Artur Rubinstein in De Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance"

[Malodorok]

Good ebening, wadies und gentelmen. I shall now flog meinem hands up und down the keyboard für you. Afterwards, all I shall ask—und expect—is your tepid applause.

[NATASA666333]

CAR



[MNSTsunset]

Oléééééé ;)

[MegaI1995]

Terrific

[dedeasdfg]

Impressive! Great! Awesome!

[UnknownFromPluto]

Now I understand why many people try to do strange things when they play this piece, especially at the end. It is interesting, but I prefer the original score (the slide is not the best idea). On the other hand, Rubinstein offers a very expressive version in spite of the (unnecessary?) effects of style and the too fast tempo.

[juanmaMCMLXXXII]

@UnknownFromPluto I absolutely agree with you, but I think the effects are unnecesary. I prefer Alicia de Larrocha's versión.

[juanmaMCMLXXXII]

¿¿Y ese final??

[botbagel]

AMAZING!



[8art]

He even could be the biggest one on piano, but - it's almost unbelievable - He hated to practice :) Food, party's and women's were more important :) When he grown older (about 40) - as I heard - He start to practice every day, and got this autstanding shape. As We all can hear...

Cheers

[cheries5]

incredible, like being in heaven without any obstacles....so in touch

[Elze77]

What the !

[geological95]

When I was a kid I saw Artur Rubinstein play this as an encore in San Diego. Great!

[mirrors1]

Un modo molto "teatrale" di suonare. Perché no?

[arroz5447]

@mirrors1 no



[DianaRosecd110]

lol guckt mich an bin ein elch

[Dontsaltthekitty]

press 7 for endless dinosaur :D

[TarenDelciemx20]

geil übrigens hab was geiles gefunden habs bei mir stehn

[nuberojadom001]

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[TamicaJustinef655]

lool mein hintern ist geil

[grontek]

Wielki POLAK - Dziekuje

[UnScriptedFlix]

I can't figure out the fingerings for this piece. It's astonishingly fast once you start playing. My main concern is the beginning of the melody in the right hand (not the trills).

[intrec1]

Perfection defined

[sebastianrc]

Esos glissandos aparte de bien hechos, son visualmente increibles

[LaEspriella]

i mean, do we still have pianists like him?

[lilytoka]

@LaEspriella Yes! Her name is Jung Lin! Please visit my channel and she is first on my playlist!!! Please, be my guest! Lily Tokareff

[ridehorce]

oh my god , his technique is so beautifull , i can´t believe that

[azkartasun]

Es lo mejor que he visto núnca, El es la música ..

[Etheryczna]

Masterpiece & Maestro...WOW...

[GingiYume]

I love it... the music is so... delicate. His interpretation is amazing.

[123Goldielocks]

Lucky me!

I was the one-thousand-and-first to press the like button.

Thanks for sharing this masterpiece.

[darkblueangel1956]

Interpretazione immersa in un clima di totale e delirante esaltazione, ma da fibrillazione, che fa venire i brividi ancora oggi dopo tanti decenni !!!! Arthur Rubinstein coinvolgente come una droga che stordisce, e ammaliante coma la Maga Circe per Ulisse !!!!!!!!!!!!

[bayareapianist]

He reminds me of a grasshopper!

[juan99160956]

wowwwww !!! :)

[chalupagravy1234]

this is my favorite song

[meredith21846]

Although he takes huge liberties with the score, I have to say the playing is wonderfully compelling. I dare say that De Falla probably envisaged that sort of abandon that Rubinstein brings to the piece.

[Sweasy26]

Awesome!

[nicecoolstuff13579]

Rubinstein's beast. :)

[marcohorowitz8]

he should raise his arms higher!

[classicallady]

That was my first oeuvre at my first Concert/

[yuukimaru87]

The greatest ever, Rubinstein =D

[movohox]

This is an excellent piece.

 Rubinstein too fast in many parts

[TheSyntaxOverride]

0:48 Im a dinosaur!

[globule200]

@TheSyntaxOverride LMAO !

[UnScriptedFlix]

@TheSyntaxOverride You made my day... twice

[TheSyntaxOverride]

@UnScriptedFlix aw thanks

[gerardbedecarter]

Rubinstein played this as an encore after one of his SydneyTown Hall concerts (in the 1960s, I think). The piece was his. So was the hand lifting bit.!!

