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From: telarc
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  • TERRIFYING FOOTSTEPS..... HIIIIHIIIIII

  • I doubt Chopin would have been "ill" over this. He'd probably have thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen and wanted to write more stuff for it. People who WRITE this sort of music are a bit more freer in the mind than the people who try to reproduce it note for note. Besides, the piano rep has more than its share of pieces developed from the rep of other instruments. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini anyone? :-) And nearly none of the past greats used anything like a modern piano.

  • Cameron, How are you  able to play the last 4 cords of the Revolutionary with both hands resting on the bench?

  • @ragtime1000 he's playing them (the last 4 chords) with his feet. if you watch his feet they are turned sideways. each foot can play 2 notes if they are close enough. one with the toe and one with the heel

  • @ragtime1000 actually if you can find the other trinity performance of Cameron playing this piece live in concert. you can better see his feet playing the last 4 chords. it should be in my favorites

  • A: Cameron Carpenter.

    Q: What do get when you cross figure-skating with the pipe organ?

  • How could ANYONE thumb this down? Beautiful.

  • man what a work out!!

  • Wow! Look at all of those comments that are negative. In all of my years of composing and in the music business I have seen and heard everthing from one side of the world to the other. Music is dynamic, she breathes and gives birth to creativity and to virtuosos! I makes no diffrence to who he is compared to in the past and present he is not to be compared but to be added to ranks of virtuosos. Take it for what his music making is. Compare him not to anyone else, he is what he is, a master!

  • Maestro!

  • Well......Kind of sloppy....but...COOL!

    How could I complain....I'm the sloppiest player in the universe!!!

    And I don't care!

    Thumbs up!

  • I'd be the first to admit I don't care for Carpenter's style (dress and playing), it's shamelessly flashy and lacking depth... but one cannot help but respect him for his stupendous technique and the way he brings music to life. However, I'd dare to suggest that Nathan Laube is a better all-rounder... and, for virtuosity combined with profundity, the four recordings of Michel Chapuis at St Ouen, Rouen that are on YouTube take some beating.

  • After playing many mnay years..I only wish I could approach this technique...and you all thopught my friend Miss Bish plays fast.

  • @wljmrbill - yeah, but Bish is a rubbish player, poor technique, playing simplified versions of the organ 'pops' and often leaving out big sections because they're too difficult... Carpenter is in a different league.

  • "David Bowie the Dumuzid has appeared.

    It's the killer!

    Do not die."

  • NO COMMENT :-)))))))))))

  • I challenge this man to a dual in DDR.

  • Wow, I didn't expect a single part of that! Those runs are hard enough with the left hand, let alone the feet. Mad props.

  • I LOVE THIS GUY!!!! OMGGG!

  • What an excellent and masterly player. He will follow in the footsteps of Widor and Messiaen. But please: Do not follow the footsteps of Liberace ;-)

  • @achim56nrw... I'm not sure this is "sound" advice. Liberace made a lot more money and was far more famous.

  • @buzzbaybear

    Many years ago I was in Palm Beach Florida in a concert with Liberace. He was reach but not a very good pianist.

  • @achim56nrw Don't you like Liberace? He's always seemed to me an extension of the ability and flamboyance of Liszt but the with popularity of a popular musician (tautology?), of course at the cost of some of the 'pureness' of his interpretations, and his liking of jazz etc, but he produced some good, interesting and technically demanding interpretations.

  • @VayDooble Liberace was a good pianist....in what way do you think he had greater pianistic ability than Liszt?

  • @TomatoPro Sorry, you seem to have misunderstood, I didn't mean superior ability to Liszt, but a temporal extension, I admit I was somewhat vague. Of course Liberace was nowhere as good a pianist as Liszt, or Alkan, or Cziffra or Hamelin. Apologies.

  • @achim56nrw Might I inquire what was so wrong with Liberace's footsteps? 

  • @wjw9075

    I was in a Liberace concert in Palm Beach/Florida in 1985. He has been playing well, but it was more show than art. His eccentric appearance with long fur I found ridiculous. Liberace was not a classical pianist, but an entertainer. That's what I meant when I wrote that Carpenter should not enter into Liberace's footsteps.

  • @achim56nrw You are so right, I could not agree with you more! Thanks for clarifying!

