Arthur Rubinstein - Chopin Nocturne Op 48 No 1 in C minor

[audreyhsux5727]

this "song" (PIECE!!!!)

[Belieber1Direction]

it's very difficult to play...

[MizzGabrielle1987]

this song is soo difficult to play. But it inspires me!

[piano9977]

I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *.*

[lostfoundrescued]

i found this song on a devil wears prada studio update video, glad i caught this song

[FallOfGrace100]

@lostfoundrescued me to hahah XD

[xyx1412999]

This is, without a doubt, the definitive version of this great nocturne.

Anyone agree?

[MrKevinsense]

@xyx1412999 I like valentina lisitsa's version much better. Have you heard it?

[xyx1412999]

@MrKevinsense Yes, I have. While it is good, I do not think it is at the same level as Rubinstein's version. She played the last section WAY too fast (as with many people). Rubinstein's is way more delicate and has more emotion.

[MrKevinsense]

@xyx1412999 I don't think his intro is much in the way of delicacy, and emotion is only in the mind of the listener. Did you already like this version before you heard Lisitsa's or was it the other way around? I feel like that influences preference to an extent.

[xyx1412999]

@MrKevinsense I heard this version first before I heard Lisitsa's. However, had it been the other way around, I'm sure I'd still prefer Rubinstein's better. But I respect your opinion nonetheless.

[iPlayPiiano]

@xyx1412999 In all respect, but Rubinstein and the 'others' you mention play it too slow. The sheet music clearly states doppio movimento. Such fast tempo may not be to everbody's liking (not mine either) but that doens't mean you should just play it this slow. I like Valentina's version just a little better, this one is amazing too.

[YetHaterLover]

@iPlayPiiano There's an ever slower version than this one, look for nocturne 48 no 1 Aya. Click the first link. her interpretation is simply marvelous, despite being really slow. Though that adds to to the emotional depth of the piece....hers is truly my favorite...

[An2quamaraN]

@iPlayPiiano doppio movinemtno is a relative term. Not a specific tempo. Its more a way of saying 'play it much faster than previous part', not 'play it fast' ...

[waywardtycoon]

What a masterly expression of a great powerful grief ... a cry of the deepest anguish. There are fevers and cold sweats in this music; it is not healthy music, and it is not to be performed in a robust manner, but rather rendered almost as if in a somnambulant daze, with a tremulous delicacy of intensity, as if it were a living thing whose nerves were being operated upon, where every touch might mean life or death.

[xyx1412999]

@waywardtycoon Lol I didn't get that but awesome comment haha :p

[waywardtycoon]

@xyx1412999 no wouldn't expect you would "get that" lol

[IlaWallace]

Naturalmente meraviglioso...

[xyx1412999]

Is this the greatest nocturne or what??

[MissMoniMona]

@xyx1412999 Yeah, it is. I think it's made from Chopin to let us feel how heaven will be, I love especially from 3:40!

[An2quamaraN]

@MissMoniMona if from 3:40 u can hear joy or hapiness then well...good luck...

[An2quamaraN]

@MissMoniMona this song is about grief, loss and death...u will never play it correctly if u will misinterpret it so much...

[calipeeable]

@An2quamaraN You have no way of knowing what this song is about. You aren't Frederic Chopin. Each pianist and listener is entitled to their own interpretation of music.

[An2quamaraN]

@calipeeable U may not realize that there were people close to Chopin that he has spoken to about his works. Great compositors that lived in his years. What they thought and said is now in books about chopin's work. And they all interprate this song as poem about utter grief. Even little child wont classify a song written in MINOR, mostly in agitato, and with such a sad main theme as song about 'joy'...

[karennorwegian]

@MissMoniMona Yes, and it proves Chopin was an angel sent to earth to do just that.

[kasonleung]

even chuck norris would have to cry after this :'(

[hhicks95]

really nice, i haven't really enjoyed learning this song since my piano teacher assigned it, but now i know how beautfiul it can sound

[objectivity007]

wonderful interpretation

[LorentzElena32]

well, although is not wise to listen on the internet to this divine music, when you work on the computer is OK.

