Chopin Competition 2010 - Yulianna Avdeeva - Sonata no2 in b flat minor - 1st movement

[bernal252]

And why she plays the intro twice?

[ChoiHsinMath]

@bernal252 URTEXT score

[bernal252]

why she choose a Yamaha?



[Zoltan9426]

@bernal252 Because they are simply superb pianos.

[onaga2021]

she´s young she´s nature, she has passion, this is the new era of the piano players, yulianna avdeeva, valentina lisitsa, valentina igoshina, yundi li. ingrid flitter, gabriela montero

[yeroize]

i don't want to judge here, but i seriously didn't catch the feelings in her play. I am not a musician but still wasn't attracted to her play....

[1Thompsonmusic]

Seems to be struggling.

[ThePaulinoContreras]

ughhh she played the intro twice

[VoiDukkha]

too tense imo, and wheres the clarity in the optimistic parts of the piece?

[Dan474834]

Who said women were bad musicians?

[Atramentumink]

BTW, choosing the piano is up to the pianist in ICPC.

[Opoczynski]

Some opinions to the contrary, I am glad she takes the exposition repeat. It was a shock because this is the first time I have ever heard it. Notwithstanding that it's tonally jarring, I'm happy that Avdeeva adheres to the score. For a similar tonal shock, listen to the exposition repeat of Brahms's 1st Symphony. I'm tired of musicians altering (improving?) the original versions of compositions, as L. Auer's cuts in the 3rd mov. of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.

[Atramentumink]

Yamaha?! What will this sonata be on a Steinway?!

[drnotes630]

@Atramentumink This is Yamaha's brand new CFX concert grand, and i've had the pleasure to play on one (there's only a few in the US right now). It completely destroys any steinway I've every played on. hands down. just listen to it. It also feels absolutely incredible. widen your spectrum. Just because steinways are good, doesn't mean everything else isn't.

[Atramentumink]

@drnotes630 since you are a pianist, you must know more than me and always up to date in this connection.I hear that Steinway is the best, just hear! Regards!

[finalrasenganshinobi]

@Atramentumink Correction... Hamburg Steinways and Bosendorfers are the best. Bosendorfers are simply pianos from dreamland. Deathly pricey though. All made by hand... Yamahas are not bad at all, quite exceptional actually, but Bosendorfers are just so much more fun.

[dido93]

Meritatissimo Primo Premio....!!

[MrRaphaelBM]

(: I would like to shit now .

[Chiarina921]

Bellissima interpretazione!meritatissima la vittoria di questa straodinaria pianista

[Fryderyk1980]

Ladies and Gentleman...Here's the power and the feeling...

That's all

[1Thompsonmusic]

@Fryderyk1980

Well I guess us Ladies and Gentleman will just have to take you word for it without a second thought to how much she's actually struggling to even play the God damn piece.

[Rozlelous1165]

around 5:08 it started to get really interesting....i really think this could go good with Bioshock....

[anonymousQ45]

@Rozlelous1165 thats the energico section, in case you want to find it quick

[Rozlelous1165]

@anonymousQ45 thankyou...;D

[chobeethaninov]

Great technique, great artistry, and intelligent musical sense but absolutely nothing special to mark her from the rest of the pack... I would've given her 3rd prize.

[jhardknox]

A+ for not wearing a stupid girly dress

[ungava100]

Thank God the judges got Avdeeva placed correctly. Now maybe male chauvinist types will finally give Asian women competitors what they have earned.

[lflagr]

@ungava100 What are you talking about? Asian women are winning plenty of competitions around the world. And in any case, winning competitions does not neccessarily guarantee a successful solo career anyway--Mitsuko Uchida, for example, placed 2nd in this competition way back when. Hasn't seemed to stop her. :)

[ungava100]

@lflagr Name some, and their competitions.

[kuranosuke1968]

Her performance is very splendid, but cannot wipe out a feeling of feminine performance. I think that her performance does not come true for a performance of the Yundei Li. I think that it is impossible for her to become a world-famous pianist. This is not a wicked opinion.

