhrehui]

verry awsome :D. but i prefer Sergio Tiempo's version

[dexterityhunter]

Never underestimate Arrau's technical capabilities !!!

Please also check Pogorelich live in Barcelona 1998 !!!

[Ray0X0]

@dexterityhunter People that underestimated Arrau's technique ... really don't know Arrau. He was an incredible virtuoso and his perfect technique allowed him to play (at great level) till the last day of his life...

[anonymousQ45]

very aggressive in second variation of theme i like this

[The55555SSSSS]

Arrau is a genius!look at him.

He is playing one of the hardest Chopin preludes without moving.

[uhartchristian]

for those who have heard Arrau in his last years and who thought that he didn t go for virtuosity, here is the proof he was a very good virtuose also, not only a very good musician!!!!

[BassicStorm]

which is the hardest Chopin prelude in your opinion? imo - this 1 :s rply :)

[Haioification]

@BassicStorm Not this one, i think. For me personally the last one No. 24 ist the hardest, because of the right hand, when it has to play the thirds down the scale.

Even No. 8 in f isn't that difficult, if you can say that ANY Prelude isn't "difficult". But in a interpretational and harmonic way all of them are.

[BassicStorm]

@Haioification and no.7 is hard, 24th is my favorite ;)

[Haioification]

@BassicStorm 7? NO! You mean obviously Nr. 8 in f sharp minor, or not?

But even this one is playabe after a while. But maybe i have some special difficulty with that No. 24 and his thirds to play ... :-(

But compared to the ETUDES the Preludes are quite simple ;)) If ANY of thiy works could be simple in any way ...

[Poltergeist232]

And that's how you sweep pick a piano

[soquiet]

the best !

[Jakopsohn]

How can one say that this is not fast?! Is someone here dumb? No pianist in the world has recorded this piece faster than Arrau, and no one has done it better, the speed is like double prestissimo!!! And don't say that Cziffra was a better pianist, because he wasn't, true he had a good technique, but very unmusical, Arrau will always be unique thanks to his unbeatable technique and amazing control over the sound and colour of the piano. DAMN GOOD ;)

[TTakach999]

@Jakopsohn not that i care (because speed usually means less quality)..but Argerich is actually fastest in record.

[pianotonton]

@Jakopsohn Hum ! Arrau was a great musician and pianist : one of the greatest of the XXe th Century. I heard him a lot in recital and with orchestra.... And Cziffra too : it's a pity to write stupidity against so great and pure artists !

[Jakopsohn]

@pianotonton Are you sure? I think that Arrau makes it at 0.56..And Argerich at 0.58...at my record at least ;)..but hey i can be wrong.....and i dont think it's a pity to wright stupidity, cziffra wasn't half as good musician as Arrau, he just had the technique..:P

[demosj]

@Jakopsohn Cziffra was playing much more difficult pieces, like the Grand Gallop Chromatique at a better tempo. I love Arrau too, and his early recordings are mind-boggling, but his technique declined too fast. The fact he played one Chopin prelude -none of which are too hard anyway, even this one - or some other small piece really fast doesn't change that.

[arturon111]

@demosj ARRAU's technique did not decline, that is the biggest stupidity ive heard,... he was a virtuoso till hislast day. He had the best technique of them all, better than Rubinstein, Horowitz, Richter, Czifrra, and Argerich, and he was a better musician, therefore, he had the luxury of deciding, according to his taste, knowledge and convictions, what is the best tempo to play each piece of music and he did.... NOT because he lacked technique.

[retrogamerdave]

@arturon111 agreed--look at how he plays in his 80th birthday recital--if he didn't have technique, he could not play as he does at such an advanced age

[2ndAveLine]

Bravo Claudio- this is one Chilean con Carne!

[Ray0X0]

@2ndAveLine Ja ja... yo no lo habría dicho mejor !!

[brjssss]

it doesnt make any diference..Afica , south america, asia.. the point is that arrau can play as fast as he wants , and still clear and musically ..

and by the way isn t that amazing for a black Afro-southamerican pianist to be so renown all over the world?? ( just kidding ) hahahah

[revoluzar]

Chile

Arrau

perfecto

unico

[voolare]

first time I hear him loosing the total control, but hey... So much fun!

[themusicmylife]

Please post the full op. 28 by Arrau live Prague 1960... Fantastic performance!

