Evgeny Kissin - Pictures At An Exhibition [3 of 4]

[fatcat22able]

9:17 i believe is one of the greatest parts

[saheel97]

cannot use words to corrrectly quantify how good this sounds

[saheel97]

this is awesome!



[dubbacdubbac]

10 people simply couldnt get past the second phrase........

[markmarshall39]

i couldnt play this in my dreams

[The2008Productions]

Oh gosh...my piano teacher gave me "The Hut of Baba Yaga" to learn over the Summer, this guy is indeed intimidating with how he plays it.

[Alvyus]

1:14 - 1:24

WTF was that??? O.o

[PakrerGM64]

@Alvyus

It was boss.

[Paoloferrariclassica]

Questo uomo è stato scelto da Dio per comunicare con noi attraverso il pianoforte.

[percussionbell]

It is one of my aspirations in life to play this piece on piano.

[moneyjr1122]

at first i though it was silly he shook so much until i started playing the song :/.. now i understand why lol

[SpringInTheSchool]

@moneyjr1122 I agree LOL

[abbyscks]

I love how Mussorgsky transitions into the great gate at Kiev... very creative. Mussorgsky is one of my favorites. this is my favorite interpretation of the piece. does anyone know if I can purchase a recording?

[yorkieboy69]

Brilliant could listen to this all day every day! :)

[vaiol123]

Oh how I love limoges....

[Dirte111]

The trill through the end of catambae goes for like 3 minutes... my wrists would be on fire by time i had to play the andante in Baba Jaga...

[emopz13]

@Dirte111 That's not trill that's a tremolo!!

[TheZdephinio]

incomprehensible places

[markmarshall39]

lol, i think that kissin has had small cylinders put in his fingertips, oh he;s the best!!

[markmarshall39]

lol, i think that kissin has had small cylinders put in his fingertips

[FalloutVaultBoy77]

I really wish the pictures that went missing from Viktor Harmann's exhibition that inspired this piece weren't missing. I know that like half of the 10 pictures arent gone but I would have loved to to see the missing ones like Gnommus or Limoges. Its too bad that like almost 300 of his works of art are gone.................

[figsgrandpa]

To those who commented on the spped of the opening Promonade and the transition to Gnommus, we have to remember that this piece is based on an actual exhibition of Viktor Hartmann's work that Mussorgsky attended. The tempos and transitions, as well as the variations in the Promanade theme and the fact that it doesn't appear between all "paintings" have to do with the physical layout of the actual paintings in the original exhibit.

[madlutist]

The YouTube comments board almost tricked me into giving an opinion.

[lievehenk]

I only knew Rimsky-Korsakov version, and hated it. But his is so beautiful. I have to see it {and hear it) at least 10000 times to comprehend, and i,m looking forward to do so

[sp0590]

@lievehenk The original piece was written for piano if I'm not mistaken. Ravel wrote the orchestration. Maybe that isn't what you're saying.

[lievehenk]

@sp0590 Shame on me. I wrote before I had knowledge about the piece. You are partly right. Ravel orchestated it, just as Rimsky-Korsakov did. But the piece was written for piano by Mussorgsky, and that seems to me (for the moment) the most beautiful version.

Thanks for the lesson learned.

[afertyus1000]

i love the catacombs you can almost imagine being there,it sounds almost religious

[Dirte111]

1:20 is ridiculous

[redetrigan]

His look kind of reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell.

[drumgirl187]

both the piano original and the orchestral verson are amazing. both have separate things to offer. music can be told in different ways. the piano and an orchestra can speak in different ways as well. i played this piece as a clarinet player and it defintely changed me as a musician. Bravo to Mussorgsky and Ravel. and of course Kissin :)

[patapoom]

Limoges.......... WOW !

[classicalnut1]

the capriccioso of the limoges was amazing!

[gcaee]

Mussorgsky & Kissin ~~~ what a wonderful conbination !!

[astronomo16]

A really descriptive and imaginative sound. A linen drawn of music. An exceptional and mysterious art.

[astronomo16]

Un sonido realmente descriptivo e imaginativo. Un lienzo dibujado de música. Un arte excepcional y misterioso.

[klaviermc]

Promenade is definitely too fast. Limoges is amazing - how can you get your LH to repeat notes that fast?

[Stunt2one]

@klaviermc

Easy, being born with his gift...heh.

[pianosban]

where is he playing??