[slpianoproject]

This is to me the best interpretation of this piece by far. So much finesse and emotions in it. Of all the interpretations on youtube he's the only one that get the final part ( 3:40 ) right to my ears. Most people play it too fast, or dont let the melody stand out enough. It bring tears to my eyes, plain and simple. When i learn this song, i want it to sound like that!

[marvinbnaylor]

Of all the interpretations I've heard, this is my favourite. He doesn't take the first movement too slow, like Hess or the last too quick like many others who seem to rush it, almost obliterating the melody and ending up sounding, as another comment says, too technical.

[olingue]

Przepiękny utwór :)

[moreira7daniel]

Rubinstein remains unique in an era of technical perfection but perhaps not so much spirit...

[rodillases]

the devil wears prada studio update 3 brought me here

[PASTAandMUSE]

@rodillases lol me too!

[framaulo]

Try to follow the bass line ;)

[pechik73]

Вот это исполнение!!!

[steadric]

@kiwihans Well kiwihans. I agreed with your comment until I read the "worlds greatest chopin experts" part. That is SO snobby. At least say that he insults Chopin, not his fan club of "greatest expert" snobs. Damn. Don't be such an elitist.

[dmt3339]

@steadric The word hiwihans used is exponents not experts.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, to expone is to "set forth", and an exponent is a person or a statement that sets something forth.

[kiwihans]

Thanks for that insight. Actually did he need to practice! I read he used to leave gramaphone records in his room playing while he escaped to the local cafe, His landlady, nevery knew! ( of course this was when he was young.

[korlock3000]

What grade would you consider this piece?

[RH98]

@korlock3000 This piece exceeds grades for most boards; if the board has a diploma (like ABRSM) then it should be about that level.

[dj770usa]

Rubenstein owns this nocturne.The passion is there. Always.

When I was kid I used to fall asleep to Rubenstein playing all the nocturnes. Since then I have found some interpretations that I prefer to his.

But this one he just out right owns.

[ungava100]

Consensus seems to be that this is THE benchmark.

[meredith21846]

For me by far the best interpretation of this noble masterpiece. Rubinstein adopts an ideal tempo for Chopins wide emotional canvas.

[fede939393]

god please if u can hear me upthere: give me this talent

[FeederFoo]

@fede939393 ha ha! you sound like Salieri!

[fede939393]

@FeederFoo ahahahahahahahah XD yea you're right! now i can understand him!!!

[blayder71]

@fede939393 God : There.... you have it. Now practise 7 to 8 hours a day as Mr Rubinstein and I promise you will be able to play this piece beautifully !

[jlfuntarbes65]

@fede939393 their talent :)

Chopin's composition and Rubinstein's interpretation

[fede939393]

@jlfuntarbes65 i would be the happiest person just having Rubinstein's talent :)

[alexjrmarino]

@fede939393 Everyone has equal talent, but the lazy think that God can help them(Salieri), other just take the opportunity in their own hands and start working on their skills, we are blessed to have so much more time then any other genius before us,because of the daily round we live now, but the freedom makes us confused and dazed and it seems we can't concentrate on the things we love and should do,so go and practice every minute you have, if you want to be remembered!

[POSCOS]

yessssssssssssssssss

[MusicChannelx3]

It love the 3:00 part.

[RobertoeLilia]

Un notturno meraviglioso. L'interpretazione è splendida!

[12345g9]

i always wondered, how would chopin play his pieces he wrote... i would love to hear him play his pieces aha

[MusicChannelx3]

@12345g9 He must've done it wonderfully, but maybe in another version. These songs have been modified and slightly different from the original, but still so beautiful.

[TJFNYC212]

@12345g9 Martha Argerich said the of all the composer - pianists, it would be Chopin that she most wanted to hear play................

[itried2dohandstnds4u]

@12345g9 me too.

[bigcity233]

As thinkpad20 said below...."Best Chopin ever". Amen.