[verystacy]

even better than argerich...marvelous

[andrepedico1]

very good indeed! its a shame he messed it up from 0:27 to 0:33... but truly scary .. i loved the demonic pace he keeps!

[KosteckiAdam]

Fantastic!!!!

[felix0911176727]

I feel dizzy~~ @__@

[ppqqoowwrl]

This is not fast... But this perfromance is Very Fantastic

[carajomierda2007]

Can you play it faster?

[arturon111]

@ppqqoowwrl This is the fastest performance ever recorded, and it is LIVE !!!!

[Ray0X0]

Perfect technique, perfect performance. Excellent !!

[sprund2009]

What a total mess. I agree with Forgottenxcharade. Dreadful.

[arturon111]

@sprund2009 you call this performance dreadfull ??? if that is so, you need hearing aids,.... this is simply the best recording of the piece, ever,...

[mesho512]

this was a live concert so does any body on earth have the video of this incredible piece ? please.

[meredith218461]

Thats the fastest account of that demonic little prelude I've ever heard!. I like it even if there are one or two little fluffs, no use playing safe with this sort of piece.

[Frozentoes1]

Indeed. I thought Katsaris and Argerich were fast. This is incredible, and quite clear as well.

I agree that in such situation, risk-taking is called for; no sense in playing it safe like Ohlsson (which is quite bad, I must say).

[lovesGenet]

left hand n this piece is something.right hand clean almost secco like Arrau here just takes time but you can always miss the octaves in left hand and odd configurations before.blaechaz where is his 16-24? anybody know?

[karazh]

horrible played...

[etaletopos]

There are 2 things I like about Arrau's rendition: a bona fide display of presto con fuoco; a perfect legato touch.

[ForgottenxCharade]

It kind of sounds like he hated playing this piece.

[JersonPacheco]

Chile is located in South-America

[Ellinidara]

Arrau?Argerich? Two Monsters,so difficult to choose...

[rvn10rvn17]

arrau..

compare both's ballade no.1 and you'll know

[Ellinidara]

yes but only in this case Arrau;'cause Martha,the titanic woman plays so far with more pedal and some little mistakes:-)

[gcaee]

i prefer arrau.

[flvrocha]

It is so nice to know that a country located in Africa like Chile has such a good pianist!!!

[gspiel1232]

welll...chile is inn oh nevermend

[Frozentoes1]

I see Geography is not your strong point.

[lospazio]

And irony is not certainly yours.

[Frozentoes1]

Irony? No irony there. Seems English isn't your strong point either.

[lospazio]

No irony? flvrocha is from Brazil, so there's no chance whatsoever that he (or she) could possibly think that Chile is in Africa. This is a disdainful comment, not a geographical statement...

[Frozentoes1]

You need help.

[sydgerald]

How can be so ignorant, and say that Chile is located in Africa.... if you live in Brazil????? I mean take a look at the left of the map... a bit further, yeah after Bolivia.... now look down.

There you go, that Chile!

Easy isn't it?

[exavier091]

lol your funny =)

[FredilYupigo]

Everything Arrau has played (except for his Liszt TEs and Sonata) is absolutely amazing. This is no exception, and is probably the epitome of his work.

Absolutely amazing rendition. I love it!

[arturon111]

Liszt Trascendental Etudes and Sonata are the best of any pianist !!! both technically and musically !!!, of course everything else too,... but no one can touch Arrau in Liszt,... not even close,...

[nmitchell076]

@arturon111

Cziffra can come close as far as liszt goes

Thats just my opinion however

[aloofistpain]

You all better listen Pogorelich version

[arturon111]

Arrau is superior in everything to Pogorelich. There is nothing to compare between Pogorelich and Arrau.

[MrCholwan25]

un gran chileno!

[Necromicom6]

HOLY FUCKING AND REFUCKING AND HIPER FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!

THAT WAS AMAZING INCREIBLE, BRILLIANT !!! his a fucking monster ... and he is Chilean :D !!

[TheLanilsson]

Arrau was just as brilliant when he was 80!! he never lost his technique! But when he became an old man, he started to work more with phrases and emotions and that was more important to him, so ha therefore choosed slower tempi for the musical language...but hes ballades and scherzoz by chopin are just a few second slower in the 80:s recording, than those fron 54..he just works with the music more in the later recording..he was always the most technically gifted of them all...even at an old age

[cass73]

My god,, what is that!

