Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev Suggestion Diabolique (1935)

[20somethingstories]

It's wonderful to hear this piece performed by Prokofiev. Is this recording available? I would love to hear the entirety of Op. 4 as performed by the composer.

[Vesivian]

Sounds just the way Prokofiev himself would play it!

[DHKKLGG]

@Vesivian I can't imagine why that would be.

[Youkali67]

@Vesivian That's true!!!

[starwarsmuzakjl]

@Vesivian didn't profofiev play it in this recording?

[Shostakovichforever]

pardon mais je ne suis pas fr,je suis belge ;)

[Shostakovichforever]

i've always found that everybody should speak english here...me normally i speak french but i speak english,so everybody can understand me...

[f1f1s]

@Shostakovichforever

Il appartient de retoucher deux cornes au portrait de Prokofiev, ha-ha!

Mais habituellement je parle russe. Tu es juste, on doit publier ses commentaires en anglais. C'est pourquoi j'écris la description du video en anglais, français, russe --- afin que tu et beau monde français pourraient me comprendre.

[nleguellec]

@jorpianist Wow. Someone doesn't speak english very well.

[nairigrigorian]

porque los pianistas cambian el texto de los grandes compositores???...menos mal q tenemos el testimonio de los mismos autores!!! gracias Sergei...

[Youkali67]

@nairigrigorian Exacto, pero no del todo cierto, Rachmaninov no le era tan fiel así mismo. Escucha sus grabaciones con partitura en amno y te darás cuenta de que no. Prokofiev tocaba exactamente como lo había escrito, eso es indiscutible.

[Scorpio7500]

@jorpianist hahaha you're funny.

[Tribute1875]

@jorpianist "The worst version ever" - played by the man who wrote it himself.

Now that doesn't really make sense now, does it?

[gerardbedecarter]

Fascinating.

[MrCha360194]

WEE imma have fun playing this though I'll sound like crap in comparison. But the haunting melody is so awesome

[Scorpio7500]

@jorpianist wow are you retarded this is the composer playing his own piece. This is how he meant it to be played.

[MetroidMilkMan]

the sudden drop in dynamic at about 2:04 always makes me all giddy:D

[ttslipknotrulez132]

@jorpianist how this is prokofievs own version you might have heard other incorrct or not as close as this awesome performance so back off

[Flutist11]

He was the Man of Steel. He felt no pain, not even on those huge 4 octaves-a-second runs at the end. :D

[F1R1NMAHLAZAH]

Prokofiev scares me....not just the music, his face :D

[jafigueroa41]

More than "diabolique" his performance is "a persistent nightmare" (the real meaning of the title.

[SophieMenter]

Marvellous version.

[izzallgud]

...this song is so hard... he makes it sound like nothing.

[Noshirm]

I can just imagine Ana Yesipova's response to this brilliant and diabolical performance! (:-D) WOW!

[Flutist11]

Excellent idea... I wonder if there was any particular "suggestion" on his mind. ;-)

[noeneonpiano]

yes...quite an amazing piece...i played this before

~12 years old :)~

[noeneonpiano]

what i meant was that WHEN i was 12...i played this..

[awsomed89]

@noeneonpiano and would you post a video of you at age 12 in comparison to this? When I was 14 I played Brahms piano sonata op. 5, but I would never compare myself to any great pianist playing it, especially not the composer. Ridiculous comment.

[Dotatime]

i played this song...it was painful...the NINTHS

[pabloj08]

Richter the best for Prokofiev ever!!

[2ndviolinist]

I could only stand a short blast of Richter's playing. It's a charicature, totally out of character from what this incredible version by the composer shows us.

[silverbud]

The truth is, Prokofief held Richter and his play in very high esteem. :-0

[1978christos]

From 1:00 to 1:10 it's the devil himself playing....

[karazh]

amazing !i totaly aagree

[klausknulp]

unbeleavable! it should be prokoffievs op 666

[ReturnOfTheStienway]

most definitely!!!

[nousernamewhatsoever]

@klausknulp LOL!!! xD

[dsyglym]

beautiful pianosound

[pinnock1000]

it is good played and really devlish :)

[CodyNelsonMusic]

Much nicer tone than Richter. Richter seems to "bang", Prokofiev attacks the piano without making a harsh tone.

[coasterman16]

Well, with these older recordings, one can never be sure about the tone created by the instrument. The sound is muffled, distorted, and rather compressed, so it's difficult to compare. That being said, this piece calls for banging and barbarism. It is, after all, a diabolical suggestion, and that implies ferocity.

[demosj]

The diabolique implies that, but the first half of the title - Suggestion - implies that the brutality should not be outright. In this respect I prefer Prokofiev's performance. Richter's rendition is more like the Statement Diabolique.

