Scriabin etude op. 8 no. 12

[pianoorganman]

Hey nice job

just get that piano tuned

[gdehoux]

You're a very good pianist!

Relaxed and beautiful, never forced sound.

What is your name, please ?

[iltonjardim]

Fantastic! the closest version to your is horowitz's.

[ann03071874]

Amazing rendition!!!!

[jasnapiano]

Klavir je rastimovan i za sekundu je nize!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lepota te etide je u tome sto je u dis-molu a ne u d-molu!!!!!! Inace nije lose...

[trevjr]

Great job, you captured the spirit of the piece, which is all a composer can ask for. You had a little Ervin/Vlad moment at the end where the piano was humming, nice.

I love the comment where Scriabin's recording is 2nd, lol!

Most think that fast and loud is the way to play this piece, so thanks for the refresing change. My 'teachers' comment is this, Horowitz plays softer than you do, lol.

[suzanbdoyan]

I LOVE IT!!!! GREAT!!! SUPER!!!!

[crapatitus]

hmm that was actually pretty good. see, you should play more pieces that keep your hands busy so that you dont rotate your wrist like a hundred times playing one note like you did at the beginning of that chopin etude. lawlz. good job on this one though

[PhillipLWilcher]

Elegant! The playing I mean, not the dressing gown, although I believe de Pachmann once performed in a dressing gown he claimed was worn by Chopin!

But yes, I do like your performance very much. The recording (??) of Scriabin himself playing this is "wing tipped with silver, jet black and of gold" like a butterfly flying to its lover. Best wishes your way....

[nairigrigorian]

Tus manos son una maravilla....

cuidado con el pedal-demasiado

un abrazo

Nairi

[antoinezygfryd]

votre jeu est magnifique!!il mérite un meilleur enregistrement,ceci dit sans vouloir vexer celui qui l'a réalisé.

merci beaucoup!

[serox901]

wow thats really good! the only thing id say is at the section starting at 1:40, i cant really hear the difference between the triplets and 16th notes. but thats a small problem, on the whole it sounds great. like everyone else says, try to get some better audio!

[camaysar222]

Really nice playing! My main comment... let your first LH notes set the tempo, then follow through with the right hand. This will become clear if you count along with your LH opening, then see what happens when the RH enters. The piece should take off at the outset, in accordance with your LH introduction. Launch into it fearlessly... you can do it easily!

[SarrasaniPianoCircus]

Sad audio, but very interesting and promising

your playing style, relaxed but intense at the same time.

You leave the listener (or at least me) in the condition to wait a re-recording with better equipement and piano, more respectful of your talented conception and playing. The most sincere congratulations,

Sandro.

P.S. not requested, my favourite recorded versions of this piece:

1) Sofronitkzy

2) Scriabin

3) Horowitz

all these three are near each other in aestethic quality

[flugelmaniac]

shows a lot of potential to be really 1st class with more work.

A tuned piano and better recording equipment would also help with the overall quality,but I expect you already know this.

[thewayup]

i mean hes no schonberg. and christ cziffra1980 stop trying to impress people over the internet by trying to prove you know more than them (which you don't). it's nothing personal, but your no Cziffra.

[cziffra1980]

Eh? What are you on about? The comments sections are for open discussion. Everyone has the right to use them. If I disagree

with someone then I'll say so, just the same as they can say if they disagree with me.

Who said I'm Cziffra? That's a username, not a claim.

[thewayup]

why does everyone fight on these msg boards? get a girlfriend, or go do some practice! cziffra1980's playing isn't bad, good technique, but to be fair, he's a little pathetic doesn't everyone agree? searching the msg boards so he can put other people down, often in a very rude way, with his apparent knowledge of the subject and literature. seems like a case of that scene in good will hunting when Will rumbles that guy for pretending to have knowledge by quoting from books.

[cziffra1980]

By the way, if it's so much like that scene, feel free to demonstrate the passages I'm 'quoting' from.

