Incredible ... I am great his fan, for my music always it has been something special and you are like an idol for my ... it is fascinating to see her to touch with so much mastery and feeling that can manage to stop you without breath ... only to think that it can manage to read this ... it does so that I have started touching the piano and to see since it touches inspires me ... I hope that I understand myself because always I do a mess to myself with the translator :P regards from españa :)
Incredible ... I am great his fan, for my music always it has been something special and you are like an idol for my ... it is fascinating to see her to touch with so much mastery and feeling that can manage to stop you without breath ... only to think that it can manage to read this ... it does so that I have started touching the piano and to see since it touches inspires me ... I hope that I understand myself because always I do a mess to myself with the translator :P regards from españa :)
MVT 3 is my favorite !! not a musician, but get the sense that this is a very interesting piece from a theoretical standpoint. thanks for uploading this totally different music
I remember thinking this piece was awful when I first heard it many years ago... It sounded like a meaningless chaos of notes... Today it sounds incredible. what was I thinking? I suppose I was just young.
I don't know well Shotakovitch but this makes me want to hear more. I especially love the first movement.
By the way Valentina, have you ever heard about Olivier Greif ? He was a French modern composer. Unfortunately he's quite unknown... I think his and Shostakovitch's (or at least here) styles are a bit similar .
The symphony I play in has done most of the Mahler symphonies and one cannot help but be affected by moments of sublime beauty, moments of storm and moments of heart rending pathos. He also tends to wander a fair amount. But we know its personal and while we can extrapolate to a transcendent experience Shostakovich takes us right to humanities heart and soul and thusly expresses in a more intimate way our common bonds of tragedy and love. Like Anna Akmatova.
Many say that Mahler's symphonies are the deepest expression of human suffering, despair, feelings, and philosophical thought - humbug! Shostakovich lived through far worse and his music is far more expressive of the horrors millions of people had to live through. Valentina brings to the music of Shostakovich a soul, intellect, talent and passion obviously in tune with Shostakovich.
@TELarson58 Shostakovich has a lot in common with Mahler . For me- he is a cross between Mahler and Mussorgsky ( not "popular" Mussorgsky of Pictures , but late songs and Khovanchina).Mahler expressed his own private torments ( and we know that things that go on in ones' soul can be jsut as painful and catastrophic as anyting external ) Shsotakovich expressed the suffering of humanity . That's why he could never run away or defect though he had opportunities.
@ValentinaLisitsa I don't agree with you, Shostakovich has nothing in common with Mahler, that is a nonsense phrase from the "intelectuals" that don't know anything about music but they feel confident saying that because Shostakovich used to study the music of Mahler. Between, thanks for playing Shostakovich and I think you have improved greatly during the last years as pianist.
@ValentinaLisitsa I went very well, actually, thank you. And you are right, Valentina, what I'm going to say is really true, it's a hint to everybody. This exam week I'm listening 15 minutes of classical music before I give the exams and I'm going really well. I'm studying harder also this time LOL but music really helps.
The ending reminds me of the last part of the 4th mvmt of his 8th string quartet. The cello a line that is almost like a glimer of hope, a moment of solace before the fall and then... well u should just listen to it!
@musicmann008 It also eerily reminds me of final pages of Kafka's Trial. When everything suddenly becomes so romantic and exalted to make death appear even uglier and more disgusting.
Valentina, your description of this sonata is as revealing as your playing! Having a Russian wife from St Petersburg, I am well aware of the drama this city lived (and died) through in WWII. 30 million dead in the Great Patriotic War!
This sonata reminds me of the beginning of a trio by the same Shostakovitch that begins with the highest notes on the cello. He was the composer of the XXth century, that of death and human suffering.
@Gerald555able Thank you for the comment , really appreciate it . That's right , people who complain about his "modern" language don't give a thought of how can one write of witnessed death and destruction by compsing pretty tunes. Neither Classical nor Romantic composers lived through what happened in XX century. Debussy came from I WW war a changed man. he could never write Clair de Lune again. Messian wrote his End of Times being a camp survivor...
@lePistolero You are so right about Bach as inspiration for Shostakovich. Ecxept , Shostakovich didn't have solace of believeing in God - or anything .... It is so very sad to read his memoirs. He went through so many horrible things in his life that he faced the same question as so many people did before and after : how come there is so much evil in the world if there is something divine above us , and how does God let those things happen.