  • 27 people have no taste...the purpose of people putting these videos out here on youtube is not for people to criticize how the organist looks, but for the great beauty of the music that we want to hear...If you really don't like looking at the organist, turn off your monitor...

  • @AllenJBlodgettJrmota Sorry Allen, but i don't care for this performance, and my opinion is not based on Cameron's outfit. I'll certainly give him credit for being extremely talented. This, however just seems to be a display of technical ability, not musicianship or artistry. He is cast in the mold of Virgil Fox, who was also extremely talented but chose to be superficial and flashy instead of an artist.

  • @chen0466 Virgil Fox not an artist??? Wow, you must have some pretty high standards there, chen0466. I admit Mr. Fox was quite the showman (saw him SEVERAL times live, including at the Wannamaker AND Longwood Gardens). But to say he was not an artist is an insult to his legacy and shows you know very little about organ masters. Even E.Power Biggs shows off once in awhile. I suppose you don't think he is and artist either?

    peace

  • @technocrash09 High standards spawn excellence; you've interpreted mine as snootiness. To me, the rubric for organ performance is registration, technical, and artistic ability. Nobody matched Fox's 'Tu Es Petra' (Mulet), but his 'Westminster Carillon' (Vierne) on the same Wanamaker album? Terrible! He often sacrificed artistry and registration to show off his technical ability-I believe for selfish reasons. Hence, he was less an artist in my view. Bigss was more of an artist.

  • @chen0466 To each their own, I suppose. We'll have to agree to disagree. To watch Fox on the Longwood organ was to watch, not just an artist, but a master. And to me (with limited ability on a keyboard) mastery equals artistry. There are those who would argue that a Van Gogh = excellence, while others would say he ignored the typical "rubrics" for painters (expression, interpretation, et al) and just painted self-righteous crap. *just sayin*

    Play on, Cameron!!!

    RIP Mr. Fox

    peace

  • @technocrash09 You are certainly entitled to your preferences. I don't deny Fox was masterful - again his Tu Es Petra at Wanamaker's seems unbeatable. But, humor me. Compare his recording of the Westminster Carillon at Wanamaker's vs. Ben Van Oosten at St. Ouen, Rouen. Try it. Perhaps you'll see where I'm coming from, not that you have to agree with it.

  • HE IS FANTASTIC! BUT WHAT'S WITH THE SHOES?

  • Amazing, incredible! Many organists can be jealous for his great playing. It doesn't matter how he is dressed, it matters what and how he does. How long takes to play like that? The whole life! If Bach or Reger would know him, there would be works that are not playable for everybody. Thanks for sharing.

  • @correpetitor I think Cameron Charpenter is not a good organist, he is just a good transcriptor ( translator we say in english? ) and he has so much technical

    This interpretation is amazing, but when he plays a organ sheet, it is not really good, listen to the toccata and fugue in d minor...

  • Strepitoso !

  • Very impressive! Great piece!

  • Cameron lives near me. I see him walking around sometimes. Someday I have got to meet this genius!!

  • Sweet Jesus! You are a god!

  • I should have played the Organ!

  • Pity the ending doesn't show his shoes doing the chords. Another video does.

  • O H M Y  G O D ! I see it, and I hear it, but I don't believe it! How can any one person have that much talent in their body?!?

  • holy shiz his feet

  • amazing! ;o

  • Cameron 'Spasser' Carpenter beskadiger nok én orgel.

  • inspirational (both Cam and his musical style)

  • I have been playing organ on and off for 20 years and I am amazed at Mr. Carpenters talent. Hes got more talent in his left foot than I have in my entire body!

  • You gotta hand it to Cameron, he's putting organ back on the map.

  • The flashing clothing isn't necessary, but neither are body piercings, yet people do it anyways.

    FANTASTIC PERFORMANCE!

  • spectacular!!!

  • Wonderful performance. I can't say I like the "sparkle sparkle" of this guy's cloths, but it's good nevertheless.

  • Why criticize his choice of clothing? He chooses to wear these bodysuits to enable him to do the acrobatic moves necessary to play like he does. That being said, something in a solid flat black or white would look really blah. Cameron is a showman, pure and simple. Only he is one with an immense amount of talent. When he dresses like Liberace, THEN I will say he has gone too far.