Some people have their own opinions, you know. If you disagree with anyone's opinion, why not say why, instead of trying to tell them that they aren't allowed to voice their opinion?

[ClassicalMMAChef]

Very moving performance, liked the extra rubato in the middle section. The downside is the recording quality. When possible, record it again for us to enjoy a cleaner sound.

[friendlyfinch]

You have some interesting ideas in this. Nice. Too bad your unwilling fingers don't let people hear those ideas.

[cziffra1980]

Well, apparently you heard them. Otherwise how do you know?

[Ianthe22]

@cziffra1980 one can use the imagination my friend and patterns.

[Ianthe22]

@cziffra1980 one can use the imagination my friend and patterns in the play.

[micheniche]

Your finger movements are great. Quite smooth. =D But it is done too quickly. Somes part are meant to be enunciated to bring out the passion in the piece, so I guess that's my two cents.

Anyway, you did okay. Not bad, not bad. =D

A 3.75 out of 5. =D

P/S: Your finger movements are awesome possum!

[MagicSkryabin]

Beautiful I like your interpretation, 5/5

[darkgod5]

holy... that was awesome. out of all the amateur performances and even some professional performances (berezovsky) of this etude on youtube yours is easily the best! If i could get a good mp3 quality recording of this it'd go on my ipod.

[guetaria]

I liked it. I liked it VERY MUCH, indeed.

[painkiller81692]

Hey, I just love the way you play the middle section for this piece. Way to go !

[robbiethemann]

have you heard Alexander Gavrylyuk play this? his is the best out there!

[Masatsu]

i don't understand why there's only 3 stars for this video, the playing is impressive!

[adamchikha]

Not bad at all, actually I like lots of feelings that you were able to show.Also your technique is impressive.I am a musicologist, so after having lots of playings, including legendary Horowiz, your playing is really very good.Keep practising.Best wishes.

[staryoskol84]

you are goodddddd

[MaggusM79]

you are playing fine, are you professionell?

[cziffra1980]

Well, semi. I don't perform a lot but I'm intending to build up more.

[rubinsteinway]

Who is "semi?" George CZiffra?? I don't think so.

[piano6861]

Nicely done!

[mlleprufrock]

Loved it.

[daycart1]

I just came across this and enjoyed it; and the notes on performance in the comments. Could we get a higher quality upload--especially the audio track? Thanks.

[cziffra1980]

I'll try sometime. I have an ipod mike that would do a much better job but my computer doesn't seem to like any video editing so I couldn't combine them. I'll get a new computer eventually and try it.

[AlexmaCPS]

Wow! I'm really impressed, you have great potential. Keep it up!

[sexyjosh666]

thats some great playing!

[giangiman]

Very very good!

Bravissimo!

[davidgray2]

It would help matters if your honky tonk piano wasn't a semitone flat

[cziffra1980]

It's not a semitone flat. It's only slightly under concert pitch.

[theimprovisor]

Beautiful.I want to study this piece.

[Likeafoxow]

i think this recording may be my favorite of you playing. when i listen to you play, i imagine someone in pain, and i really like how you didn't pound away as much as some other performers. great job.

[DeTinux]

Hi Cziffra,

I like it. I think it's more close to Scriabin's own approach then the one by Horowitz at Carnegie Hall. After all, Scriabin stated that he hated pianists who plays his works as if they were written by Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovski; "as though they were washing laundry or smelling the instrument".*

*Quotation from Victor Seroff in Rimm, The Composer-Pianists, Amadeus Press, Oregon, 2002

[cziffra1980]

Thanks very much. Have you heard his piano roll? You can never rely on them too much but its quite interesting.

[cziffra1980]

I didn't make any claim that this is comparable to Horowitz in quality. His performance certainly is far better. I just pointed out that I've analysed a number of key factors in his performance and incorporated them into my own performance.