[picotheman2]

Well, the title is translated from the Russian, so be careful about reading too much into it. Наваждение is more like a possession, or the feeling that something evil has passed through you. It's more obsessive and delusional than suggestive.

[godelike]

@demosj nevertheless, one should not forget that the title is not by Prokofiev in the first place...

[sunamiassault]

@demosj ain't nothing bad about a diabolic statement .

[bernardocarmopiano]

I can´t agree with you. Richter was one of Prokofiev´s favorites pianists. Besides Prokofiev dedicated works to him, lije te 9th sonate. Richter lecture of this work is quite different, ok, but is wonderful! I invite you to visit my profile and listen an other excellent performance of this masterwork, by Antonietta Rudge (1885-1974), I posted it . I hope you enjoy it.

[gdjuniform]

I think he didnt understand the composers intention =D

[telvierundachtzig]

Exact. Those only-pianoplayers are simply poor. ;-)

[0majtyna0]

Grrr, he makes this sound so easy to play!

[WdUoGyGlLeErS]

Brilliant! I especially love 1:17

I wish somebody could compile all of the 'Prokofiev Plays Prokofiev' pieces and upload them somewhere.

[clubpenguinfan99]

I'm doing my composer project on this guy and lemme say : Hes da man!

[OriginalMoonbeam]

A remarkable treasure! Thank you so much for sharing this! It has excellent quality considering it's age...and such a "devilish" little piece!

[zealotpolly]

I think this one is better than richters. He knows the piece better by himself.

[MillyProductions]

finally a good recording of this! there are way to many kids who play this and destroy it.

[ihrtmusic12334]

well no duh its good, its the composer playing so its most likely going to be better than many kids.

[Sirtnat]

UNA JOYITA!!!

La versión del mismo Prokofiev se muestra mucho más obscura, siendo muy coherente con el nombre de la pieza.

[strangehands89]

Seems like satan really suggested him the notes to play,it's fascinating

[RSFREAK969]

I can feel diabolic suggestions going through me right now. A fitting name for a wonderful piece.

[werq34ac]

I remember someone playing this at a recital. I was blown away that day. It was like when I was 7. I never looked it up until now. I'm glad I found it again.

[Noshirm]

TRULY diabolic. TRULY infernal and sulfurous! Perfectly played, this packs a mighty punch! Love it! Thanks for this post.

[PokemasterAngus]

its bad that he/she doesnn't show the actual recording. Rate this a thumbs down if you want.

[demonicadvent]

There isn't a video to accompany it though, since it was recorded audio-only (in 1935 no less!).

[gkypianou]

Can someone send me the score pls??

[ibclappin]

WHAT??!!!! THIS EXISTS?!!!?

oh thank you. thank you so much.

i mean if this is ture.

[FlowerEmblem]

Loved this =) Someone played it during a music lesson awards ceremony me and my bro went to...it was AMAZING

[ibclappin]

what? so this is bs this isn't Prokofiev himself?

[FlowerEmblem]

???

[helloimapianist]

This is the best performance of this piece on record.

[weikko79]

No way.

[ManWithManyShurikens]

yes way ^^

There are couple good ones and bunch of really bad ones but this is absolutely the best

[kaelynq]

Well, I've written for violin, cello, and flute, and I can't play for any of those instruments. :) And yes I can see that it's a while back, it just came to my mind.

[johnbaptistlulu]

without meaning anything in a bad way, i think that prokofiev wrote the ugliest music ever... it reminds me of beethovens grosse fugue. but as beethoven's fugue, he makes his music so that in it's uglyness its beautifull! it is amazing... 5 stars

[FlowerEmblem]

? I don't get it...

[aewanko300]

"diabolique" indeed and i mean it in a good way.

[jsrwang07]

In my opinion this is the best recording of this piece that I know of.

[guitarike]

amazing to hear the "real" interpretation, the way it was conceived in the composer's own head.

the intro is played much faster than the average interpretation you hear today, the rest sounds pretty close, so it's good to know contemporary pianists are pretty true to the composer's intent.

[Darklord12356]

GAH! I meant to give it a five and I got a three!

[BreuschPagan]

NGS

When asked to perform Islamey live, Balakirev would always decline..in fact there's no record of him having performed it publicly :)

[suzettegm]

Now there's a good example. I can imagine...;)

[NGS712]

Breusch: I've never heard of either 'Islamey' or 'Balakirev'.

[silvercharcoal5]

USE THE GOOGLE

[NGS712]

silver: YOU DON'T NEED TO YELL.

[4444matthew4444]

omg what gem gem gem gem YES OMG FREAKING GOD YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE­EEEEEEEEEEEES

[suzettegm]

great rendition, I'm surprised that Pietje Puk has not yet critisised the old fashioned glasses.

[NGS712]

suzette: Well it has to be a great rendition, he's playing his own piece! :)

[suzettegm]

Yep.

