Grigory Sokolov plays Bach Partita 6 live (mvt 1)

[SergejKlassen]

HahA! So show us your Version, guys! One of the most genious Interpretes alive und ever. No Comment.

[ilt201]

you guys like it fast like that?

[guitarwizard6]

I normally love Sokolov's playing, but this performance doesn't work for me...it's just way too fast. As piano playing per se, it's very impressive, but as music, less so.

[amezcuaist]

This magician can make a piano talk.

[Fernando31611]

Very interesting performance. For an student used to hear only Gould/Bach recordings, it is a new point of view. Very live and dinamic.

[ansonyeung825]

the best pianist in this planet

[jsnauwaert]

So fresh, so vital, so musical, so precise, so much virtuoso, ... so much everything.

[jsnauwaert]

For me Sokolov is a recent discovery. I didn't know that today there was such a big grandmaster of the piano. Respect.

[uhfqacdfkml]

he makes angels round...he found a melody, it s strange.

[giuliogermanico]

Molto buono, un po' veloce forse ma parliamo di una Toccata e non venite a parlarmi di Gould, è un caso a parte!

[NoHellButInYourHead]

:-D

[torridscene]

Sokolov brings a very Romantic (and for that matter, Post-Romantic) feel to Bach, and that can ruin a performance of Bach, but he, Sokolov, is amazing-- everything he plays, he makes the piano sing! very few others can do that. Here, that beautiful expressive quality he has shines brilliantly.

[drab112233]

Each note Grigory Sokolov plays sparkles like a precious gem, like a priceless diamond! His interpretational gift is striking,incomparable, his pianism is superb,and anybody with a fraction of musical ear should be in absolute admiration of his genius performance! Bravo!!!

[caronte21071974]

Sabato prossimo al teatro Morlacchi di Perugia ci sarò...

[flic71]

la fuga è perfetta!!!

[flic71]

meraviglioso!!!!!!

[aomf58]

Very interesting and thoughtful interpretation, and convincing after all. Enjoyed it. Thank you so much.

[Saifongjunfan]

Gould version's is better to me. Sokolov play that too fast

[mc0558]

Marvelous! Stupendous!! 

[quelbop]

I`d hesitate to single out a `best` version when there`s such wonderful completely different versions of this movement:Pletnev,Gould and Sokolov spring to mind,but there are others.

However,Sokolov is the best when it comes to playing the mordent! he articulates it in such a crisp way....i`d never imagined it could sound that way.

[klausknulp]

@AntonioDGO

probably it is more than music? listen to sokolovs bach i feel to be unique with the universe!

[4785689]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[flippert0]

I'm always amazed not only about Sokolov's technique but also how much he can make the rather 'rigid' piano sound like a different instrument. Here I hear a harpsichord or even a guitar. This working with sound was a speciality of Emil Gilels (which Sokolov is a protege and admirer of).

[agreatguy6]

My teacher and I recently had a discussion on how this is supposed to be played. I argued for slower, but she said it should be fast, since it's a 'touch' piece.

I'm glad to hear it fast for once, though! I really like it at this speed, though I think perhaps a -tad- slower would be best. He pulls it off wonderfully, though!

[dermaidvye]

A race between Sokolov and JS Bach, and Bach has clearly lost.

Truly an awful performance

[coutureorganist]

very fine indeed!

[nevskixx]

I recall Sokolov's performance of this work and his masterly rendition of the Bach Chaconne arranged by Brahms for the left hand, and 2 wonderful Beethoven sonatas at a london concert. The audience was on its feet, as I was.Yes he is a phenomenon. No doubt about it. If I have any criticism it is this. His preparation is so meticulous that even his emotional levels are inbuilt into the practice. At times, for me, it feels that some of the spontaneity, that is so vital in performance, can be lost.

[eilbeef]

this is unbelievably masterful

[Tobi269]

It is the best pianist at the moment.

[12345qazx1]

a singing performance,very nice

[kinkajoes]

I am no pro or something just a student who has to play this but I think this is just wonderfully performed. it's fast but in the way he plays it it suits, don't know why ^^

[leoonaron]

@AntonioDGO

emotions are only raections, that shouldn't be the musicians aim. e.g. bachs music is much more then just "deep emotions". if the musician doesn't discover that and only does express his "deep emotions", there must be something wrong... but I think can hear sometimes more than just emotions when I listen to sokolov playing bach...but not always...

[metteholm75]

I like Sokolov´s interpretation better.

[hflvx]

I'm used to Gould's interpretation, but this is very very different and very interesting!