[SirWookash]

I like the way he plays

[theanguished1]

i am learning this piece and i attempted at moving my hands like he did at 0:48 and its impossible

[beeroosterm]

@theanguished1 Heh, heh....Obviously not....

[big7bang]

awesomeeeee

[DrLectr]

4 chicks and 5 dudes in the front row. someone had to go home and yank it.

[canaxis69]

Immense pianist, but for this piece my preference goes to de Larrocha interpretation, maybe for her spanish soul...

[Quinnsmash]

0:47 I'm a dinosaur!!

[ThePianistCat]

es increible como se entrega ala musica, como la siente.....

es el mejor

[MrFilmWorld]

Rubinstein plays it the way EVERYBODY wants to hear it and that is his genius.

[NicotinMan]

BTW, if I had to point anything that I don't like in this particular interpretation, I'd say it's a bit too fast. It needs to be a dance. But great playing otherwise.

[cattleman6420012000]

Rubinstein was so incredibly special. In about 1970 I heard him play a Chopin concert in London. I will never forget that magical night. He always had such a superb sensitive touch.

[McLeod54]

Yeah, Zack de la Rocha does kick ass.

[ALYSKANDER]

I prefer de la Rocha's performance. I think that she better captures de essence of the piece.

[weirdunclebob]

I much prefer this version to de Larrocha's. Far more powerful and expressive. de Larrocha's trying too hard for my liking. Mischa Maisky also does a great cello rendition but, in my humble opinion, this piece sounds best when done by a full orchestra, like the rendition done by the Berlin PO with Daniel Barenboim conducting. An awesome piece, regardless. Thanks for posting this. A good vid of a maestro playing a difficult piece exceptionally well.

[Greenoshua]

Artur Rubinstein's interpretation of this ritual Fire Dance is less sensitive and interesting than Alicia delaRocha's one.

This is accepted.

However, it must not been forgetten that Rubinstein is not spanish and the Fire Dance by Manuel de Falla does not belong to the repetory which best fits to him.

[robtrodes]

@Greenoshua Gotta love that "This is accepted." I take it you feel this way despite the fact that Rubinstein was famous throughout the Spanish-speaking world for the fidelity of his interpretations of Spanish music. Spanish people often expressed amazement that a Polish man could so clearly capture the soul of their music.

On the other hand, I love de Larrocha, and she plays this beautifully as well, and much different from Rubinstein. Each performance has much to recommend it.

[NicotinMan]

@robtrodes First of all, it's Spain's music, "Spanish speaking world" may share a language but there are many different musical forms, and Spain's is very distinctive specially in the classical tradition.

That said, I agree Rubinstein captures well the spirit of Spain's music, quite a feature because the difficulty of mastering Spanish music is to feel the right accents. He is topped by Larrocha though. No one I've heard can equal Larrocha's interpretation of this. She simply owns the piece.

[robtrodes]

@NicotinMan Thank you for sharing your opinion. Personally, I find things to like equally in each. You will also note that I made no mention of "the music of the Spanish-speaking world" as your response seems to imply. I don't disagree with your statement about Spanish music having a style distinct from that of other Spanish-speaking countries.

[NicotinMan]

@robtrodes Oh, maybe I just misread and mixed up different posts when answering.

BTW, any other remarkable but least known interpretation on this piece? Not necessarily only on piano.

[Berdjum]

Except that for me this show makes the musical energy less intense, less charged with full concentration. Rubinstein is loosing so much energy in try to show his best face, his best gestutre .. that some persons can heard that his pusic is not so great .. of course, many like it ... loool ! I constate the same show 0.42 - 0.47 secondes of the video .. but my conclusion are just the opposite of piano345's one .. not marvellous : but disastrous ! even ridiculous ...

[piano345]

Horowitz and Cziffra were often accused of showmanship in performance. Here Rubinstein shows that before an audience he could equal them even surpass them. Raising his hands high above the keyboard for those stamping chords brings even more excitement to this Ritual Fire Dance. Wonderful!

[Berdjum]

Alicia de Larrocha's interpretation must be listened before to comment my comment

[VIRIATO1942]

Beautifull. Haunting . Sounds like De Fala suffered some kind of Moorish influence in this composition. Rubinstein excell as usual.

[MegaFritzo]

@tirolerhut79

I don't think it...

Sorry, it's incredible and impossible

[tirolerhut79]

@MegaFritzo then how do you explain to me the part at 3:12? he plays somthing completely different than what we hear.

