Artur RUBINSTEIN - LISZT Mephisto Waltz No.1

[gerardbedecarter]

Mine's been up for 18 months. I would be happy to learn what's wrong with my performance (apart, of course, from the numerous wrong notes!) PS: you are confusing Arthur with Anton !

[71demy]

Many thanks. I went and listened to Horowitz and Economou. Strictly speaking, I don't like Horowitz so much. His Liszt (and Mephisto) is often too bizarre, eccentric, freaky. Economou is fantastic.

[MrJoeHat]

I read the book Mephisto Waltz by Fred M. Stewart, a book which has led me to this video.

Beautiful song. Liszt is magnificent. Good book as well. ^^

[SpringInTheSchool]

I'm practicing this piece, and this video gives quite a good source to learn......

[Nicchelsea]

try André Laplante, he is the most under rated pianist in the world and his version is electric

[sissichopin91]

@Nicchelsea What a fantastic rendition by André Laplante. 

[ForsakenRainMan527]

The best as always :)

[meredith218461]

@16021R I suggest you also listen to the young Khatia Buniatishivili, she's simply electrifying in this piece and like Richters it's a live performance.

[forgottenbooks]

Which year was this recorded in?

[forgottenbooks]

Rubinstein is probably my favorite pianist. His playing is the most musical and the most uplifting, and his technique is wonderful: he is always in control, and there are no accidents when he plays.

[altareggo]

This definitely one waltz that makes for MUCH better listening than dancing........and i agree with those who think Rubenstein plays it pretty darn well!!!

[JamesinLA1]

Rubinstein does play fast but 1) you can't have fast without slow for contrast. 2) the piece is also about seduction and sex and the slow parts are all about that.

[TheMarejada]

Un'esecuzione esemplare pulita, cristallina in ogni dettaglio.

Grazie per l'emozionante esecuzione.

[paulostroff99]

Awesome. As good as or better than any version that I've ever heard. TY f for posting this gem.

[dizzyvonclutch]

Sorry all you slow tempo lovers out there but The Devil plays FAST, because he/she is a badass!

[warlover15]

A very beautiful piece... Mephisto Waltz.... Rubinstein has a very great understanding to the devil's act in this piece. The craziness of the piece at the opening, and the foolish acts that people starts being drived by the devil.... all of those important elements are played sensitively.

[redhandkerchief]

mephisto kicks ass

[amenos42]

needs more bass

[liuboviza1ify]

Слов нет !!! ГЕНИЙ !!!

[forgottenbooks]

Brilliant.

[hoareg2]

Sorry to ask a silly question, does anyone know why this is called a Waltz?

[forgottenbooks]

@hoareg2 Must be the rhythm.

[kikiubovilla]

@hoareg2 123,123,123,123,123, thats why

[gerardbedecarter]

@hoareg2 .... it is not a waltz .... it is a tone poem for piano ... based on some waltz motifs.

[AngryKarin666]

AWESOME!!! A dunce hat and cookie go to anyone who loves the song but DOESN'T`know who Mephisto is:D

[coldplaywave]

Das ist wunderbar!

[lufeben]

Not certainly Rubinstein´s cup of tea. Great pianist, but not at easy with this piece. Lacks the passion the music carries..

[gerardbedecarter]

@lufeben ... a refreshing interpretation, though !!!!

[Bambiezbotron]

I love the ending. It's the best way to convey The End-ness

[tmdesierra]

Just wonderful. Reading Vals Mefisto by Sergio Pitol and listening AR... the best MIX ever!

[GabMelonius]

This record is now one of my most loved interpretations of this piece (i didn't say "the best", i did say "my most loved"), along with Bolet's 1983 one (if there is another), Brumberg's and Horowitz'. Sorry for any occasional bad english, including spelling xD

[AotoRar]

Magnifique!

[MrNavarra94]

rubinstein è eccezionale, perfetto.

[sissichopin91]

The glissando is superb!