[NGS712]

suzette: It would be weird if a composer wrote a piece and couldn't even play it! I wonder if that's ever happened?

[suzettegm]

Dear NGS, You mean a piano piece of course, I think in most cases the composers knew how to play it but not as a rule, it seems that Berlioz could not play the piano (not much pianomusic either) Beethoven composed while (partly) deaf and Schumann broke his fingers on his own opus 3 I believe, but in general, and certainly in the case of Prokofiev I think the composers were fine players of their own music

[NGS712]

suzette: I know, I'm just saying it would be odd if a composer couldn't. I realize that MANY composers were also known as fine pianists in their times.

[suzettegm]

NGS, I agree, I'm not sure but what you (also) seemed to imply is that a lot of composing of pianomusic is/ was done at the piano,it probably was (I'm not a pianist) hence my three examples, kind regards, Suzette

[NGS712]

suzette: It was just a random thought.

[suzettegm]

Okay, I see

[greekyboy123]

I read once that Schubert found it hard to get through his 'Wanderer' Fantasy - a more recent, and better example would be Tippett, who I believe (I'm open to correction here) was no kind of instrumentalist, and, very aware that some of his piano writing was impractical, was happy that pianists make some adjustments.

[NGS712]

greeky: Really? Gee, as I said it was just a random though. Had no idea it would have basis in fact! ;)

[serox901]

Ravel was terrible player and couldn't play have his music, and the afore mentioned Balakirev could not play his whole Islamey. Schumann hurt his hands in a crazy finger extension machine of his (the guy was mad) and so his wife played all his music.

[NGS712]

serox: Who is Balakirev? Honestly, I didn't think people would actually take what I said seriously enough to respond! :)

Thanks!

[MillyProductions]

huh?

[vantrifan]

lol my last comment was a reply to an old comment, that said somewhere they learned that Schubert had trouble playing his own pieces.

[MillyProductions]

i think he did, because he was still learning when he wrote some of them. but you can't be sure. iether way his standchen is wonderful.

[kaelynq]

Anyone who ever wrote for an instrument he/she didn't know how to play.

[NGS712]

kael: What do you mean?

Besides that was just a random thought I had awhile back.

[FlowerEmblem]

kael meant that compared to this, no one else ever knew how to compose music

[kaelynq]

i know this comment was made one month ago but that's not what i meant.

[FlowerEmblem]

ugh...sorry ^.^''..

[pjkorab]

Charming little piece :) Prokofiev is one of my favourite composers. I'm surprised that smithsherman hasn't yet criticised his "technicaly foul and interpretationaly immature" performance (or something like it..) ;P

[NGS712]

It's like 'Danse Macabre' but with a more Jazz-like rhythm to it.

[azerty9120222]

prokofiev has nothing to do with jazz

[NGS712]

azerty: I didn't say it was jazz, but had the rhythm. The fast pace of the piece. Geez can't believe I got -3 for a compliment!

[artie6666]

Don't worry about that. The guy that said Prokofiev has nothing to do with jazz is full of shit.  He had hundreds of jazz albums in his collection, he admired Gershwin's music, and he had plenty of exposure to it during his trips to the US and in western Europe. He doesn't use jazz as obviously as Ravel, maybe, but anyone who's listened to his Romeo and Juliet knows that jazz seeped into his work here and there.

[artie6666]

Part of his problem was that after his return to the Soviet Union in 1936, writing music that hinted at the jazz idiom was a no-no, a sign of Western decadence, and Papa Stalin might send violators off to Siberia.

[artie6666]

This particular piece was written early in Prokofiev's career and it probably "has nothing to do with jazz". You're probably responding to his heavy use of syncopation which you might interpret as a "jazz-like" rhythm. It's a perfectly legitimate point to make. Azerty, like most people on YouTube, is an idiot and thinks he's giving you a terse, sophisticated put-down. For people who know about Prok, he just looks like a fool.

[NGS712]

artie: Thanks. I don't know much about classical, so I was just giving a compliment based on what I know. What does syncopation mean necessarily?

[artie6666]

It's a rhythmic displacement. In other words, Prokofiev stresses beats that would normally be unstressed.

[NGS712]

artie: Thanks. I hate it when people are so close-minded to other opinions (like azerty was) whether it's in music, art, literature, politics, and so on. Some people just love the idea that they're superior to another person.

[pianopera]

artie: Prokofiev is mainly stressing the strong beats (the first and the third), because he wrote accents there...but he sure loved jazz, that's true. In Ravel's music there is much more jazz-influence (violin sonata).

A perfect example of jazzy syncopations you find in Schumann's Toccata...

[artie6666]

I agree with you to a certain extent, but even in the areas where the beat is straight forward, there is a lot of phrasing across the bar-line.

[dabiribd]

Awesome

Thanks for sharing