Added: 4 years ago
From: aptlymedias
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  • This is probably my favorite recording of the piece. I always find that Horowitz or Argerich is quite rushed on the piece. I actually played this piece myself, and Lise de la Salle's recording really made me understand the piece a lot more. I don't understand why anyone would dislike such an accomplished artist.

  • on peut admettre que ce n'est pas la plus rapide version de la toccata de prokofiev on peut cepandant admettre que son interprétation est unique et nette. Si son idée de la rendre mécanique, et bien son objectif est atteint car elle me fait rêver et imaginer...

  • I agree with npelletier89. No need to put the life into this piece.

    To me, this piece is the racing of the robot. (that's the reason why I prefer Argerich's version than Horowitz)

  • what is her name???

  • This is so mechanical. It sounds awful !

  • @ZeZapatiste awful lol?

  • @scout6686 The way I see it is that this piece is the dance of the devil. It deserves to be played very lively, with strong bass notes and more intensity shades. Obviously she didn't get the same interpretation and compared to many other versions I don't find this one particularly good. But then, I wouldn't be able to play the quarter of that piece.

  • @ZeZapatiste lol! Turn of the century, and it's a toccata. Mechanical is a perfect way to describe it :P

  • @ZeZapatiste Yes, she could work on a few things, but her playing is superb and the Toccata is supposed to be mechanical...What are you talking about.

  • Ancora una volta questa giovane artista è riuscita a cogliere lo spirito e il senso della composizione che esegue. Lise de la Salle è formidabile e piena di estro anche in questa occasione !!! La Toccata op. 11 è una delle peggiori composizioni scritte da Prokofieff, ma offre molti spunti per l'intepretazione, per la tecnica e lo studio delle sonorità. Sempre presente nei concorsi pianistici internazionali, molto frequentata da tanti illustri pianisti.....

  • Anyone who can play this has got to be right up there. Prokofiev is about biting sarcasm and percussion. One also has to think of that in the context of icy Russian winters in which everything freezes solid. The descending passages from high up on the keyboard can be imagined as ice being removed from a hard surface. The Toccata needs a good mix of ice with fire. I agree it is like a machine but it's also a relentless and very angry machine that won't stop until it has run its course.

  • I am going to see her tomorrow in her Chicago debut! CAN'T WAIT!!!

  • So brilliant!!! I think this is one the the greatest pieces in the piano repertoire.

  • She is so brilliant! This shows an exceptional musical mind. It's one of my favorite performances of all time. It takes a lot of guts do perform this. And not flub any of it. It's a goddess level of virtuosity. I watch this video all the time. She's just perfect by any standard.

  • Exciting piece... her clarity made this piece even more powerful than before

  • Love it !

  • I don't think she brings out the demonic, driving force of this piece.

  • @miker2001 why do you think here is any demonic force? It's more about 20th century, it's machinery, if you want a demonic force, listen to "Suggestion diabolique".

  • @Feline132 Because I have heard this piece on youtube, played more intensely, almost demonically. She plays it machine like. She misses the point entirely.

  • @miker2001 As I've said before, in my opinion it IS about machinery so it should be so. Of course you can disagree but that doesn't mean this interpretation is bad.

  • @miker2001 I think that's because you don't get the point correctly. It is dedicated to 20th century's new technologies, mechanichs, so it should be this way.

    P.S. I don't like this performance anyway :D

  • @Feline132 No. Prokofiev didn't give a damn about the 20th century's new technologies. What are you talking about

    

  • @samsungisahottie did u ask? :D

  • Geez her shoes look like they could stab your eyes out haha. Wonderful interpretation, though.

  • Usually I use to hear rock music styles & only few classical. But I'm kind of like an open minded & and thought, I've heard so much. But then Lise de la Salle on the TV screen (it was arte Lounge) couple of months ago and rocked my world. I recently visited a concert in Bremen & she blew my mind. She crushed down my listening habits and made me listening like a new born baby. It was overwhelming. Now her "mozart | prokofiev" record rotates constantly. Do yourself a favor & buy her records!

