(Zimerman)Chopin Mazurka Op.24, No.1

[Lex142]

This is the sweetest, most gorgeous doe-eyed beauty on Earth

[KukurykuuPL]

PIĘKNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JoaoPedroGC]

so gut, glaube ich

[acustico007]

he looks like chopin. it like chopin reborn

[paweloproxa]

@acustico007 ya he does lol

[tierzuchtZentral]

zum Sterben schön

[SamuelBeakergaw]

SOOOOO AMAZING!!!!!!!

[mioko923]

It is a tone which sounds in the heart.

[imsohornynwet]

Wawww! Very Beautiful!

[shabs124]

what a beautiful man....no homo

[ProfundaetImmensa]

Chopin playing Chopin..

[g7727]

I love you!!!

[cosmiclight]

It does not indicate the month of the competition in 1975 but he was born in December 1956 according to the Wikipedia chapter- so he is a mere 'not quite 20 years' old at the time of this film recording. He will be 55 in Dec 2011. What a geat talent at such an early age.

[tierzuchtZentral]

My heart is aching... with this endless harmony... always the right timing... I think it must simply be in Zimerman like this. I'd like to know how his youth was. If he put this on his family or learned it by the family. :o)

[tierzuchtZentral]

I have a question. Was this the piece with which he won the competition? Is this recording the repitition of the winning piece after winning? Or were there several pieces played?

[tierzuchtZentral]

I love how his face is the same today...

[PianoFPrincipianti]

I love this guy. Plays chopin so expressively

[kayepanes]

IT'S CHOPIN.

[Heffernansful]

he looks like Chopin himself ! lol=) he's cute

[A8opi]

he's just amazing !! i love him so much.... he looks so young in this video haha, just like a boy, does anyone one, how much was he in that time ?

[kelvinbeyioku]

@A8opi about 20



[suhy282]

His hair style hasn't changed since. LOL. Love him tho.

[tokyodo555]

OMG! He has an extremely strong resemblance to Fryderyk Chopin!

[jjuan54]

is like chopin himself is playing.........his looks, expression and playing xD

[fredericfranc]

...often taken to be Jewish, no, he ain't, Mr. Zimerman still managed to take all of Poland out of this piece clean out...and, Jesus, this is a fucking MAZURKA...maybe he figured that CHOPIN was Jewish...

[chrisb0000]

OMG! Frederic Chopin! :o

[rachm06]

his face looking like the real chopin :D

[SzarotkaRomantyczka]

Cudne... .✿ڿڰۣ—

[budleygirl]

He's hot! :O Too mad this was like 40 years ago.

[chessismygame9]

haha the hair is the same even back then!

[fredericfranc]

...thus were the seeds of trouble sown...

[thejesusfreak919]

Why does he win everything...first this...then the Chopin international competition...I'm jealous.

[Buondelmonte123]

To me, he is the last of that school of playing Chopin. In the 1970s and 80s I never missed a London concert or recital of his.

[EveRepeck]

You look like Chopin

[bvscfanatic]

What a stunningly handsome young man he was. That said, this is not piano playing. He is making love to the piano. There are no other words to describe it.

[MuzicSoundz]

His playing is simply amazing..

I've just got a new favourite Mazurka!

[gumdrops27]

0:39 "hmmm how was that? damn im quite all right." haha

[ArMoBaBeX3]

@gumdrops27 LMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAAAO!

[DafniElissa]

@gumdrops27 see Chopin nocturne op.15 n*2...after so many years he did it the same!

[mcrettable]

@gumdrops27 What is your comment? A joke or something o.O

[SamuelBeakergaw]

@mcrettable its a bick.

[pokewindwaker]

my last crush had a similar hairstyle and he once played an instrument too :D

[thenotoriousadin]

too bad hes a raging antisemitic.

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

great... wonderful.... fantastic wtf he's great

[MsThisNameIsTaken]

Chills :))

[Pastoulanne]

Cette mazurka est merveilleusement interprétée. Elle est comme la vie, gaie et triste, lente et rapide, douce et forte. Elle touche l'âme avec un subtil doigter.

[ouiebeib]

nice version, very original, delicated and expressive. It doesn't really sound like a typical mazurka, but the interpretation is very characteristic of Zimerman.