[wonson19]

wow! His fingers are so fast!! I love this song!

[NuovoCurioso]

You are a special pianist.....Bravo!!!!

[NoNameLikeThisOne]

Whoever rated everyone's comment as poor...please stop. I'd rather you just reply than give a rating that everyone repeats.

[n10juan]

Fantastic one. But promenade really is TOOoooooooooo fast!!!

It's a man who walk... can't be so quick.

[Jamesdude2000]

Mussorgsky writes on the score that it should be played fast

[NoNameLikeThisOne]

It might sound different for piano. Who knows? Maybe it would sound bad if played slower.

[n10juan]

I don't consider orchestra version... for me exists only original piano version :)

Kissin is amazing, but in my opinion promenade must be played a little slower. I think Brendel is best promenade player that I know... (sorry my poor english)

[chopinhorowitz]

maybe the man's walking tempo is fast???

[CONTESTAR]

I think the promenade at this point is no more the man as he is already lost in the exhibition and he is transforming.

He becomes the motif of the Gate and he is not subject to the tempo of the original promenade anymore. I think slowing it down after the excitement of the "hut" would sound either too transitional or in the best case, say... affected.

[zabuzato]

@n10juan N OOO!!! He's running to the next picture xD

[CONTESTAR]

with someone like that I'll take the piano over the orchestra version any time!

[MrPolitolog]

Excellent pianist!!!

Отличный пианист!!!

[austerlau]

so fast and so slow

[mikeyjrn]

after listening to the orchestra version of this, it's interesting and amazing to hear how Ravel transcribed this. Baba Yaga doesn't sound the same without screaming french horns!

[JOseyIzUrs89]

I like all ofthe promenades in this song.

[modelstatue]

was these song original written for piano? Or was it transcribed to piano from the orchestra?

[spooked911]

originally for piano

[evolve749]

There was no transposition involved. It was actually transcribed for orchestra brilliantly by Maurice Ravel.  There are other orchestrations, but Ravel's is by far the best.

[brillman]

lol sorry , that was what i ment

[thehypnox369]

ravel

[violinistx100]

@thehypnox369 Mussorgsky

[sebastianrc]

Don't know why they gave you a bad califfication; Ravel actually transcribed this piece for piano.

[peterdied]

@sebastianrc Actually Moussourgsky wrote it for piano originally and Ravel arranged it for orchestra.

[peterdied]

@sebastianrc Actually Moussorgsky wrote it for piano solo originally, and Ravel later arranged it for the orchestra.

[sebastianrc]

@peterdied Oh I'm so ignorant thanks :)

[kikkom4n]

it was originally written for piano by Modest Mussorgsky

[gcaee]

this is the oringinal version, and he had a splendid interpetation. Bravo !!

[wald0615]

completely your opinion!

[nevesnevesn]

Избушка на курьих ножках

ХОРОШО!!!

[JOseyIzUrs89]

my favorite song is the hut of the chicken legs.

[tptmaster90]

Wow, he's talented. However, I still like the orchestral version a lot better than the piano version.

[HailTheOrder]

The orchestrated version is just bloody shit..and even more so when comparing it to an amazing performance by one such as Kissin.

[spooked911]

totally agree!

[aquarius6886]

Wonderfull! Kissin is no.1 :D

[Aznkrusdr]

Heh, the crazy hair and the white suit kind of makes him look like a mad scientist, or in his case a mad musician. Eitherway, awsome piece, awsome playing. I could watch this all day. :D

[taghazog]

BABA YAGA, excellent!

[egitnyc]

I'm going to blaspheme for just a moment. I'm a big fan of Kissin's, but I feel like Vladimir Feltsman's performance of this work hits the mark much better. EK doesn't seem to capture the "colors" as well. Often EK plays loud, then louder, then has nowhere to go for a while and everything is just FFF, and a little flat.

Far better than I could ever do, certainly. But I think I like Feltsman's interpretation better.

[revoltingmexican]

And truly, listen to the entire recording before bashing me. BIS records, Christian Lindberg "los banditios: Criminal trombone 1 1/2" is the CD title. You won't even believe what you are hearing.

[revoltingmexican]

Christian Lindberg's performance of this piece on trombone, with Roland Pontinen on his Bosendorfer as accompaniment is in my opinion the most outstanding recording of this piece ever. The transition from baba yaga into great gate of kiev will make you shart. Check it out on Naxos. Guarantee you'll give up piano and begin playing the trombone

[grandmarie3]

Amazing music. Stunning performance.

