Giordano plays the "Emperor concerto" - 2nd movement

[bonzo874]

isnt it about time people would stop coughing up their very ring at concerts

[ManlioGiordano]

In the CD release of this performance we actually did some editing - that seemed absolutely necessary - and could reduce the cough noises from the audience somewhat. However, I remain happy, of course, that there is an audience that comes to listen. But perhaps some of them should get some potent cough medication before coming to performances - like musicians sometimes do even themselves, in order to not cough their own performance into pieces! - or leave if they see a recording is being made.

[zilzila007]

beautiful

[edmundjacobs]

Sounds great. I have listened to many performances of this work. I like the slightly slower pace and tempo here. Thank you for posting.

[swimmer5733]

i enjoyed this performance very much. a most interesting interpretation and slower than some i have heard. Manlio, two questions, when will you come to Melbourne Australia to play it and how old are you...you look about 17!!!!

peter

[flaxys112]

Anyone who has the sheet music for this piece? For piano and/or cello?

[solaragr]

Totally ONENESS - beautifull beyond words!

[solaragr]

A clear proof of God's existance!

[Otterified]

The part at 0:41 makes me teary-eyed every time. I love this piece.

[Otterified]

The part at 0:41 makes me teary-eyed every time. I love this piece.

[amygatus]

A remarkable performance by a great pianist.

[amygatus]

A remarkable performance by a great pianist.

[Alexandrovm]

Excellent Manlio! I apreciate Beethoven's music too; and I'm glad to hear it from such a pianist such as you...

[nocturnecminor]

He is playing so absolutely wonderfully. So soft and so pure. What understanding and execution of the spirit of Beethoven. Bravo Gioradano for your passion and understanding of our Ludwig.

[TheLovelyPiano]

So soft and delicate. Bella!

Grazie, Signore, grazie.

[wenhuikoi]

Amazingly beautiful play! You should all watch the movie Immortal Beloved.

[pinafrappe]

its simple beautifull amazing gorgeous the right and pure music B R A V O THE GOD BLESS U

[clevernickname70]

Sublime. I prefer to let the music speak for itself rather than attempt to describe it in words, but I thank you for your heartfelt interpretation sir.

[ManlioGiordano]

"clevernickname70" - thank you for your kind words. Should you feel like it, you could repeat those words to the representatives of the major concert halls in your vicinity, which should increase the chances that you will hear me also in a live performance.

This remark actually applies to all you fellow beings, across the Globe, that have sent me words of appreciation, either as public comments or private e-mails. Make your statements where they have the greatest impact on a practical level.

[GregoryHRoth]

I believe I will do just that, This piece has always been very dear to me, almost as though it contains everything that is good in the world, and you executed it beautifully, I will make sure to let the local promoters know about you.

[FreeCapital]

That's a beautiful dimple on your tie, sir. Nicely done.

[ManlioGiordano]

If pianists, allegedly in possession of that infamous "pianist's touch", were not able to induce a well-formed dimple in that fine silk chosen by Mr Ralph Lauren, the designer, there would be plenty of reason to ask where the world is heading, if not before, right? Thank you for your comment, "FreeCapital"; a little humour is seldom out of place, in my view of life, anyway. [For the non-specialists out there: "Dimple" refers to the indentation sometimes formed just below the knot on a tie.]

[hootersnooter]

Only Beethoven could write with such clean angelic simplicity, yet with such depth it arrests your sould and brings forth tears and emotion - me too, I find this grabs your heart with both hands. Well done Giordano, bravo. Only those who can play this know how deep your talent must be to compose the work of an angel.

[HARMONICO101]

You know, this is the only piece of classical music that has ever made me cry. This may sound cliche, but this music is truly beyond words. "Absolute supreme beauty" is the best I can come up with right now.

You played it beautifully.

[ManlioGiordano]

Thank you for your kind response, "HARMONICO101". I am of course very happy that this divine music touched your heart. Indeed, this movement is beyond our world and it is my hope that it will continue to provide joy and inspiration to many people. One further comment: I just visited your YouTube-page and saw that you have listened to 11,182 (!) videos on YouTube, including this one, and apparently are a serious lover of music; thus, your words make me blush even more than they would otherwise.

[AcousticSaloon]

Your tears are not alone. The music of Beethoven, and indeed this piece in particular, transcends our ability to describe with any words. Only pure emotion is capable of such communication. Well said.

[SatanHouse666]

I choose Beethoven over Mozart =/

But this performance here is a 5 out of 5! great job!

[bellinianodoc]

Grande, Manlio. Mi è piaciuto come hai sgranato alla fine la serie interminabile dei trilli quasi con impazienza, per poi ricadere nella rassegnazione delle battute seguenti. Certo che musica così non si potrebbe mai smettere di ascoltarla e di capirla; per un ascoltatore, e figuriamoci per un interprete...

[ManlioGiordano]

Thank you, "bellinianodoc", for your kind comment - and for listening to the emotional content of the performance, which forms the point of departure for all my work. Indeed, I felt, at the time of the recording, strongly for the idea of investing that chain of trills with an urgency; even this "musical view of Paradise itself" needs some elements of tension and progression and the ascending (stepwise!) trills really beg for being chosen as one departure from the almost comatose stillness.