[VelikyUstyug1]

Painfully staid and unlively. After listening to Friedman, Franccois, Rosenthal, Sztampa, Spielman or Horowitz play these pieces.. this sounds like a New Age sleep sedative.

[Alquatari]

Even in this early age the best interpreter of Chopin's music. :-) Love him!

[y4nnkiller]

@lordzebdeh Good observation :P I did'nt noticed it :P

[EdwardianPiano]

He was very handsome at this age.:)

Yes, he had a Chopinesque look to him too.Wonderful playing- I always enjoy wtaching these videos of this great pianist.

[pitsikoulini24]

just great

[surgere94]

Even back then, he had the same sounds.

[tsvetkovprelude]

@shiningnight73 It was just that Zimerman awesomeness couldn't be expressed anymore on the piano so his body compensated with the enormous beard =]

[allegrissimo]

@tsvetkovprelude :-D Also known as the "Great Beard of Awe"! Trying to grow one myself, just to upgrade my status and face volume to go with it. See if it works out...

[ouiebeib]

oh nooo, he has my age on this video, I feel so dumb!

[kuciu123]

Nawet wyglada jak Chopin

[CartoonCharles]

a witness of chopin's actual playing at the time said that his compositions were just mere distillations of his improvisations. true or not, he was a genius

[darrenmichael143]

Beautifully played with a hint of melodrama!

[jokerml1]

definately looks better with a massive chuck norris beard.

[1Thompsonmusic]

Great performance from Zimerman. Please watch my performance of Chopin Prelude in A major.

[Daviddd1986]

he reduced the swinging

[alishfooevah]

OMG, he is soo young! the first video i saw him was the schubert impromptu (he looked like chuck norris)and there is a biiig difference xD

[roxyhappi]

wow he's so cute hihihi

[mx19idlewilder]

Zimerman is probably the best mazurka interpretor since henryk sztompka and artur rubinstein. He shows full understanding of the composition in every mazurka he played and delivers brilliant mix of chopin's thoughts with polish mazurka dance basis but he is also very true with the chopin's notation.

[dagobiful]

a little over-dramatic in my opinion. his fermatas are just too painful to bear. the flow of the music is severely hampered. let the music flow freely!

[chopin7tristesse]

@dagobiful the kind of sorrow Chopin may have carried for his Poland is flowing thick through the painful fermatas, it seems.

[dukehey2]

What a stud!

[Bergunthera]

A delightfully pretentious and affected performance!

[edro3638]

stunning

[trancosomarcus]

He looks like Chopin and Barry Manilow...hehehehe

[HAMayoral]

@trancosomarcus Interesting! A crossbreed!

[cello7060]

he is just the chopin that i imagine!!

[Ellevius]

...off Chopin. 

[Ellevius]

Cannot take my eyes and ears off...

[witch261]

ooh clever and beautiful *___________*

[ossiacadenza1]

I have a feeling this is how chopin would have played the mazurka. He really does look like chopin!!

[lap3230]

Sweet. He looks like Chopin (with a bit of Little Lord Fauntleroy for good measure!). Very sensitive interpreter.

[forestdweller68]

He has a very beautiful, expressive face and his playing is exquisite.

[CheekyVimto08]

he has really pretty eyes

[gantdi]

Zimerman is the chuck norris of the piano!!!

[legoclonetrooper427]

cool I wish I can play this

[sahvieira1]

This is so sweet, this is so nice. I'd like to see players like him, here in Brazil. There are only a few ones.

[renumeratedfrog]

Pas mal, mais pas bon.

[baaboy83]

he is good looking .. !

i think he has big tools too ;)

nice playing mr. zimmerman

[Metroid9824]

zimermans the man

[ghostofdayinperson]

I want to kiss him (blush)

[LittleArgerich]

Beautiful sound...  without words... O.O

[Kamewuv]

This piece may no be a complicated piece but Zimerman manages to convey such a strong emotion that isn't simple to master.

[beamishstboy]

Guck nich so scheiße!

[dzeljpiano]

@CarlMariaWeber

I thought the same :)

[airvarie]

K. Zimerman When he was young

He is my favorite always

[Gidenkidenk]

I wish they used better microphones for the vid

[SolarJakee]

Still had the eyebrows back then I see.

[TunaFishA444]

@trzymalpy Three times you suggest that Zimerman does not play this piece the way it 'should' be played, or the way Chopin 'meant' it to be played.