[powerspade]

I have played this piece but never like the great Arthur Rubinstien - just awesome magic

[rikku38]

This has always been my favorite Chopin piece since the day I've heard it. So when the other day I was playing the sims, and my sim "played" this piece, I legit freaked! As for this interpretation, Rubinstein does it yet again!! :)

[kiwihans]

interesting comment cancrizans! ( didnt appreciate the swearing though, never mind) Yes music is not just a discipline or an academic exersise, its a wonderful gift to make humans happy, if you can do that you are doing something worthwhile, even the humble busker!

[teftae]

Absolute magic at 4:37.

A tear is brought to my eye everytime I listen to that part.

Rubinstein rendition of this beautiful nocturne is unmatched.

[thesubtleface]

@teftae For me it's the part from 3:40 that does it! Probably my favourite nocturne.

[TJFNYC212]

@teftae I totally agree Rubenstein is unsurpassed in his interpretation of most of the Nocturnes and pieces such as the Barcarolle. The singing tone, the rubato, it is all music.........................­... in the doppio section there is no technical display it is all poetry and music.

[Cityville2050]

why does 3:18 Sound so familiar?!?!?!

[rikku38]

@Cityville2050 I heard it while playing the sims 2. I dunno if that's where you heard it??

[mxtiplitz]

Ciertamente, una de las mejores, sinó la mejor. Belleza y tristeza al mismo tiempo. Sublime Rubinstein. Siempre Rubinstein.

[thinkpad20]

NO ONE gets the run at 3:30 right. Except Rubinstein. Best Chopin ever.

[Santiagojon]

WOW!!! 

[MADIPE61]

Grandioso!!! Rubinstein e' l'anima di Chopin!

[BluesAndJam]

3:40 is magical!!

[rukashawn]

Arthur Rubinstein, has a very sentimental, perfect replica of chopins touch on the piano. hitting each note as thou each could stand out on its own. very elegant, bravo!!!

[advisorC101]

beautiful

[chosenonz]

...waayyy too fast. Shouldnt be funereal, but one can almost hear Chopin thinking and grieving, recounting so much loss. One womans' opinion.

[GlennMagusHarvey]

@abidoful On the other hand, if you saw how the first section resembles a funeral march, you'd know that "kicking" interferes with that mood.

[TJFNYC212]

I agree with all who say that this is the definitive interpretation of this nocturne. the only other one I have heard that really touches me is that of Novaes who Rubinstein endorsed

[ChernovaMaria]

The Best!!!!!!!!



[oilau]

rubinstein the man! such cohesion to this performance, prob the most comprehension of Chopin's music than I've had the pleasure of hearing before. thank you for posting!!!

[chubbaustralia]

just.... totally amazing....

[Toracube]

Perfection.

[kiwihans]

yes kaggypants, how can you make such a trivial comment, piano playing is all about the feeling, soul and effect, not justthe technical ability. there are many far eastern pianists ( appart from lang lang) who can master many chopin classics, but never emulate the wonderful sound of Arter Rubinstein, he was after all polish himself.

[hearts0ngs]

Rubinstein understood Chopin's soul. 

[vivacecilia]

Mortacci sua!!!

[GlennMagusHarvey]

Wow, well done, especially with the general rhythmic integrity.

Sometimes I would have preferred less rubato, and I wouldn't have "kicked" the up-beat notes in the bass like that, but overall quite nice.

[Edou467]

The major chord section starting at 1:52 is wonderful and so melancholic. Then the octaves at 2:55 suddenly come and Rubinstein openly invites us into Chopin's mind... The next section at 3:42 introduces us to a peaceful atmosphere, full of passion, with the tension gradually building up until the final climax at 4:37 . Its disappearance at 5:04 makes us feel like every happy moment in life can never last forever... No other man can make us feel the way he does. We miss you Rubinstein!

[3pianists]

What control--holy smoke!

[leodlll]

@Alanargus its not a etude¡ its the most beatiful nocturn¡

[jamerzuh]

I don't cry when I listen to classical music, but at around 4:30 I shed a tear. Phenomenal interpretation.