[jmsbk12345]

I much prefer Beethoven to Mozart. Does anyone else agree?

[firebreathone]

I most certainly disagree with you jmsbk12345. Mozart was a far more talented composer and without Mozart, there would have been no Beethoven. Beethoven is certainly a good composer: the fourth in line after 1.Bach 2. Mozart 3. Handel 4. Beethoven

Never forget Beethoven himself claimed that his favourite composer was HANDEL!

[LiradeTerpsichore]

Of course: Haendel, not Mozart. that's the whole point...

[GeaAy]

hmm nope ;) I couldn't choose betweens those two...

[forchristssakeable]

@jmsbk12345

You can't compare the 2. They are completely different.

Beethoven carried a Cameo of Mozart around with him...

Both are amazing in their own way. Mozart was restricted with what he could write... Beethoven was not.

But your preference is your preference.

I love Beethoven...and he was an amazing man.

I read somewhere that Stalin had at one point stopped litening to Beethoven,fearing he would soften and not go to war.

But Beethoven is not for everyone.;o)

[banginghats2]

@forchristssakeable Absolutely right. Beethoven owed a lot to Mozart and was deeply influenced by his phenomenal set of piano concertos. Without those works, Beethoven's concertos would have been very different. For me the first movement of Mozart's C minor concerto is still one of the most profound pieces of music I've ever heard. He was also influenced by Mozart's last three great symponies. I love them both, but then there are Mozart's operas, which I love more than words can express really.

[supersamuelo2007]

why do sick people go to concerts? All that noise in the back... Stay home ya bunch of jackasses.

[JackJamesElias]

That's why concerts should be performed in the summer months when there are fewer colds, coughs and sneezes. I'm joking, of course, but I share your annoyance.

[schuzart]

For me, this is the most beautiful piece of music ever written...sorry Wolfgang, but thankyou Beethoven, and thankyou Manlio for reproducing it as beautifully as it was written.

[ManlioGiordano]

Thank you for your kind comment, "schuzart".

However, it is an extremely common misconception that complete recipes for how to perform music are provided by the printed scores. Even in this brief movement, with a duration of less than ten minutes, I made hundreds of decisions about how to perform certain details which simply cannot be expressed with the crude symbols of music notation; further, the composer was (necessarily) in the same situation when trying to write his ideas down.

[rinny17]

soaring beauty!

your performance is equal, if not better than Vladimir Ashkenazy's performance of it!

breath taking!

[LauraA9]

This is one of my favorite pieces and Giordano plays it like heaven.....you can almost feel like you are there.

HUGS,

Laura

[jonno52]

Wonderful. The first classical music to make an impression on me, as a child 50 years ago, was the 'Emperor' on scratchy 78s, tragically lost in a house move a few years later. The pianist was Benno Moisewitsch. In all the performances I have heard since, only yours approaches that magic delicacy. You are your own man & comparisons are pointless, but for me, the tempo and touch put you virtually on a par with Moisewitsch, among the all-time greats. Will check out your recordings. Thank you.

[artemisshock]

Well done. :)Thanks for this.

[YGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYG]

My GOD you played this so beautifully. The beginning, so sweet, soft and soothing. The keys are struck to perfection. I feel like I'm in heaven just listening to you. (^o^) Not everyone plays the beginning as dolce as you did.

Thank you, Manlio Giordano, for sharing your brilliance with us. Please let me know where I can purchase your next CD.

[ManlioGiordano]

Thank you, "YGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYG". Your description captures my "goals" for the opening tones very well; indeed, as soon as the first movement is completed, I focus all my thoughts on some beautiful memories of the "Heaven on Earth" of my childhood summerplace, where I often experienced a natural, perfect harmony with life and nature. In the 2nd movement, I share all that beauty with the audience, so that we together can rest a few moments from the many cruelties of today's world.

[YGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYGYG]

So beautiful

[ManlioGiordano]

The magnificent sound quality deserves some mention, or rather the two sound engineers that achieved it, who are the most competent perfectionists in their field of expertise that I have ever had the pleasure of working with: Håkan Ekman and John Burmeister of Piteå School of Music. Håkan Ekman and I will now collaborate again for a recording project (double CD) in the new state of the art studio / concert hall that will be completed in Piteå, Sweden, this fall.

[hayleycate]

yes its a very beautiful piece and my favourite composer as well hehe

[ManlioGiordano]

The performance owes much credit also to the conductor Hans Ek. To my equal happiness and surprise, he turned out to be one of those rare conductors that give as great priority to concertos as to "their own performances" of symphonic works. Already during the first few hours of collaboration, we chatted our way through every relevant detail of the work and were seldom in need of the score, as he had also committed all the parts to memory.

[ceurov]

one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever , my personal favourite piece of classical music. Was used so beautifully by Peter Weir in Picnic at Hanging Rock

[LVB1770]

ceurov,

I agree. I think Rachmaninoff's 2nd movement of the the 2nd piano concerto is up there with this great Beethoven master piece. My favorite use of this music in a movie is in Immortal Beloved. It was used repeatedly in a very tastefully manner by producer Bernard Rose. He used it almost as a motific form

for different scenes.