RARE: Young Shostakovich Playing end of op.35 (1940?)

Facts established about this video so far:

Pianist: Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Trumpeter: Leonid Yuriev (1913-1971)
Conductor: Maybe Aleksandr Gauk (1893-1963)
Orchestra: Probably Leningrad Philharmonic
Venue: Moscow Conservatory "Great Hall"
Date: This info suggests it is 1940: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZhtbQh1s28

Piano: Bechstein, E270. Year Built: ?

(Thanks to everyone whose comments helped in establishing some of these facts. Please, keep them coming.)


Original Note:

This is the famous surviving video of young Shostakovich playing his first piano concerto. Footage is from 1934 or 1935 (I don't know for sure (I remember hearing about those years, but if anyone knows for sure, please let me know) -- definitely not on or before this concerto's premiere on October 15th, 1933, which happened at the Leningrad Philharmonic Hall). This performance is from Moscow Conservatory's Bol'shoi Zal.
We get to hear the very end of that performance (starting with the piano cadenza) - the only footage that, supposedly, survives.
Video and audio was taken from a DVD of a movie called "Sonata for Viola".
In that movie (and most likely the way the original footage was put together) most of concerto video doesn't coincide with audio and audio is played too fast (resulting in a raised pitch).
So, I corrected as much as I could.
(The frame rate of this video is 28.534 fps, and it seems to work fine after upload).

There is even one place (towards the end of the final "stride" cadenza) where the video footage seems to have come from a different performance! (maybe a rehearsal). He hits (wrong) notes that cannot be heard on the audio. (So I tweaked it a bit there).

Either way, enjoy it.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• shostakovich
• piano
• pianist
• music
• concerto
• op.35
• no.1
• 1934
• old
• b&w
• orchestra
• virtuoso
• documentary
• russia
• leningrad
• rare

[piedijon]

He goes super fast - I think so fast that he couldn't play the huge octave jumps during the B flat section of the last passage right before the final repeated C major chords. If you look at his left arm, there is no way that is what it is doing. Just an interesting observation. I love this video...

[a1s2d3f4g5q1w2e3]

@piedijon Not only looking at the left arm, but simply hearing the fact that he is not playing those octaves...Somewhat reminiscent of Scriabin writing this difficult left hand in the last movement of Sonata No.3 and then himself playing the simplified version.

[Kirasiah]

@piedijon Don't forget that in that time the movie and the audio were faster than what it were in reality.

[a1s2d3f4g5q1w2e3]

@Kirasiah This video is pitch/speed corrected to be "like reality".

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

@piedijon this is sped up

[a1s2d3f4g5q1w2e3]

@newFranzFerencLiszt

It's the speed at which Shostakovich played it in that concert. As the original post explains, I corrected the footage to make sure of that.

[SuperLuckydream]

No matter how much i watched the performance before, every time i feel respect and admiration

[Ralph95Mind]

Shostakovich rocks ! :3 And he's so handsome ! ^^

[pablito2molina]

Excelente esta versión, es el Concierto para piano y orquesta en C menor Op. 35 de Shostakovich, ejecutado por él mismo, wow

[lewars1912]

Fascinating.

[Rwthless1]

Yes, it was fast, but his musicality really shone through. Some foretaste of his later pleasure in Jazz. He doesn't play any jazz, but there was that 'jamming' sensation that I found very attractive.

A really great composer and performer.

[mirkojorgovic]

OK,SCRIABINE and SHOSTAKOVICH where good pianists, alongside PROKOFIEV and RAVEL; S.RICHTER was beter pianist-only, but he can not imagine NEWS,he was not able to composing; S.RACHMANINOFF represented tradition of 18th and 19th century as great pianist+composer;

[vignetique]

Great! but it's not rare anymore.

[vignetique]

Great! but it's not rare anymore.

[amz392]

In your face Justin Beiber !!

Back when people used to think before and during composing a masterpiece...

[AfroPoli]

Man, this is fantastic. DSCH playing the best part of this concerto like a God, live and on video. I love youtube. Thanks for the posting!