@lePistolero What if Bach lived and composed during Thirty Years'War - just fifty years before he was born, a war between Catholic and Protestant states - both calling themselves Christians while indulging in utter hatred and cruelty , decimating close to half of Germany population, and more so in Bohemia ... His compositions would be very different if he would bear witness to it , and I don't know if he would have preserved his faith .
@ValentinaLisitsa Thx a lot for answer and yes you must be right, bach compsition should be very different. May i add that if shostakovitch didin't believe in god he kept to make music in his way instead of regime pressure (if i remeber well) , i wanted to denounce the horror of his regime,. He lived in fear but he kept going, maybe the did'nt have the faith on god but the faith on justice and freedom of human kind.
I know that i couldn't have his bravour. He was a great man.
@cahutman Working on getting a recital at Louver. They have nice series there. I always fly to Europe through Paris :-) I love it too much :-)))))))) Really , seriously , I am not kidding ....
@ValentinaLisitsa Ok thanks, i'll check the dates on your website. The louver would be a terrific place, they have a wonderful concert hall with awesome acoustic. Looking forward to hear you there =)
@Crush3r15 Funny , but he disliked anybody playing this sonata. He particularly singles out the great Russain pianist Yudina in his book - for having not a clue about this piece. Her performance - audio - is on Yuotube , by the way. Really strange, is it not? I will report if homes to me at night as a ghost complaining :-)
@emegroomderk Yeah, I miss Mexico ! Somehow they didn't invite me for a couple of years already.... Where I would go is Ciudad Juárez . I know that they have an orchestra that keeps concerts going despite dangers and violence. Anybody reading this can put me in touch with them ???? Shostakovich would have approved.
@ValentinaLisitsa too bad, i live in mexico city.....but i already sended an email (like a week ago) to one of the orchestras here (OFUNAM) saying that they should invite you....they answered that my sugestion would be sent to the responsable of the orchestra....well i hope they listen to me, if they dont, maybe i should make a lot of email accounts and send lots of emails haha
@Minanto91 I saw one clip from Tivoli making appearance on YT - about 4 minutes long , with camera constantly falling off the cliff >>.:-)
Is it yours or somebody else's ? :-)
We are working on putting together sound ( which is quite good ) and video from Tivoli - we had two cameras running - one was INSIDE the fountain behid me :-)
No, the video is a guy sitting in the front row who had a SLR camera, but your music is so exciting that he could not hold the camera. I saw Alexei filming the concert, he is really high! Ok, I look forward to your own recordings of Tivoli!
Somehow, this Shostakovich piece reminds of Alexander Vasilyevich Mosolov, along with the 1st and 2nd movement.
But, please correct me if this is a foolish connection. I mean in terms of the composition style!
Excelling ,as always, Valentina. I don't know how you seem to really feel what the composition is supose to portray. Your have a natural empathy with Shostakovich?! :)
@xakoviski Shostakovich is my absolutely favorite composer . I am jsut upset with him that being a pianist he didn't do more for piano - if he could only do at least 5 piano cocnerti , like Rach or Beethoven. How can we pianists live with only two? One day I am going to record both concertos ...maybe next year.
@xakoviski Except Mosolov' spirit was broken and he gave up and started composing fake music they wanted him to compose. For half of his live the only thing he did was to survive. His was not a strong spirit.
@xakoviski Have you seen this ?: "Антиформалистический Раёк" - №1- Д.Д.Шостакович Finally there is a good rendition of this piece avialable on YT. Just copy the title and make YT search.
This was bravery ranging on utter recklesness . If somebody found this piece in his table's drawer , Shostakovich would be shot the same day. They wouldn't bother taking him for interrogation.
@ValentinaLisitsa Sadly, i don't understand russian. But i did translate it, and did a little research!:)
Thank you for sharing!! That is indeed very daring ""Anti-Formalist Rayok", defying Andrei Zhdanov and his anti-formalism campaign against Shostakovitch himself.
I'm very intrigued with Shostakovitch now, and i want to know more. If you could be so kind to further explain the "Антиформалистический Раёк" - №1- Д.Д.Шостакович"?
@ValentinaLisitsa Yes, its hard to find a decent recording of it actually. I think you will like it, its quite similar to this sonata in a number of ways I think, except very French haha.
Wow, fantastic performance! But I don't know what to be most impressed by - your playing, the fact that you're kind enough to film and freely share all these great videos with the world, or the fact that you actually take the time to reply to so many comments!