Please tell me how Chopin 'meant' it to be played. We're all listening!

[mx19idlewilder]

@trzymalpy

stary... malo kto potrafi zagrac tak dobrze ten mazurek... sztompka przychodzi mi do glowy, ale dawno go nie slyszalem. moim zdaniem krystian gra go swietnie.

[Gidenkidenk]

@trzymalpy how about you play it?

[Jame243]

He is very expressive! Excellent interpretation!! Impresses instantly!!!

[PhedraBcn]

He was such a great pianist. He has become so boring. His search for a so called perfection is a non sense. I can't believe he asked DG to have his first recording of Chopin concerto (Giulini and LA Phil) withdrawn from their catalogue. A true masterpiece!

[Noshirm]

Is this a dirge or a mazurka?

[eggnog158]

@Noshirm mazurka

[bpbartek0]

whore, this is bomb!

[Aaerielns]

Lovely playing and expressions. Both very defining characteristics of Zimerman.

[fledgehog]

jesus that's the ugliest steinway ive ever seen.

[xiaonoobiexd]

@fledgehog Hell yeah!

[fredericfranc]

His manifold sins as a pianist in general, and a Chopinist in particular are much in evidence here. You want to know what is wrong with Mr. Zimermans playing, it's all here laid out for you in living color.

[xiangyik]

@fredericfranc Haha, good joke. That's quite a funny one. If you were not joking, well: ...

[gorgeousalphawoman]

Such smooth fingers. He's a clever pianist.

He was still young and cute then.

I bet he would have been a great lover.

They say musicians make good lovers LOL

Any of you younger and adorable ones out there who plays half as good as this guy?

[pianista7]

so handsome!  =)

[Riina810]

I love it. Its awesome. The sound is perfect.

[anele1823]

play very well

so beautiful:D

[ulimaino]

Chopin is playing the steinway piano

[saunsnaen]

He doesn't play it with any of the rhythm of the mazurka. Too meditative

[65Inna]

Cudne. Dziękuję

[Brahmstein99]

oi thats and early record he was quite young, but has the same grave mien :))

[22donquijote]

stop coughing!!! Very annoying, it is always the same! Few people destroy a whole masterpiece

[soranos777]

Szkoda tylko, że ten pan potrafił grać na konkursie chopinowskim, a potem stał się taką gwiazdą, że ani widu ani słychu.

[haana29]

@soranos777 chyba nie wiesz o czym piszesz... Zimerman jest rozszarpywany na całym świecie, od tamtego czasu nic, tylko koncertuje!

[mx19idlewilder]

@soranos777

marna prowokacja. jest zdecydowanie najlepszym polskim zyjacym pianista i jednym z absolutnie topowych na swiecie.

[Gargantupimp]

Which episode of little house on the prarie is this from?

[lordzebdeh]

The guy even looks like chopin

[chutdigadut]

AHAHAH i know, right!

[ClassicalMusique1]

@lordzebdeh most of the winners resembled Chopin in a way didn't they?

[afertyus1000]

@ClassicalMusique1 ha yea he should've held a hanky to his nose and made a consumptive cough afterwards lol

[totallycynical]

@lordzebdeh NOT! You obviously haven't seen the photograph of Chopin!

[koalaswrath]

@totallycynical Chopin wasn't always old and dying of tuberculosis. I love Zimerman's interpretations of Chopin because for some reason, I find him inexplicably reminiscent of the descriptions I've read of him [Chopin] as a youth. He seems so elegant, reserved & even a aristocratic. He's playing is so refined & devoid of flamboyant exaggeration. Zimerman seems to be playing the music with his soul, behind the facade of the faculty of his fingers.

[s900203]

@totallycynical He does resemble Chopin in his youth. Go check again.

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@lordzebdeh and he's polish too

[richclayderman]

hey, he had no beard! (maybe he couldn't...xD)

[yiyiku]

such beauty in simplicity

[3screamingkids]

So funny, the same pirate facial expressions, only younger! Argh she matey!

[1sun1moon1]

that was beautiful

[danveldor]

this piece brings me to Poland :)

[1sun1moon1]

can you explain why.....please!

[danveldor]

For 1sun1moon1 ,,, Last summer I went to Poland and visited some cities by train, was a fantastic trip! Somehow this song reminds me of that trip, the people of Poland, the cities, everything, the trips on train, the mleczny bar .. I think that one reason for this is because the scales that Chopin used in this work , are pure Polish music... same thing happens to me when I hear the mto 1. of the piano concerto no. 1

[1sun1moon1]

thanks!