  • that steinway sounds very bad!!! Her interpretation is wonderful...

  • beurrkkk, ça tape duur !

  • She rocks!

  • semplicemente... brava!! :))

  • Well, technically well played, but... no prokofievish energetic feel at all... While playing this piece you should RAPE the piano, not pet it.

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  • @LordN3mrod agree completely

  • @LordN3mrod You're suggesting a woman should "RAPE the piano"? You're a jerk.

  • @panchamkauns Look up "metaphore". Thank you.

  • @LordN3mrod

    Look up "how to spell easy words". Thank you.

  • did absolutely nothing to me, this was definitely not prokofiev

  • For a concertizing professional pianist, this performance is fair - Martha Argerich clearly need not worry. Or Byron Janis or his great teacher, Vladimir. In many ways, this is just a safe performance as she takes slight pauses before any big leaps and she never takes any real chances to create the excitement that the piece demands.

  • I played this piece when I was 20-21 and I had quite a time with the last 2-3 pages (was going to do this for my first recital but opted out of it when technically it made me very sore). To play this piece successfully you need an impeccable technique and SLOW practise (about 1/2 speed) because otherwise you may get injured. I did lots of hands seperate too.

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  • John 3:16"For God soloved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life"

    It's your choice.

  • Song? Look the word up.  Who are these people who come on youtube who have no knowledge of classification .A piece ,a song? What is that?sonata allegro form is not a ballade (though ballades sometimes use sonataform. A song has a voice it is not an 3 part invention or passacaglia or fugue or a baroque bi-partite sonata nor a many movement partita or Suite.These things matter and instantly tell people you are not worth a conversation because u dont know basics.

  • Your comment tells me YOU are not worth a conversation.

    Today, in today's language (and yes Language evolves) a "song" can mean any piece of music. If you are speaking technically, in classical music terms, then yes, a song is a piece of music, usually around 3-5 minutes, that features a vocalist and an accompanist.

    But your remark makes you appear an Elitist (which today has a negative connotation) who lacks interpersonal skills.

  • @lovesGenet sometimes the best conversations you can have... is with ignorant people... so dont think as a waste of time talking with "ignorants"

  • Quite stagnant and distorted.

  • Ms. de la Salle has neither the technique nor the maturity to do this work justice. Her performance is lumbering and heavy, and her phrasing is atrocious. Listen to Argerich's performance on youtube to hear the work in its true beauty.

  • I juste agree with you ;-)

  • everyone has their own interpritation and she most likely plays it the ways she likes itand u should at least give her some credit for learning the song in the first place....which is extremely difficult to do......i mean i dont see you up on youtube playing it.....

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  • prokofiev must've been a very angry man, at least when he composed this

    awesome

  • S2 kkkkkk

  • i fantasie her fingers in heretic ways...

  • This really murders my brain, everything really. Just listen to it sitting alone in the dark it's like being hunted down by a maniac

  • jajajajaja

  • Pls.don't curse!She is brave girl.

  • i find that 1: 30 is played to lightly imo . should the climax of this toccata

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  • Holy smoke!

  • wow that sounds so awsome!

  • yea

  • Yes.

  • World, not work

  • HOT

  • Really?

  • Yeah, this chick can really play the piano!

  • I see.

    Your comment just seemed a little strange to me. What is "hot" about the video, besides the fact that the pianist is a "chick"?

  • Well she's way prettier than say Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera and she's about a million times more talented than either of them and that's what makes it so hot.

  • Okay, I misunderstood you. You have very good taste. ^_~

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  • @Drizzlerman I do not agree :)

  • @Fresh0razoR Well, that's your opinion..

  • @Drizzlerman Indeed; not everyone can learn this technically demanding piece of work. :-)

  • @Montyleeny14 Yeah, and she did it beautifully. 54 people have no idea how difficult it is to play this piece well.