How do you feel about Prokofiev's piano sonatas? Also, will you be playing in London any time soon? I saw the wonderful recital you did at the Barbican with Hilary Hahn some years ago, and I'm eager to see more!
@MelodiousThunk I played #2 and #7 , long time ago. I am trying to "sell" the program that would include both Shsotakovich #2 and Prok #7 for a recital - perhaps paired with Rach #1 sonata ....
As for London: nobody is willing to invite me there for some mysterious reason. 3 years ago I booked Wigmore and had a very succesfull sold-out recital. They still wouldn't invite me. I just don't know....it is sad.
I might play a fundraser in a church or two I know. That's all.
Wonderful playing, and thank you for the beautiful and insightful commentary! It would be awesome if you could do commentaries like that more often for future videos.
It's such a privilege to have a fantastic pianist like you regularly uploading videos. Please don't stop anytime soon :) And I really hope to see you live someday.
@Matjlav Thank you :) For me it is very important what compsers thought and what was going on around them.
if you ever have time - and a desire for a highly depressing reading : I highly reccomend "Testimony" by Solomon Volkov - narrated by Shostakovich himself. it is a highly entertaining - oh , I shouldn't really use this word- but yes , it grips you, the reader - and plunges you deep into those disturbing times. It is free on internet .
@ValentinaLisitsa I'll make sure to check it out when I get time. Thanks for the recommendation.
I would ask you to come to my city of residence like everyone else has - but as a university student going back and forth between school, home, and jobs, my nomadic lifestyle makes it difficult to predict where I'll be next time you're in the United States. I can only hope that we cross paths at some point :)
I love the sensibility with wich you play and describe these russian/sovietic composers' pieces, especially this sonata and Balakirev's Islamey. Altough it's modern, I feel some romantic nuances on this piece. Do you play Tchaikovsky pieces too? Like the seasons? It would be very interesting to hear you play his compositons.
@belegSJ There was a very minimum editing done . The hall , in Quebec City was very good though - and the very strange blood red lighting fits this piece visually.It was during a tour - I was just learning this sonata , this is actually BEFORE I ever played it in public.
@ValentinaLisitsa Valentina, I really have to ask you (i comment too much LOL) about the concert in Finland (as I understood that you'll come here). You said i'd be in February 2012, but do you have the precise date? I'd like to mark it down to my calendar. I can't wait to hear you play live! And it's also nice to get to test the new concert hall - it's name is "musiikkitalo" in Finnish
Do you remember when in Buenos Aires I let you know thath I has been listen in 1954 "NATALKA POLTAVKA",the LYSENKO´s opera,played in piano by my teacher Andrea Karalis (Odessa and Kiev) ???
C'est magnifique. Merci mille fois …
saturne46 1 month ago
Incredible ... I am great his fan, for my music always it has been something special and you are like an idol for my ... it is fascinating to see her to touch with so much mastery and feeling that can manage to stop you without breath ... only to think that it can manage to read this ... it does so that I have started touching the piano and to see since it touches inspires me ... I hope that I understand myself because always I do a mess to myself with the translator :P regards from españa :)
4212abraham 2 months ago
Incredible ... I am great his fan, for my music always it has been something special and you are like an idol for my ... it is fascinating to see her to touch with so much mastery and feeling that can manage to stop you without breath ... only to think that it can manage to read this ... it does so that I have started touching the piano and to see since it touches inspires me ... I hope that I understand myself because always I do a mess to myself with the translator :P regards from españa :)
4212abraham 2 months ago
Next: Shostakovich piano sonata No.1 perhaps? :-)
belegSJ 2 months ago
Thank you.
KANVS01 2 months ago
Wow!
brunopace 3 months ago
MVT 3 is my favorite !! not a musician, but get the sense that this is a very interesting piece from a theoretical standpoint. thanks for uploading this totally different music
herol64700 3 months ago
The music brought me close to tears, the description pushed me over.
Buffoon1980 3 months ago
I remember thinking this piece was awful when I first heard it many years ago... It sounded like a meaningless chaos of notes... Today it sounds incredible. what was I thinking? I suppose I was just young.
Great description btw, I enjoyed reading it. :D
arcturian627 4 months ago
Great !
I don't know well Shotakovitch but this makes me want to hear more. I especially love the first movement.