[henrique1944]

The best interpretation of Mephisto.Bravura in the correct momment not all the time like others do. The way of some pianists plays, the name of this waltz should be called "Bravuramephisto"!!!

[sanjosemike]

In the middle of his long life, Rubinstein took time off to re-refine his technique and work on works that he had brushed aside with too much damper pedal, in an effort to "fulfill" the mandate that he would be one of the world's great pianists. You hear the results here: wonderful articulation and lack of hysteria. Refinement was always his goal (except when it came to women). sanjosemike

[morphepit]

Il fait parti des meilleurs pianistes qui savent joués Liszt, il n'y à pas de doutes.

[grbazoid]

srbija voli rubinstajna i lista .madjari i srbi braca i sestre

[vincentvuik]

Please watch this piece of music on organ by Cameron Carpenter. Search on YouTube.

[daSaboriGuitars]

Very Romantic in the Genre Connotational sorts. A very stiff waltz to me is what it feels like at the beginning.

[gerardbedecarter]

@daSaboriGuitars .... it's the orchestra tuning up !!!

[mcburgos1]

Heavenly playing. Rubinstein always delivers an interpretation that is rich in emotion and melodic brilliance. One of the best recordings of this piece.

[advisorC101]

What a marvelous musician.

[sissichopin91]

The best rendition i've ever heard!

The only version I listen to!

Perfect playing

[Ellinidara]

@sissichopin91 Totally agree,but do you know Kappel's version? I like him very much too,in this case.

[71demy]

@sissichopin91 why don't you listen to France Clidat rendition on Youtube: I thik it's superb! bye

[sissichopin91]

@71demy I changed totally my opinion. Now I think this performance is not mephistophelic at all. Rather it's very very very and very boring. In my modest opinion, the music is not alive here. Listen to Horowitz and Nicolas Economou and you will understand what i mean.

[sissichopin91]

@71demy I'm going to listen to France Clidat. Thanks!

[Cancrizans]

the music with the thematic material. Though for sure some aspect of "Devilishness" is conveyed through extreme tempi and virtuosity, that seems like a one sided approach if one wants to bring everything out of this piece. There is a ton of imagery here, and Rubinstein brings much more of it out than anyone I've heard taking the breakneck speed approach. I guess it is interesting how repeated performance of this piece a certain way has conditioned us to expect more of an etude than a waltz.

[waustrippendewaly]

tough he uses speed expremly wel and damm technical

[71demy]

@Cancrizans 

[Cancrizans]

It's a great thing about music that polar opposites of interpretation can both feel "right". Personally I prefer this tempo to the faster recordings, although no doubt many of them are excellent both technically and interpretively. I just find that the speed most pianists take this piece at obscures a lot of the wonderful detail and the waltz-like nature of the piece, as well as its poetry. It is after all based on a literary theme, and as such I'd wager Liszt was interested in connecting

[evifnoskcaj]

@Cancrizans Yes! I agree 100%

[gerardbedecarter]

@Cancrizans .... many pianists look at a Liszt performance as an occasion to play it faster than anyone else ... which is a pity !!!!

[Rnfile]

Something is lost when played with thoughtful deliberation (as here) or risky speed,power. The question will always be "what convinces?" There is much beauty here, but I prefer the power, drama, risk, and speed in this work more. Compelling is Skouras, any way you look at it. Raw. Brilliant. Without concoction or pretense. Pure devilishness!

[stefthe80]

i expect nothing less than pure music from this master, despite any technical imperfections. All the new pianists have a lot to learn..

[hiddenrivals]

prefer Kissin most of all.

[MATTDUNCAN1]

a wonderful performance

[11777766]

Rubenstein was/is the greatest pianist to grace our lives. Thank you for posting.

[madmooster]

Artur Rubinstein proves that faster and louder does not always equal better. Mr. Rubinstein takes time to let Liszt's musical genius shine through. He plays it as though it were truly part of him.

[Kreutzersonata37]

@madmooster wow.. you are so deep. Teach me how to live, please. Do you know what "banal snooty idiot" means? It means "you".