A Giant on the piano! Amazing

Poor star pianists.. Argerich, Pogorelich,

Pollini..

[michal1810]

Wow

Even Argerich plays it a little slower

But prefer her

Obviously

[arturon111]

i prefer Arrau in everything, more that Argerich, Arrau is a true artist-poet

[arturon111]

Obviously,.... NOT !!! prefer Arrau than Argerich,...

[EminemVsRach]

This is the best performance of this piece I've ever heard. Personally I find Tiempo's and Argerich's performace too showy. This is sublime!

[Selecter8]

pogorelich...best preformance...

[arturon111]

no way, Arrau was the greatest of the great pianists in all aspects,...

[arturon111]

absolutely NOT,... Pogorelich didnt have the technique and sound Arrau had not even close !!!

[verbatim71]

Theres no doubt that arrau hasnt got a very good technicue. He was a student of Krause( a student of Liszt) and you can guess the rest...

[driemaaldrommels]

i never knew that arrau could play this fast! normally it is slow and pedantic! this is great!

[lizarthopinsky]

wow, this is very fast !

[Troybeallad]

Arrau was a great pianist. Is this, however a great piece of Chopin playing?

[pligana]

amazing beautiful!!!! 5*****

[berlinzerberus]

yes,really magic and ingenious,arrau´s pinoplaying.

he is in every way on the top of his abilities in this rendition of the 4th concerto with the philadelphia orchestra conducted by ricardo muti.

and the main thing is that he seems falling in trance during the play.he could be truly in ecstasy.

phenomenal!!

[ennodios]

Arturo 111 is right! Claudio Arrau is the best pianist ever! Listen to him playing the Emperor Concerto with Maestro Muti

[berlinzerberus]

...probably you mean the 4th concerto,the "emperor" is the 5th!! ;))

[ennodios]

Ops! I have mixed up two memories...

[vincenzopollini]

without words... amazing

[AntonioDGO]

exactly, without words :)

[Tiszt]

lightning indeed

[Keytaster]

show-off... that was the worst rendition I've ever heard... he just wanted to show he's the fastest. he killed the piece, no music anymore. ludacris!

[EstoyAtrasTuyo]

Put a gun in your mouth and kill yourself bastard :D

[ernestpeh]

speed is not everything in a song... this is the way it should be played

[dido93]

Great and "greatest" Maestro....Claudio Arrau....the "ayatollah of the piano"....!!!

[Ray0X0]

Este señor Chopin al parecer era muy dado a hacer obras de un minuto!!

[kempff95]

great touch and TEMP!!!!!!!

[klear11]

Un orgullo para los chilenos...

toda una vida junto al piano, UN GRANDE.

[EstoyAtrasTuyo]

REALMENTE INCREIBLE ARRAU!!

[tredoce]

c'est beaucoup trop rapide !! je sais que la nature même de cette pièce ne permet pas beaucoup de marge d'interprétation, mais quand même ! C'est juste du cirque, comme l'ont fait Rubinstein et Duchable.

[beklopt]

ya te tenían que salir el resentimiento y la envidia típicos de ustedes los chilenos para con nosotros los argentinos...

Arrau was a GREAT but in the last years mannered pianist. Argerich is a genius, whether you like her or not, why to exclude one thing from another?

[Ray0X0]

Soy chileno y créame, no envidio absolutamente nada de usted ni de Argentina.

Cada persona es libre de dar su opinión y con respecto al maestro Arrau, algunos son apasionados fanáticos y otros acérrimos detractores, aunque al final casi siempre el asunto descansa en la puerilidad del gusto personal.

El maestro Arrau es reconocido mundialmente como uno de los pianistas más brillantes del siglo XX. Como todo pianista tiene presentaciones simplemente deslumbrantes y otras no tanto

[Ray0X0]

Sin lugar a dudas Marta Argerich es una de las mejores pianistas del siglo XX. Sin embargo Arrau es otra cosa, no que sea superior ni nada en esa línea. Es otra cosa en el sentido de que este músico-poeta es el resultado de circunstancias imposibles de repetir: Formado musicalmente en la escuela romántica alemana de Liszt, genio por naturaleza, de percepción y sensibilidad humana extraordinaria, de personalidad humilde y retraída

(CONTINÚA)...