  • "happy feet"

  • ohhhhhhh he should make foot fetish vids

  • @Guitarist2098 lol...this IS a foot fetish vid if your an organist !

  • @Televersity lol :)! 

  • LOL ELTHON JOHNNNNNNN

  • Yes, he creates all his glitzy outfits, and even glues expensive Swarovski crystals (all by hand), himself. He's even designed a portable Organ so that he can tour with it, instead of having to use the organs in whatever churches or venues he happens

    to be performing in. It's going to be 'A Glitzy Affair', to be sure! Cameron is a STAR!

  • I just discovered Cameron while watching CBS News - Sunday Morning.

    WHAT A GEM!

    Amazing, beautiful, handsome, talented, inspirational, creative as all get out, original, bright light, intelligent, sparkling, brave, sexy, intriguing, and SO MUCH MORE! It's a beautiful day when I stumble onto a new discovery that touches & ignites so many of my senses!

  • So glad 23 people took a break from pulling the wings off butterflies to register their dislike...hey, look, some little kids, quick go give them the real deal about Santa Claus. Cameron RULES!

  • sparkly diamond man plays piano well

  • Beautiful! I wonder if his shoes are special made for easy heel-toe pedaling?

  • Who could be cooler than Carpenter? A black Belt in keyboard (and pedalboard) technique, unafraid to express himself and his sexuality (Unlike the closet-bound Virgil Fox) and Cameron plays the Theater Organ.

    We NEED more performers like this talented young man. MUSIC needs more people like him.

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  • please dont compare BACH to this guy and his faggy shirt

  • This guy is truly AMAZING!!! anyone that does not think so is such a purist that they will only follow what is the paper...move on!...I deal with them infrequently and get them out of my life asap...why negative comments about shoes, dress etc...with talent like this you can do what you want with whom and where you want to...if Ella and Frank followed what was on the paper we would have never known who they were!!! Negative comments are based on jealousy about talent, age and looks!

  • @TheMercguy I totally agree with you Merc! Cameron has an amazing talent and that's all that matters. If people don't like watching him, move on!

  • 22 people aren't gay

  • Okay, admittedly this would probably make Chopin feel rather ill, but then I think most of us organists can secretly admit to ourselves that if we had Carpenter's pedal technique we'd quite happily murder the entire piano repertoire in order to show it off, and who could blame us...

  • @Brideshead09 No I don't think the entire piano repertoire would fall to his amazing foot work. But most of it. You can't get as much emotion from an organ as you could a piano.

  • @Brideshead09 when it comes to pedal work Carpenter has picked up where Virgil Fox left off

  • I agree with silverstartrucker. Once must be VERY jealous to seek out such talent just to belittle it for their own satisfaction.

  • He must have quite the abs.

  • There's something about him that I don't quite like, but at the same time, he's SO GOOD that I can't stop watching!!

  • @rileylendrum Come on, is it the shirt :) I think he just walked in from tap dancing.

  • Can he use his TOES?

  • Amazing!

  • hard enough to play with just hands lol. Hes donig with FEET!

  • Beautiful ...beautiful ...organist Cameron. God bless you !!

  • Bet he can do the Middelshulte's "Moto Perpetual for pedals" with no problems ...

  • OH. MY. GEEZUS.

    His shoes are..... FABULOUS!!!!

    Where can I order those kind of organ shoes!?!?! lol

  • After coming across this by accident and reading most of the comments, it's fair to say that no matter how good the performance, there will always be someone saying such and such does it better.

    My personal take is that he seems to be an incredible player - though I'm a guitarist with no KB skills - doing a good job on the piece. I don't care for his outfit and - thanks to the"pwnerofnoobs" I learned that you can actually buy organ shoes!!

    So I learned something AND got entertained too!

  • @SteveGad I'll tell you someone who does it better than this. Cameron out-did this by a fair margin at a live performance at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester - he played Chopin's C# minor etude from the Op. 10...utterly jaw dropping!!!

  • I wonder what he would do to Chopin's minute waltz if ever he dared to play it !

  • @morchards1 he could probably do flight of the bumblebee with his butt cheeks... ;)

  • @morchards1 it would smoke!