[dave12122]

Has a lot going for it....romantic sweep, accuracy, passion, timing, etc. Are you familiar with Jemelik's performance on an old supraphon LP? It's my all-time favorite. (along with wonderful performances of his left hand pieces)

Dave D.

[cziffra1980]

Cheers. I don't think I've heard that one. Horowitz's performances are the best I've come across. I recently heard Sofronitsky for the first time but it's quite a disappointment, in fairness.

[pno4tay]

Andrew, I'm impressed. Very well done.

[luciferkybrd]

This is good. Not wild like Horowitz, but quite good in a different way. BTW, I think busoniliszt is probably right about JBY. Fine pianist, but that guy is crazy for career and clout - he'll do anything.

[ejasiewicz]

I like it, too. (John Bell Young is a great pianist who attended Manhattan School and was Constance Keene's assistance in the 1980s.)

[S4UD4DE]

Is to less on fire and slow. Very unpassionated. Sounds like a little girl playing.

[cziffra1980]

That's an interesting comment from the guy that believes 'nothing is right or wrong' and plays everything at half-tempo. Perhaps I didn't contort my face enough like a gay porn star or squirm around enough with my body, compared to you?

[cziffra1980]

It's quite remarkable that you ban any ratings or comments from your own videos to avoid 'people saying stupid things' (presumably like the specific, constructive suggestions that you deleted in case you learned something). This is your idea of profoundly insightful criticism? If you have something worth saying then by all means do. I'm not so insecure as to delete comments, regardless of how negative they may be, but at least make an effort...

[klausknulp]

i like your interpretation. unfortunately the recording sound is terrible. however, i have heard scrjabin himself playing this piece (on a record of course - i am not that old, lol). he started very soft - if i remember correctly - and made a huge crescendo til the climax at the end. similair to "vers la flamme". sorfronitzky and horowitz are the greatest scrjabin interpretors...

[cziffra1980]

Thanks. Horowitz and Sofronitsky are great (although Sofronitsky is very variable- I don't think much of his live performance of this piece). Have you ever come across the performance of the 6th sonata? I'm eager to find a copy but it's very rare, from the Scriabin museum.

[klausknulp]

oh - i also would like to listen to the 6th sonata with skrjabin. you made a very excellent job and now i am going to study the same piece. thank you for giving me power

[cziffra1980]

Good luck with it. Have a look a John Bell Young's masterclass on here. He makes some excellent points about tightness of the dotted rhythm and avoiding accents on the resolution (the Esharp to Dsharp in the first group etc.). Did you think I meant Scriabin in the 6th? That's Sofronitsky, I mean.

[loves2listen]

i think this is the way that i wanted it to be played. i myself would like to play it exactly like this, but my fingers don't do it ;p ... someday

[loves2listen]

wow!! i like it a lot. the piano also has the "right sound" for it. do play some extra keys in the slow passage? pleease tell me which notes, it sounds great, kind of like horowitz. i really enjoy this intense playing, one can really feel that "you got the music".

[cziffra1980]

Cheers. I added a couple of notes within one or two octaves there. I nicked it from Horowitz (approximately speaking) but I never analysed exactly what he does. I think I put an a in the middle of e resolving the D sharp. In truth, this piece isn't technically that bad (except a few spots) if you think about the sound. It's harder to play unmusically then with the right type of sound (unlike a lot of Beethoven which can be the opposite).

[cziffra1980]

One 'trick' is to leave out some left hand notes in the 2 against three. I think Horowitz ends up only playing crotchets. Personally I play all the quavers in the first two bars then a crotchet followed by two quavers after. The 2nd quaver isn't too obvious, but the 4th is part of an important motif that Horowitz shouldn't really have omitted. I explained a few of his tricks below if you're interested. John Bell Young's masterclass on here is very good.

[robsputin]

Same crappy playing, different day.

[cziffra1980]

'Same crappy' inability to offer any interesting opinions on the playing, 'different day'. If your knowledge is so limited that you can't single out any of the many flaws here to criticise, why bother?

