Young Gilels plays Schumann Toccata Op.7

[jonjon1957jonjon]

I enjoyed this dry sound. One could almost see those little White dampers rushing about their business inside the piano. Fine performance too.

[giuseppe76761]

sicuramente affascinante e grande tecnica ma non comparabile a cziffra lui e' il piu' grande e se sceglie e sentite dei pezzi meno veloci di altri e' solo perche' una sua scelta per renere il pezzo piu' vivibile,dove si puo' esagerare cn la ve,liocita' lo fa...guardate il video cziffra cray improv with etude come seconda copmposizione l etude n 1 di chopin al limite della velocita' umana ma sempre chiara e dal volo del calabrone dove si ricrea proprio il calabrone come se ci foss davvero

[kasyapa]

what a wildness!

[TheMoritati]

Gilels is such a true artist... Possibly my favorite pianist. He does nothing half way.

[kempff95]

hello !

im 15 and i also play this piece....

but i have some problems with the end of it....

somebody has suggestions for me? p.s

gilels play it very good!

how does he do the long musical line (the end)

tacataca taaaaa te tacataca taaaaaa te and etc.

[g3org33r3]

I can take a guess that this is the hardest piano piece of all time. Its just relentless. I love it :)

[KhagarBalugrak]

By far the best I've heard. This moved me with its passionate, free, enthusiastic, and youthful energy. I've never heard anyone play this in a non-mechanical manner...until now.

[sam0xin]

SO CRYSPY ! SO ENERGIZING ! SO GENIUS ! This hell-complicated masterpiece seems easiest... under hands of Gilels , even with this horrible quality of 75 y.o. recording, sounds like in garage...I am so unlucky ! NEVER can enjoy live performance of GENIUS - MASTER GILELS ! SO MISEREBLE...Thanks for sharing.PRICELESS audio-documentary.

[uhartchristian]

I think this version is one of the best Toccatas ever heard.

It has a lot of strength and clarity at the same time. The tempo is as quick as Horowitz or Ciffra. As powerful as richters version but not so brutal in sound.

[afertyus1000]

@uhartchristian yes i agree cziffra seems to scramble a bit at the crescendos with a muddy sound

[loboris1995]

@uhartchristian richter was not as young when he recored this pièce^^

[uhartchristian]

@loboris1995 well he was young enough to play that good!!!!!

[conductorizationist]

what's wrong with the pitch?

[petie32]

OK. No miskakes. About 6th if I were to grade him but I'm  not qulified to do that.

[cynic150]

Quite good technically, but not very musical. There is a relentless forward motion which denies any subtlety and you cannot breathe. Richter's early rcording is near perfect, I would say - so musical. Recording quality is poor.

[geertdehoux]

If you can do so, please listen to recordings of this piece by the 'mature' Gilels and you're hear an enormous difference!

Cordially,

G. Dehoux.

[Anuodnekh]

two geniuses ...

[geertdehoux]

Exactly.

[uhartchristian]

Anyway which conservatory is able today to produce such quality pianists like Gilels or Horowitz ????

we are in a poor world today where is more destruction than construction..... protected careers like those of Guilels are rare . dommage but thats it

[geertdehoux]

With all respect, I don't believe in conservatories which 'produce' great musicians.

A conservatory is only a school, nothing more.

Gilels and Horowitz were genius, and no conservatory in the world can 'produce' genius.

Cordially,

G. Dehoux.

[uhartchristian]

in some ways you are right but I believe there are great musicians and teachers out there who produce genius like gilels or horowitz. But it needs more than that. Liszt and Chopin who did teach are the origin of good pupils and they formed good pupils, well the best ones would not have gone so far if this tradition transmitted would not have taken place

[uhartchristian]

you may not had the chance to have a good teacher, I can tell you there are teachers who do form good musicians. Mierzanof in russia is one and there was Eliane Richepin in Paris. Before there was Cortot and marguerite Long. Yves Nat also. Only good pianists can help really futur pianists. bad pianists will never be good teachers and its sur the conservatories are full of them....

[geertdehoux]

I totally agree with you when you say good teachers can produce good pupils and even good musicians.

My point is that I don't believe anyone or any institution can 'produce' genius.

As politics are involved, it's a pity and a real shame lots of people who are teaching at conservatories are bad teachers and bad musicians themselves.

This is a phenomen that can be seen in the entire world and it's not a problem of our days only.

But don't forget not all good musicians are good teachers...

[geertdehoux]

phenomenon, sorry.

[uhartchristian]

the quality of a good teacher is that he understands to chose his pupils that he understand when a pupil is a genius. and then to guide the genius and not to stop his evolution. Only a teacher who did a big career as a solist and with orchestra has the experience for guiding a genius. Thats my opinion. If he teaches in a conservatory or on his own does not matter.

[rhapsodyinblue18]

@uhartchristian

it certainly helps to have had a "big career" and to play with an orchestra, but those are neither prerequisites nor the only required experiences for a good teacher. Plus, who says the musician (who, having played solo & with an orchestra, is a performer rather than a teacher so far) will be able to communicate how best to approach each of those circumstances to his/her student?

[uhartchristian]

well the only thing is that a pianist with a big career does not have the time to teach seriously but when he does take the time for it, it does give good result. No, a bad pianist or someone with little experience cannot be a very good teacher.... if you cannot play good you cannot transmit something good.... so my opinion does not change: a good pianist is more able to teach than a "teacher" with a career as "fonctionnaire" . the lifelong secured teachers today do little good in general....

[rhapsodyinblue18]

bad musican = bad teacher. I agree!

however, I know a fantastic violin player who performs quite a lot, but no more than frustrates his students in lessons.

