Added: 2 years ago
From: ValentinaLisitsa
Views: 142,111
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (423)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • 囫圇吞棗

  • really amazing to hear this without the orchestra. Wish she had had a better piano like a Hamburg or better yet, her Bosey.

  • Valentina does these solo performances, unlike any other professional artist out there, because she just absolutely loves to play piano. She does it, I'm sure, for the sheer joy of creating beautiful music for the listener without thought of any "reward". That's what makes her a great humanitarian as well as a great pianist.

  • This is very fascinating to watch in that it is like she is a bridge between two worlds. All her energy comes from above and through her soul and into the piano. Its beautiful to listen to and a pleasure to see. I heard this tune when i was 7 and my father played it on a record and i was watching University Challenge the other night i recognised a short snippet as rachmaninoff. the answer was symphony number 2. it is great to have found this again. My father died January 2008. love you valentina

  • PLEASE VALENTINA!!!! What must we do to get you to post the rach 3 without orchestra for us? We will do ANYTHING!!!!

  • THIS IS RUBBISH!

    ....Is what I would say if I was envious of the playing... hence why I'm saying it.

    Cause in actual fact it's awesome.

    :D

  • Wow, absolutely beautiful! :) Every time I come on Youtube, this is the first video I always listen to. There's something mystical that attracts me not only to the piece, but to Valentina as well; it's beyond pure explanation.

  • my favourite part is and forever will be from 5:30 onwards... such power in that motif.

  • This is amazing! At some points, I mistakenly hear the orchestra playing...spooky

  • your hands play like clouds....dreamfull .....

  • Every time I listen to you playing I discover something in a piece I had not heard before. You make the music live. Bless you for bringing us new and exiting sounds.

  • I wish you would put this on CD. Or maybe your husband could learn the orchestra part and play with you.

  • 정말 대단한 연주군요. 잘 보고 갑니다. 토론토에서.....

  • Great accuracy and speed, but the gorgeous theme feels rushed I enjoy it so much more with a little air to breathe.. the inner melodic lines and conversational content are wonderfully executed throughout.. I loved listening to this, 

  • What a beautiful technique...

  • Valentina, your playing is so intense...you know how to create reel feelings with your music. It's like the piano would tell us a story. Congratulation for - in my opinion - one of the best interpretations!

  • ES MI FAVORITA!!! RACHMANINOFF UN GENIO!!!!

  • I love this but I don't know why!!!!

  • Looking at your fingers flying, I felt I was taking a trip to an exotic world. So enchanting. You are really good at letting the piano SOUND. Beautiful tones. Thank you.

  • Magic. As simply as it can be played. No bravado, just love of the music. I could listen to her practice all day.

  • sorry but is this Gandalf playing the piano?

  • incredible, i love all her performances *__*

  • So much beauty in these lines, Valentina... but I feel that you rushed them... :( Yes, it is true that your virtuosity is nigh unmatched, but couldn't you exploit that marvelous depth of tone we all know that you definitely possess? Just a thought.

  • @doctordrums8 Well, I've listened VERY closely to how Rachmaninoff played it, and this is pretty close. I like her Rach 2 because when Rach recorded it, he "tastefully" let his orchestra overpower him, but with her, you get his speed but can actually hear the flurry. Maybe she's rushing in some parts, but it only stands out because they are rushed-in-context. Still, with an orchestra, I must emphasize, she plays it basically like he did...

    ..Dunno if she'll take that as a compliment.

  • To clarify... she may seem to be rushing it *here*, but with an orchestra she is just fine, and that is when she seems to mirror his speed and expression.

    There is a joke about Russians in here somewhere...

  • Comment removed

  • I put this on mute, and watching those hands... WOW that's insane!

  • Comment removed

  • I am amazed when people ask what is the purpose of this recording....The purpose is to show the power of the piece.....the extraordinary talent of the artist and the benevolence of the melody.............to miss this, is to miss the purpose of music.

  • When Jehovah created the Universe and Earth, this was playing in the backround.

  • @pianist32795 lol, me too!!! The one thing I don't like about this video is that, without the orchestra, it has made me see how utterly unlikely it is that I will ever play this...

  • She's so good and beautiful; her videos always take so much longer to load than any others!!! My favorite concerto, too...

  • What is the sens of this recording?

  • Silberlion That is a very strange question. It is for beauty and for enjoyment. Of the 114 thousand views I take credit for about 1hundred of them. All 3 movements and I have loved it every time.

  • @Silberlion To send to the conductor in advance to make rehearsals more efficient :)

  • She looks very comfortable playing in her PJs. I usually play this piece best in my favorite speedo and a black bow tie. It sets the romantic mood for the piece plus

    I experience minimal slding on the piano bench. To each his/her own.

  • perverse

  • When she's playing the beginning the piano's shaking!

