Added: 6 years ago
From: adrienzo
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  • This is terrible. This is not Chopin. When these Russian fools play Chopin they mess around with it and it just doesn't have the same power as what it does when they just play it straight, as it's written.

  • This is better than Valentina Lisitsa's version

  • @UrbanVivaldi It sure is! Richter is a legend!

  • @UrbanVivaldi true because val is a robot

  • @marcelmombeekpiano I can understand if you take someone like Cziffra as your guide in music, Richter must seem cold. With Cziffra you get overexposed to a syle of playing that is always trying to milk every phrase for every last drop of expression. You have developped a thick skin because of it. For me it is just to much if a pianist treats every single phrase like it is the ultimate orgasm. Expression is much wider in range then that.

  • @marcelmombeekpiano Well, how about leaving those kinds of negative comments to be made by people who have achieved the same level he has? Do you think that any of those that you named would have said the same? I know that pianists have been know to claim being the best, but I do not think the destroy one another... How then can we attempt to tear them down when we but very little experience in these areas which they are masters of?

  • @marcelmombeekpiano If you are being serious, than that's sad. First off, that you'd have the gall to insult a great pianist like that. Secondly, that you would be that disrespectful to someone who has undoubtedly excelled in an area of trade in which you are ignorant. Please be respectful to someone who has earned their place in greatness as a musician first, and secondly a pianist.

  • Does anyone else notice the high descending part starting before he ever gets there? Right at 0:27? Either Richter has powers that I didn't know about, or there is an audio overlap or something. Interesting sound!

  • Skillful......wow.....

  • "Merciless Winter Wind"

  • For a piano virtuoso of a certain age he sure has one hell of a mohawk!

  • the intro compliments the start of the rest so perfectly. i played it without the intro and just didnt sound right.

  • 1:25 he added an extra e... :o

  • at 0:28

    If you listen really carefully, a second playing starts before he plays. :3

  • @MrMapleUniverse Yer, what's that all about?

  • @MrMapleUniverse playback O:

  • @MrMapleUniverse it proves he's miming

  • I love Sviatoslav Richter.

  • It's so amazing that a piece designed to improve technical skills can be such a beautiful and touching piece. I <3 Chopin.

  • in my opinion this is one of the best interpretations of this piece

  • Lang Lang can play this faster!

  • @brassmonkeyjew is music all about speed? CZIFFRA could have played this faster, but to make the piece more musically understandable and pleasant, he slowed down.

  • @brassmonkeyjew

    Ah, and if you want top speed with this study, listen to sokolov, a very interesting interpretation

  • @brassmonkeyjew no, no, music does not equal to speed. it may be an important factor, but obviously its not EVERYTHING. and this performance is not a bad performance, it may be slow, but at least better than bashing every notes with a crazy tempo.

    but i respect ur opinion

  • @brassmonkeyjew This "old guy" happens to be Sviatoslav Richter, the greatest pianist of the 20th century,

  • @brassmonkeyjew You talk rubbish.....This is top notch stuff....The clarity is excellent...I can hear every note....Music. Does not equal speed....Music. Is interpretation

  • @brassmonkeyjew

    Sorry, but I can hardly think that Lang Lang can play this, he can, surely, put all the notes, maybe faster, but he can definitely not play this .... And, of course, when you pay a pro to play those kind of pieces, you want him to play it at the RIGHT speed, not too slow, but not too fast ... there's a good tempo for every pieces, and I think the one assumed here, is quite the right one. You can play it a bit faster, or a bit slower, if you prefer, it isn't so much important.

  • πωρωση!!!!

  • There seems to be a record playing in the background a couple seconds ahead, right before (0:27-0:30) the flurry of notes begins.

  • The butterfly etude is another really tricky one... this one is so chromatic that it's hard to play. The butterfly is all about thirds.

  • His hands look like they're floating :)))

  • This is what white people used to make, listen to T-pain and tell me we're all equal.

  • @SayNoToTheism Whether in jest or not that was a terrible comment. Go listen to some Stevie Wonder.

    Just an FYI, not everyone even had access to pianos.

  • @SayNoToTheism Don't listen to classical musique pleeaaase. You don't deserve it.

  • @gouloum2222 Why, because I don't like rap?

  • This is fantastic!

  • For all pianists out there, note a few things -- lessons from the master:

    There is NO wasted motion. Watch his hands and his body. Note how much of the power comes from the whole body and how little the fingers are moving.

    Also, note that he used a score and a page turner. Can anyone listen to this and say that the score interfered?

