Alkan - Concerto for Solo Piano - I. (Hamelin) [3/3]

[fredericfranc]

...this composer clearly had the attitude: "I am going to ram it up their ass all I can"...but he clearly knew how to do it...

[abokadoSM]

no claps at the end of the perform!?!?!?!

[mahler151]

@abokadoSM Well it's only the first movement, so it would be improper to clap.

[cedricrlongreen]

I love the exilirating moment at 5:14 and 5:33 is my favorite section

[cedricrlongreen]

@PeacfulJoh I could imagine how hard it would be to not clap after the first movement. It's too brilliant and could pass for a piece of it's own or a last movement

[almostlasse123]

If that piano had thoughts, they would be, "PLEASE stop, it's really nice, but...I...was...not...[pant]..­.built...[wheeze]...for... this!" I had a bet going with myself about which would catch fire first: the piano or Hamelin. Kudos to Alkan for writing a piece which borders on technical impossibility while still containing emotion and musicality, and kudos to Hamelin for being able to play the piece while conveying its many intents to the listener.

Bravissimo.

[Flamennova]

That's standard protocol in India for showing impromptu appreciation of some really brilliant interpretation, right in the midst of performance. Western musicians are usually made aware of this in advance, so that they are not caught by surprise. Of course, I am not talking about the relatively sophisticated audiences in metros like Bombay, which are used to western music performances, although even there you do get random applause between movmts from an admirer unwary of western music customs .

[twooffour]

@Flamennova

You shouldn't be saying "western customs" without accentuating the "classical" part - in jazz, the "custom" is clapping after each solo, and some claps and "whooos" after especially impressive feats is very frequent, as well.

Not sure about clapping traditions in India, but their own classical music is improvisation based as well.

[joernbroeker]

hamelin is the only pianist to have enough skills to play alkan's concerto so naturally and not to precisely (by that I mean a sterile playing; of course hamelin does play almost without wrong notes) and liveless

the audience is also great : no applause between the movements! great! this can destroy a great work like that

[twooffour]

@joernbroeker

Well the leaps in the repetition section here, for example, were clearly somewhat above Hamelin's capabilities, at least at that day, because he fumbles up a LOT there.

[weikko79]

Wow, no applause after the first part? That shows considerable restraint from the audience!!

[Androslav]

There are no applauses between the movements! never

[thunder1909]

Wrong. The Tchaikovsky concerto in B-flat has applause after the first part due to the unexpected length of the first movement. If you watch the Jack Gibbons performance of this concerto, there is applause at the end there as well. I believe there are other examples as well.

[eltachimetro]

yes, like horowitz tchaikovsky too

[OrangeSodaKing]

And Richter after playing Ravel's "Alborada del Gracioso", it's only the fourth movement of five from "Miroirs".

But Androslaw is right. There shouldn't be applause between movements. It annoys me.

[MountCashelTuck]

a full orchestra in 88 keys...the work of a true genius. give me a thumbs up if you agree!

[Yamsareverytasty]

THUMBS UP

[Darklord12356]

How do these guys write this stuff down?

[rvn10rvn17]

well.. that is not really a question to me.. we know that genius exists in this world.. of course, alkan was a genius.. i'm more interested in asking, how the hell Hamelin memorozed all the songs he had to play? this song takes about 27 mins, added up with the other songs totalling up to more than 1h30min.. how??

[moemoe12321]

ahah, where the hell does 9:07 come from

[Malaka57]

Thanks! It was a nice show. I found Gibbons interpretation of the Allegro Barbaro here and I do have a few recordings somewhere on casssette tape ... of the Sonatine, could it be? I find it magnificient. he keeps nice control and that lets the piece live. You may be right about Hamelin, though I am amazed at this man's power! (here his speed gets muddy around 6:00) . Alkan, I feel, created fabulous music, but at times he lacked the gift of termination...

[johnbaptistlulu]

this is absolutely amazing!!! i have heard the entire movement 4 times in a row, and i still can't get enough of it! alkan was a GENIUS! why isn't he even half as well known as franz liszt and chopin?he obviously was one of the few in history to match their skill, why doen't he get the respect and fame he deserves?

[Malaka57]

he was a complete recluse, that may explain why. But I agree with you. I have loved his music ever since discopvery in the late 1970s... I did a special radio show on him back in the early 80s in the USA, and it got good response. At the time there was very little recorded stuff, mostly by Ronald Smith and by Lewenthal. There was also a trio on an LP that I unfortunately lost.

[Yamsareverytasty]

oops i coughed while i watched this. Sorry Hamelin

[Godlovesyou234]

This is said to be in the ranks with the hardest pieces. I say hard because if you can pull it off with the right technique. Not just how you wanna play.

[aldebussy]

Lovely music but all that people could see is technique...

I feel so sorry for Alkan...

[floofers]

And the bit after 8.30!!!!!

[floofers]

I only discovered Alkan a couple of years ago thanks to a brilliant pianist friend in Edinburgh. Alkan lived at the same time as Chopin and Liszt, and deserves similar acclaim to them. He was unfortunate not to get such "publicity" but at least his stuff is becoming better known now. It's incredibly difficult as you can see.

[floofers]

Wow the bit after 5.40 is awesome!

[lxr0913]

jesus...