[71demy]

@madmooster 

[VivaRenata]

OK friends, you will be "stregati dalla luna" if you listen to this! Goodnight and diabolical dreams!

[8aetroya8]

Horowitz plays with more feeling and passion, but made some mistakes live... Nojima's version if by far the overall best.

[wniendorff]

Lazar Berman does the best performance that i have heard

[passerabianca]

AMEN

[passerabianca]

Music interpretative lesson :)

[Milkshake85]

the "glissando" was unbelivably perfect!

[SkullCowboy333]

Liszt was a master

[BelLovEdw]

I prefer Rubinsten to Horowitz...

[Pischnaholic]

Others may play faster. Some may play with greater emotional affect. Others may add fascinating cadenzas and embellishments of their own. Some may give a more spectacular impression, some more lyrical, but THIS is the CLASSIC rendition of Mephisto.

I love this tempo -- anything faster is vulgar and tends to obscure the expressive quality of the piece.

Not THE most exciting -- or the most moving -- BUT it remains the best MODEL for students to follow.

Horowitz is SUPERB, but stays INIMITABLE.

[Pogouldiwitz]

I'd have to agree with you. Rubinstein's taste was practically infallible. Everything about him as a pianist (technique, stage manner, phrasing) exuded elegance and refinement.

[EuphoricDan]

I forget where I read the story... But aparently Rubinstein committed some 50+minute long concerto to memory while riding a train through one of the old Soviet Bloc countries.

I remember... It was some documentary I found on YouTube about the man.

He was also fluent in 9 languages lol...

[Starbirdy9999]

I like Walter Gieseking's playing. He brings out the composers feeling and the ways that he would play. I also like Gyorgy Cziffra's playing as well.

[gerardbedecarter]

@Pogouldiwitz .... absolutely !!!!!!!

[3NUNS]

Ummm. Yes, I say ummm. Because your statement is slightly contradictory.

[philipvanlidth]

@Pischnaholic I agree that this is perhaps the classic rendition of this piece, and I agree that Rubinstein isn't as flashy as some or as likely to add his own embellishments. But as he serves the composer, and this composer is Liszt, I would say that it gives a spectacular enough impression and is also moving enough of itself that he doesn't need to try to give it more than it already has. While Horowitz is always inimitable, I sometimes find that he is too much involved with himself...

[NjallPiano]

@Pischnaholic

Horowitz has nothing compared to Rubinstein. ;)

[nousernamewhatsoever]

@Pischnaholic you should receive an oscar for that speech

[MrMincer]

@Pischnaholic

and what would be the most moving? :P

[OrangeSodaKing]

@Pischnaholic I have another recording by a current pianist that I'm hesitant to upload onto YouTube (I don't know if she'd approve of it), but I can share with you via e-mail if you'd like. I agree with your post on Rubinstein and Horowitz.

[Buldaner]

@Pischnaholic Are you trying to produce STUDENTS that play music that is NOT EXCITING and NOT MOVING?

[Cancrizans]

@Buldaner You don't think Rubinstein is moving? He's one of the most sensitive and poetic pianists to have played the instrument. What Pischnaholic is saying, I think, is that Rubinstein is an excellent model for students because he is always more concerned with the actual composition he's playing than impressing with technique that ends up covering up a lot of what the composer wanted the listener to appreciate in the first place. Beyond that, his playing always shows beautiful emotion!

[danedaworld]

Final Fantasy at beginning xD

[sabbelsabbel]

lol i got it XD damn that rhythm, being the same all the time ^^

[exponentu]

there is a really wonderful performance of this by Earl Wild recorded in a Carnegie Hall recital. it's at least as good as any I've heard, and far better than most.

[JALBERTOQ]

I think Earl Wild plays this better!

=D

[BluesAndJam]

Nobody plays better than Rubinstein. period.

[scout6686]

@BluesAndJam

definitely debatable my friend.

for example does he play better Bach than Glenn Gould? I don't think so

[Bambiezbotron]

@scout6686 Nobody plays or played Bach like Glenn Gould did. I've gotta have exact, Teutonic precision in my ole J.S.

