Vintage Chopin E-Minor Piano Concerto & Berceuse, Op.57

[gulfgypsy]

Magical. Losing oneself in music like this, is like casting yourself into a river of stars ...... Who knows where the journey may take you; only that it will open your soul to a world you could only dream of, before .........

[AquaCherokee27]

I so enjoy the cradle song. I can't remember the last time I heard it. It has been many years. Thank you for posting the video.

[uhartchristian]

a great pianist

a true follower of Rubinstein

brilliant technique and sound

good taste and musicality

[libetta]

that's the most enchanting trills i've ever heard @ 5:45. it's as close to the keyboard as anyone could get

[prongated]

Very beautiful and, dare I say, artistic...but, just as well there's no orchestra's accompanying him there, because they wouldn't stand a chance of following him!

[gisuona]

After listening to this I desire to study and play more! Thanks Chopin, thanks Smith, thanks creativebna.

Gianfranco Cavallaro

[raanan17]

Great playing.Thanks from Raanan.

[nico22059]

What an amazing artist! Thanks for posting these videos of your father!

[sagalat]

You guys are very knowledgeable and heavy. As to "sentimentality," what do you think of Weissenberg's Rach II? I prefer it PRECISELY owing to its unrelenting weight, ballast, something, whatever

[chad410]

comparing one pebble with another on the beach.why should one do that?just that they are all individual pebbles.I like this playing a lot

[Joetivo]

That sounds similar to Berceuse from RE: Code Veronica

[Doomy23]

T.T Because it is.

[kasyapa]

my pleasure - thank you for making so much of your thought and art available. i hope your recovery is going fabulously.

i have the feeling that with some work much could be found about smith - if you'd like, i'd be happy to do some front-research and see what i can dig up, no obligation or commitment.

[kasyapa]

i will be happy to read your writing on him. i greatly enjoyed your article on michelangeli - it really brought his world back, as did yours on horowitz.

[dreamerofeternity]

amazing interpretation of Chopin's Berceuse.

[aesthetic1950]

The Berceuse is exquisite. I love Fou Tsong's interpretation of this piece also.

[Frenchandproudofit]

Splendid videos, these. Too bad you have a ridiculous piano monkey like "Cziffra1980" (not the real, great Cziffra, only a fraud attempting to confiscate a name which doesn't belong to him) comment positively on them. He doesn't know how to produce one decent sound. What a difference from the videos offered here, wonderful playing from David Smith. Thank you.

[creativebna]

Now now. My father (David Smith) loved to say "Comparisons are odious." The point here is that the beauty of music is transcendent and universal. Let's welcome everyone who listens and appreciates the beauty of the these composers, these notes and the musicians.

[jjp009]

The Berceuse is the hardest piece in the world to play correctly, and your father played it magnificently! Ignore foolish comments posted here. Those who can't...criticize. Thanks for sharing your father's gift.

[waytoocool]

So long as they respect the composers, then i full agree with this. BTW your father is definitely respectful.

[jkircher314]

Great response. Like a true peacemaker.

[cziffra1980]

You're even sadder than I thought.

[panaosei]

please to listen A.B.Michelangeli the most acurate pianist of the last century

[Pianowrestler]

This is another example of a great pianist who is relatively unknown. You can actually still hear the influences of all those great masters of the past he had lessons with. His Chopin has a tremendous singing quality and has sentiment without being sentimental. I would like to know if there are recordings available in Europe!

[cziffra1980]

Apologies for being rude, but how can something possibly have sentiment without being sentimental (ie. 'with sentiment')? Every time I hear this word used I struggle to figure out just what exactly it is now used as a code for. This is very sentimental playing with plenty of sentiment and emotion and that's a good thing in my book.

[Pianowrestler]

Yes, we had this discussion before Andrew.

Playing with sentiment = the "right" feeling (for the style), taste, rubato etc.

Sentimental playing = bad taste, exaggerations in style, rubato and expression.

This is of course all subjective and it's likely that you disagree with my definitions.

ps did you recieve my message about Nyiregyhazi?

[cziffra1980]

I don't think so. Can you send it again? I think my problem with this word is that it gives a bad impression of emotional playing. If sentimental can mean 'with sentiment', or 'with excessive sentiment' then it's a bit clumsy as an expression. I think it often gives totally the wrong impression about Rachmaninoff's playing in particular. A generation is coming to believe that Rachmaninoff did not play emotionally.

[Pianowrestler]

With sentimental I mean ONLY "with excessive sentiment", it's a negative connotation, esp. for some Chopin-playing; but you can apply it to the heavy, rubatissimo interpreters of Rachmaninoff as well!

They don't know R.'s own style of playing well enough and make the wrong choises.

[waytoocool]

Am I more wrong in thinking you meant that your "sentiment" was aimed at the composers sentiment; while your "sentimental" meant every ones on strange(?) way of interpreting the work.

[Pianowrestler]

In the end you may be right; the problem is that the meaning of those words interweave with subjective criteria like sense of style, taste, etc. That's why it is so difficult to give exact definitions.

[kasyapa]

"sentimental" in this usage implies "too much."

"sentiment" in this usage implies "just right."

aristotelian mean and all that.

[harriter88]

Did Your Father ever get into a studio to cut any records.If not it's a great loss for all of us.If so are they available.I do hope this 1981 concert(great as it is)is not his only Legacy.

[grazzidad]

This work is almost always played as some sort of virtuoso vehicle, yet here it emerges in all its poetry. Young pianists would do well to study his phrasing and shading, rather than treating Chopin's careful composition as mere "passagework". Note in particular how, when the main themes re-emerge, he manages to set them off against the accompaniment, although every note in the left hand remains clear and rhythmic, despite the subtle rubato.