Frederic Chiu Bach Busoni "Nun Freut Euch" Chorale Prelude

[fatherjerome2000]

Just stupendous playing. Have loved his musicianship for years. Wow.

[mokacode]

Great work on it !I'm torn between this one rendition and Martin Stadtfeld's...lol

both are real worthy....

[Bruce88keys]

Horowitz was King in this transcription

[Aul1kki]

Playing this piece like he does it, is incredibly difficult. Left hand is doing finger staccato's and right hand is playing portato while both hand's thumbs are playing the main melody line more strongly than the other fingers. Add careful pedalings here and there and great phrasing. Oh wow! Gotta appreciate the wonderful work he have done! One of the best videos in youtube!

[jespositoart]

It is the concert grand CFIIIS - they are coming out with a new, improved CFIIIS next year. And I just tried the Avant-Grand - amazing! If you can get your hands on one at a dealers, try it.

[larslaw]

What Yamaha grand is it?

[edtruck1]

BTW, what is Cornelius doing these days? Is he performing too?

[edtruck1]

I remember freddie chiu and his brother (who plays violin) in our grade school when I was young. I was a few grades ahead of him but I remember thinking then (when he was still so small) what an amazing pianist he was even at that age. Good to see he's gotten to where he is. He deserves it.

[orgblatz]

As Bach himself might have said, "Ausgezeichnet!"

[IpsaPaphum]

@orgblatz "As Bach himself might have said, "Ausgezeichnet!"

He would have have to coin the phrase though!

[BettyCope]

Outstanding performer!!

[berniewa2008]

really excellent technical performance.

and sounds really as there would mabe 2 players, one for the cantus firmus (choral melody).

but please forgive me, i like it even more, when it is played less "jazz like", what means a little bit more slowly and, what is even more important, with a little bit more rubato.

[birdmonk]

I have been a fan of Frederic Chiu's since the early '90s and his performance of this piece -- which until know I had only heard on CD and had trouble imagining it was only 2 hands at the keyboard -- is one of the reasons! BRAVO!!!

[iamthemewow]

How fun!!! I love it. This is just what a "showy" piece should be -- short, with nice clean articulation. I'm sure there are many different ways of interpreting this piece. It is, after all, a transcription, so some liberty should be granted. Very enjoyable.

[fartlestucks]

Shallow,harsh sound,maybe not all his fault: ther's no music in a Yamahaha. But why so mechanical & unpitying in a piece where the energy is already "written in", instead of finding the color&sculpture of phrases? For me, a most unenjoyable rending.

[Eristhenes]

Interesting to watch, but I would have to say a little harsh and definitely "unmusical" as someone mentioned below. Just compare it to Nicolai Dimidenko's version on the Hyperion label-it is much more musical, soft and elegant, if you will. Chiu does play it like it's "just" an exercise.

[stienwayz]

Wow! Such clarity and careful pedaling =)

[otterhouse]

very jazzy bach...

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[md95065]

Technically brilliant but also horribly mechanical and fundamentally unmusical.

This is a chorale prelude not a Chopin etude!

[pypstudio]

I would love to see you play this horribly difficult transcription. Can you actually play this better? Or can you even play it at a all? I seriously doubt it. And this was transcribed for the piano from an organ piece. And your last sentence makes it sound like Chopin's etudes are all mechanical and unmusical.

[zkool5]

pypstudio:  your come-back is immature.

A critic's job is not to do what he criticizes, but to criticize and/or give his opinion.

[md95065]

The problem is precisely tha the transcription makes what was originally a quite straightforward organ piece into something which is indeed fiendishly difficult - but to what end?

So that the player can show off his or her virtuosity!

Unfortunately in doing that I believe that much of the original beauty of the music is lost and all we have left is a dazzling show of the player's undoubted brilliance.

[allegrissimo]

What a stupid comment! First of all, this is not unmusical at all: read the score, listen carefully to his cantus firmus, and write again. Secondly: if you are suggesting Chopin etudes are to be unmusical and mechnical, you know nothing about music and shouldnt comment at all!

[Perkeno]

Listen better, he creates wonderful colors and dynamics. And it's crisp and joyous. Exactly what Bach had in mind.

[hfdmozart]

thank you, so true.

[Fanaton]

why soo fast? Even if he is doing great things we can no hear anything.

[alnisc]

because it's written to be played at such tempo by the composer. the main melody comes with both thumbs. most pianists play this piece within 2 and half minutes. Vladimir horowitz plays this even faster, about 1 and half. i learned this piece as a etude, myself.

[Schnabel87]

Well done, Mr Chiu. Have you heard Busoni's recording? If not, you're in for quite an awesome treat!

[rodrigobrizuela]

wow...

[jsteeber]

Glad to see this material has made it to U-Tube. And what a fine piano ;-) you're playing it on.

[FlorestanEusebius]

People have no idea how incredible difficult this little piece is.

[FlorestanEusebius]

How can one bring out the cantus firmus and play the rapid figuration fluently at the same time with one hand? Good idea to use both sustaining and sostentuo pedals for that (although Busoni didn't describe it here, but he uses all three pedals a lot in his Bach-transcriptions).

Best recording IMO the early acoustical recording of Busoni himself, but this is very good indeed. (My teacher Geoffrey Madge also recorded this as part of the complete Busoni recordings, but it's a disaster).

[Alvarordonez]

So...is your teacher Geoffrey Douglas Madge? I have heard some of his recordings of Busoni's music (I have been interested in Busoni's works since a few years ago and I play some of this music) However I haven't heard to him to play this Choral Prelude that is not a easy piece. Was Madge the fisrt pianist to record the complete Busoni's piano solo music?

[FlorestanEusebius]

He was my teacher, in the 80s, he studied in Australia with a pupil of Busoni. The complete recordings are from 1988, he must have been (one of) the first to play the opera omnia. He always did a lot for composers who were (unjustly) neglected, like Sorabji and Skalkottas.

At 65, he retired from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

[robertkarpov]

that sounds like a pretty tough song to play right up there with fantasie impromptu

[mauriciostarosta]

What a clever idea!!I never thought about doing this use of the sostenuto pedal!!I'll try that the next time I play in a grand piano.

[irksomecushion]

I think of you whenever I use sostenuto pedal.

[WIPACPianoComp]

Frederic Chiu is the best of the best. Stunning mind and fingers.

[itomik]

Your great performance touched my heart.

I'd like to make a request for one of my favorite tunes,Prokofiev Music for children Op.65 "Morning".

[rglazier]

What a fantastic performance. Please post more.