[Seinway]

just angelic *******************

[AttemptingToBeBusy]

What were Steinway thinking when they decided to put THAT on the piano...

[TheProutytyler]

@AttemptingToBeBusy They were probably thinking about advertisement. Even the people in the back row have no way of missing that he is playing on a Steinway. But I agree, it looks very bad. I much prefer the lettering of the new ones.

[kaakca]

OMG, I remember this. I watched the Competition.

[HospitalCorners]

lol @ joshrom's comment. very true. i wish i can have a conversation with the piano. i envy him.

[JoshRom]

rofl. From his facial expressions, it looks like he's having a conversation with the piano.

[custardapple777]

hahah, so true.  He is really in the moment and has no idea those people are coughing.

[lovesGenet]

to play it like this you need resources and imagination.He even looks like da pics of Chopin.this man has an unbelievable knowledge of piano,pedals the machine .His Debussy proves that!

[custardapple777]

I also thought he looked like a cross between Chopin (half French and half Polish) and Jean Yves Thibaudet (half French and half German)

[OneKidWithTheFace507]

i know that already music isnt about grades, its just that the piece really isnt hard. it has taken me about a week to learn how to play the whole piece.

[konzolmester]

Thats not how it goes in music.

[The55555SSSSS]

@OneKidWithTheFace507

he adds emotion and spirit to this mazurka.

you can't do that.

you are only like a robot who just copies the music with no emotion.

so SHUT UP !

[gimichi]

wonderful and he was only 19

[OneKidWithTheFace507]

ONLY!!!!!!! i know about 5 5th graders who could EASILY play that! but he did play it extremely well, its not a hard piece

[GabrielleduVent]

0:42... Zimerman probably thought "yup, that went well". :P

[ahamayoisac]

i'm not reading too much into anything and i don't feel its somewhat.... Too many people are obsessed with the virtuosity of fingers and totally miss the point. My mother spent 2 years of aspirantura after graduating as a soloist pianist from concervatoir learning to channel the inner energy and project it through playing and my father spent his entire life doing the same but with an entire orchestra.

[nagymate1986]

he is talking with the piano

[kempff95]

great comment..

[ShadowPancake117]

no, he's singing to the piano.

[oscarconroy14]

I really like how he nods when he's playing a piece; it's like he's approving his own playing. :) It's awesome. I love the way he interprets Chopin! :D

[ryab55]

he looks like chopin.

[manfred861]

ha yeah thats what i was gonna say!

[edtskyline]

Maybe he is Chopin xD!!!!

[darkisimus]

he also looks like Chopin ;)

[ComTh0m]

I´m 12 and playing this piece. I know know how this piece must be played :)

[D12ex]

I am a 14 year old who plays this same piece......

but, I can't believe how perfect his rubato and playing style is...... while mine is very straight forward and I really cant play good in front of my teacher......1 thing I can say for sure.... his very motivated by Chopin a great Poland, cuz this guy is polish...... plus Chopin added in rubato the Left hand must be very strict in time and the right hand should be very free....., he Zimerman has mastered it............................­..........!

[ahamayoisac]

Playing music is not about hands doing the work, it has to come from the inner maturity and inner world. So if one works on playing style and relies only on that one misses the point. Playing a piece is telling a story. The notes are written but the story is your input and its unique. :-)

[kempff95]

Im elso 14 years old,did you play chopin scherzo no.1?

im yes ........

[IrenkaKaspar]

Fryderyk Chopin the Second

[realcityonfire]

second what?

[JuliusRashad]

@IrenkaKaspar He didn't composed what he is playing...

[Oerti2]

yeah...that was pretty lento :D! i play it a little faster and not that much rubato...especially not a heavy change between the first part and the one with the tri-notes

but i like his interpretation as well...very good pianist! :)

[incandescentsmile]

He even looks like Chopin!! (by which i mean, he looks like Chopin in portraits etc.)

I love Zimerman - my favourite living interpreter of Chopin.

[piedijon]

and he's Polish!?

[ThoughtGazeCarlos]

@incandescentsmile, Dude, look how many thumbs up you have on your comment ha...ha! What you said was funny and true, but in a good way though.