[Ray0X0]

Formado como hombre en la disciplina y rigurosidad alemanas, fue siempre metódico y disciplinado en todo aspecto de su vida. Por ejemplo, se dice que siempre preparaba sus presentaciones aunque ya las hubiera interpretado decenas de veces.

Los avatares de la vida le hicieron perder su figura paterna dos veces en la vida, que llevó a recibir ayuda sicológica durante cinco años en su adolescencia. Quizás esto explica la profunda percepción y comprensión

(CONTINÚA)...

[Ray0X0]

de los sentimientos más tormentosos y apasionados y de los dulces y melancólicos de compositores como Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms o Chopin.

Arrau fue un auténtico genio. Aprendió a leer música antes que leer palabras. Dio su primer recital formal a los 6 años (ante el presidente de Chile). Fue un hombre muy culto y profundo estudioso de los compositores clásicos y de sus obras.

Todo esto hacieron de Arrau un músico único en su especie.

Todos estos factores hacen de Arrau

[Ray0X0]

...un músico incomparable.

[arturon111]

Argerich is great, I love Martha, but there is not way you can compare Arrau to Martha. Arrua is SUPERIOR in ALL to Martha, that is musicianship, TECHNIQUE, control, sound quality, legato, SINGING !!!! expression, SPEED, etc. Martha does not have the refinement in technique nor the depth of Arrau. ARRAU is KING of ALL pianists,....

[Keyfdez]

Claudio Arrau! really nothing to say better than every other video u.u

God !

[Necromicom6]

para q hablas en ingles si este loko es chileno xD jajajajaja

y todos los coment son en español ._. !

en realidad es un dios este pedazo de basura xD

toda una vida para tokar como el

[grupetto]

BRAVO ARRAU!!!!!!

[givemetime123]

Excellente version de ce prélude, un tempo adapté (pas trop rapide) et bien maintenu et une magnifique interprétation. Les nocturnes de Chopin par C Arrau sont excellents aussi.

Ph

[uffizzi19]

arrau esta muy arriba que kissin o argerich...es del nivel que horowitz y rubinstein...pinches gringos ignorantes...

[revilo178]

bullshit

[Rodrigodbf]

I dont even understand why such a necessity of compair pianists...

[Triviumisi]

it´s phenomenal. i´m not allowed to say anything against him. he´s a pianogod. but i prefer kissins version! :)

[NOSEhow2LIV]

A phenomenal performance. If you want to niggle at insignificant errors, you'll always find them. But it's incredibly directed & mastered,musically.He knows what he wants,and achieves it. The fullness of tone is evident even at this speed, the clarity is stunning. A Master.

[brynbstn]

It's too fast for his technical facility... it's dynamically flat within the phrase. Argerich, Kissin and above all, Sergio Tiempo play it with more dynamic variation and excitement. I think of Arrau as more of an artist then a technical wizard. As for me, I could only play it badly after a huge effort.

[brynbstn]

I changed my mind, I really like this performance.

[kajohada]

...ya,thats true and how dramatically he repeats the first part in accentuating the left hand,it sounds so threatening.he fulfilles completely chopin´s condition playing this prelude...bravo!

masterful played..

[brjssss]

i´m sorry but i have to say again , nobody plays well the climax of this prelude before the first part comes again .. you can hear all the interpretations , even martha argerich plays that so fast, but no climax.. it´s like a etude. here you can hear this even in this tempo , the maestro understands very well chopin.. bravo

[gozhn]

Claudio u noob, itz too fast.

[Rob48]

HE ACCIDENTALLY THE WHOLE PRELUDE!

[kajohada]

contrary to mr.arraus interpretation your comment has no dramatic sense and seems pretty redundant:((

[micheldvorsky]

haha da rob.

[RabidCh]

Funny I got that joke :)

[francescopollini1]

Arrau's detractors are fortunately in the minority. This is a stellar performance of a difficult piece. For the malcontented and ill-informed, there's always a truckload of lesser lights you can hail and acclaim. God knows there's enough of them out there with pretensions of artistry. Arrau rules. Period.

[kajohada]

...well said!!!

[brjssss]

you have to hear more arrau recordings don´t to say something like this .. not just arrau but other GOOD pianists, not competition winners that play perfect not making music . how can you explain his interpretation of feux follets... it´s written allegretto, not prestissimo possibile ... he play what the composer wanted to hear in a also personal interpretation .that makes the difference between a good pianist and a note parrot .