[Gargantupimp]

@Bambiezbotron Rachmaninoff plays bach better than glenn gould

[Bambiezbotron]

@Gargantupimp I'm not going to argue with that!

[Gargantupimp]

@Bambiezbotron well uhh, good, and dont forget it!

[madpianizt]

@Gargantupimp That would be a matter of opinion. I for example completely disagree, though I hold an enormous amount for Rachmaninoff as a composer AND a pianist, I would prefer Gould's interpretations of Bach.

[madpianizt]

@madpianizt *enormous amount of respect

[Gargantupimp]

@madpianizt Well it would be a pity to only listen to Rachmaninoff recordings of Bach as you would be missing out on 99.99% of bachs work then

[hymnofashes]

@madpianizt no one plays bach better than gould

[videofreakmanic123]

@BluesAndJam horowitz

[PrincessDesert]

@BluesAndJam

i do. period.

[lolitaeviston]

@PrincessDesert lol

[seryrzu]

Why? They are diferrent ones.

Neither better nor worse...

[Ecthelon]

I want to hear the Richter version. Where do you find it?

[eflonmusic]

much better than a lot of the other recordings of this I've found on youtube!

[tsukiyo777]

Hm, I may be used to an interpretation with more pedal and blend, but this is a beautiful interpretationof one of my favorite pieces by one of my favorite pianists of all time! Awesome!

[gerardbedecarter]

@tsukiyo777 .... most pianists ignore/modify the pedal indications in the original edition, as does Rubinstein. This is perhaps a pity as they are part of Liszt's composition too !!!

[dmmm1121]

@gerardbedecarter

ok so let me hear you guys' recordings and see how it's done right? it's just great to hear a master play who has an actual connection with liszt

[gredennia]

oh my goodness this interpretation is absolutely beautiful!

[moonlightgarden12am]

this is right up there with jorge bolets interpretation of this piece....however once you hear jorge bolet play liszt....you will not want to hear any other interpretur...every note clean and clear....every phrase has the perfect tempo....if you dont believe me....just go and buy liszt favorites by jorge bolet...and i promise your ears will be changed forever.....

[strausss]

One of my favorite Liszt pieces played by one of my favorite pianists.

[sdorr]

Truer to the score....two of the 3-4 masters of the last century or so...Horowitz and Rubinstein..... Arthur was a little more earticulate in ,many

venues.....intimated in his piano-playing as well.....

[cobbine]

Very nice...heard Emanuel Ax play this last week as a concluding piece to an older audience in Palm Springs California with plenty of fire and pedal which managed to rouse the audience after more tranquil Schubert improvisations. Sort of like Yeats suggested...'to keep a drowsy emperor awake'

[theazreal]

Palm Springs is my hometown. Where was it performed?

[cobbine]

Thanks for the enquiry. Ax played Schubert and Liszt at the McCallum theater in Palm Desert

[theazreal]

Wow. How nostalgic.

Thanks for the information!

[yourpianoteacher]

Finally, we here this piece as Liszt intended. It is a waltz, but most pianists play it with excessive speed, showing off their technique but missing the real depth of the music!

BRAVO!

[Phenstyle]

WOW!

[MCarey0608]

A lot is to be said about Rubinstein's sparing use the damper pedal. His performances and interpretations are clean and to the point, which I find extremely appealing.

[bandong123456789]

Thank you so much for this video

[joesubaruson]

Rubinstein doesn't demand the piano too much. The piano is the piano. The piece is up to a listener's imagination. Horowitz on another video from filippeo85 forces the piano to scream like a fiddle, or instruments unheard of. He even tries to call Mr. M himself down on the stage. I don't know who wrote the last part of Horowitz's version. If you try to imitate that on your piano bad things start to happen. I enjoy Rubinstein but gorowitz scares.

[jero13595]

Not as fiery as Horowitz's interpretation.