[townsendjean]

@jamerzuh

Yes indeed Rubinstein performs well here as so few do! There are fevers and cold sweats in this music; it is not healthy music, and it is not to be performed in a robust manner, but rather rendered almost as if in a somnambulant daze, with a tremulous delicacy of intensity, as if it were a living thing whose nerves were being operated upon, here every touch might mean life or death

[Jecxbox]

Awesomeness @ 4:55 

[townsendjean]

@Jecxbox

At this point surely a most masterly expression of a great powerful grief. This passage attests poignantly to Chopin’s awful genius!

[MrSengor]

I am listening to this piece everyday in my car while going to work, three to four times a day. It's like a shuttle itself that takes me over stratosphere.

[wukillah]

@MrSengor lol I thought I was the only one crazy enough to do that !

[mamahenrobin]

Very moving performance.

Thank You for posting!

~Peace of Christ~

[BenSouthwood]

I own this 11 cd collection and his nocturnes are absolutely fantastic. However, he recorded this when he was ~60 years old so some the bigger pieces are lacking a certain oomph sometimes. However, the ballade no 1 (in b-minor?) in that collection is breathtaking.

[vscanzi]

I personally believe that NO MAN OR WOMAN in the world (at least the ones I know) could extract the essence of the nocturnes like Rubinstein did.

Maybe Guiomar Novaes did that as well. I recommend her :)

[kiwihans]

Well Freeqwerqer. If as you say Artur was playing like 'a tired spent man' then all I can say is Wow! actually this peice is extremely taxing on the fingers and to play this piece with this amount of strength and feeling shows what a DYMAMIC man he was, playing the way he did well into his late eighties. Try and think a little before you make such stupid remarks, you insult possibly the worlds greatest chopin exponents.

[sebastiendu29]

@kiwihans you are completely right ! i think rubinstein is the best chopin interpretor and this piece is one the greatest piece of chopin . Sorry for my bad language i'm french :)

[TrackMeIoI]

@kiwihans I must agree with you. People can surely say it's really easy to play this piece. Well Generally all Chopin Nocturnes are fairly on easy scale to play. Play the piano for 3 years and you could probably play any nocturne easily. But the hardest part about Chopin's Nocturnes is showing feeling, the emotion. I am a huge fan of Horowitz for his technique and his Chopin Interpretation, but I must agree that Rubinstein did a wonderful job playing this. Such emotion and dynamics!!

[Kaggypants]

@kiwihans How do you figure? This piece isn't that taxing on the fingers compared to the rest of Chopin's work. It's actually a very subtle nocturne. The increased speed in the 'third' movement really shouldn't be that demanding on your fingers. If anything, the rolling chords are the tricky bit but that isn't taxing on your fingers: it's taxing on your mental capacity.

[hellboyreloaded]

@Kaggypants I think he refers to the way he plays the piece, his interpretation, maybe it's not that difficult to play the notes, although is very difficul to play it right, for example, in the third movement, is not that easy to play it cantabile, but the phrasing, and the ideas that he show us, the way he does it, is just incomparable.

[Kaggypants]

@hellboyreloaded Ah if you look at it that way, you're correct! It is extremely difficult to play this using the appropriate touch. =)

[kb27787]

@Kaggypants the 3rd part IS taxing... have you tried playing it? The consecutive block chords on the right hand at the climax coupled with a left hand that does large jumps (a nightmare for small hands like mine)... the speed is supposed to be double (more or less) of what you played in the first part...

[Kaggypants]

@kb27787 So don't play the first movement fast. ;) If anything, the taxing part is on the left hand in poco piu lento during the first forte, the constant jumping of both hands (while switching from rolling to block), and that damned sempre piu forte measure (not the sempre piu fortissimo). Use a more delicate touch in doppio movimento or those triplets will kill you. And, TBQH, if you really want to train your muscles, play Rondo Alla Turca at ~140 BPM or Valse Op 69 No 2 at double the tempo.