[ploschad]

One word: choreography :)

[tirolerhut79]

this is incredible playing. and of course its Rubinstein himself playing - BUT if you look and listen closely at 3:12 you will notice its actually a playback ;)

[TheMandrino]

This is the greatest interpretation of a Falla's work ever. Rubi rocks!

[Berdjum]

For a much more interesting interpretattion of this piece of music, I recommand the Alicia de Larrocha's interpretation. The emotion is the one of the compositor ! the question of expressivity is important, but it requires the rigth expressivity, the one which has been desired by the composer. Her left hand is technically much more superior, and her understanding of this piece of music is really much more superior, too ...

[MusikPiratCH]

@Berdjum

I totally disagree. Artur Rubinstein 's interpretation of this ritual fire dance was loved by the widow of Manuel de Falla. She assured Artur he had exactely played the way Manuel wanted it! xD

[Berdjum]

@MusikPiratCH

ok disagree , no problem ... it reminds me 40 years ago .. face to my father, all people used to say to him how he was great, how is was good .. and secretly, when they were with me, they used to say to me that I must act and tell to him the true; he was bad ! ... Rubinstein was powerful and influent .. so de Falla 's widow to make some money had to say such sentence ... better to have the money than to be excellentissime

[MusikPiratCH]

@Berdjum

Your answer proves, that you do not understand what is pure art!

At the time of Rubinstein money was not so important. And this was a private meeting, so Manuel de Falla's widow had no interest at all in this way. *rofl*

So I'm not going to dicuss the artistry of Artur Rubinstein with an ignorant like you.

[Berdjum]

@MusikPiratCH yopur answer to my answer demonstrates to me that you are someone who got no hear and no hear means no brain ! of course money has been important since millemium ! study the antique Egypt and study even Sigmund Freud's life.

I thanks you to not discuss with me about the none artistry of artur Rubinstein with me. and listen for once the Alicia dela Rocha's performance ! by the way .. read the comment of Piano345 about showmanship .. this is a veru good statement ! SHOW !

[Berdjum]

@MusikPiratCH Can you give to ys a definition of what is pure art ?

[NicotinMan]

@MusikPiratCH Yes but remember: Falla's widow is not Falla but another, if somewhat qualified, listener.

[poupee58]

I totally agree about mistakes ,I prefer to hear a bravura and real performance with emotion and mistakes rather than a perfect but sterile and robotic performance .

[khi590]

increadibly powerful performance - and amazing how well recorded at those times...

[Baiocco1984]

Only one word...... GREAT !

[michaeltheace]

can someone send me the link to get the score?? thanks in advance

[Bibliomaniac15]

@michaeltheace It's on IMSLP for free.

[angelsuntaxi]

Realmente un virtuoso musical, la genialidad de su cerebro se transmite a traves de sus dedos, que al ponerlos sobre ese piano, no hace sino demostrarnos que es sino el único, pero si uno de los pocos que nacieron con la gracia divina.

[TheMikester307]

A definate Romantic Pianist! And on film and vid!

[OSHERL007]

j'adore il est trop fort, je ne peux pas étudier sans écouter Rubinstein, son génie m'inspire.

Uno ve en sus ojos la concentración y dedicación a su obra.

Brillant. Truly the best way to study is to have Rubinstein in the background. He's inspiring and motivating at the same time. His tempo, talent and concentration come together for a masterpiece.

[pianolover1004]

His performance is so wonderful indeed.

He is amazing pianist. All of them are so fantastic.

[martimtavares]

wow, I never saw any pianist throwing his hands up in the air like him when playing those repetitive chords!

[Viyemelle]

@martimtavares I know! I think I'll try it too in my version of this piece XD Really, this is the best version for students to referance to ^^;

[MrKKRen]

you arent completely right. playing correctly means you say the truth.you follow the sheet music.of course emotion and good timing is very important but when you hear a great pianist playing you should feel safe that you wont hear mistakes.if you know a piano piece very well you feel displeased when you hear mistakes

[charold3]

Mistake is at 1:15 or :16, meant to write.

[charold3]

Wrong note at about 1:13. I guess that means this is a bad pianist. Just joking. I think the showman in him made him play a bit recklessly at times. But Horowitz made mistakes too, as did Schnabel.

[zebb1111]

only martha has that kind of passion today.

[perla51]

MAGNIFICENT!!!!!!!!!!!! Perla.