  • whats harder - revolutionary or this 1? looks like this 1 is 4 right hand, and revolutionary 4 left :P

  • revolutionary etude is easy, this is something you have to watch out for

  • @sharaf50N1C no etude is easy, or let's better say they all are, the point is mastering the technique you need to know so you play them without hurting youself (tension and overworking fingers)

  • WOW, this is Sviatoslav Richter!!!

  • Who is this performing so wonderfully???

    Chopin is one of my favorites- followed by Borodin- Smetana- Rimski-Korsakov

  • BRAVO...! Brilliant..Thank you.

  • Úchvatná skladba- fantastický interpert !!!!!

  • It was really awesome :)

  • OhMy. It really nice and awesome. :)

  • why wasn't he happy at the end=[

  • This might just be one of the finest early examples of heavy metal.

    Chopin = Genius

  • @ThePaczki Please don't compare this beautiful etude to heavy metal.

  • @belegSJ,

    Unfortunately, I have no choice because ALL music begins and ends with Chopin. Everything that has followed has been "cute." With that being said, I will not, however, call Chopin a "gangster" like a previous commentator did. I hope in your everyday prayers in addition to asking for good health, you thank God for Chopin, because, let's be honest, there's no way Chopin could have done all this on his own. It's impossible. Listening to Chopin is to listen to the voice of God.

  • @ThePaczki Point taken. :D

  • @ThePaczki No, it isn't. Listening to Chopin is listening to the voice of Chopin.

    Go to a piano. Hold down the C, don't play the note, just hold down the C so the damper isn't touching. Just tap the C higher, the G, and the F, and listen to the harmonic series resonating from the first C.

    That is the voice of God.

  • @Chefodeath,

    First, I really hope that you are listening to the Chopin competition live from Warsaw instead of watching Youtube videos. Secondly, as much as I love Chopin, it is impossible to accept that his body of work, which is unparalled in all of music history, was written merely by him - a man. If he didn't have the benefit of God speaking directly through him, why is it that no other composers even come close to him. Alas, the voice of God speaks through him . . .

  • @ThePaczki Lets examine that shall we?

    You say there is something in Chopin's music beyond human ability. Yet merely by recognizing what you name a divine attribute with your human senses, you have proven Chopin within the grasp of human ability. If you can understand and find beauty in this music, then so must it follow as possible that the human Chopin was able to create that beauty.

  • @ThePaczki But, you might argue, that comprehension and creation are not the same thing. That to be able to understand and love Chopin's music is possible for man, but only God can create it.

    If that were so, then why do not all men bow down in recognition of the divine beauty evident in Chopin's work, why is it possible for some of us simply to find it unpleasant? No matter how you might say you think it inspired by God, it is still your subjective human opinion that supposes it so.

  • @Chefodeath,

    " why is it possible for some of us simply to find it unpleasant?" First of all, I've never heard these words uttered before. It didn't think it was possible. Since I have never experienced anyone in the world who finds Chopin's music "unpleasant," I can only assume it is a matter of mental illness. But, more importantly, I would love to meet someone like that because, again, I did not think it was possible and, quite honestly, I don't believe it.

  • @ThePaczki Thats a good point, but lets just assume there is someone who does not like Chopin's music. Wouldn't that neccesarily mean it is not the objective good that a thing created by God would be?

  • @Chefodeath,

    Herein lies the problem. You're asking that we "assume" that there is someone in the world who doesn't like Chopin's music, which, again, I consider to be an impossibility. I would even consider it an impossibility for someone to "like" Chopin's music, as opposed to be "obsessed" with it. To answer the latter part of your question the answer is "no," because it is God acting in union with Chopin. But without Chopin, God is just that - God without Chopin.

  • @ThePaczki what a load of pretentious shit

  • @Haxd4x,

    The only other time that I heard the word "shit" used in a conversation about Chopin, was when someone was comparing other composers to Chopin. Although I do not fully agree with this assessment - I, like you I'm assuming, will listen to other composers once every few years, or once a decade. The problem is, listening to other composers only drives one back to Chopin. But, there are things in life that are more important than Chopin. Health and . . . well, I guess that's it, health.

  • @ThePaczki try these pieces to detoxicate a bit from chopin :P

    mazeppa liszt (cziffraa version) scriabin etude no 12 op 8 and scriabin prelude no 14

    oh and no 12 transcedental liszt i think ;)

    

  • @alejandrothefader,

    Thanks for the suggestions. There are several Liszt pieces I do like, Liebestraum to name one, but for whatever reason I cannot connect with him on any meaningful level. I also enjoy some Schumann pieces, but, again, I cannot connect with him on any meaningful level. I will definitely check out the Sciabin that you suggested . . . right after I finish listening to Chopin. :) Thanks again.