[cziffra1980]

Perhaps this performance is 'over-intellectualised' for you again?

[g450151]

Who is playing?

[cziffra1980]

That's me. Andrew Thayer.

[chad410]

well I better not try then now.

[cziffra1980]

Try what?

[MoonTribe]

I think the comment of chad410 was about my reply about your performance, czriffra1980. Well, chad, you're a great Scriabin Pianoplayer, so why wouldn't you try? :-)

[cziffra1980]

Yeah, I'd like to hear him play this. I'm sure he'd give a decent shape to the melodic line, without the misplaced accents that make so many performances so offensive.

[MoonTribe]

You've blown me away with this performance of Scriabin's Etude in D minor! I think I can say this is the best recording on YouTube, of the "amateur" Pianists. I agree with busoniliszt about John Beel Young. Also, I like your performance of this piece better than his. Very good job.

[MoonTribe]

By "best recording on YouTube", I mean the recordings of this study... Just to be clear. :-)

[busoniliszt]

John Bell Young is a dishonest person and a narcistic fraud; he deletes the constructive critical comments and replaces them to boost his own playing, using several different accountnames. I like not only your version of this piece, but also the fact that you search a dialogue and are open for suggestions, unlike the would-be guru JBY.

[cziffra1980]

Well, I don't know about any of that but his masterclasses are certainly very good. He succeeds in being both very musically informative and systematic (not at all in the unmusical way that word can suggest).

[busoniliszt]

I do think it's a fine pianist, but a bit of a megalomaniac with dirty tricks like the ones I described...perhaps he's frustrated that a mediocre talent like say Cambry gets all the honors and thousands of views. Check JBY's Liszt (Les jeux d'eaux) but spare your critical remarks, it's useless...

[cziffra1980]

How do you know he's using different account names, by the way?

[busoniliszt]

Very simple. When I posted a comment about a too fast tempo in a Scriabin-poeme, the next day there was a comment from a certain "PraiseTheChord" stating that JBY's tempo was exactly right and that he was an authority on Scriabin, while my comment was never posted. Same with one comment on JBY playing a Liszt-piece. I wrote I preferred Arrau, Koscis and Bolet (to be continued).

[busoniliszt]

(continuation) Next day I read 2 comments (posted by "marifanuck" and "magashutka") about how much better this playing is than Koscis and Bolet, and that he studied with Arrau, etc. Mine disappeared. Very childish.

You can sign up ad infinitum, using different original names and creating a smokescreen if you find that amusing.

[busoniliszt]

Talking about Cambry...what's the idea?

[cziffra1980]

What do you mean exactly? He has a very competent technique, but I can't say I have been as impressed by his musicality. He needs to listen to more old recordings.

[busoniliszt]

To be honest, it annoys me that this musical prole gets so much praise and interest. Bad taste is spreading rapidly. I asked because I read your Scriabin etude is a response to his.

[cziffra1980]

Well, he seems to get plenty of viewers so I thought I might as well put it there. I do indeed find it rather annoying when people claim to respond to the 'emotional' nature of his playing when limited musical range isn't wide enough to put much true feeling across. Sadly he has rather few musical ideas and not much polish in his sound.

[PianoPlaya123]

lol "limited musical range" have you listened to the sound quality of your vids? I learned my mistake a bought a mic. Where did you study again?

[cziffra1980]

Birmingham, UK. The sound could be better but I think the playing comes across fairly clearly. Might try a mini-disc sometime. Regarding the comment below, I do feel that your playing is too 'terraced' in terms of dynamics, rather than layered with simulataneous levels of volume and distinction from accompaniment parts (like those with the most interesting sound). You're welcome to be critical of any of my films.

[PianoPlaya123]

It's fine, your criticism is very fair and pretty accurate, the vids I made in June didn't have good sound quality, i've been learning recently how to optimize it, those vids don't truly show how I can really play. I do think that you should put this as a video response to something else though, if you wanted the hits, this isn't the right video to respond to.

