Liszt, 'Feux follets'

[hl83127]

what a phenomenal pianist, one of the best i have ever heard. thank you.

[Ianthe22]

Well played. Btw never seen such an unfitting and ugly chair for a grandpiano-..--.

[sergeypiano]

@Ianthe22 Thank you!

What's wrong with the chair? I find this type the best one I have ever encountered: very easy and quick to adjust, perfectly noiseless if a pianist moves and perfectly stable (that is, doesn't swing left and right like the usual benches with rotating adjusting knobs).

[Ianthe22]

@sergeypiano I agree on the knobs. hate those big ugly knobs. But i somehow always have felt more safe with a chair/bench with 4 legs. The chair is very functional looking, not aestetic. Is that model very that stable?

[sergeypiano]

@Ianthe22 Hehe, The two platforms vs. four legs doesn't really bother me. I believe the platforms are stabler as they have a larger floor contact area, they produce far less noise if the floor is uneven (no clatter), and as they age, they retain the shape better than the much more deformation-prone wooden legs. And the height control mechanism is noiceless. You start to love these benches much more after the old-type benches ruin a couple of takes during a recording...

[Ianthe22]

@sergeypiano Okay this might sound stupid coming form me, but does that mean modern adjustable chairs like yours are perfect and adjustable and the wooden chair is something you can grow into? it's only a matter of taste, but each material has it's benefits. But i do understand you i got 3 wooden chairs that i just can't make myself to throw away. Got kindda sentimental with my chairs, like as a pianist you travel around and play on different instruments, steadiness, familiarthingslikethechair.

[mayou59500]

Je n'ose plus te dire Bravo, tu vas dire que je me répète, je n'ose plus te dire merci pour la même raison! simplement je voulais te dire que ta musique fait maintenant partie de ma vie!

[sergeypiano]

@mayou59500 Merci, merci beaucoup!

[andreybeci]

one of a kind from the top - the rest is better!

[chutdigadut]

Sir, your playing and technique is just SUPERB. Best of luck to your future and your piano career! Quick question: I've started studying this etude, and I was wondering if you may have any advice or pointers on how to improve the finger independence required to play all those double note trill passages?

[sergeypiano]

@chutdigadut Thank you very much!

As for the hints, what I can suggest is taking the transcendental etudes edited by Alfred Cortot, he offers some very useful exersises for every etude. If unreachable, look for Cortot's edition of Chopin's etude op. 25 No. 6, the exercises there apply well too. From them, I used only one exercise whereas one note in one voice happen once per three notes in the other voice. Difficult to explain but if you find the edition you'll find it easily.

[chutdigadut]

@sergeypiano Hey thank you so much! I will definitely look for the Alfred Cortot edition of the etudes as well as the Chopin etude. This was VERY helpful and I appreciate it! Take care

[andreybeci]

finally someone with guts and real skill!!!! Master

[VeraCMS]

Превосходно! БРАВО!!!!!!!!

[kuchipatchiluver]

You've got really fast fingers! Bravo!

[adadna]

Пальцы бегают!!!

Но как-то по детски бегают...

Получился не художественный этюд Листа, а этюд Черни!

Хотя пальцы могут! Но души нет....

[pabeet]

Sergey, you are a fantastic pianist with very fast fingers. However, if you allow me to advice you to think about your musicianship I'd be honored. This is a Etude but it has a great deal of music in it. Try to shape your main theme (with the double notes) so that it doesn't sound like a Czerny study. We need to hear that melody clearly (top voices). Please ad emotion to it as well. You play it too fast and coldly. Also, on 1:05 through 1:09 please sing beautifully(cantabile!). Ad warmth to it.

[Achtelnote]

omg,such a helpful comment;).

do you really think he is interested in the unqualified opinion of of anybody who is hearing a little classical music?

[Marianofrv]

@pabee I am no piano expert as you seem to be but I was able to discern similiar problems with this performance. Good advice. Thanks. I like Sergey`s work in general but there are ceratinly occasions for improvement. Kind regards

[rhapsodyinblue18]

@pabeet

sorry, I just had to chuckle to myself. you say "add emotion" as if it is a cooking recipe.

[lovelastsforever1000]

esti de tot superb!! se vede ca esti Rus

[sergeypiano]

Mulţumesc! :-)

[junglejim66]

sehr gut!