[lflagr]

@kuranosuke1968 Hmmm, I wonder if you would still feel the same way if you listened to this blindfolded. This is a great performance and doesn't sound "feminine" at all! :)

[galapz]

She captured the character in this sonata.

Passionate, Agitato, Molto Cantabile, Cantabile.......you can hear all of it in the most natural way.

Young pianists and old should listen to this and learn how she moves naturally from one picture to another. Fascinating.

[Freddran]

She is really original with great technique. Again good result of competition! :)

[CatalyticAntibody]

Very interesting performance. Extremely bold and risky for sure, but I think it works and captures my attention throughout without being cheesy or insincere. It's definitely not the Chopin I've always known. I guess personally I would prefer a more "standard version" on the long run, but I'd definitely pay to see her perform!

[Dogrusoz2014]

very nice, I like...

[runeweb]

@Deliverant LOL you came here to see her ass?

[Deliverant]

@runeweb

also XD

[MrTheJo92]

@Deliverant there couldn't have been a more inadequate comment.. nevertheless i have to say your completely right ;D



[thinkgreenlovepurple]

I've been listening to her play this sonata almost every single day for the past month.... I love it!!!

[kwastormayt]

she looks like Chopin lol

[The00ching00]

Lady Chopin!

[CaradhrasAiguo49]

taking the repeat at the beginning of Doppio movimiento is harmonically a horrible idea. the last chord of the exposition is arguably A-flat, so it makes more sense to resolve to D-flat

[musicy88]

...NOT attractive. personally.

[mhwang19]

unglaublich!!!!!! Obwohl sie mit YAMAHA spielt, erhielt sie den erst Preis. Soll ich mein Steinway & Sons weg lassen??

[aekesis]

Amazing, wonderful, marvelous... The 2010 Competition "Best Performance of a Sonata", no doubt.

[Vevejean1]

La musique au bout des doigts !

[magis213]

what is up with that name for the poster of this video. a bit uncouth...

[milutkajutka]

fantastyczna ! 

[1Thompsonmusic]

Great performance. Very of the period, which sounds right to me. Please watch my video of Chopin Prelude in a major.

[galapz]

This is so natural and logical, passionate beautiful.

Thank you.

[gcaee]

yuja wang is younger and much better than this woman.

[MrStrav81]

@gcaee

Yuja Wang likes playing Horowitz, Volodos and Cziffra transcriptions, makes superficial modifications and then turns around and calls them her version of them. *rolls eyes* I'm not impressed with her.

I had seen other performances posted of Avdeeva, and I wasn't convinced she is on the level technically of other finalists (see performance of Chopin Scherzo No. 4). However, I understand the choice after hearing this Sonata No. 2 performance. It is really satisfying.

[KrzysztofStasiuk]

She's good and I am going to see her live at NY philharmonic jan 04 2011, ha ha!...

[freeqwerqwer]

I like her intensity and sense of drama.

[lepiffou]

Zimerman knows what he's doing. Her sonata was by far the best at this competition!

[ericsteph]

@lepiffou Hey, is zimermann the one who decide for the prize, or does he finance the 12000 euros and the jury decide for who gets it?

i liked her sonata, she's really good!

[Sewerynaable]

@lepiffou Zimmerman doesn't decide who gets the prize, it's jury who decides. Zimmerman only finances!

[CaradhrasAiguo49]

@Sewerynaable: indeed Zimerman himself stated that he detests competition as a form of musical selection, so the last thing he would do is serve on jury

[Sewerynaable]

@lepiffou But it wasn't Zimmerman who awarded Avdieeva the special prize for performing Sonata. He only funded this award!

[helerota]

it is such an intense,tragic performance!wonderful and so emotional

[leonhart2103]

sounds horrible...maybe her mind kinda messed up during this time

[rvn10rvn17]

imo, this is far from pogorelich's version

[Alejandro270193]

@ClassicalMusicPL

Absolutely great. 