[aelf29]

Indipendentemente dai gusti, non riesco a capire come si possa negare una semplice evidenza: è incredibile quello che fa!!! Ai criticoni (per ignoranza, per gelosia o ambo le cose) dico di fare di meglio e, di metterlo su youtube....Poi ne riparliamo...Facile parlare e criticare....

[marcohorowitz8]

interesting! this is a 'Toccata' after all, and I guess it is that technical aspect S. exploits, rather than the romanticised version we are used to hearing.

[aimson]

Unfortunately, yet another musician playing Bach disrespectfully. Music is not an interesting toy to play with and I don't appreciate when people play Bach anywhere but from the heart. However, I would say that this recording is intellectually interesting and certainly skillful. And, of course, a unique interpretation is always welcome. I suppose.

[quinto34]

Pitty this man doesnt make studio recordings. He is not only very good, but quite original is an interesting way..

He shows a different angle of structure

[dischetto]

sokolov qui veramente è meglio di gould, tempo da clavicembalista, chiarezza del fraseggio, il passaggio a 3.30 poi, con un mezzo piano, è semplicemente sublime. e poi bisogna dire che è dal vivo! tutti in piedi! anzi, in ginocchio...

[kempff95]

MASTER.

[nevskixx]

I have no qualms over Sokolov's tempo in this work, nor do other great musicians who take it at lesser tempos, need not sound out of place for me and can be just as satisfying. This performance is focused and masterly and brought back memories of his fine playing of it I heard at the Wigmore Hall in London.

[michieldpiano]

I don't like this

I miss stylus fantasticus

[rockmusscarcella]

This sounds like i'm standin' out in a chair waiting for my dead seeing the beautiness of the sea.~

[jhc0907]

from 3:27 the transition of the mood of phase is simply amazing and magical

[japanesesweet]

much faster than i`m used to in the opening 2 pages but i`m completely convinced by Sokolov.

[Renshen1957]

Hi AntonioDGO

Thank you for posting an inspired performance by Sokolov. Someone finally got the tempo right!

Has everyone forgotten that Bach specifically chose to title this movement Toccata when he published the Partitas?

"Traditions" are ingrained bad habits.

It's "tradition" to play this piece so slowly you'd think the movement was a Sarabande instead of a virtuoso show piece.

Since when does a toccata proceed at a snail's pace?

Bravo, Sokolov, from a Harpsichordist.

[Babejuda]

Bravo!!!

Again and again  - I search proper words and cannot find them. Just, maybe, that THIS IS MUSIC by definition.

[jhc0907]

Sokolov is the only one who can create the music that can make people (whether they understand it or not) so Traumatic. This music is traumatic realization of "unimaginable itself."

[natalya7601]

Well and let to itself plays, but traditions Баха are eternal!!!

[musikguru1]

Between us two the ignorant one is you, dummy!

[flute1982]

Glenn Gould and Agi Jambor.

[Renshen1957]

Glen Gould's performance (as much as I admire his work) of the e minor opening movement is amongst his weakest interpretations, eccentric even for a player known for his eccentric performances.

[flute1982]

Glenn Gould and Agi  Jambor.

[marsikpiano]

ужас какой...какая-то карикатура на Баха

[Renshen1957]

Disagree, finally someone who plays the piece up to speed. It is after all a Toccata, not a dirge.

[aleberni]

interesante esta interpretacion.me agrada!

[leonicle]

Alcatus, thank you

[freeqwerqwer]

This piece was played a bit too romantically, not like the more restraint baroque style..

[ERNESTOABO]

In arts's matters we can't speak with sentences and absoluts. That's fascismo. You like or not of it .That's all. A performance like this only can be appreciate thru musical elements and with the ears of the soul

[troppofiato]

Beautifully said - if more people understood this, a lot of the childish bickering on youtube about who's the best artist would cease!

[romkrasorg]

ВЕЛИКИЙ ГРИША!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Такого ещё не было.

[romkrasorg]

ВЕЛИКИЙ ГРИША!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[iramoscow]

Соколов лучше всех играет Баха!

[veraemick]

Григорий Липманович лучше всех играет!!! и не только Баха...!!!

[ellihaysee]

For someone like Sokolov, a great artist and interpreter, there is no right or wrong way to play the music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, or whathaveyou, there's just his way. He plays with total conviction, a fresh insight, and original style. You can't take anything away from this exquisite playing. He's different from the Horowitz's, Goulds, and Guldas and that's they it should be. This is an amazing performance. I haven't heard a recording of him that I dislike. Watch him live in Paris. Great.

[flurmflam]

@ellihaysee it's fine if you like Brahms

[davecotuit]

@ellihaysee BRAVO!! exactly right.

[Alcatus]

There is one mental virus that is lamentably common among listeners, and its symptoms are these: close-mindedness, narrow mindedness, ignorance, arrogance, conceitedness, intolerance of the unfamiliar or new, and rudeness.