  • You should post one of these 'Minus Orchestra' videos for the Rach3 as well, Valentina. Wonderfully done, as always!

  • My god, this piece is power packed! I tried the opening chords and my god, the feeling of power you get is massive! (p.s played them too hard, my hands hurt.)

  • I can't NOT sing along. This is awesome. :)

  • I'm having a headache trying to imagine the orchestra in my head..

  • ps. i mean the first c note in the beginning.

  • why don't you play the c note very strgon like a hammer, like Richter? i think it's the most important part beside the part that starts at 5:30 (should be played with a little bit of hesitate). you know better but that's my humble opinion and i think this way is nicer than the other.

  • why does the credit say "Lisitsa / LSo Michael Francis" ?

  • Ms. Lisitsa, I say this with the utmost sincerity: You are truly one of the greats of our time!! I never thought I would enjoy this concerto more without the orchestra until I listened to this! One of my all-time favorite pieces of music. Thank you!

  • nononononoo!!

    why rachmanninof is always playiful very fast?!

    is more than that

  • @diegokillua She plays it fats indeed but hell, she has a thousand times more spirits than most of the technical prodigies of China (no offence meant, there are great pianist there too). However, I agree that this piece could be use being played a little slower.

  • @diegokillua yes, I agree, though I think she did a good job. Not great, just good. If she didn't played it this fast, it would've been perfect. :)

  • @traineve13 Let's hear you play it.

    

  • @diegokillua

    Look up Rachmaninoff himself playing this concerto. his tempo is the same, if not faster. Research before you post.

  • @CarlosEspinosa2001 But I thought that he was never good in playing his own compositions.

    I prefer it slower as well.

    BUT that's just my oponionininoioninoioionininion­.

  • @tjtheplay Actually Rachmaninoff played his own compositions rather well. There is an entire Rachmaninoff album on itunes (that has about 50 pieces) that are all of him playing. The only problem is that they are older recordings. :P

    Not to mention this piece is just fine at Valentina's speed. Rachmaninoff played it just as fast! Plus, it sounds rather lacking if you go too slow. :P

  • @diegokillua I respect your taste in music, and I'm not arguing against it, but fast does not always equal bluntly technical and unexpressive. You can be fast and also "more than that".

  • @diegokillua Hei come on.

    We all know that rachmaninoff is much more than just fast ;) BUT: THIS IS GOD DAMN PERFECT! AN AWESOME INTERPRETATION BY AN AWESOME PIANIST.

    and the only thing you write is nonononononono.

    What a shame !

  • How can you so to play the piano?

    I've never seen anyone so play as you can.

  • That was amazing!

  • I love your playing Valentina!!!!

  • your hands are so beautiful! i love the way you play :D

  • Love this! You never hear these concertos without the orchestra. Thanks for posting this!

  • Can't thank you enough for this!!!

  • I really love you for this video! :D

    even if I don't like Rach's concertos, it's very helpful and interesting to listen to this, because you can understand perfeclty what piano do.

  • Saw her with San Francisco Symphony last week playing this piece. She brought me to tears.

  • The late Princess of Wales~Diana used to play this piece on the piano.

    Vàleg Diana. You are sadly missed. X

  • This is my favorite piano concerto piece. It is interesting to hear it without the orchestra. You play beautifully- saw you perform yesterday with the SF Symphony. BRAVO =)

  • LOVE TCHAIKOVSKY, RACHMANINOFF, LIZST, SOSTAKOVICH ET AL, THOSE THAT KNOW ME TRULY DO KNOW WHY, THANK YOU ROD, SO MUCH,

    Mine

  • @patscircle Me too Mine! This is so beautiful even without the orchestra!

  • @mancmuso1 She is ... out of this world! The feminine Lyle in classical posture and extraordinary rendition ... just look at those piano fingers, long and ethereal ... her marvelous hands fluttering doves kissing, caressing every key ... those unforgettable celestial chords by Rachmaninoff ...

    Gracias Rod por dármela a conocer ... saludos Phil ...

    Ms. Lisitsa, bowing unto Your Excellence, Thou Art Supreme !!

  • my dream is to play this with orchestra.

  • when i choosed some good videos so i saw this video and i think that ist was jesus playing

  • Valeria eres una grandisima pianista,este concierto exige mucha fuerza,velocidad y bravura,ademas de una delicada sensibilidad y tu la tienes de sobra.Estoy impactado con tu interpretacion,gracias por compartir tu talento,bellisima.

  • Gandalf can play the piano?

  • @celermail Gandalf can play 10 pianos at once!

    Btw, great performance Lisitsa!, I wish you could record the next 2 concertos (3 and 4) minus orchestra, it would be amazing!

