Cliburn plays Chopin Polonaise - excerpt

[o56kid]

straight original gangster. . .

[advisorC101]

Rubinstein once refused to record because he said the technology of the time "makes the piano sound like a banjo". Now I fully understand why.

[AphroditeEros33]

<3 Bravo!!! One of my mother's favorite records that I naturally listened to it when I was a girl. Thank you so much for posting & sharing*^o^* <3

[uhartchristian]

thats beautiful, nice, well played, but boring..... just a personal impression....

[samtheman264]

@uhartchristian The song or the playing?

[Cantusdivic]

Why wasn´t it possible to tune the instrument?

[Cantusdivic]

Why wasn´t it possible to tune the instrument!?

[asoidfvgi]

one of the few pianists who really has that ''maestoso"

feeling of this Polonaise!!

[nocturne163]

omg , sooooo amazing !)

[miliona1re]

BRAVO

[VanCliburnFoundation]

Watch the Thirteenth Van Cliburn Competition live starting May 22 through June 7 at the Cliburn website. The webcast will feature live streaming of the performances, online voting, commentary, backstage access, all chamber music rehearsals with the Takacs Quartet and orchestral rehearsals with James Conlon, and more. Its free and open to everyone.

[GMoralesRCflight]

look at those chicks eyeballing him at 2:38 till the end

[Doug19752533]

@GMoralesRCflight lol too bad for them hes a peter puffer

[mrmonkeybuns]

@Doug19752533 Horowitz said there are 3 kinds of pianist Jewish, Gay and Bad... I am not a pianist by the way.

[callenishss]

@mrmonkeybuns horowitz is all three

..joking..

[felipenunesnaim]

Mesmo a peça estando incompleta é sempre um grande prazer ouvir Cliburn

[moslemssuck]

I used to play that. Can't play it anymore now. I guess I should have kept practicing.

[libetta]

the russians are just like the texans. Van Cliburn stands out as one of the all-time greatest pianists. he is deeply rooted in the russian tradition of piano playing

[Generalfieldmarshall]

Esta incompleta....esta es solo la segunda mitad

[kasyapa]

he makes more sense of some sections than almost anyone else. one of his more thought-out performances - in stately pace and steady tone reminds me of paderewski.

once again, everyone, remember: many of these recordings (especially video/tv) have volume leveling applied for broadcast. you're not hearing all the dynamics, by any means - list to horowitz at the white house for a graphic for-instance!

[Berceuse59]

Wow , magically , won't try this , but like to watch his brilliant performance !

[revolver04]

One of my favorite records when I was a boy was Van Cliburn's Favorite Chopin. I love the way he plays.

[revolver04]

Pardon my ignorance but was that a flub at 1:34?

[ShamusMacGuffin]

No, I believe it's the poor quality of the sound recording. It occurs elsewhere in the video as well.

[birdrs]

yeah, pretty sure it was. but compared to how flawless the rest of it is, not a big deal. now, if he were a little more expressive with his dynamics...

[elsnerr]

Well Played, and in the manner of "Heroic".

He compares favorably with Jose Iturbi who played the sound track of "A Song to Remember" a bio of Chopin.

[Denise2302]

He didn't really hate to be recorded. He was/is a perfectionist and knew that once a record was made, that was "it" to the public's ear. He had difficulty decided which recording was "the One!" God, what a pianist. I have seen him in concert many times and absolutely no one plays or looks like him sitting at the piano - PERFECTION, a beautiful pianist, such a majestic, nobility to his playing - GOLDEN!

[Verified1]

Yes, I agree with your comment, and unfortunately this performance wasn't "it." Even so, it's nice to see it and hear it. For me, recordings are never as good as live performance and to hear him play this piece live and play it with that clear powerful operatic style he had - well, those things remain in one's heart, not in a dust jacket, or CD case, I'm afraid.

[billyguns2]

One of the great pianists while he was performing; alas, it didnt last long. I recognize his playing at once, as I do with all great pianists.

[nightblade37]

such virtousity and interpretation. Van cliburn... you are the man

[sychoi2002]

cool to see him actually play

[ivrykeys]

Very cool! I did not know that he had a recorded video of this. I like Van Cliburn's playing more and more every time I hear him.

Too bad he hated to be recorded.