By the way Valentina, have you ever heard about Olivier Greif ? He was a French modern composer. Unfortunately he's quite unknown... I think his and Shostakovitch's (or at least here) styles are a bit similar .
And thank you for your uploads. =)
RefletdOmbres 5 months ago
Valentina, have you met Maxim Shostakovich...or for that matter, the living descendants of any major past composer?
dsm2240 5 months ago
The symphony I play in has done most of the Mahler symphonies and one cannot help but be affected by moments of sublime beauty, moments of storm and moments of heart rending pathos. He also tends to wander a fair amount. But we know its personal and while we can extrapolate to a transcendent experience Shostakovich takes us right to humanities heart and soul and thusly expresses in a more intimate way our common bonds of tragedy and love. Like Anna Akmatova.
TELarson58 5 months ago
Many say that Mahler's symphonies are the deepest expression of human suffering, despair, feelings, and philosophical thought - humbug! Shostakovich lived through far worse and his music is far more expressive of the horrors millions of people had to live through. Valentina brings to the music of Shostakovich a soul, intellect, talent and passion obviously in tune with Shostakovich.
TELarson58 5 months ago 4
@TELarson58 Shostakovich has a lot in common with Mahler . For me- he is a cross between Mahler and Mussorgsky ( not "popular" Mussorgsky of Pictures , but late songs and Khovanchina).Mahler expressed his own private torments ( and we know that things that go on in ones' soul can be jsut as painful and catastrophic as anyting external ) Shsotakovich expressed the suffering of humanity . That's why he could never run away or defect though he had opportunities.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa I don't agree with you, Shostakovich has nothing in common with Mahler, that is a nonsense phrase from the "intelectuals" that don't know anything about music but they feel confident saying that because Shostakovich used to study the music of Mahler. Between, thanks for playing Shostakovich and I think you have improved greatly during the last years as pianist.
honron21 2 months ago
I should be studying for a exam tomorrow, but I don't dare to close youtube page. I'm hypnotized by your performance. LOL.
brunopiccinin 5 months ago 5
@brunopiccinin They say music helps with studies and exams. Do let us all know how it went ? Wishing you best of luck :-)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 9
@brunopiccinin They say music helps with studies and exams. Do let us all know how it went ? Wishing you best of luck :-)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa that's true. classical music is great for studying. I have studied many hours with your videos! (minimized... haha)
chrisb0000 5 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@ValentinaLisitsa that's true. classical music is great for studying. I have studied many hours with your videos! (minimized... haha)
chrisb0000 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa I went very well, actually, thank you. And you are right, Valentina, what I'm going to say is really true, it's a hint to everybody. This exam week I'm listening 15 minutes of classical music before I give the exams and I'm going really well. I'm studying harder also this time LOL but music really helps.
brunopiccinin 5 months ago
BRAVA!
PiroozAzDirooz 5 months ago
The ending reminds me of the last part of the 4th mvmt of his 8th string quartet. The cello a line that is almost like a glimer of hope, a moment of solace before the fall and then... well u should just listen to it!
musicmann008 5 months ago
@musicmann008 It also eerily reminds me of final pages of Kafka's Trial. When everything suddenly becomes so romantic and exalted to make death appear even uglier and more disgusting.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Valentina, your description of this sonata is as revealing as your playing! Having a Russian wife from St Petersburg, I am well aware of the drama this city lived (and died) through in WWII. 30 million dead in the Great Patriotic War!
This sonata reminds me of the beginning of a trio by the same Shostakovitch that begins with the highest notes on the cello. He was the composer of the XXth century, that of death and human suffering.
Gerald555able 5 months ago
@Gerald555able Thank you for the comment , really appreciate it . That's right , people who complain about his "modern" language don't give a thought of how can one write of witnessed death and destruction by compsing pretty tunes. Neither Classical nor Romantic composers lived through what happened in XX century. Debussy came from I WW war a changed man. he could never write Clair de Lune again. Messian wrote his End of Times being a camp survivor...
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 8
Uploading these videos is an impossibly precious gift to the world. Thank you.
Buffoon1980 5 months ago
You "almost" had a concert in Greece? Please make sure you have one next season!!
kejana81 5 months ago
Hey Valentina glad to have you back here :) I was wondering will you ever come in greece?Would love to hear you live :)
MrIncubi 5 months ago
@MrIncubi Almost had a cocnert in Greece but it didn't work out . Maybe next season :)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
why people watch/listen this incomplete!, at this point, the first part have 3717 views, and this one just 1870, WTF
rittiedrummerol 5 months ago
@rittiedrummerol I should have put it in reverse. 3rd movement is actually easier to understand. it is OK - it will catch up .