Good performers, if they do take the time, could probably be good teachers. Not all of them are, but they are certainly better off than bad musicians/performers.

[geertdehoux]

I consider performing and teaching as two different things, which means one can be an excellent performer but at the same time a bad teacher, or a less good (I didn't say 'bad') performer but a good and comprehensible teacher.

Unluckely, most of the time people aren't good teachers, neither good musicians themselves.

Luckely some are both...

Thanks for your interesting reaction.

My best wishes for the new year.

G. Dehoux.

[uhartchristian]

I think its impossible to teach musicality. You can help to avoid errors but the genius don t need to be aducated in musicality.

Some pupils need some technical advice and whats the most important is to choose the right pieces for the developement.

If Martha Argerich would not have worked the schumann concerto bach toccata and before the beethoven concerto her career would not have been the same. I am sure about this. She had a very good teacher when a child

[pekkaji]

When was this recorded actually? Was he 18 or 22 at the time of recording? I love this despite of the recording quality. Best performance I've ever heard. Young Gilels... playing repertoire that mature Gilels didn't play. Greetings from Finland !

[geertdehoux]

With all respect, Emil played the Schumann Toccata all his life.

Cordially,

Geert Dehoux.

[pinnock1000]

good playing, but with a really bad piano. or maybe a bad recording

[queencheetah88]

@pinnock1000

look at the date of the record. could be the answer ;)

[pianocommy]

Great! This is real young man's playing! I think the mature Gilels would have played it differently. (That's not a criticism, after all, Schumann was a young man when he wrote it).

[6022JP]

Splended!

Oh my god Emil Gilels!!

[2ndAveLine]

Love the genius of both Schumann and Gilels- but the speed and slightly muddy quality of this recording reminds me of 1930's depression reels accompaniment music- at 1:50 it could be a jalopy outrunning a train, a bandit robbing a bank or bunch of outlaws attacking a stagecoach. Just zany, carnival-like and dreamy.

[vitesenzafine]

**t 1:50 it could be a jalopy outrunning a train, a bandit robbing a bank or bunch of outlaws attacking a stagecoach. Just zany, carnival-like and dreamy.**

I love your insight! Imaginative and true.

[Ellinidara]

Magnifique.Thanks!

[somedudeplayingpiano]

I love old recordings of great pianists like Gilels

[EvaHartwig]

Ob es nicht die Moskauer Aufnahme aus 1935 ist?

[macromera]

dinulipatti1950 , I agree totally. That Pogorelich version is 'clearly'  more clear...but GIlels legacy (among others) is beyond everything.

[macromera]

I've never heard Gilels ( young or older ) without those wrong notes..In every piece I hear from him, its always there, sounds like ' ops, key aside again...' .is that his trademark?

[dinulipatti1950]

you are so right! but i don't mind, I think that he has such a superb technique so that he wants to play in a tempo or in a way that is nearly impossible (islamey, for instance) - i like it, i even like those wrong notes, because it shows that puts a high dose of risk into the music just for us:)

[davidgray2]

He was around in a time when music actually meant something to people more than right notes and "international standards".

[uhartchristian]

I reqlly like your comment.... yes today pianists rush for quick notes and a strict rythm but they forget what was the intention and expression and meaning of the composition. And there are few people with an open heart and musical education to listen today, so able to understand the quality....

[elineangelica]

yes this is brilliant, really impressive!

[suzettegm]

Sounds very mature to me

[mltube]

Amazing! And such a disciplined playing, which I find a bit surprising in young Gilels.

[bludika]

this is fiendishly difficult piece

[chad410]

you needan amazing grasp of instrument to play this and they all have that. good teaching....

[smithsherman]

God Spare us...from mid 20th Russian thinking on Schumann!This is just like Richter...only he does have as much power....Yuck!!!

[smithsherman]

"Scuse me...only he doesn't have as much power

as Richter....Double Yuck!!!!

[beethoven4ever]

This is just like Richter??! :)

It is clear that both masters have fundamental character differences that are particularly obvious here. God save us from youtubers who comment without even listening!

[nietzschemasterclass]

SS, I am starting to believe that you don't know anything about the structure of this Toccata. If everyone's playing of this is just like Richter, maybe is because all of them go togheter and solve in its most pure conception what Schummann's intended to. Harmonic structure suposed to sound like it is; lyriscism takes control only in some passages, listen one more time Richter's version, close your eyes and let it go without so much preconceived concepts you have in your disturbed mind...

[smithsherman]

Mein Liebe Obstuf Nietsche,Plötzlich fängst du an zu denken?

[nietzschemasterclass]

Liebes D'artagnan, das ich denke, daß Sie die falsche Karriere, Sie sind besserer Dichter haben, als Musiker, ich weniger schlechtestes bedeuten. Der Durchschnitt Ihrer Anmerkungen sind minus 6. Können Sie sich vorstellen?

[smithsherman]

Nur Ihre jetzige Behauptung,weil Sie noch nicht begriffen haben,daB ich die guitarre Wie ein Engel spielt.Aber ...das ändert sich

balt.

[nietzschemasterclass]

If you play like an angel, do you have any recording of your music? Is there any CD of yours? dear D'artagnan, Auf wiedersehen!!!

[smithsherman]

Im Mai werde ich meine erste zwei aufnahmen machen... über die Musik von Mauro Giuliani 1781-1829.

[nietzschemasterclass]

Ich bin eifrig, zu hören Ihre Leistungen...

[bafr1]

5***** , you deserve ithyy

[beethoven4ever]

Are you conducting a comparative research on Schumann's Toccata or something? :) The four you posted so far are amazing, but this one is my personal favorite.

[truecrypt]

Glad you liked it! ;)