My Entry For World's Fastest Pianist Competition ( LOL! ) Godowsky Die Fledermaus Lisitsa

Loading...

Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon
Upgrade to the latest Flash Player for improved playback performance. Upgrade now or more info.
69,295
Loading...
Alert icon
Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon

Uploaded by on Sep 19, 2011

WARNING, WARNING - "competing" in music , no matter in what discipline : fastest , loudest, cleanest , octavest, trilliest, jumpiest, double-notiest.... IS THE SILLIEST THING, OK ? MUSIC IS NEVER ABOUT COMPETITION
Godowsky Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Johann Strauss: No. 2, Die Fledermaus
Rightly called "one of the most complicated stunts ever written for piano", this piece probably has more notes per second, or per square centimeter of sheet music, than anything comparable. For those listeners impatient enough to "endure" a few minutes of most delightful and inventive music , and just interested in world record in speed ( LOL again ) , just scroll to @ 6:00" , fasten your seat belts  and don't complain about " speeded-up and fast forwarded" video. It happens to be live and with quite a few witnesses :)
Godowsky called his paraphrase "Symphonic Metamorphosis on Strauss' Fledermaus". It is a contrapuntal piece, though it has nothing to do with fugues or Bach &Co. It just means that he first develops Strauss' tunes by bending and misshaping them to his heart's desire, and then he combines all of them -- running independent of each other in rhythm and contours -- into just two hands (or is it six hands like in this video -- that would explain a lot ).
It is not a fun piece to play ( oh no!) -- it is a supremely fun piece to play with . Don't try it at home though :)
To put all of it in perspective , and to give us all a reality check -- here is a delightful story . Joseph Hoffmann ( who is one of my absolutely favorite pianists and heroes ) overheard Godowsky working on composing this piece , when he was his guest. Next week he performed it, every note and such -- with no mistakes. The piece was not yet written down! What can I say? OMG I can only take solace in knowing Hoffmann was a lousy sight-reader.... LOL :)
PS. Just for the record , this piece happens to be a perfect example of so-called jeu perlé technique : light , detached finger staccato technique , with each note separated like pearls on a string ...

  • likes, 13 dislikes

Link to this comment:

Share to:

Top Comments

  • I bet she typed the description for this video in less than 10 seconds with hands like that. :P

  • at 3:28, it reminds me debussy's isle joyeuse!

see all

All Comments (309)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • I could watch this all day, and the next day, and...

  • OMG the jumps you did with your left hand ! Do you make sometimes mistakes ?

  • Beautiful playing! Have you played any Sorabji?

  • Just beautiful! I mean, I couldn't probably tell the difference between impressive and impressive-sounding piano, but it's nonetheless beautiful.

  • @ValentinaLisitsa Incredible and breath-taking sounds! But, I think the TRUE world's fastest pianist is Cyprien Katsaris! Watch his J.S.Bach: BWV565 (his own transcription to piano!)

  • You continue to be my hero....this is amazing. The cameras are not fast enough to capture it!

  • @sternumagnum The artist name is Valentina Lisitsa. Logged in my youtube account just so you could know what to look for when searching for a great GREAT piano genius. (:

  • Just as brilliant as always, Valentina! :)

  • No artist's name in the video clip description ?

Loading...

Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more