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Did'nt know that schostakovitch were inspired by bach... This is like bach would sing the devil instead of god...
lePistolero 5 months ago
@lePistolero You are so right about Bach as inspiration for Shostakovich. Ecxept , Shostakovich didn't have solace of believeing in God - or anything .... It is so very sad to read his memoirs. He went through so many horrible things in his life that he faced the same question as so many people did before and after : how come there is so much evil in the world if there is something divine above us , and how does God let those things happen.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@lePistolero What if Bach lived and composed during Thirty Years'War - just fifty years before he was born, a war between Catholic and Protestant states - both calling themselves Christians while indulging in utter hatred and cruelty , decimating close to half of Germany population, and more so in Bohemia ... His compositions would be very different if he would bear witness to it , and I don't know if he would have preserved his faith .
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Thx a lot for answer and yes you must be right, bach compsition should be very different. May i add that if shostakovitch didin't believe in god he kept to make music in his way instead of regime pressure (if i remeber well) , i wanted to denounce the horror of his regime,. He lived in fear but he kept going, maybe the did'nt have the faith on god but the faith on justice and freedom of human kind.
I know that i couldn't have his bravour. He was a great man.
lePistolero 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Thx a lot for playing this sonate, a great pleasure to hear you
lePistolero 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Do you have a faith Valentina? If so does it inform your music? I am curious.
debrucey 5 months ago
background = the blood prince council's chambers :P
vcxlll 5 months ago
Are you coming to Rio de Janeiro any time soon? I'm a big fan and want to see you live. :D
Entravix 5 months ago
wow.
Jolteon206 5 months ago
" This sonata only certain people can fully digest it's sublime & profound substance. A definitive articulative performanz. "
Dachion 5 months ago
@Dachion " This sonata only certain people can fully digest it's sublime & profound substance. A definitive articulative performanz. "
Dachion 5 months ago
And when you gonna come to Argentina? You are getting a lot of fans here, that will love to see you :)
GonzaGnR4ever 5 months ago
@GonzaGnR4ever Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Bariloche - all in November. I believe it is 12th and 14th of November . Chopin Etudes and Liszt
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 3
@ValentinaLisitsa Thank you soo much Valentina, i'll be there :)
GonzaGnR4ever 5 months ago
Please come to france soon =) I desperately want to see you play live
cahutman 5 months ago
@cahutman Working on getting a recital at Louver. They have nice series there. I always fly to Europe through Paris :-) I love it too much :-)))))))) Really , seriously , I am not kidding ....
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Ok thanks, i'll check the dates on your website. The louver would be a terrific place, they have a wonderful concert hall with awesome acoustic. Looking forward to hear you there =)
cahutman 5 months ago
just perfect...and the red light in the background....terrific :)
Blackwish92 5 months ago
The variation that begins at 9:07 is BONE CHILLING!!!! Beautiful, dramatic, moving, and just an incredible piece of music all around.
phantomfn8 5 months ago
Shostakovich returned from his grave and clicked dislike because she plays it better ^_^
Crush3r15 5 months ago
@Crush3r15 Funny , but he disliked anybody playing this sonata. He particularly singles out the great Russain pianist Yudina in his book - for having not a clue about this piece. Her performance - audio - is on Yuotube , by the way. Really strange, is it not? I will report if homes to me at night as a ghost complaining :-)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 4
wow,this is sooooooo dark
sonicheroin 5 months ago
@sonicheroin like hell
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 2
Valentina, ur finger movement always reminds me of some powerful spider somehow :/
m213m2 5 months ago
@m213m2 I guess it can be a correct description :-)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
amazing!!
helenlinpiano 5 months ago
WOW... thats awesome...
Mszoey1993 5 months ago
I´m always speechless when I listen to Valentina play. What a sound! Thank you for the post. It´s excellent.
universoeterno1 5 months ago
For some reason, I would love to see what she does with a really playful piece!
elboberto7 5 months ago
Valentina this was so wonderful..