[cezaryolszewski]

THOSE WHO FAILED SHOULD ACCEPT IT WITH DIGNITY. AVDEEVA WAS BETTER THAN OTHERS. HER PLAYING IS CHARISMATIC. SHE IS JUST BETTER, YOU VE LOST, BUT DO NOT WORRY, YOU CAN ALWAYS PLAY IN A PIANO BAR LIKE MC DONALDS, KFC, PIANO DUCK ETC.

[anonymousQ45]

@cezaryolszewski that sounds miserable

[cezaryolszewski]

anonymous ! if you can do a coronary angiography I will agree with you. you remind me of a pal known as les the dumb cyclist who played no instrument and was mediocre surgeon but a very active criticant of evrything around.

[anonymousQ45]

@cezaryolszewski im talking about failing to become a concert pianist and settling for playing at kfc or some other place with none musicians.

[cezaryolszewski]

@anonymousQ45 Oh Boy, it is just a joke ! do not be so serious. Professional pianist is one of the most challenging jobs. I am an amateur without musical education and I almost shaking on the stage - and I am playing for pleasure. I do admire you prfessional pianists, you are really great. But Avdeeva`s playing was revolutionary, nobody before her played like this - it is my, amateur opinion. She is also very humble. What more, I have listened to a short interview with her- she is a personality.

[Sewerynaable]

@cezaryolszewski Her playing is horrible!

[cezaryolszewski]

@Sewerynaable seweryna knows nothing about piano playing

[Sewerynaable]

@cezaryolszewski I am not an amateur in playing the piano like you are saying yourself, you are!

[Alejandro270193]

@Sewerynaable

Horrible, Beautiful... everything is relative...

I love her playing. 

[Sewerynaable]

@Alejandro270193 Nobody can forbid to like what he likes!

[KrzysztofStasiuk]

DOESN'T SHE LOOK LIKE CHOPIN's DAUGHTER?

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

this video costs 12000 euros

[zicekanelo]

@newFranzFerencLiszt why?

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@zicekanelo she won a special prize for "thebest performance of a sonata"

[zicekanelo]

@newFranzFerencLiszt Ah ok thanks, her Polonaise Fantasie's performance is very very good, don't you?

[Icarodefrancisco]

1st movement of Chopin sonata

[cezaryolszewski]

this is not true. Avdeeva plays like Chopin, only better. I was listening to the competition and I, an amateur, a practicing cardiologist, am playing way better than most of those "professionalists".

[happyboy86]

@cezaryolszewski

ahah, I hope you're joking! Otherwise, you're really full of yourself! Your video of the Chopin polonaise op. 53 just show you as an amateur pianist who does not show any sense of timing, no breathing, too much pedal most of the time, tense shoulders, and no accurate voicing. And this is without mentionning the many wrong notes... so please be realistic and do not pretending to be better that these wonderful pianists who are without any doubts way better than you are.

[cezaryolszewski]

you @happyboy86 ! I do not think you are playing piano at all. you got no piano skills. I am posting my playing as I am proud of it. you aint posting any of your piano playing- you dont play piano. I feel sorry for you. I am also using my real name,you are hiding, you certainly aint no american or european, we fight fair.

[happyboy86]

@cezaryolszewski The purpose of my comment was not to put you down. Seriously, I think this is wonderful that you enjoy playing piano as an amateur. However, I maintain my position that before presuming you are better than these wonderful pianists, you need to open your ears. This is not the same level of playing.

[cezaryolszewski]

maybe you are right, for me playing is just fun, for them playing is to be or not to be so I understand their nervousness when comparing to other pianists. For a professional pianist failing at the Chopin Competition is usually the end of career, for me failing at a competition does not matter . actually what you said about my playing was true - I am working on it. btw, I was never attending any music school. In a way I appreciate your constructive critic. take care Pal. but Avdeeva is good.