  • AMAZING!!!

  • i hate those white organ shoes...

  • The pedals were always my favorite part of the organ...gives it this kick-ass sound no other instrument has. So it's no wonder why I love this video. I don't really care about the critics...they have a right to their opinion, but that's all it is. Meanwhile, every time I hear this, I get goosebumps. All those critics ever give anyone is heartburn.

  • Incredible! I would simply love to hear him play Trois Danses by Jehan Alain! He would be great at it!

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  • What a DINAMISM! ..like always:)

  • pretty damn amazing.

  • unreal.

  • @Mhtsaras007 - He sho nuff do be, and what's the problem with that? Heterosexual organists are virtually non-existent, Mary. Get used to it.

  • WOW! Amazing! It's too bad the articulation in the feet is off. It should be like a string of pearls - connected, but still separated.

    Sad, it could be incredible if it were done correctly.

  • @tds301 everywhere there's a know-it-all. here, you ssem to be one of them.  I doubt you could do what he does...

  • That´s wrong ... ofcourse he is an Professional Organist... he is playing and givin conzerts nearly everywhere ... he has been in Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, England, USA ... and much more !! HE IS professional ;)

  • Impressive and mind-blowing yes, but so is a white guy in a glittery jumpsuit. But does either actually serve a legit purpose?

  • @dw154515 same question to any other entertainers

  • @hamzah22  exactly.... "entertainer". NOT professional concert organist or musician.

  • SIIIIIIIIIIIICK YO :D

  • Is this humour? Vainly virtuosic, this music suits the organ so much, than for a ballerina the gumboots:(((

  • Great work cam! Keep on going!

    Ignore the haters. They're jealous and besides, soon they'll all be dead.

  • wow...amazing feet....i can only play that with my hands....lol. Its kinda funny how the last 4 chords he uses only his feet.....lol

  • If someone does not like Carpenter and his style then why watch the videos? Searching out videos to criticise seems fruitless to me. There are certain people I do not like and I certainly would not watch their videos. Youtube have a HUGE selection to please all tastes.

  • @silverstartrucker Couldn't agree more. There are few things as irritating as the over-judgmental comments left on every brilliant musical video on this site.

  • @silverstartrucker Their just jelious off his crazy skills

  • @silverstartrucker - I have seen comments where people criticise Cameron's style of dress and the fact that he's gay. What the hell has that got to do with it. One of the worst is organman52. If ever there were a bigot it's him...

  • I had to do it for a project. You dont know the motives of some people. I do agree they dont need to comment though.

  • This guy would rock at DDR.

  • CC is God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • And now: IT`s SHOWTIME! ........ haha

  • WOW This is unbelievable, its nearly impossible to play this on piano for me

    on a side note Michael Jackson would have loved that shirt!

  • OMG...this is amazing! I'm currently struggling with good footwork and this is very inspiring!

  • AWESOME and BRILLIANT..*****STARS*****

  • I'm going to see him in Buffalo in October , so excited

  • I would love to see an organ duel between Bach and this fellow.

  • Bach would win. Bach even improvised fugues on a subject that Frederick the Great designed to be difficult to write in a fugue, all the way up until 6 voices were requested. Cameron doesn't come close to that.

  • Exactly..

  • True true, but Johnny Bach was FAR too fat to play pedal passages like Cameron does. Fireplug-like Bach had thunder thighs of stupendous proportions, so the fancy leg crossings Cameron executes were not really possible with Big Bad J. Seb..

    Besides, Bach hated sequins - he was more into brocaded silk waistcoats and skintight white stockings. With or without white makeup, lipstick, a wig and a fake beauty mark.

  • pedalboards were also different and much harder to play back then.

    And whether or not one likes sequins does not dictate how well they play the organ.

  • @sina4 - Sorry, you are nit picking :-)

  • @silverstartrucker

    Awww... sheesh. Was it the Big John Bach comment? Or that Jonny HATED HATED HATED sequins? Perhaps he just loathed them. :) In any case Cameron is the King of the Pedals with the added bonus that he sort of talks like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory! I would love to see a vid of Cameron telling a joke :)

  • @menschmaschine5

    On a tracker organ? No way my man. No possible way you can play that fast on a tracker pedal board. The mechanical works could never return in time for his passage work, and besides, it would take an incredible amount of physical strength to open those remote bass pipes at that tempo. Bach was very good, but by the time he composed the Musical Offering to which you eluded, he was a very old man and incapable of performing complex pedal work. See Spitta, LIfe of Bach, V II

  • I cannot even imagine playing Chopin with my feet!