You are so gifted..
johnnynoirman 5 months ago
I love you, Valentina Lisitsa ♥
gastaldi100 5 months ago
Come to Singapore! I'd like to see you play the Bach-Busoni Chaconne and Prokofiev 2nd concerto!
pebbli94 5 months ago
@pebbli94 OK , agreed :-)))) Prok #2 and Chaconne for an encore.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 6
Come to Mexico Please! D: haha seriuosly...i would like to see you live some time :)
emegroomderk 5 months ago
@emegroomderk Yeah, I miss Mexico ! Somehow they didn't invite me for a couple of years already.... Where I would go is Ciudad Juárez . I know that they have an orchestra that keeps concerts going despite dangers and violence. Anybody reading this can put me in touch with them ???? Shostakovich would have approved.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa too bad, i live in mexico city.....but i already sended an email (like a week ago) to one of the orchestras here (OFUNAM) saying that they should invite you....they answered that my sugestion would be sent to the responsable of the orchestra....well i hope they listen to me, if they dont, maybe i should make a lot of email accounts and send lots of emails haha
emegroomderk 5 months ago 3
@emegroomderk I played with OFUNAM - Grieg Concerto and it was a great success . I also played something like 7 times with Mineria . Let's hope :-)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
the passage is like a retelling of my chaotic, exhausting day and then fitting with the finale, i can now sleep in peace
beautifully played..
chonny1987 5 months ago
Outstanding, Val!
triplexxxsatyr 5 months ago
So good
berklee24365678 5 months ago
Did you write the video descriptions? They're amazing.
bluebychoice 5 months ago
@bluebychoice Of course I did ;) Don't you notice wrong articles ? That's what most Russian-speackers mess up forever LOL
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Valentina I filmed with my mobile part of the second ballad of Liszt in Tivoli. It is not a high-quality video, but I could share it on youtube?
Minanto91 5 months ago
@Minanto91 I saw one clip from Tivoli making appearance on YT - about 4 minutes long , with camera constantly falling off the cliff >>.:-)
Is it yours or somebody else's ? :-)
We are working on putting together sound ( which is quite good ) and video from Tivoli - we had two cameras running - one was INSIDE the fountain behid me :-)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Comment removed
Minanto91 5 months ago
No, the video is a guy sitting in the front row who had a SLR camera, but your music is so exciting that he could not hold the camera. I saw Alexei filming the concert, he is really high! Ok, I look forward to your own recordings of Tivoli!
Minanto91 5 months ago
Somehow, this Shostakovich piece reminds of Alexander Vasilyevich Mosolov, along with the 1st and 2nd movement.
But, please correct me if this is a foolish connection. I mean in terms of the composition style!
Excelling ,as always, Valentina. I don't know how you seem to really feel what the composition is supose to portray. Your have a natural empathy with Shostakovich?! :)
xakoviski 5 months ago
@xakoviski Shostakovich is my absolutely favorite composer . I am jsut upset with him that being a pianist he didn't do more for piano - if he could only do at least 5 piano cocnerti , like Rach or Beethoven. How can we pianists live with only two? One day I am going to record both concertos ...maybe next year.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@xakoviski Except Mosolov' spirit was broken and he gave up and started composing fake music they wanted him to compose. For half of his live the only thing he did was to survive. His was not a strong spirit.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa About Mosolov, i was expecting you would say that!
His pursue for Stalin's support did broke his spirit, he should have fought all the odds and stick to his style!!!
Despite that, some of his compositions still amaze me with the dissonance / chromaticism factor!
xakoviski 5 months ago
@xakoviski Have you seen this ?: "Антиформалистический Раёк" - №1- Д.Д.Шостакович Finally there is a good rendition of this piece avialable on YT. Just copy the title and make YT search.
This was bravery ranging on utter recklesness . If somebody found this piece in his table's drawer , Shostakovich would be shot the same day. They wouldn't bother taking him for interrogation.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Sadly, i don't understand russian. But i did translate it, and did a little research!:)
Thank you for sharing!! That is indeed very daring ""Anti-Formalist Rayok", defying Andrei Zhdanov and his anti-formalism campaign against Shostakovitch himself.
I'm very intrigued with Shostakovitch now, and i want to know more. If you could be so kind to further explain the "Антиформалистический Раёк" - №1- Д.Д.Шостакович"?
Thanks!
xakoviski 5 months ago
When I listen to this I think how much I would love to hear you play the Dutilleux sonata.
debrucey 5 months ago
@debrucey Dutilleux has a pinao sonata ? I knew and played only flute and piano piece.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Yes, its hard to find a decent recording of it actually. I think you will like it, its quite similar to this sonata in a number of ways I think, except very French haha.
debrucey 5 months ago
Comment removed
xakoviski 5 months ago
Wow, fantastic performance! But I don't know what to be most impressed by - your playing, the fact that you're kind enough to film and freely share all these great videos with the world, or the fact that you actually take the time to reply to so many comments!