  • However, even though she was a little slower than I was used to hear, she was excellently clear on her notes. =D

  • The notes could be more emphasized with more pedal

  • Are you trying to be a jerk? Or does it just come naturally?

  • C'mon people i wish i can play half of what she does

  • I wish I had a piano! no no, keyboard! even those that is just a piece of paper that you can connect to you pc and you think that you're really playin! uff why music is so expensivE!? :(

  • sorry..i like tang tang's version the best! that guy really makes this piece sound smooth! but very nice performance regardless!

  • i also like tang tang's version most, but i can't find it anymore

  • But tang tang isn't human, he's some kind of robot from the future that has been playing piano for generations and making this piece perfect! Prokofiev himself did't play this like him... maybe this is just a conspiration against something bigger!!! cha cha chaaaaaaaaan!!!

  • With all due respect to Ms. de la Salle's gifts, this is incredibly ponderous. Please refer to Argerich's or Pogorelich's breathtaking performances.

  • This is the clearest performance of this toccata. She accents every note... it's a beautiful performance. One of the best, in my opinion.

  • It's very fine. Very solid, well articulated, full of interesting accents and personal touches. If one listens objectively, this is far better controlled and more evenly played than Prokofiev's own rendition.

    But Claire Huangci has broken new ground with this toccata, and plays it with such verve that even Horowitz and the great MA have to take a back seat.

    Lise is a wonderful pianist, but Prokfiev is not really her forte.

  • Fair enough: Argerich was a lot older when she recorded this. All I know is I want to have lesbian sex with this Sapphic genius right now.

  • Argerich's version is 1000 times better... saludos

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  • Sarà stato bello il saggio di classe, con questi allievi così bravi...

  • Cette pièce est d'une difficulté redoutable, mais il ne faut pas en faire une Etude ici. Je trouve ette interprétation sans saveur : c'est droit, monochrome, sans relief, avec peu de puissance (c'est parfois dure, plus que puissant), le son du piano est moche (il s'agit pourtant d'un Steinway !! mettons cela sur le dos de la prise de son, mais bon). Dommage car Lise de la Salle possède une belle technique mais ici, ce n'est que technique ; place à l'expressivité, parbleu.

  • This is becoming my favourite rendition of this Toccata...

  • Great performance...! Impressive. Very consistent.

  • Not good in my opinion. Dont like the accented notes at 0:16, too over-emphasised, the rest of the piece is not powerful enough, but then I am comparing this to what I have heard...and I have not heard anything close to Argerich.

  • The pieces doesn't have the power because she's playing on a seven foot, or something close to it. That is definitely not a concert grand. I also believe that Steinways aren't known for baby grands with real power and resonance.

  • While I won't contend this the the best performance of this piece, it is certainly an impressive one. UKpiano comments that at 0:16 the accents are bad. De la Salle plays them as many pianists do, and her playing, while far less spectacular than Argerich's, is smoother and just as convincing. That said, neither Argerich nor de la Salle is as good as Byron Janis or Claire Huangci. I'm not looking for an argument here, since I am an admirer of Argerich, but I must defend young de la Salle here.

  • I think I have seen the light. I made a somewhat negative comment earlier on her playing, but the more I listen to this pianist, I have to say I am impressed. She is definitely a unique gift to the musical world.

  • that's not "playing" the piano

    - it's "working" on the piano!

    listen to the interpretations of Argerich or C.Huangci ...

  • Yawn! Passionless, empty and droid. She needs to sweat a little, use her fists, and lose the dots in her head and play it like it should. Give it some balls dammit woman!

    Stick to the Chopin Etudes...!

  • I like her interpretation. I hope to someday play as well as she does.

  • The articulation is nice...

  • It's an interesting interpretation but I can't say that it's one of my favorites.

  • elle ferait mieux de jouer du mozart,

  • mon dieux pauvre Prokofiev!!!!!!!!!!

  • C'est laborieux !

  • Personally I think this was the best interpretation I heard, the strange staccato and reserved style really suit the piece.