[kb27787]

@Kaggypants hehe poco piu lento is REALLY slow so it's fine (my left hand, when I cant reach 9ths, just plays a glissando instead ;) and I had to practice double octave scales for my ALCM exam so I'm fine with running double octaves. What I DO have a problem with is that the top note (melody) of the right hand needs to be brought out and phrased legato. It's when I have to sustain with my pinky while reaching with my other fingers that I get tired. I had to play two notes with my thumb

[Kaggypants]

@kb27787 Ah ok! So I misunderstood you.

Yes, many of the chords (both rolling and block) seem to be quite impossible to hold the sustain on. Are you referring to the Eb chord in the 10th measure of poco piu lento? That would be brutal to sustain.

[kb27787]

@Kaggypants oh yeah... -_- I'm certain I've played it (alla turca) at 156 before...did a little slower on the exam of course (I did the 1st and 3rd movements of KV331), and got commented as "a tad too frantic for allegretto" XD I passed nonetheless... (I used pedal, sorry my teacher told me I should use it for the rondo and coda parts heh) my next exam is this nocturne, a Bach PnF from WTC and another Mozart sonata (I avoid Beethoven, Brahms, Lizst like the plague.. always have) XD

[Kaggypants]

@kb27787 Yikes! Well you have good sense for avoiding Liszt for exams. =p I have no doubt that you can master this. I know your teacher might have suggested the pedal on the rondo but my hands developed some serious muscle power due to lack of pedal on the rondo while trying to sustain the melody while jumping around with those chords. And the rolling section was definitely brutal. I still get cramps from playing Op 69 No 2 at fast speeds where your left hand is constantly jumping. Keep at it!

[Kaggypants]

@kb27787 And don't use the pedal on Rondo. -_-

[Cancrizans]

@kiwihans BC there are too many piano teachers impressed with the fact they can play Chopin and have some degree who never really had an effin clue about what the music is about yet they sit above their every student waiting for that one they think will make them rich bc they have a lot of talent...instead of doing their fucking job and actually teaching human beings to make music, end result being we would have a lot more culturally oriented, and probably also more brilliant musicians as well!

[Webarton]

@kiwihans on top of that (which no one seems to mention), Artur would only practice/perform on pianos with very heavy keys. Anyone who denies the genius of Artur Rubinstein is just giving into convenient ignorance. It's easy to just point and say, blah I don't like it, instead of actually opening your eyes to the world.

[freeqwerqwer]

He plays like a tired, spent man

[82dallasar]

@freeqwerqwer Hahaha, once you become HALF the musician Rubinstein was, then you can talk, until then do mankind a favor and swallow some hot coals :). If, however, you have anything CONSTRUCTIVE to say to support your ignorant statement I'll be happy to listen and, who knows, maybe you'll convince me. I HIGHLY doubt it, though.

[MisterWillie060]

@freeqwerqwer you're a blockheaded, retarder motherfucker.

[lewars1912]

@MisterWillie060 And you are just as ignorant as him for using language like that on here.

[MisterWillie060]

@lewars1912 stfu

[steamednotfried]

@freeqwerqwer 'He plays like a tired, spent man' Hahahahahahahahahahaha. You put it in a hilarious way at least. It's just so funny hearing Rubinstein described as a tired, spent man after a performance like this. Thumbs up!

[steamednotfried]

@freeqwerqwer In fact, just for purposes of comedy, I'm going to find some extremely brilliant and energetic performance by Richter and say that he plays like a tired, spent man. This is a fantastic comment! It makes you listen in a different way; as if each note is played with lethargic desperation.

[duongkhanhlam]

Amazing interpretation. Gives me chill every single time .

[funniestbone]

wow, this is tremendous. Best interpretation I think I've heard

[townsendjean]

@funniestbone Of all the renderings of this great Chopin work to be found on utube, this one is clearly a quantum jump above them imho. Incidently, not to detract from this excellent performance, Cherkassky's recording is also a very senstive heart-rending reading unfortunately not uploaded here.

[Ml124957391]

Absolutely.... It strike a chord deep in my heart. Full of passion and anxiety. I really like the way he interpret. THX for sharing!

[Smilthy]

THANK YOU FOR SHARING. AMAZING PIECE. ♥ F. Chopin...