[dearmalika]

Genial! Tanto Rubinstein el pianista como la musica de Falla!

[edaricca2009]

Impressionante, impareggiabile!!!!!!!!!!!

[giogiorn]

pom pom pom! pom pom pom! un-pa un-pa un-pa

splendido!

[Andresppiiaannoo]

jajajj me dio risa !! pom po pom! un pa un pa! jajajajaj

[mllhartshorn]

The audience members are all identical to one another.

[HISHASHIS]

no veo el modo de decir algo.

[coguar0]

Superbo!

[AngelBeib]

Brilliant!!

[perla51]

Simply splendid!!! Perla.

[Caleuche3]

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooooooooooooooow

that was simply amazing

[meredith21846]

Too overblown for my taste, nevertheless quite entertaining.

[Emersonmusica]

I'm just expressing my opinion ... não pode ????

[antoinezygfryd]

Toute la diaspora bave évidemment.

[Emersonmusica]

Lang Lang ???

Are you crazy? The Rubienstein compared to Lang Lang, that shit! He is an Asian who just wants to distort the original parts ... uhullll someone out there has that autobiography that he did? the 2nd volume!

[SamuelConcepcion]

You have no respect at all for Asian talents, like Langlang and Yuja Wang. What do you hate Chinese that bad? Were you slapped or insulted by a Chinese some time ago?

[bigmelt]

lang lang and yuja wang aren't so great, but there are very good chinese musicians - just those two aren't the best representations

[NeuronalRQ]

2:25 - 2:31 AMAZING!! That hand movement is really amazing

[cicerone63]

thank you very much for post! Only enjoy one time more Rubinstein is a pleasure for the soul!

[MotEmantsalon]

A pianist isn't measured by the mistakes he or she plays, but more by their understanding of the piece and the skill/emotion they can put into it. Sure, you could get elitist morons who would gladly play the most difficult piece they can with absolutely no emotion, but they just end up sounding exactly like they are; elitest idiots. I could name some examples...

Any real pianist wouldn't care about mistakes. >_>

And comparing him to a violinist for degration's sake doesn't quite work.

[MusicalEutopia]

"Any real pianist wouldn't care about mistakes."

Do you realise how foolish that sentence is?

[MotEmantsalon]

Absolutely.

However, by all means getting the sound you want across is more important than getting the piece perfect. There's such thing as a "very boring, generic" version of a song, and I dare say Rubinstein is better than that.

[MusicalEutopia]

I concur.

[deBierce01]

@deBierce01 I'd better get my glasses on, sorry about that.

[stagesix6]

@MotEmantsalon pianists do care about mistakes, but playing all the notes perfectly is not the main goal. like horowitz said: i'm not heifetz, i do not want perfection...

[MotEmantsalon]

@stagesix6 I'm never going to live this one down, am I? xD

I hadn't slept for rather a long time when I wrote that, so my wording was a bit off. I believe I corrected myself several times.

[AmericanCars101]

@MotEmantsalon Couldn't have said it any better myself !

[cfwpiano]

@MotEmantsalon As Kenny Werner says, "There are no wrong notes". :)

[utubuser10]

@MotEmantsalon '...any real pianist wouldn't care about mistakes." now, who's being an elitist idiot? and who the heck is "degration?"

[MotEmantsalon]

@utubuser10 I'm never going to live that one down. xD Perhaps that was phrased a bit arrogantly, but I think to an extent one shouldn't care about mistakes. If you mess a couple of notes up, they can be covered. If you mess up the rhythm or feel of the piece, you've lost all hope. And it's not as if the whole thing is covered in mistakes. -_-

[utubuser10]

@MotEmantsalon i think that stating that "one shouldn't care about mistakes," is somewhat misplaced. if one cares about conveying the spirit of the music, then getting the notes right is a given. but i agree that it is not the only aspect of what goes into a transcendent rendition. you know rubenstein is a bad example in this matter since he, after seeing horowitz, reappraised of his own playing which up to that time had been rather callous with respect to accuracy of notes. he certainly cared.

[MotEmantsalon]

@utubuser10 I believe I've already explained, or at least thoroughly implied, that my comment was only "to an extent". Correct, misplaced and arrogant. I've already said that.

[utubuser10]

@MotEmantsalon Got it.