[Sewerynaable]

@cezaryolszewski She is not!

[Sewerynaable]

@cezaryolszewski Do not offend Chopin!

[saululerio]

emotional and intellectual integrity. Bravo

[work365days]

太驚人了！難道蕭邦的音樂都是這樣？！

[simwint]

No singing, but banging! And a big show, nothing to do with music.

I would risk getting vocal nodules, if I tried to sing how she is playing...

Maybe this kind of treating the piano is more profitable: Even Martha Argerich plays in a similar way nowadays: listen to her new Chopin interpretation: no singing, but banging!

I’m happy that there are at least some pianists who are able to sing on their pianos: Krystian Zimerman, Rudolf Buchbinder, Andras Schiff!

[Sewerynaable]

@simwint And like Bozhanow, he's able to sing on the piano!

[darkkerrigan]

@simwint Have you bothered to listen to her performance of the Chopin 4th Ballade????? No singing you say huh? Get your ears fixed ;)

[cezaryolszewski]

Congratulations Mrs Avdeeva. The amount of critics by second sort pianists you are facing now proves once again you were worth the Award.

[rva25]

@cezaryolszewski it proves that critics are right. She's quite talented pianist, personally I like her interpretation of this sonata, very very dramatic and tragic, but sounds like Beethoven or Brahms.. if you listen her mazurkas and valse on the 2stage- just terrible.

[CrescendoCompetition]

This demonstrates the misunderstanding of a Sonata genre. Sonata as classical form stays on the same side as an Instrumental concerto.

You hardly can find such wild tempo changes and gypsy emotions on Chopin piano concertos. Beauty, elegancy, strong “revolutionary” protest, these are major points of Chopin’s vision of classical form.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Sonata as a large Etude, or, Waltz.

[Sewerynaable]

@CrescendoCompetition Totally agree!

[CrescendoCompetition]

This demonstrates the misunderstanding of a Sonata genre. Sonata as classical form stays on the same side as an Instrumental concerto.

You hardly can find such wild tempo changes and gypsy emotions on Chopin piano concertos. Beauty, elegancy, strong “revolutionary” protest, these are major points of Chopin’s vision of classical form.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Sonata as a large Etude, or, Waltz.

[CrescendoCompetition]

@CrescendoCompetition This demonstrates the misunderstanding of a Sonata genre. Sonata as classical form stays on the same side as an Instrumental concerto.

You hardly can find such wild tempo changes and gypsy emotions on Chopin piano concertos. Beauty, elegancy, strong “revolutionary” protest, these are major points of Chopin’s vision of classical form.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Sonata as a large Etude, or, Waltz.

[CrescendoCompetition]

This demonstrates the misunderstanding of a Sonata genre. Sonata as classical form that stays on the same side as an Instrumental concerto.

You hardly can find such wild tempo changes and gypsy emotions on Chopin piano concertos. Beauty, elegancy, strong “revolutionary” protest, these are major points Chopin’s vision of classical form.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Sonata as a large Etude, or, Waltz..

[AntipovSvyatoslav]

Thank you for uploading! Very useful!

[stefanobeere]

Großartige Interpretation dieser vielschichtigen Sonate Yuliana Avdeeva. Vielen Dank fürs hochladen.

[1hakon]

Important is, that Avdeeva takes a lot time to breath and she does not use a tempo wich is too fast. You can hear all that notes very clear. After the repetition she playes just moderato and I was actually excited from bar to bar 'cause she created it as a child of her times in a different new and interesting way. Bravo!

[gcaee]

go to listen to Pogorelich's version !!!!

[terrygowork]

Chopin is actually a disguise of Prokofiev. Seriously, why people think its sooooo good. So violent, she intentionally over dramatized Chopin's music to please a certain group of jury. Her Chopin is not Chopin. Where is delicacy and beauty? I only find lust and chaos. This becomes an ugly piece of music!

