RICHTER - CHOPIN BALADE no.4-f-moll LIVE IN KIEV!!!

[pianojosh23]

Hmm, good performance. I personally much prefer Zimerman. I feel like Richter rushes through certain sections a fair bit, but Zimerman is just perfect all the way through.

[fortepian338]

10:00 !!!

[russellkua]

Richter + Ballade 4 = my dream come true.

[MozartK365]

Chopin put so much feeling in this masterpiece...

[uhartchristian]

Richters technical abilities goes veru far, he was in such good shape that he could fo very far in interpretation. where others take risks he just concentrates....and take his time. his fast tempi seems taken slowly as even there he takes his time and relax....

[hbmp88]

Has anybody seen "Grave of the Fireflies"? An animated video about the horrors of WWII in Japan. This song reminds me of it... Saddest movie ever :'(

[hbmp88]

Classical music videos have astonishingly less view than "pop culture" music because unfortunately the majority of the population is ignorant or just too plain stupid to understand the significance of classical music... SIGH*

[astronomo16]

Este pianista no tiene referencia alguna. Entendía el piano con completa personalidad

[BassicStorm]

i heard many interpretations, but RICHTER IS RICHTER

[stoklund]

@BassicStorm

I know it sounds a little silly, but it is perhaps the most appropriate comment I've ever read here on Youtube!

[Pianoplayer002]

I hear a lot of similarities to Cortot's playing. wonderful!

[4thlord51]

I must learn this song before I die

[BassicStorm]

@4thlord51 me 2!!!

[gala927]

@4thlord51 предлагаю еще пожить

[gala927]

ну как же хорошо Святослав Теофилович сыграл здесь! душа наизнанку

[gala927]

какой он здесь чувственный! я не знала, что он может быть таким. у меня сегодня день открытий.

[BassicStorm]

im gonna hear this masterpiece live soon by Evgeny Kissin ;)

[99hoolio]

@BassicStorm Nevermind. You'll get over it.

[BassicStorm]

@99hoolio it was great, but Richter is better :))))))))))

[Floyd123able]

This is a wonderful recording. So sensitive, so masterful.

[DennisChoy1]

I'm sure that if Richter would try only Chopin in his life ,, it must have been better than this ,, but I think Choipin is not his best. But I don't have any doubt about the fact that his a genius .

[bobbphysics]

This is pretty good, but listen to Josef Hoffman's version... unbelievable

[bobbphysics]

I didn't like this performance. It lacks organizations, and contains many sudden accelerandos that seemingly come out of no where.

[freeqwerqwer]

sluggish performance. No merit

[99hoolio]

@freeqwerqwer Someone obviously didn't listen to the coda.

[efitzger76]

@freeqwerqwer To compliment another is to humble oneself; to recognize another as your equal (or better). To insult is to claim superiority. Let's hear your version. I wager it falls dramatically short of 'sluggish'...

[pipeorganloverNJP]

Wow... This was completely... flawless!

[rosinfarb]

almost everyone knows this balade like an everyday breakfast! but this is muesli, that doesn´t remind you of the floor in a circus arena! you can´t get enough ;)

[XiyueDeng]

Chopin Ballade 4 is called "my old war-horse" by Richter, which he played during the audition with Neuhaus who then claimed Richter "a genius". Undoubtedly Richter's rendition is not at all a canonical performance, but I believe people will agree that was undoubtedly a "genius" performance.

[freeqwerqwer]

This interpretation lacks coherence and logic. It was played too sluggishly at the begining and with a feeling of malaise, and in the fast passage came all too suddenly and too bruttally strong all of which perplexes listeners.

[bratupir]

@freeqwerqwer In general romantic music lacks coherence and logic, but to understand that you need to have a minimum cultural knowledge.

[ciliaspippi]

@freeqwerqwer

I am a listener... not perplexed, just awestruck by the triad of geniuses in this video:

Chopin, Richter and the 4th Ballade.

[christophleipzig]

This is so unbelievable. Just look at the "pause" after 9:20 and the sudden attack after.

This is not just an effect. That is immanent!

[chipheo24]

We mustn't forget that this is a live recording! IT's incredible, what a powerful and intelligent interpretation of Richter.

[calibardo]

I saw him in Bergamo, Italy, (the four ballades, polonaise-fantaisie, 14 etudes !) a mesmerizing experience !

never heard a so complete Chopin!

[Liebromeistal]

Josef Hoffman played this better

[loboris1995]

@Liebromeistal They are both very good pianistes^^

[daveafternoons]

O HAI THAR HILLTOPPER

[uhartchristian]

I am glad to have been at one of his last appearances in Paris.

It was in the early 90ties. at the Theatre Chatelet.