[eek4rus]

one feels the urge to listen to goulds version of this piece in order to cleanse oneself

[Renshen1957]

Or to take a laxative to relieve oneself after listening to Gould's version.

[jhc0907]

All of you who don't appreciate Sokolov's performance, please say that in front him, if you still can look through his eyes directly. This is the most amazing performance for me. The integrity is dense. His performance always holds my breath like the first time I experienced his recordings.

[darkblueangel1956]

@jhc0907 Anche se è conosciuto come un grande pianista, non deve piacere a tutti, per forza. Ho notato che ha una visione molto personale e anche molto ostinata, su certe opere pianistiche. Ho sentito eseguire William Byrd, Rameau e Francois Couperin con troppo impeto percussivo. Inoltre è da molto tempo che non suona più con orchestre, e non ho mai sentito suonare assieme a quartetti d'archi, o con cantanti o altri solisti. Cosa ne pensi ?

[KhagarBalugrak]

You should hear Sokolov play Beethoven or Rachmaninov if you really think he's that robotic and heartless. With those two composers, he not only plays with that subliminal beauty, but the structure and form of his interpretations are obviously magnificent too.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Well, Sokolov certainly doesn't play this piece like people typically play Bach. He doesn't specifically express lyricism, or the unfoldment of the themes of the piece. Nevertheless, something about the way he plays is magnificent, even here, in this recording. It's not something that can be heard in the form and structure of his interpretation, it's something subliminal.

[BachScholar]

This is so impersonal and inhuman sounding, like a robot. There's no sense of mystery or expression. It's technically superb though. But is playing Bach only about technical perfection? I'm afraid to say it's much too fast also. And if you are angry and disagree with me please don't visit my channel and bombard my videos with bad comments as some angry people have done in the past. Instead, go to my website and have a lesson on Bach's tempos.

[BachScholar]

astroedic: It's nice that at least someone shares my views. It seems my opinions are very unpopular at times and I get a lot of hate mail because of it. Sokolov's Goldberg Variations are inhuman also. So is the gigue from Partita 4. My god, have a listen to this gigue for a totally cosmic experience!

[kingjonnyvii]

this is simply unfounded and untrue! Firstly if you read sources such as Durr current evidence strongly suggests that it is very difficult to determine the tempos in Bach's works. Certainly much has to be done with looking at the counterpoint Bach manipulates. However, the toccata bwv 916 is marked presto... this is just 1 example!

[BachScholar]

Of course toccatas CAN be fast or presto, but the word "toccata" in 1730 had a much different meaning than in 1830 when it had acquired its current meaning that we are all familiar with. This is not a fast piece, but Sokolov plays it fast and robotically. I've determined the tempos in all Bach's works and boldly claim I'm the only one in history to do so. See my website for more information.

[Renshen1957]

Well the concept of playing Schumann tempo (faster, faster, and faster still) dates from the 1830's, but a slow interpretation of Toccata's have more in common with the 17th than the 18th century. I couldn't imagine either the Toccata & Fugue BWV 565 or the Dorian Toccata being played slowly. One of Galuppi's Toccata is marked Presto. There is also the difference between the N. German Toccata of Buxtehude and the S. German Toccata of Pachelbel. Bach knew both. Neither are pedestrian.

[JanaHeide]

this is unbelievable..

[vladimirgligoric]

The best pianist alive. Great artist and musician. True living legend.

[amirmot]

where is the secon part?

[pyroprince78]

This is AMAZING.

[upka619]

Talk about making harpsichord sound on the piano! Fantastic clarity!

[enantiodrom]

Struggente e perduto, bravo Sokolov.

[mltube]

Wow! How original and convincing at the same time! I can't believe it has been rated down to 4 stars! But of course, should have remembered what sort of public attends YT Bach performances. Probably all Gould's groupies. :-)

[jhc0907]

Yes, the one that played when Sokolov was in his 20s. Unbelievable Chopin.... unbelievable delicacy and harmony. What can I say more?

[indigoblue555]

I'll be looking for his Bachian recordings.

Any suggestion is welcome.

[equinoxxx]

Try the Art of Fugue. Best of the best, plus an unbelievable rendition of Partita 2.

[indigoblue555]

equinoxxx - HI!

I recently had the chance to get the Goldberg Variations by Ramin Bahrami recorded Feb.2002

in Le Chaux De Fond Switzerland-according to my taste a heavenly rendition.

Thx.for infos.and kind regards.

[chad410]

no not Mazurkas. I have them. It was scriabin sonatas

[jhc0907]

This is Bolzano recital 8 may 2004, isn't it?

[chad410]

where did you get these traesuress?