[yortkiy4]

so you have two youtube accounts? haha someone posted a similar comment earlier

[CLASSICAListheWAY]

I deleted my account a while ago and then recently came back.

[CLASSICAListheWAY]

I met him while watching this very video! I watch it pretty much every day, and I was watching it again when he walked into the room! After I talked to him he pointed at the screen and asked, "Oh, is that me?"

Evgeny Kissin could possibly be...No, IS the best pianist on the face of the Earth.

[GreggaryPeccary]

How can he just "walk into the room"? Where was that room? I wish he'd just "walk into the room" when I'm watching his video

[CLASSICAListheWAY]

It was a computer room haha...

[organman52]

I totally agree. He is also among the finest musicians alive today.

[shanikuzai]

what the hell at around 1:20!

i'm not sure if that's even possible or what.

totally astonishing. this guy is a master.

well, i can only try to reach a remotely same level, i'm not pulling myself down, i just see that he has invested so much into his play, which i haven't done so far, so yeah.

anyway, what one can learn from this amazing performance is, what practice or dedication will lead to.

[psicobiris]

i love how he plays baba Yaga

[APS113Ram]

he has big hair.

haha but he's an amazing piano player.

[mc0558]

Incomparable!

[diodde]

phenomenon... he simply makes me feel the heaven... pictures of an exibition is a song that unify the sound, the soul, and the heaven...

[squanto2]

Asperger's?

[jero13595]

I really don't like his playing here. It's "bangy" and "childish" especially the Baba Yaga. Elena Kuschnerova plays it much better with a bell-like tone and maturity.

[Sinneo91]

This is Russian music.  It's supposed to sound like this...

[yortkiy4]

he has a really well developed interpretation of this piece, actually. I don't see much childishness in it.

[organman52]

This IS the piece. In the hands, mind and heart of Maestro Kissin, how could it be otherwise ?

[davidweiner23]

holy jesus, look at how many PEOPLE are there!

[bakesomebrownies]

I met him while watching this very video! I watch it pretty much every day, and I was watching it again when he walked into the room! After I talked to him he pointed at the screen and asked, "Oh, is that me?"

[ArtyKing12345]

R u serious? Cuz i dont really think that can possibly happen... not that im saying it didn!t ;)

[CLASSICAListheWAY]

I know. It was really ironic. And I briefly met him again once and he totally remembered me!

[DarthKrattus]

We need more Russian composers, especially ones like Mussorgsky...

[olga2809]

You should listen to Shchedrin, 'modern' classical Russian music, with a lot of influence from Shostakovich

[organman52]

Please! don't encourage that. There can sijmply be no more original music. Those 'interested in composing' should seek another venue for expression, because to commit notes and other symbols to music paper would be a total waste of time.

[LePhrygien]

Le Marché de Limoges and The Baba Yaga are the best interpretation I've heard: the squabbling of french ménagères and the bad witch in her «splendeur». Never mind what he looks like, he is just perfect on the Pictures at an Exhibition (imho)!

[mds279kr]

Bravo Maestro!

[davidweiner23]

a bit too Russian

[yortkiy4]

trully a weiner

[angellikespie222]

Bravo Kissin, Fantastic one of the best interpretations i've heard

[astronomo16]

absoluty perfct, and beatiful. Bravo Modest, bravissimo Kissin!

[Virtuoso80]

He obviously has chops to spare, but I just don't enjoy his interpretation. I think 'mozart lives' is an appropriate comment, as the performance hits me with the same distaste that I find with Mozart as well. Too bright and pretty. Too proper, too...fopish, if you will.

[Riffitus]

What???

[Riffitus]

oops sorry wrong post.. i like tis part!!!

[Ernesto7608]

"the performance hits me with the same distaste that I find with Mozart..."???

"Too bright and pretty. Too proper, too... fopish (what the hell is that?)" !!!

I wish you could be dropped on a dessert indonesian island where all the music you would get is the singing of the birds, you spoiled brat.

Virtuoso my ass.

[Ernesto7608]

...and your dessert in the deserted island are the droppings of the singing birds, virtuoso ass.

[organman52]

I see you get along with everyone - can I be your friend again? Oooh please ? ! ! ? ! !

[aldebussy]

Birds sing too beautifully for asses...After all they were an inspiration to Messiaen.