  • Man, Chopin is gangster. I love this piece and especially the constant return to that high shrill part. Its eerie yet beautiful.

  • Maybe I'm wrong, but if you turn your speakers up you may hear the part that his right hand plays until 0:31, in the background from minute 0:28 - 0:30.

    Great performance!!!

  • @yxnxixk You're not wrong. I hear it as well. A quirk of some kind in the audio.

  • Maybe I'm wrong, but if you turn your speakers up you may hear the part that his right hand plays until 0:31, in the background from minute 0:28 - 0:30.

    Great performance!!!

  • Hey this old guy's bad ass! I'd pay to see to see him!

  • i get it. This music is cold and painful like the wind on a frigid winter day.

  • I started piano again thanks to this video lol playing winter wind and getting better

  • What a masterpiece! One of the greatest pianists ever.

  • Why isn't Richter's name in the title of this?

  • A wonderful masterpiece by Chopin. Truly amazing.

  • Wow, such a masterpiece from Chopin! I love to see the hands of the pianists playing... :)

  • Apparently, he didn't like this version

  • Certainly one of the best pianists of all time!

  • wow thats awesome! but in the beginning it was so soft and gentle i turned my speakers up...big mistake-it scared me to death when the piece abruptly changed

  • @wizzkablooie : Well that's Richter for you ... . 

  • @wizzkablooie Happened to me too!

  • @wizzkablooie lol - that's funny

  • @wizzkablooie I did the same on headphones !! Mistake indeed.

    Chopin is a prankster.

  • Un Titano!

  • Its so cool to watch his LH do the descending run at 1:47. I've listened to this piece hundreds of times but I keep coming back to this version and I never get tired of it. He plays it a little slower than most others which is actually MUCH harder to pull off. I get chills at the end.

    Magnificent !

  • By far the best version I heard !

    He gives a lot of soul, but it seems more like an avalanche to me than a winter wind ^^

  • C'EST MAGNIFIQUE

  • ça claque...!

  • This is the best one I've heard.

  • i think he was wearing glasses was he?well no surprise i guess...old age...

  • i wonder if this etude could of been in used in fantasia or some movie like that.....

  • absolutly impresive. best ever

  • I never get tired of watching this performance. What I love about it is how he just blows you away, takes a perfunctory bow and walks off without any expression at all. Almost as if he was bored. But that was Richter. He made it look so easy without breaking a sweat. Amazing talent !

  • He pounds the notes well. He woke you up when he played the fast part

  • Ah but thats exactly how it should be done AZ ! Chopin intended the opening sequence to be the calm before the violent storm that blows in and smacks you in the face. If that startles you then he succeeded !

  • Simplemente un maestro d maestros... en ste video vemos sabiduria hecha notas

  • who is this pianist? dose anyone know? : )

  • Jacstone, Its Sviatoslav Richter. He's Russian. Died in 1997. He's considered one of the giants.

  • this piece is absolutely impressive. It shows off the talent of the pianist.

  • adam gyorgy does a better interpretation in my opinion

  • if u listen carefuly at 00:27-00:30, u will hear an eacho of the fast part of the piece

  • bigmelt...

    It was written closer to two centuries ago, you self proclaimed musical scholar. The mere fact the Chopin took a simple decending chromatic right-hand motif, modulated it into several different chords, and turned it into a masterpiece makes it an incredible composition. (Maybe your just depressed that you can't handle the 10th+ stretches with your scholarly little hands)

  • From 1:02 to 1:05, it sounds like a Honey and Oats cereal commercial from the 80's.

    I looked at the sheet music, six sixteenth notes in one quarter note? Sextuplets I guess. As usual, crazy fucking rhythm typical of Chopin.

    I guess when you're playing that fast with the right hand, you don't have to worry about consonance/dissonance on the beat.

    So Chopin could play ascending A melodic minor scales in four octaves in parallel motion as the coda. It's like his prelude in D minor.

  • Richter is a formidable pianist. He plays those chords with power and a heavy touch. A solid performance considering that he was already past his prime.

  • Do you know what he said in the beginning of this video?

  • @Lemonizm "A complete metamorphosis of this Etude. Im not making this up. My hearing has gone out of tune. Its a disaster! I fear playing again. Im retired now."

    Watch the two-part documentary that this is from (Richter: The Enigma). It's brilliant!

  • would you guys tell me that, which one is harder: fantasie impromtu or his etude? and what's the hardest of chopin's piece? (i mean technically) and also (technically) the hardest piece in the classical piano solo? thank you so much

  • The etudes are much harder than the fantasie impromptu.