[PianoPlaya123]

To clarify, by fair and accurate I mean "you have the right to your opinion, and it's an open forum for discussion"

[chad410]

your making me want to have a go now all these rec.of it it s great.still not got up yet then?.

[cziffra1980]

Nope. I finished teaching for the term yesterday and I'm in the mood for wasting the day, to fully appreciate not having to do anything. Keep uploading more Scriabin. I like your recordings. I've got to get around to learning a bunch of random preludes myself sometime.

[ChrisWatch]

WOW! that was great! that realy surpised me i watched about 20 other people play this piece on stage and they werent evenc lose to what you did BRAVO!

[cziffra1980]

Cheers, I've been playing it on and off for ages and I've worked out a lot of tricks that are usually missed (except by Horowitz, of course). It's not actually that hard to do them if you know the idea. Funnily enough John Bell Young mentions all of the same things on his masterclass here. I think sharpness in the two note descending bass motif is essential. Almost everyone plays it very slackly. I also pedal the preceeding quaver through the low D sharps, for a much bigger sound.

[Karimha]

Did you just compare yourself to Horowitz?

[cziffra1980]

What do you mean exactly?

[Karimha]

"I've worked out a lot of tricks that are usually missed (except by Horowitz, of course)." This means, that usually, only Horowitz and yourself do not miss those "tricks". Or maybe you meant to say something else? You probably meant to say something else... I hope you meant to say something else.

[cziffra1980]

No, I've worked out many things that Horowitz does that most performers miss. I'm not saying this performance is comparable in quality. For one thing, the descending bass motive (marked with an extra stem) is usually played very limply. Horowitz always makes a single tight gesture out of it. I've made an effort to do the same. Most pros I've heard play with a massive gap in the middle of this motif.

[Karimha]

In which case, you are mearly trying to copy his interpretation, at least parts of it. However, this does not necessarily mean that interpreting this motif differently than Horowitz is a bad thing as you are implying. Those "tricks" you talk about are an artistic choice chosen by Horowitz to create a certain sound with which you agree and I also find them very musical and appropriate. But this is not the only way to play this piece. (cont.)

[cziffra1980]

It's in the score though. I don't copy Horowitz. He gets essential 'units' correct. There are many ways to go from there. The bass motif is marked in and there's no question that a two-note motif should come with a gap in the middle. It really is 'incorrect' to allow a pause there. It doesn't have to be as wild as with Horowitz but any stop or failure to bring out both notes is a failure to respect how it's consructed.

[cziffra1980]

Also almost every pianist accents the D sharp after the E sharp (and just about every note in the right hand) This is too lumpy. Horowitz creates a smooth legato line without compromising drama by dropping in the right places. He also knew to drop the repeated chords down to forte to prevent the line being swamped. This is vital to get any sense of additional build to a true climax.

[cziffra1980]

Just to clarify, I didn't mean it come across as though I know all these things and Horowitz does them too. The expression was a little clumsy. I've studied Horowitz's performances in depth and analysed those features that really stand out in his performances and distinguish it from the ordinary. It's not 'copying' though exactly, these are implied in the score.

[Karimha]

I sent my last comment one second before this one. Now I understant what you mean when you refered to your performance relative to Horowitz's. However I stand by my opinion that this is not the only way to play this piece.I've heard other interpretations from pianists that have created a different sound for the piece and I also enjoyed their musicality, though it was not the same as Horowitz's.

[cziffra1980]

Also, during the repeated chords Scriabin marks long melody notes. If the chords are loud then the melody notes are swamped. If the chords start softer the long notes ring (+ you can do a massive cresc after). Even in the 2 against 3 he marks them (I didn't manage to show them here). H's basics are from the core of the piece. I can imagine a different performance based on these but I can't stand to hear the piece when these ideas aren't understood.