[Seeffen]

Isn't it just a matter of taste? I don't agree with Virtuoso80, but I think we should respect his opinion and taste, I think we all live in a free coutry and I do think too that we have the right to think what we want to think, even that Mozart could be 'distasteful'

[Ernesto7608]

Yes, Seeffen, it is a matter of taste, and we have a natural inclination to define good and bad taste.

We should respect other's opinions and tastes.

We live in a free society, where they are entitled to their opinions and tastes.

And we are entitled to the freedom to express ours, including our opinions on their opinions and tastes.

[aldebussy]

You're kidding, right?

[organman52]

You're twisted.

[masont11]

I wish I could play like that. He is the most amazing piano player I have ever seen. His hair is fun to watch.

[pabloj08]

I agree with you in it of the hair!! hahahahaha!!

Fantastic performance!

[godlike654]

omg ... amazing ...!!!

[lrodor]

my god, mozart lives!!!

[lrodor]

he's the best!!!

[markmarshall39]

watch his hands, they can put you in a trance.

[ricseste]

The best version I've ever heard. Full of life, energy and stamina. Wish I could play like him

[albert1675]

Steinway Q sons =)

[Fredericobarreto722]

He is surely a genius.

It takes years to achieve such a technique.

Few in the world can play this pictures like Kissin does. Kissin has the speed, the technique, the strenght, the feeling.

Simlpy marvellous!

[organman52]

You left out 'the KNOWLEDGE.' But don't feel bad, almost no one cares about the structure of the music - why? because their lazy, unmotivated and intellectually uncurious.

[noleno]

I dream of a kissin versus the midi software contest

[abbjorko]

unhuman unbelievable autistic

[sh5105]

actually he's quite articulate

[crisgranda]

Love his fingers!!! Kissin is one of a kind!

[brmitchen]

Anyone who thinks Kissin is arrogant, disrespectful and undeserved of his fame is a complete fool. The man is absurdly brilliant; who gives a shit about his facial expressions as opposed to his musicality and clarity.

[nceb885]

I played with Kissin a couple of weeks ago and HE IS NOT ARROGANT, his behaviour is really nice, with the orchestra and with the conductor. And he is also really modest.

[OorvakanSar]

I don't know, there's nothing on his face that tells me he cares about what he's playing, all I see is pompous arrogance and a pretentious demand for undeserved grandeur.

[StrivetobeDust]

Good grief, you don't play the piano with your face. If you can't hear the amazing quality of this playing, I feel sorry for you.

[laety51]

don't you think he has other preocupations while playing such difficult music?

[MIXOLYDIAN123]

Dork.

[TheMadman2006]

Actually I agree with you. Kissin is actually pretty damn arrogant and pretentious about himself. Doesnt change the fact that he is good. But him being good doesnt change the other either

[derhawk]

Do you know him or something?

[TheMadman2006]

know but my teacher did. i was agreeing with the idea of thats how he looks. I heard he is that way

[derhawk]

I heard Horowitz was gay, but that doesn't make it true

[TheMadman2006]

Yeah but more then likely he was bisexual.

[RandomMocker]

he was gay. And looks can be deceiving, i look like a stuck up prick then i play classical guitar, doesnt make it so though, im concentrating on everything im doing.

[RandomMocker]

when i play *

[thethikboy]

no more?

[aldebussy]

Thanks for telling. Everyone was waiting for you to determine whether or not he is being pretentious...

I hope you understand sarcasm.

[junkimchi]

wow marketplace was inhuman... so even....

[StrivetobeDust]

the staccato in limoges was amazing!!!

[Chopinesque]

KISSIN is phenomenal. Period!

[jordonbrown123]

Amazing the Hutt of Baby Yaga, my favourite!!!!

[celsocano]

great performance. But MUSSORGSKY'S music will remain forever, satastos.

[ossiacadenza]

7.Limoges:The market section was remarkable!!

[oliviashelster]

WOW Im mega impressed. WOW wow wow wow . Almost made me cry. You play with such passion.

[Traminer]

Kinky stuff... pity about the jacket!

[satastos]

Evgeny Kissin and his music will remain forever. I started playing piano after watching MR. Kissin.

I had no idea a piano could reach that kind of level Kissin push it to. Kissin proved it to be wrong.

[celsocano]

I agree Kissin is a great interpreter but it is Mussorgsky's music that will remain forever. The performance is great but give credit for the music to the composer.

[brujowilliam]

thanks