    The hardest chopin piece actually depends on your weakness as a pianist. I personally can't play the thirds etude very well at all because I suck at that technique and I need to work on it more. The first etude with arpeggios was hard for me because I had a weakness with arpeggios. Each of the etudes are considered very hard. ALong with his sonatas which are extremely difficult, his fantasy in f minor, and his ballades.

  • The hardest piece in the classical piano repertoire for me would have to be any of the liegti etudes. Or the Barber sonata. The 4th movement is a beast.

  • Baka - Can't compare them that way. At that level, they're ALL hard. The challenges might differ but they're still tough. Everyone has unique strengths/weaknesses etc. Whats hard for one person is less so for another. But for a different piece, the situation might be totally reversed.

  • fantasie impromptu is probably the easiest of such peices by chopin. id say the etudes such as this. i mean, you cant even understand the melody until you play it very quickly. that goes to show you the amount of notes needed to play to create the emotion. whith fantasie, the melody can be easily understood at any speed. thats the true difference.

    these etudes take much more technique in my opinion

  • xemo, thats so true. One of the challenges of learning this piece is when you play it slow initially, the melody bears very little resemblence to what the listener hears when its played at tempo. That goes to Chopin's genius.

  • Winter Wind is the best! Thanks for the video. ^^

  • not the best piece, but it's intensely moving when i think of the falling snow and cold winter

  • yeah it is a lot harder than the Revolutionary.

    The right hand is constantly changing

  • I get what you say. I wanted to play either revolutionary or winter wind. Since I see there's no time signature in the winter wind score I decided that piece. since its a fast song Id rather memorize it then read it from a score. But like as you said right hand is constantly changing - from bar to bar! really hard to remember so many notes.

  • Wow! I like it!

  • Harder. If you think Revolutionary Etude is too much for you you should not even touch this piece. It's gonna kill you.

  • Is this song as hard as revolutionary etude or harder? I'd like to try out this piece

  • Right hand excercise.

  • Wow....

  • Dear Bigmelt,

    I respect your opinion (it is an opinion NOT a fact) but many people believe that the sophisticfation and beauty level of Chopin is of obsene levels. This is a very hard peice to play (personal experience). Personally I found it harder than 3 of Mozart's piano concertos. I have been practicing with Brahm's first piano concerto and it is indeed difficult but not as hard as this etude. So before you state your opinion be sure about what you say and try to not be so arrogant.

  • I think you're right about respecting his opion, as I do the same with yours, but I must say that I think Brahm's concerto to be harder than this. Just an opion.

  • The second Brahm's concerto is definitely harder, and my point was that they are better pieces of music, not that they are more difficult

  • .. hardcore response or not, this is the very best piece written by anyone from any century, that much hes right on

  • wtf, its not such a great piece. and CERTAINLY not the best ever. thats not an opinion, thats fact. you cant possibly compare "winter wind" to Beethoven Symphonies, or Mozart Piano Concertos, or Brahms symphonies, the list goes on...

  • i dont understand why this piece is so popular. some of the melodies are downright ugly. I realize its hard and impressive sounding, but i dont think its a masterpiece or something. many other chopin etudes are better pieces of music

  • bitch shut the fuck up u dont know real music u piece of shit go fuck yourself u stupid cunt ass bitch motherfucker go fucking die this is my favorite song ever you douche asshole motherfucking ass bitch douche juice drinker. Bitch.

  • bigmelt: you have to learn more about Chopin in order to understand better his music. This etude represents more of what you might think of Chopin's mind, This legacy is overwhelming.

    In fact, Richter himself wanted to quit to perform alive after this recital. I agree this is not his best performance but his legacy in music will remain for years as well. He is certainly one of my favorite pianists.

  • I have NO idea what you just wrote - Totally incoherent. what are you trying to say?

  • ya you really don't know wtf you're talking about. do you even know anything about classical music?

  • What is going on? I get a number of very angry, incoherent criticisms of my opinion that winter wind is NOT the greatest piece of the century. I'm sure I know more about classical music than you do, and can't you hear that Winter Wind is a simple melody repeated again and again, with virtuosic right hand accompaniment? I'm not saying it's a terrible piece, but it's well known for its difficulty, not for being an utterly sublime piece of music

  • It was written closer to two centuries ago, you self proclaimed musical scholar. The mere fact the Chopin took a simple decending chromatic right-hand motif, modulated it into several different chords, and turned it into a masterpiece makes it an incredible composition. (Maybe your just depressed that you can't handle the 10th+ stretches with your scholarly little hands)

  • To think that Chopin actually *composed* this let alone played it lol! I've been learning it for nigh on 24 months now and I'm still nowhere NEAR as good as this =[

  • well then maybe its time to move onto something you can actually play...