  • I'm Sooooooooo Excited--I just booked tickets to see you at the Davies Symphony Hall in SF! I'm taking mom and dad along too! We can't wait till July! :)

  • Whoa, your fingers are soo fast, technically brilliant!!

  • my fave concerto played by my fave pianist !<3

  • after i hear this, i just couldn't hear another version.

    o_o

  • your my new idol *A* *bows down*

  • @ValentinaLisitsa this happens every time you want to play at the middle of the night, right? (btw nice bijamas )

  • does that not look like gandalf the white playing the piano 4:27 ... or have I just been watching too much LOTR?

  • This is simply gifted Pianist..CONGRATULATIONS!

    I admire your piano piece and you incredible style..No one else can play like you my dearest Artist...Thank you Zach for sending this video to me...Best wishes from Zuzanna

  • That has simply GOT to be the most epic introduction to a piece I have ever heard. EVER. Those bass notes...I get massive goosebumps listening to this...

    I am glad I decided to take a deeper look into classical music so I could discover this masterpiece. And this without the orchestra behind it! Wow!

  • Some parts are waaay to fast :) good work!

  • Ich gratuliere Dir, Valentina. You are great.

    Thank you to present us with your music and talent.

  • Wow, I have watched many master pianists play here on Youtube, Martha Argerich, Gleen Gould, Berezovsky, Gabriela Montero, and so many others... but I don't remember any of them having such a mesmerizing playing style as Valentina. Her hands dance with passion, striking furiously and impossibly fast at times, but at other times being very light and delicate...

  • Thumbs up if you started humming the orchestra melody! :D

  • Haha!!! C'est tellement ca qu'on a tous fait!!! XD

  • Soooooooo perfect... I'm in love with her playing... :)

  • Truly beautiful but wish she was performing on a Bosendorfer instead of a Steinway,

  • who does your PR?? You should have been long ago on all the major stages

  • Valentina what have you done..now I could never hear anybody else play that piece..

  • numberone!!!

    

  • numberone!!!

    

  • numberone!!!

    

  • yeah , but valentina only does play bosendorfer ones

  • I'm hoping to get a chance to see her perform this february

  • the way you play arpeggiated chord is lovely, it just one of the sweetest

  • its funny. it looks like she was like "I can't sleep...why don't i record some Rachmaninov and THAT will make me sleepier!" lol

  • You're perfect...

  • Is there a link with madoff ? Was rachmaninoff also a bankster ?

  • 13 people are jealous

  • I actually heard this piece the first time while returning from a concert at the Kennedy Center in DC. Friend was dropping us back to Maryland. I think it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

  • This is a bit weird without the orchestra. Have to play them in the head.

  • thats some technique..

  • Wunderbar, Ich bin sprachlos!

  • ¿Cuantas veces quieren que ponga "me gusta"? Porque yo lo haría una y mil veces...

  • Absolutely Gorgeous, but the 5th D# or (rather the 5th Eb because this piece is in C minor) is slightly out of tune... didn't ruin it for me tho!

    Working on the same concerto!

  • why is it that everything she plays is so superior to everything else. whenever i listen to a piece she's playing i can never listen to the same one by played by another person because its never of the same caliber...ever

  • Valentina: "I'll just play Rach 2 once before I go to bed" lol

  • Is this play style unique? It truly looks like her fingers are dancing.

  • @stenobro this style is unique to her, she has developed her own technique, she plays almost all her pieces like this.

  • HOW CAN YOU PLAY SO PERFECTLY...guerjnklfd

  • GREAT. Thank you for this video. 

  • you must upload the rach3 without orchestra

    please

    whaiting too see u in chile

  • this piece is my all time favorite ; love this version as well...cant wait to see you in London!

  • 0:25-1:30 is so crazy beautiful.Both listen and look at.Of course the rest is beautiful too.

  • I can hear the orchestra in my head!

  • @pianist32795 i can hear it in HD too

  • @pianist32795 me too

  • @pianist32795 you hear it and not voluntary:)

  • @pianist32795 me too. She is amazing

  • Thank you Valentina for showing me Rachmaninoff.

  • She is amazing. Just love Rachmaninoff concerto #2..

  • Junk american NY steinway...... hamburg made is cool :-) and valentina plays wonderfulllllll :-)

  • @MikePiano83 There is no such thing as a junk Steinway. American or German made.

  • 12 people are Justin Beiber fans

  • This should be a sing-along. She plays, we sing the orchestra part. Party!

  • @zhangensprachen Like Karaoke then!!

  • I'd love to see a high FPS camera record those incredibly fast notes to see her technique in super-slowmotion! It must be an incredible sight to see the fastest notes slowed down 4x!!!

  • this is so amazing, my high school played this with a student last year, and i never knew how intricate it was. so then i tried to play it and i almost broke my thumb playing the first few chords. truly amazing.