How do you feel about Prokofiev's piano sonatas? Also, will you be playing in London any time soon? I saw the wonderful recital you did at the Barbican with Hilary Hahn some years ago, and I'm eager to see more!
MelodiousThunk 5 months ago
@MelodiousThunk I played #2 and #7 , long time ago. I am trying to "sell" the program that would include both Shsotakovich #2 and Prok #7 for a recital - perhaps paired with Rach #1 sonata ....
As for London: nobody is willing to invite me there for some mysterious reason. 3 years ago I booked Wigmore and had a very succesfull sold-out recital. They still wouldn't invite me. I just don't know....it is sad.
I might play a fundraser in a church or two I know. That's all.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Wonderful playing, and thank you for the beautiful and insightful commentary! It would be awesome if you could do commentaries like that more often for future videos.
It's such a privilege to have a fantastic pianist like you regularly uploading videos. Please don't stop anytime soon :) And I really hope to see you live someday.
Matjlav 5 months ago
@Matjlav Thank you :) For me it is very important what compsers thought and what was going on around them.
if you ever have time - and a desire for a highly depressing reading : I highly reccomend "Testimony" by Solomon Volkov - narrated by Shostakovich himself. it is a highly entertaining - oh , I shouldn't really use this word- but yes , it grips you, the reader - and plunges you deep into those disturbing times. It is free on internet .
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa I'll make sure to check it out when I get time. Thanks for the recommendation.
I would ask you to come to my city of residence like everyone else has - but as a university student going back and forth between school, home, and jobs, my nomadic lifestyle makes it difficult to predict where I'll be next time you're in the United States. I can only hope that we cross paths at some point :)
Matjlav 5 months ago
So nice is to hear your performance again.
A lot of thanks
halynamyroslava 5 months ago
The 3rd moving is breathtaking!
chrisb0000 5 months ago
@chrisb0000 Thank you !
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Amazing performance !
I love the sensibility with wich you play and describe these russian/sovietic composers' pieces, especially this sonata and Balakirev's Islamey. Altough it's modern, I feel some romantic nuances on this piece. Do you play Tchaikovsky pieces too? Like the seasons? It would be very interesting to hear you play his compositons.
Congratulations!
bennieandthejets80 5 months ago
@bennieandthejets80 My dream - well , one of them - is to record Tchaikovsky with Pittsburgh Symphony. They are amazing in this repertory.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
Wonderful playing - again. Thank you for this "package" of Shostakovich, it made my day!
I'd also like to give credit to the camerawork and editing, both very well done.
belegSJ 5 months ago
@belegSJ There was a very minimum editing done . The hall , in Quebec City was very good though - and the very strange blood red lighting fits this piece visually.It was during a tour - I was just learning this sonata , this is actually BEFORE I ever played it in public.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
@ValentinaLisitsa Valentina, I really have to ask you (i comment too much LOL) about the concert in Finland (as I understood that you'll come here). You said i'd be in February 2012, but do you have the precise date? I'd like to mark it down to my calendar. I can't wait to hear you play live! And it's also nice to get to test the new concert hall - it's name is "musiikkitalo" in Finnish
belegSJ 5 months ago
@belegSJ Let me find it for you :)
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago
まだ、コメントが少ないようです。今から寝ますので、明日ゆっくり聴いてみましょう！ショスタコービチは、初めてなのですね。よーく聴いてからコメントまたします。
mamakokonao 5 months ago
Do you remember when in Buenos Aires I let you know thath I has been listen in 1954 "NATALKA POLTAVKA",the LYSENKO´s opera,played in piano by my teacher Andrea Karalis (Odessa and Kiev) ???
jorgeliebermann 5 months ago
The background was made for you :) When you're going to Italy??? :(
I want to meet you :) You're my idol ^_^
DentroUnPianoforte 5 months ago
@DentroUnPianoforte I just came from Rome , a Liszt recital in Tivoli. I already saw pirated clips on YT :) This background is indeed very menacing.
ValentinaLisitsa 5 months ago 11
Genius... you're a genius!!!
DentroUnPianoforte 5 months ago