[kajohada]

...for example the transcendental etudes by liszt on youtube,nobody can play these as sxciting as mr.arrau,but occasionally people do have a pretty strange opinion what is well played or not,that is very bad!

[j67123]

Arrau's playing is sloppy and generally unbearably slow. He even managed to water down the opening six chords of this piece. Obviously, many others must like his style but I have yet to hear one thing from him that I don't consider awful.

[kajohada]

nonsense :((

[squishym]

I didn't like the beginning chords either - I feel that Arrau could have attacked them more. And I've heard much smoother performances on the whole, but for some reason I think this frantic approach suits the piece! Some of Arrau's performances are awful, but there are good ones to be found too.

[arturon111]

are you a musician? a pianist? i have not heard any awfull performance by Arrau.... he is the KING of all pianists,.... ussually he performs EVERY piece just about better than anyone else !!!!

[guidohizon]

i don't know about that :P

[RabidCh]

I'm not an Arrau fan but his 1928 performance of Liszt's Les Jeux d'Eaux kills all other renditions.

[Razaak]

Despite the few very minor and understandable imperfections, of all the renditions of this work delivered at that sort of speed, the right hand is as articulate as I've ever heard. Superior to Argerich in my view and as good as Katsaris (whose performance isn't live). Truly astonishing.

[debussy84]

Umm, am i the only one who heard the mistakes. There was actually several.

[mos3]

aguante arrau!!!

[DrumDisciple1]

Arrau just melted my face with that one.

[shilloshillos]

Its not about fast or slow, anyway. But the speed of this piece is atypical of Arrau's slower interpretations of everything, in general.

[kajohada]

but he could play very fast,because he was a real virtuoso:fast with e x p r e s s i o n :)

that´s the difference!

[kajohada]

maestro---->fucking good!!

[frncgrc]

Arrau is incredible: The light on all the notes!

[klausknulp]

breathtaking!

[iomgiomg]

ARGERICH es una mierda

[piedijon]

jaja- argerich es una mierda.

[bandong123456789]

ARGERICH is the best

martha wins always

[bandong123456789]

That was the best interpretation

[siebhirn]

so schnell und so klar !!! es kommt einem überhaupt nicht gehetzt vor !!!

kenne keine bessere interpretation !!!

unglaublich frisch...

[timelessartloving]

(1) This piece is incredibly difficult at this tempo merely because of the skipping chords in LH. In Arrau's Prag recital it is as fast as Argerich's live reference but in the whole, objectively viewed, more convincing. Look at the score: You can hear exciting phrasing and articulating which follows Chopin's dynamics (e.g. there is fortissimo at the renewal of the wave theme). Whereas she plays here faster than she can with flat dynamic, absence of "con fuoco" which can not be assigned to

[timelessartloving]

=>...(2) intention or bad recording, rather owing to lack of power and clarity (passages blurred by pedal). Listen to her 1999 Philips studio version which is far better but also slower and for my taste there is a enervating mannerism in the LH peak chords of the triples. Sorry, dear Argerich fans, wish not to disappoint you. If you don't like Arrau, Richter surely would have played this piece even faster and Artur Rubinstein studio recording is also very fast and exciting.

[Achtelnote]

between this two artists there is no better,they are both on the highest level.

arrau has very good control(otherwise he could not play on stage at such a tempo),he only slows down one time(22sec.) and not at any difficultie.

[timelessartloving]

Yes, «Les événements se précipitent » after 15 scenes alternating between light and shadow. Arrau also plays very fast and with an enormous strength but it is never brittle. He is willing and able to establish a relationship between the 24 preludes with the wonderful result that the whole work tells something like a life story.

[jjg7]

this is comparable to argerich's but his tempo is sometimes inconsistent esp. in the LH octaves part.

[timelessartloving]

Of course Argerich is great. Her distinct features are virtuosity and subjective originality. She provides a singing and soft sound. But she generally neither stands for precision nor for adhering much to the scores. Precision for the sake of commanding admiration is senseless. I think her LH is rigid, not enough varied and she does not illuminate the structural relation to the RH as Arrau does. She wants to rush through the piece to make audience admire her artistic capability.

[kajohada]

that´s it!