[janicezany]

A "show-off" (those 3-ft bouncing arms) performance, that mostly shows some inadaquacies. As someone said earlier, this is not the original version by deFalla (as I knew and played it as a teen-ager) and Ruby adds a lot and DETRACTS a lot, e.g. the ending. He either forgot or deliberately left out about 1 or 2 measures. For the REAL thing, check de Larrocha on YouTube.

[smurashige]

Well, I do prefer de Larrocha's version, but I think the differences here are because he's playing a different transcription, of which I think there are a few, if I'm not mistaken. This excerpt from the ballet "El amor brujo" has undergone numerous different sorts of transcriptions, so I wouldn't say he "wimped out."

[shack017]

He leaves out the left hand trills once the melody starts. That's not how it was written. He wimped out. Check out de Larrocha for a better interpretation and one that actually adheres to the original score.

[GeneralKuno]

Mind you, this was Rubinstein's own transcription.

[spartan1081990]

Manuel de Falla ...

[theawesomeviolinist]

AMAZING!!!!!

[marniewitchjdr]

bravooooooooooooooooooo

[frogmanpiano]

Pedantry can b tiresome, however 4 ugcodoo1? and "oceansurferg". As stated: R was a friend of Falla and got permission to transcribe Ritual Fire Dance for piano, it comes from 'El Amor Brujo". For example R gave the first Western performance of Nights in the Garden of Spain - and he was present at the premier performance in 1916 in Madrid. His friendship and the story is on page 157 of Harvey Sachs biography of Rubinstein This "arrangement' was a favorite encore all R's life.

[oceansurferg]

This is the second piece for my marching band's show. I had no idea it was originally for piano. He plays it brilliantly.

[UGC001]

Actually it was written for an orchestra...I can't remember what it was from. It was just transcribed for piano.

[pookiehohn]

He really looks like Teller from Penn and Teller.

[NeuronalRQ]

I dont see that before but it is true XD

[timfxf]

You men Teller looks like him.

[stagesix6]

from penn and teller show? yeah, it's true!

[frogmanpiano]

Rubinstein was 60 when he played this in the film it was his own arrangement and an encore favorite. He was a most natural pianist with technique the equal of Horowitz (or anyone else in his day).however he was primarily an interpreter! He had one of the widest repertory of any musician and in his youth introduced much "new" music Falla was a friend ("he new everyone") -he played extensively in Spain and introduced a significant amount of. Spanish music to the west.....frogmanpano

[classicallady]

My 3rd audition....inspired by Rubistein

[arikcarlo]

A God of the piano!

[Crad4DRC]

his look starting at :30 is awesome . Rubinstein was THE man.

[frogmanpiano]

He could wow the public when he wanted to...but was a serious musician for those who have the attention span listen to him play Schubert's d960 Sonata in B flat #21 he spoke 8 languages and was interested in everything -very widely read and a legendary raconteur. he was a great chamber music player too -not something found in most soloists of his stature. His Chopin is for many the yardstick comparison. But he said there is no such thing as the "best performance" frogmanpiano

[Crad4DRC]

I really hope you are kidding...and btw I never said Rubinstein was the best, I said he was the man.

[stubs13]

Who is lang-lang?????

[MrSammyConcepcion]

What a racist you are. I know you hate lang-lang just because he is an Asian man.

[125themajjixmaaan]

and that comment isn't racist?

[silosas]

He's an Asian pianist that's become rather popular. People are rather critical of him though. Personally, I love his Liebestraum.

hehe, he has funny expressions though.

[ShomerShmuel]

Big Falla, Big Rubinstein, Awesome

[stagesix6]

make trills like that is pretty hard, believe me

[xohugaholicox]

We're playing this in my school's wind ensemble this year; to see this guy play this by himself is just like... o_O

[jauble]

YITBOS

Amazing

[Walvis2007]

Amazing performance; brilliant.

[qsolkew01]

Well Maestro I have to say that you'll have to concede this one to Alicia De Laroccha. She plays less quickly more profoundly, richer in tone and dare I say with less mechanical and more sentient understanding of the piece. So why have you been listened too so much. Is it because not enough people have heared of Alicia. Spanish musicians have genius too. Well for those who have not heared of her more to their regret!

[todopor]

He is a genius

[b4rocklegendx]

his hands GRR.

my piano would kill me if i jumped like that xD

[stagesix6]

he doesn´t even trie

[Ostirala]

mui bueno era este pianista esta cancion la compuso el genio

[kolb94]

who transcribed this for piano?