  • he does seem choleric at times..

    great cuz thats what makes artists, emotion

  • He has ridicously big hands.

  • I'd love to have those hands. I can barely play octaves comfortably, dammit.

  • ive i knew how to play this piece this well i could never be miserable right after playing this shit.. damn what a great song..

    crazy artists

  • Very good piece! La musica es mi favorito. Muy buenissimo! Habla ingles? (Da musik is my fevoret of ol! Very gud!) Exseiting plesur! Very gud neus! 5 retings out of 5! Mor gud neus is I cen spik inglis very wel! and cen iven spel it quiet corectly! Viva la Espana!

  • aaaah yes. my favorite piano peace. i never get tired of hearing it.

  • he looks pretty miserable after he's finished :/

  • he explained why in the beggining, his ears pick up the sound almost a tone higher than it really is, and he hears the piece very differently, imagine it a whole tone higher, and he's sad because of this :(

  • i take some of it back.. check out Yeol Eum Son's interpretation of this piece.. this is still my fav piano piece but not the best played.. however, overall richter is badass

  • by far, my favorite chopin piece, and probably top fav piano piece.. who wouldn't kill to play like that

  • I was at these concerts.and though his age he was still the powerfl Richter.a class to his own.very strong fingers!!

  • he practice 12 hours one day.. omfg!!

  • wow..

  • All of you guys have to consider his age when played this etude. Yundi Li does not have the personality, the enough power -and I don't mean by that to play it as fast as you can- required in order to sound in right hand as clear as Richter's, combined with the cold winter sound of left hand. He actually felt he has given everything at the time and withdraw from the concerts from there. Perfect interpretation as clear as a very cold winter.

  • He's got some fat fingers, but they are quite accurate

  • 5 stars lol. It played very good and VERY NATURALLY as Chopin would have liked. And by the way, Li Yundi will NEVER come close to Richter.

  • WHAT AM I reading!!!. richter hadnt had estudied that piece enough, and these poor robotic chinese of yund li played it better???? pffffff yes of course you are right... you really dont happen to know not a thing about what music is, do you? when any of all asiatic pepople play like richter, cold the hell will be!

  • alright, that was deliberately racist...

  • hmm in a sense, i am glad that chinese is robotic? do all Argentinians behave like you do? do all "emotional" people behave like you do? i hope not. You are definitely very Emotional.

    (note* definition of Robotic: highness, wisdom, patience, definition of emotional: arrogant, self-importance, self-conceited, impatience, violent, hatred, radical...)

    It is certainly very easy to become emotional after reading your comment, but i choose to be robotic; it takes skills.

  • Why do you allow an atrocious amateur such as Cziffra1980 (it's laughable he'd call himself Cziffra) to post his stuttering caricature, worse than the playing of a senile lady in a retirement home, as a "response" to a masterful version signed by the titanic Richter? I wouldn't have wasted my time on that arrogant, incompetent wannabe "Cziffra" teenager, if he wasn't linked from videos such as yours. Thank you.

  • This should have been the Revolutionary etude.

  • Ahh that is soo cool that his sleeves are black so it looks like only a pair of hands that is hanging in the air playing on the piano! That is soo cool... I wonder if they purposely did that oron accident... hmmm...

  • Can somebody explain why Yundi Li isn't still mature with piano..well, compared to Richter. I don't get it..maybe it's because I'm too young to understand

  • this is exactly how chopin wants it to be played... grand and stuff(notice how at about 40 seconds his left hand accents)

  • wow if this comment is replied to me, i am amazed at how you would know how Richter would know how chopin would want it to be played... but if this comment is not to me, then just ignore it

  • Me la kiero aprender, ta wenisisma esa pieza...

  • very nice~~~ I think yundi li is better though, because the speed is sometimes faster or slower depending on the various places to give unneccessary accents, or the last part, which slows down a little, maybe it has not been practiced enough yet. but over all very good^^

  • yundi li better than Richter? Dude, I think you should

    put down that crack pipe! yundi li will NEVER come close

    to Richter, EVER!!!

  • LOL, if I heard u say hat near me, I would have to kill you, yundi will NEVER come even CLOSE to Richter...ever..

  • This live recording of Richter is not perfect, that is the fact, i know of his history, and i truly respect and acknowledge his skills... but no matter what he was (or is or will be), this "live recording" is not perfect and that is the truth... i am no big fan of yundi li, i just happened to hear of his cd of this song before, why do you possess this hatred of me for expressing my honest opinion and of him for being a humble pianist?

  • Don't criticize Richter's playing when you know crap about music.