  • A 21st century Fox.

  • This is amazing I love the way his a*se moves at 3.14 and on... this piece is such a turn on!

  • The revolutionary Dance

  • FANTASTIC!!!! I'm without words!!!!!!

  • Ecco come distruggere la professionalità della musica e del musicista.

  • I went to his concert to promote the release of this CD/DVD. Very kool of him to sign it

  • I wanna be his stress relief after the recital.

  • WOW! I wonder what Virgil Fox is thinking as he looks down from heaven and sees Cameron fly away at the keyboards?

  • Cameron called all his internet haters "maggots" last night in a radio interview

    how true

  • Just imagine the skill and coordination anyone would need to pull off something like this. That's what's most astounding of all. I bet only a very few people could do this. Congratulations Cameron.

  • Asgoodasgod, I agree completely! I was thinking something similar, like "if you can't do it then STFU" All these armchair critics who can't criticise his musicianship, so they make fun of his outfit and his sexuality. Proof positive how bankrupt their arguments are.

  • His get up is pretty ridiculous. I don't need to be able play like he does to critized his clothing, since the two are not even related.

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  • If you ever needed some definition on what is grotesque, there you have it! A genuine master-piece! Imressive is how much time M. Carpenter must have spent on regulating his nervous system so completely, and perfectly, in order to achieve that accoustical tutti frutti. Some institution should grant him an award, don't you think?

  • The only tutti-frutti on here is you, dumbass

  • So the nuthouse allows their clients to acces the internet eh philippefritsch??

  • I bought this CD/DVD in NYC after Cameron's recital at the Middle Collegiate Church (where he is organist) to promote the release of ths album. He was very kind and spent time talking to me and signed the new album. Truly great talent...his approach to the organ is quite different then most.

  • Oh you attended? I really wonder how he does hymn accompanying.

  • Regardless of where Chopin literature is played, if it exposes a new audience to the composer, and possibly a new audience to the organ, then a great feat has been accomplished here. Organ and classic music circles have been dwindling for years...Cameron has opted for a new approach, and reached out to audiences beyond the 'concert set'...for this, I applaud him.

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  • Just say to Glenn Gould that Bach's harpsichord pieces are not supposed to be played on a piano username1p. He'll laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!

  • I am speechless! This is at once amazing, tremendous and at the same time a terrible thing to do to Chopin. Still, he must be able to romp through the organ repertoire.

  • I don't think that there enough rhinestones and sparkles in this video... lol...

  • Evening ladies, and I thought trumpet players could get a bit tetchy.... Fabulous to hear and see such virtuosity. At the end of the day, it is always the sound that matters, just looked this up 'cos I heard him on The Culture Show at the Royal Albert Hall - he played it slower, but 'cos of the sound of that mighty beast, it was even more impressive to my humble, brass addled ears.

  • Great. Chopin as a circus act.

  • VD54K, there is no need to insult all the shit shovelers of the world... :)

  • I personally think the pieces Chopin wrote for piano should never be played on the organ... it just doesn't sound right... you have to admit though Cameron's skill is superb.

  • @codeman2008

    I totally agree with you, these pieces should not be played on the organ. What Cameron has done here is used them as the prime specimen for his 'show business', whilst its undeniably true he has a strong pedal point, but I don't appreciate the impression this brings on the public that "faster is better".

    Its obvious he can play it perfectly on the organ but in no way does it mean its going to sound nearly as good as the original.

    Thanks for your honest input.

  • Great. Internet nerdo timekillers acting as music critics.

  • Fantastico! Amazing technique, control and athleticism. And mostly with the toes, rarely uses heels. A phenomenon in the organ world for sure.

  • I'm sorry, but I thought we were commenting on this guy's talents at the console, not your new President. You need to ignore what the guy is wearing and appreciate sheer talent. Long may you continue Cameron. Regards from the UK.