    She has to be one of the most original pianists (in style) I have heard since Gould, which is no mean feat at the age of 20.

    It is indeed very rare to see someone who doesn't conform to the "usual" way of playing things.

    Yours~

  • its a bit unexpresivr and

  • she got stucked in the start.. :\

    i didn't like this performance, not fluent enough for my opinion.

    watch Martha Argerich's performance!

  • exceptional control

  • I listen to this almost every day

  • Interesting, sometimes I think she's a little bottom heavy, and I wish she would peak out more on the top notes (I guess that's hard because she plays pretty loudly in general), but but this won me over anyway. Her playing of this Prokofiev Toccata is much more contrapuntal and percussive than some other interpretations...I guess the trade off of not using the pedal is there is less of a crescendo on important points.

  • Claire plays much much better than her, has more musical sense better interpretation.

  • Incredible music but somehow this performance does not move me, and normally I not a negative person, but hey everyone responds differently to different people, but quite frankly I just don't quite get the fuss about her. Some many greater pianists (again just my opinion) out there.

  • frenchmusician12, i have to agree. In my opinion, she doesn't seem to capture the intent of this frenzied music., played almost at 'practice speed.' She gets all the notes right but so what? Somewhat overrated. In a pianistic world full of perahia's, kissin's, li's, zimmerman's, does she really deserve to be ranked among these near immortals. I think not.

  • The first time I heard this piece was when some epic musicians from Oxford visited my school, when the pianist played this it actually felt terrifying, whereas this player makes it sound comedic. I'm am sure she could play it more aggressively though.

  • nettement trop lent

  • Thankyou lise de la salle !!Everyone I have heard on Youtube who masters this amazing piece,whatever speed they play it at,brings me something I can marvel at.Prokofiev comes out the true genius ,giving these pianists a portal to show their wonderful talents.

  • maybe someday I want to meet you at festival

    why don't you play scriabin 'pieces??(LIKE ETUDE)

  • well what can i say... this is nothing less than fantastic

  • Lise de la Salle: une des grandes pianistes de l´actualité, de cette nouvelles pianistes, ces jeunes artistes. Merci, Mademoiselle la Salle, vous êtes excellent !! Bravo!

  • Ooo shes cute

  • This song is fun to watch and listen to, but the real fun is playing it! When my instructor suggested I play this song, I gave it a listen and wasn't ecstatic. After a few months of practicing, I decided it was the most fun piece I had ever played.

  • I thought she really tackled the killer piece until the end where she accelarated, then couldn't play the last few measure as fast as she accelerated, and suddenly slowed down.

  • She really makes the melody stand out A LOT. Even though I like Argerich's better (which is faster), but this was still very good.

  • She has a nice, light touch. I also like the whimsical, gentle side of her playing. However, I think her playing lacks power and definition in some parts, and the sound can be rather muddy. Overall, a very talented young pianist though! I'm jealous of her hands. They're so elegant and pretty. =P

  • What is most striking here is her excellent control of the sonorities of the instrument. Pedal work is outstanding.

  • I like it :) She feels the accents :)

  • You prefer her Prokofief toccata, but this is the toccata!!!! What do you mean?

  • I like her

    That's all

    I

  • LoL, not human...

  • Tempi:

    Lise et Song Lee sont à 104

    Martha à 116

    et Claire à 126.

    en-dehors de ça, il est frappant de constater la différence de gestuelle: frappe très verticale pour Lise et très horizontale pour Claire.

    Au niveau instrument / prise de son, le stein de Lise est incomparablement meilleur.

    C'était l'analyse extra-musicale de la soirée.

  • BRAVOOOO!!!!!!

  • i dont like her.... =S

  • joliment détaillé, moments qui rattachent cette singulière Toccata au lyrisme des 9 Sonates... Des "little mistakes" ? Les chochottes calées dans les pantoufles de leur écoute routinière n'ont qu'à entendre l'"interprétation" de Smirnov le pochetron

  • I think she is a great pianist, but i don't like her interpretation of that piece.