[darkkerrigan]

@terrygowork I read some of these comments and honestly can't believe my eyes! Maybe she didn't play it PERFECTLY in your opinion, but have you bothered to listen to her Chopin 4th Ballade??? She did such an amazing job bringing out the beautiful voices in that masterpiece, and she DEFINITELY did NOT just "bang" the piano...some of you people have a lot of nerve with your comments when you probably cannot even play HALF as well!

[annlee0824123]

One of her best part of performing this sonata is the transitioning moment between the movements. She doesn't rest long between the movements like others do, and I think It is really touching to listen to her performance from the 1st through the 4th movement without stop.

[Ulikses]

You can play girl!!!! Bravo!!! I've almost lost faith in classical musicians, but when I hear interpretations like this, I see, that not all the hope is lost!!!

[gcaee]

@Ulikses you are such such a toady !! This is apparently awful.

[Ulikses]

@gcaee

i'm not a tody, i'm just someone, who loves music and musicians who play with soul!!

[lndmcr]

Honestly I don't understand...is this the best sonata of the competition???

In addition to a quite "dirty" performance (that's not the main problem) there are also some major issues like the the one at 2:13 when she made the "ritornello" (may be "refrain" in english??) starting from the really beginning instead of the 5th beat as written in my score. Horrible!

It may be a different version (?) but I've never heard that neither Pollini, Kissin, Ashkenazy or Barenboim make it so....

[chopinpa]

@lndmcr

The repeat of the exposition properly goes to the very beginning of the movement. The version you know (and it occurs in many modern editions) resulted from an error in the German first edition. The French and English first editions print the repeat correctly (as Avdeeva plays it): this version is reflected in the new Polish National Edition, an important source for the competitors.

Pollini's second recording of the sonata takes the repeat in the same way as does Avdeeva.

[lndmcr]

Thanks for the clarification! this was unknown to me.

I still wonder if this error in the German version was made intentionally or for a mistake.

For my taste the "wrong" version seems better ;) !!!

Anyway, I've appreciated your explanation.

[chopinpa]

@lndmcr The German edition was based on a manuscript written by Chopin's pupil Gutmann. At the tempo change at measure 5, Gutmann put a double bar (the double bar probably was not in Chopin's manuscript, judging by how the work was printed in France). Gutmann put only a double bar, without the dots that mean "take the repeat to here". It was the Breitkopf & Haertel editors who added the dots, without any guidance from Chopin. So that's how the error occurred.

[ugolinoandhissons]

@chopinpa Anatolel Leikin makes a very convincing case AGAINST taking the repeat from Grave. He says there is no unifying practice concerning the print of repeat sign in the 19th century. Many pieces without a repeat sign make it impossible to start from the introduction again. For those who are interested, read his article "Repeat with caution: A Dilemma of the First Movement of Chopin's Sonata op. 35. "The Musical Quarterly, vol. 85 no. 3 (2001): 568 - 82." Personally, I agree with him

[heyagakurai]

I don't　prefer so much this performance.

I can't understand this woman is best performer.

[4785689]

best performance????

ARE THEY JOKING?????

[rambeiro]

@4785689

So, do you know more about Chopin than the jury does?, ARGERICH INLUDED!!

PLEASE!

[Ellinidara]

@rambeiro You really don't know by now that the contests are almost always a scam and a half is almost never rewarded those who really deserve it?In this case Martha wanted to win a woman after her famous victory several years ego,and she choosed this girl. She decided everythink.I was there.Thats all.

[calibardo]

@4785689 totally agree with you...

[Ellinidara]

@4785689 ...Totally agreee.

[cezaryolszewski]

@Ellinidara - KFC is a good brand and the food is defninitely better than in the Carnegie Hall so it is no shame playing piano at the KFC. I would agree Mc Donalds is maybe not so posh for a piano but not far away. Maybe you are right that the pianists who make a lot of gestures - it might be risky for them playing while eating chicken with small bones but after all they should eat and work at the same time - some ethics apply.

[cezaryolszewski]

drop offs can apply for the van cliburn