  • I can't begin to fathom the genius it takes to compose something so complex and complete. And the playing here is amazing. As someone before me said, you can almost hear the orchestra.

  • @forgottenbooks It's not "almost hear the orchestra", my ears are actually hearing it somehow O.O

  • it's so fucking clean! I love it!!! even without orchestra! I could imagine the scene when Rachmaninov wrote the concerto, alone with his piano!

  • WOW ... O.O

  • It's like you can listen to the orchestra behind this :o

  • One of the best piano concerto ever written !

  • One of the best piano concerto ever written !

  • Incredible. Jawdropping.

    

  • This is really inspiring.

  • Great Piano Performance.

    But Tempo dan velocity is a little bit unstable and unsteady somehow,

  • :25 to :47. I would NOT wanna get tickled by that.

  • Amazing what humans beings can do with a lot of dedication.

    Thank you for this :-)

  • i was looking for one without the orchestra, its brilliant, i love it!

  • How do you dislike this video? there's nothing to hate on it about?????!!!!!

  • @alexdugom cause people saw the dislike as dis i like

  • the solo is just as good as the orchestrated piece, brava Valentina!

  • It's interesting to hear this piano solo. Brava!

  • more than ace :)

  • FABULOUS

  • (to continue my post below) she sees the score in her head when she plays, according to an interview on youtube.

  • Best rachm in the world. Solid performance.

  • i´ve never seen such relaxed fingers while playing.

    it´s unbelievable that your hands can veer away from the keyboard so far but are never to slow to come back that fast to hit the keys. when i play i try to stay as near at the keys as possible and still am not fast enough^^

    and , not necessary to say: very wonderful played rach2!

  • That's great.

    I would love to accompany you with my drums!

  • Stunning

  • :-)))

    You will have heard all the praise and platitudes by now.

    Your Lizt is unbelievable.

  • The techniques are really good and firm. However it failed to move me and convey the true message of this song. Of course it's subjective. I still like it though!

  • The techniques are quite firm i thought it was quite gd. However it failed to move me. Sounded mediocre compared to others i heard. But I still liked it XD

  • I can't believe I am just now discovering Lisitsa! This is as good as Argerich.

  • Aparte de la brillante interpretación y todo lo obvio, poder ver la parte sólo del piano, es lo más interesante que puede haber para un estudiante de este instrumento. Es algo que agradezco profundamente a Valentina, un auténtico regalo.

    Apart from his brilliant performance and all obvious that we know, to see this video that belongs exclusively to the piano, is the most interesting that can be for a student of this instrument. It's something I am very grateful to Valentina, is a true gift!

  • Первый раз слышу без оркестра. Очень впечатлило. Спасибо.

  • How on earth can a pianist learn so many pieces by heart? Even in the videos where Valentina does have a score in front of her she never even glances at it.

  • @musicfanBRA It's like remembering a combination to a lock. You do it over and over again, then you won't forget. HOWEVER, if you don't complete the combination, (in this case, play the entire piece) then you forget it. So to remember all of those pieces, she must practice A LOT.

    Or she just had the pieces surgically implanted into her brain lol. Because that's A LOT to practice.

  • @musicfanBRA She has a photographic memory, a lot of concert pianists do.

  • @ann03071874 - Is it a photographic memory that visualizes the score, or an auditive memory, that memorizes the music itself?

  • @musicfanBRA It's muscle memory. You memorize the movements. Even if you don't try. :p

  • @musicfanBRA Good question. Its photographic as in once she sees the music, she doesn't forget it. Lucky for some I guess :)

  • Comment removed

  • Valentina, I enjoy your playing very very much!

    i have a question: about how long did it take u to learn this concerto?

    starting from zero all the way to "ready to play with orchestra" how long did it take?

  • @Deism4life Would be interesting to know since she learned it as a child as her first concerto (as she said in an interview).

  • We are honored to have the veil of exclusivity lifted when pianists recreate the pure genius of Rachmaninoff. So many gems are often hard to appreciate when the orchestra doesn't let you. The texture of the piano's perfect tonal merging with the orchestra is exemplified by the section around 1:18. This concerto must rank as one of humanity's superlative creations. Now we can all gain a deeper glimpse into its rich, complicated rhythms and harmonics. Thank you Valentina.

  • She's playing this as part of a sleep walk?

    All pianists just got pwned. ;-;

  • I LOVE 5:30 - 5:52

  • lisitsa makes the most interesting videos...

  • Thank you for posting the Rach 2 sans orchestra. It will help me in the development appreciation and enjoyment of this work. But that is just an added bonus, since it is a very great pleasure to hear you play.

  • I will learn this even if it kills me...I will never however play it to this standard :'(

  • One of the greatest pieces of all time....

    Now in HD....

    Oh yeah..

  • is it just me or is the orchestra part plays in the background quietly? I could swear I can hear it hahah