    I prefer Agerich.

    And, by the way, there are even some little mistakes.

    That's no problem, but its intersting to see that also great pianists are not perfekt!

  • this girl is seriously badly beautiful......^_^

  • I hope that by badly you mean not.

  • I really love the way she is playing. It may looks unusual to play like this, but she seems to be so in control.

  • BAD ASS!!!! very nice playing....I played this piece when I was 19, I did it faster but not as controlled and well-shaped as lise's performance.....even if it works technically at Huangci Tempo, it sounds very cool but the soul of the piece deteriorates

    that's why I prefer Lise's performance...keep up the good work!!!

  • i love the clarity and the control and i love that she did not rush the development this is the nicest recording i have ever heard because it is controlled and well-shaped.

  • That is diffigulch!

  • I like how all these people commenting on her performance are probably just listeners and critics! Have they ever played this piece, "NO", could they, "NO"! When you have studied at music college in piano and played the piece, then you can have REAL opinion. Plus you can't compare her to the greats as this is her interpretation of Prokofievs Toccata! She is very talented for 19, a real asset!

  • She is talented, but your analysis that no one can offer criticism unless they can play the piece is ridiculous. Can you offer an opinion of a medical doctor who treats you? Do you have to be a physician to do so? Can you read a novel and offer criticism without being a writer?

  • I kind of agree with you, but if you read all the comments, they are commenting as if they could do it better or how Horowitz would comment on it(Doubt it as hes dead). Its not constructive criticism, its comparing her to a different generation of pianists and pure snobbery. Plus if you can't read, how can you criticise a novel? same as if you no nothing on reading music or technique or musical interpretation how can you criticise?

  • Hello. I reccomend to you to listen Claire Huangci playing this piece. You can get it from youtube too. That performance is really not only superior but phenomenal. She is just 16 , and is not a matter of how young or old, but the real level of mucisianship an technique.

    ytpiano7

  • Huangci is excellent in this piece. This de la salle character, who looks like an overstuffed canary, can't play the skips cleanly even at this practice speed. I only mention this girls looks because I imagine they are going to market her as an ingenue. Deutsche Grammophon or EMI will be all over this shit.

  • I love it. A rhytmic, cold performance of one of the sickest pieces around. Lisa de la Salle is a genius.

  • nice job learning the notes and gestures despite the slips! a bit too linear though...

    perfect tempo, not slow at all

  • Horowitz would have said: Bah, too slow. In this tempo, the toccata isn't even a difficult piece without any effect. Sounds to me as she is exercising. So, play it once more when you've finished your practice. No comparison to Argerich or Claire Huangci (gettable here on utube)

  • This girl is capable of electrifying performances, but I agree that her playing here is dull.

  • In this tempo, the toccata is still a very difficult piece. Yup, Argerich and Huangci do it faster, but they don't achieve the same mechanical character this interpretation has. To each his own.

    Personnaly I still prefer Argerich though.

  • For some reason, this, the most manly music composed by the most manly pianist, is best played by frail little girls. This interpretations rocks. She uses the pedal a bit abusively IMO, but this has a nice mechanical tempo and is technically very precise, just as I like it.

  • Lol, I completely agree with that. Such a demonic piece and you see many women playing it and they are awesome at it too. I wonder why that is.

  • nice interpretation. made me pay attention. i think this tempo is perfect. i do not like the bullet-train versions :-P they all sound like.. white noise. good! although, it seems a bit empty. could it be the steinway?? :O

  • Listen to Prokofieff's own recording of this piece; he plays it at approximately the same tempo, maybe a hair slower.

  • Do you know where such recording can be found?

  • Superb. She is really playing with the right "Toccata" articulation. And in the end she increases the tempo for a furious coda. Most pianists who play it much faster from the very beginning, just can't do this and miss the character of the piece ...

  • not bad...but just listen to mrs. Argerich's version...:)

  • A Very different interpretation. I like it