[sam0xin]

All kinds of modern ideas of MASTER were/still fresh,genius & persuasive to me since 1976...They are STILL both #1 for me..Gould in west Globe & Richter in east Globe...!

[KufrAkbar]

Among other beautiful things, wonderful use of the left hand to drive the narrative drama of this romantic masterpiece. Richter at the height of his greatness.

[nocym]

The greatest performer in the greatest performance of Chopin's greatest work.

[freeqwerqwer]

His intro prelude is too soppy and soft, then he bursts into a tirade of chords which clashes in temperament with his earlier quiet pose. His strong and soft musical ideas don't match and that is why Richter fails on the Chopin ballade 4.

[ciliaspippi]

You don't seem to understand, freeqwerqwer, that not all pieces stay in the same tempo or mood. Especially in the mid to late romantic period(when chopin lived) pieces had a large amount of rubato. So what's your problem with the tempo change. All the chopin I played often had a very large jump from calm to a loud passionate. In short, the prelude can be interpreted in Richter's way, and the ballade could have had a fiery mood. What's wrong with the jump? And It's not like he's bashing it!

[tsequ]

hammmmmmmmm....!!!!!

[ll0llll0ll]

in awe. i have a goosebump whenever i listen to chopin's 4th ballade by richter. he fixed my ears for good.

[jazzlover06]

I don't know whether it's just me, but Richter just seems to be the 20th Century's answer to Liszt and Clara Schumann. I know other people disagree, but really... what more could he possibly to do here? It's about as close to perfection as feasible...

[dmluca]

Many thanks for this divine recording!

[nextren]

We should bow our heads in gratitude for such playing.

[gigge83]

wow.... he is the best. perfect execution...

[deandusk]

why do classical music vids have so less views while some dumps like avril lavigne or rihanna or dunno what have around 100 million ? not a very intelligent question u could say.. im sry

[freeqwerqwer]

Because people like levity, not pensivity

[lewars1912]

@deandusk Blame the capitalist system lol.

[99hoolio]

@deandusk Let me teach you something about humanity ... oh nevermind.

[afinkeln]

@deandusk Because listening to this type of music requires an active brain and inquisitive nature. This music doesn't shove itself down your throat, up your bum and into your eye sockets like the music you mention. You have to come to it, or at least meet it halfway.

[chacoteris]

Without trying to convince anybody, I think Richter is the best pianist & the most complete, of the 20th century.

[jhoward1957]

I agree with you. Richter was the complete virtuoso. He also did not shy away from the less conventional pieces which he also played with great command. If I had only one pianist to listen to it would be Richter or Hoffman.

[Minoru73]

Beautiful. :) *no offense pls*

[strav12]

This is spine tingling energy! Not one note without passion - and a clear aversion to dry abstraction or histrionics but still captures the drama. Meanwhile, I don't think the debates below are about style. They are about personality. Some personalities get on. You don't have to rationalise why - in fact, you can't. Unless you are Sigmund Freud II.

[dmytropiano]

More info please!!! Sounds like 1950th? Crazy performance....you can feel that he performed this so many times before.

[KufrAkbar]

Thank God this live performance was recorded. Deutsche Grammophon put it in an album called "Träumerei -- Berühmte Pianisten spielen romantische Stücke" in 1966.

I'll bet Pollini would agree with me that Richter's performance is unmatched. :D

[K189T]

Very clear... Come on, of course there are bad and good pianists. After it's depends of the style, so we like or not, we can say "I like it" or "I don't" I simply prefer Pollini's style. Is it a crime?

[K189T]

Do you insinuate I am an idiot? "But Richter was a pure genius."==> I never said the contrary.

[K189T]

Ow, If it disturbs you, you should put "-1" on my comment :P I think I prefer Pollini because of his very direct interpretation, but I did'nt say Richter was bad, check out the first comment...

[thuztra]

Potently enthralling, as always...

[K189T]

Nothing to say... It's miraculous. But I still prefer Pollini :/

[fionasapple]

me too. too many mistakes in the coda. the rest is brill tho!

[K189T]

too many mistakes in the coda==> only 3 or 4... And it's nothing comparate to the shivers we feel by hearing this coda... The quality of a pianist doesn't depend of the mistakes he makes, check out Cortot...

[fionasapple]

i dunno. i think 3 or 4 in less than the last quarter of 1 performance is a bit too much. of course i wouldn't go as far as to say that he's a bad pianist, but he could have taken this down to a tempo where he's actually capable of handling. it's not nice when you're leisurely listening to music and there are mistakes by a PROFESSIONAL pianist.

[RabidCh]

I think taking down the tempo would've killed the feeling. He probably just took the risk for the music and ended up smudging.

[tsequ]

si, a los mediocres les molesta.