[sergeypiano]

Danke!

[Definidramin]

Bravo Bravo!!!!

[sergeypiano]

Thank you!

[JakWho92]

i love the ossia on 1:50 sounds much better in my opinion =)

[sergeypiano]

I understand what you mean; initially, I had learnt it with the ossia, then I switched to the one-voice variant, as the more "original" one. BTW, this is more difficult to play than the ossia actually.

[JakWho92]

now you confused me a bit.

you played the ossia which is the "one voice variant" and not the original chord variant.

the chord variant is more difficult to play.

and i prefer the ossia (the easier one to play) to hear.

Right ? =)

By the way wunderful playing.

[sergeypiano]

:-) Thank you!

I mean the "chord", or "three-voice" version as the ossia, as I am used to think that the one-voice version is the more "origianl version" whereas the chord version is Liszt's later addition. I don't remember whence I got this information though...

And I find the one-voice variant more difficult to play well, since, in case of ANY glitch, even the deaf will hear it, and in chord variant there is much headroom for glitches that might actually go unnoticed. :-)

[PsychosisGnome]

Amazing simply because that speed and smoothness totally blurs the notes and creates a great effect. A little blunt with the dynamics? Maybe. Not the right tempo? True. Noteworthy? Absolutely.

[Lieder83]

Wonderful interpretation!!

[HarveyTruffaut]

This is far too slow.

[joesubaruson]

Many or at least some musicians at moscow and st.petersburg practice based on Liszt Rubinstein tradition. What they do is the art of the piano. We shouldn't criticize. Your fingers not independent or fast enough? Obtain their textbooks to read before say anything against.

[SalQrazy]

Can I please have names of the material to reference?

[torontochopin]

This performance is astonishing for its sheer speed. However, it's wrong. Liszt's FASTEST tempo indication for this piece is 126 per eighth note - much slower. Kuznetsov's insanely fast tempo IGNORES Liszt tempo indication, and in so doing, misses the true meaning of the piece. It becomes just a technical showpiece, devoid of any musical significance, which is not how Liszt intended this transcendental music to be. Listen to Cziffra and Arrau for a true understanding of this piece.

[chad410]

listen to Cziffra and Arau no thanks. i like some clarity and refinement in my playing. why can t a young man who is obviously talented and unknown not get artistic praise too. for technique and art are not to be separated.

[adamp21]

then listen to arrau butcher the tempo of beethovent 5th concerto 2nd movement. leave him alone.

[Vije4ka]

@torontochopin In those times the art of pianism stood on very low niveau with comparsion with contemporary best russian pianists like Sergey Kuznetzov.The progress comes forward.Please listen to your favorite Arrau perfoming Mazeppa.No comment.You cannot play this etude so brillant and breathtaking like Sergey,sequently,he plays very bad. It's all unfortunately for you.Be ashamed.It's the best performance I've ever heard.

[camaysar222]

Forgive me, but I just can't go along with the dizzying speeds one finds in this and other (Kissin) performances of Feux Follets. The music gets completely skipped-over. Liszt wrote "Allegretto" for a reason. Not to show how many beats to the second, but to set a feeling. These young virtuosi miss that feeling completely.

[BachScholar]

camaysar: I totally agree with you. I've grown to dislike this piece played at the usual as fast as possible speed. The music is totally lost.

[antoinezygfryd]

Avec Berezovski la musique est une lutte,un combat un affrontement;avec Kuznetsov,c'est..."luxe,calme et volupté"...chacun fait son choix!

[maxi937]

Wonderful interpretation of a wonderful piece.

[hoknokmik]

The best feux follets on you tube.. Better than Luganskys

[Aul1kki]

What about boris berezovsky's version? I can't say which one is better because this is bad recording and also little bit loudy hall. But I think berezovsky's version is better in many ways.

[scandenavius]

look at the arms, speaking of excellent wrist and arm speed...

[pianomanandrew]

Fantastic! What an amazing technique!

[Bushcorpse]

Виртуозно! Такого исполнения "блуждающих огней" я еще не слышал!

[iloveclassicalmusic]

Try Lazar Berman (1959) or Busoni himself (1905). Much better. This one is good, don't get me wrong, but there are better ones out there.

[chad410]

the best I ve heard

[gokhanay1]

Bravo!