I have seen this video at least 20 times, it is just incredible the way Benedetti plays this sonata, the fluidity of his fingers, the precision of his technic, and the beauty of his rendition...just out of this world.
Impression de grande légèreté. Tout s'envole avec facilité et vélocité. C'est magnifique, un peu rapide pour une oreille ordinaire. Merci de cette vidéo.
i love this interpretation since long time. its truely masterful... there is something magic with this particular recording of him who cannot be explained or achieved.. everyone who criticises his interpretation should try to play this piece in such a way and he will find out how great michelangeli really is..the magic is in the details and the flow of his playing.
The sustain pedal is the heart of this sonata... ABM is creating the heartbeat with his every rhythmic tapping of the sustain pedal- he manages to tap it every time right on the pulse of beat and establishes a "flow". It breaths life into every note of the piece... This is the key to the magic of how he plays this piece... But ABM is an alchemist... To master him you would have to isolate all the infinite subtleties that he fuses into every fiber of a given piece he plays... And the forces in which he draws from in his playing can't be isolated, so all those little gem pieces of his puzzle just never come together to and sound as magical and alive as it does in his hands... He's an enigma and so is his playing`1
It's a bit silly to equate speed with lack of expressivity, or vice versa, or to qualify any musical interpretation on the basis of tempo alone. There is an Emil Gilels version on youtube, which I love, which others would accuse of being too slow. In Michelangeli's case, saying the music is "destroyed" and "not speaking" because it's "too fast" is aural myopia, pure and simple. There's a lot going on there, precise and beautiful detailing, joy itself.
I agree entirely. My own preference for listening would be this one or even better the one by Jack Gibbons (for the better sound recording) as it clearly brings out the structure of the piece and the wonderful falling melodic line.
i agree.I think so many people equate a piece played slower as being more musical and not simply listening.I guess everyone has thier own opinion and thats ok.
and to all those who says something about the tempo - scarlatti was known to be a very impressive virtuoso. Roseingrave (a composer) wrote after a concert „Ihm sei gewesen, als ob zehn Mal Hundert Teufel gesessen wären, nie zuvor hatte er ein derart hinreißendes Spiel gehört.“ that doesn’t sound like slow tempo :)
No question a sort of mainstream is often stating some absolute truths after great classical soloists and no doubt an army of fanboys just follow the "unique thinkng" with little or no clue what they're talking about. Actually a few "out of the choir" comments are out there about the two renditions by B.M. currently available on YT. I wouldn't be arguing "the way" he does play for I'd rather be mainly focused on my personal feeling and enjoyment when listening to B.Michelangeli other than Pletnev or any other soloist. I'd also like to highlight that the same pianist could be extremely entertaining when playing Chopin as like as truly disappointing when performing Bach (just an example),hence it seems to me a bit too daring expressing firm absolute ratings on the whole artistic figure.
Michelangeli was an incredible performer and musician. But i'm amazed that no one listener has the suspect that the video is runnig faster. The sonata is an exercise , indeed, and is written with the indication Allegro for the tempo. Is enough observe the hands ande the keys and the sound to perceive that the video is accelerated. The hands plays correctly in Si or B minor on the keyboard but the sound is in Do or B minor If you adjust the pitch at the original key, (with Audacity or a simple audio application) you got the real time of Michelangeli's execution. Marco Guadagnini, Rome
When this was shown in "the art of piano" I thought I could do this, as K27 is not as brutal as K24, and I did play Chopin 10 2 at speed, but the clarity and eveness at this speed is very, very difficult indeed!
Il filmato è leggermente accelerato. Lo si vede dal movimento delle mani e anche dal suono , il pianoforte sembra accordato di quasi un semitono eccedente.
Susan S. Hedges that’s because this one’s a little out of tune, this is between b min and c min. And there’s a bit more reverb in this one. I like both versions :)
Generally speaking, Michelangeli tends to play a little slower on most pieces, but this one, he is simply the fastest, fast on a slower with the pace faster than Chopin's etudes.
Fast, was it? The sonata is marked Allegro and I think Michelangeli rendered it appropriately taking only slight retards where he wanted to emphasize certain transitions; it doesn't ever really sound hurried, but rolls along at a nice clip in three-beat time. Now, if it were played at around the tempo you're suggesting... I'm not sure its character would reflect what Scarlatti suggested when he marked it Allegro.
Faster that anybody, and adds a chord at the end.....the problem is that Michelangeli's approach sounds so good that he recreated this piece into his own piece.
@ Gorgiadilentini I still think if the video was slowed down to the right speed it would still be pretty fast. It would interesting to try that actually.
You're right. I also noticed that the color was different - in fact the film runs fast so it's effectively in C minor. Here's the ABM version sounding in B minor:ruclips.net/video/3FiZc7kbrWw/видео.html
I normally apreciate Michelangeli's playing, but this piece is simply too great and beautiful to be played this fast. Everything gets lost at this tempo.
I prefer this one! By far! To me it is speaking in the greater context. I heard it once played in concert very slow and I couldn't stand it. It is not Chopin
Yes--fast, a tor de force, so clear and articulated well. I PREFER a bit slower tempo; this music can bear this speed and still be 'musical'. A silly always personal bias argument anyway...
Anarquía en la elección de las tomas ¿de que sirve mostrar los apagadores de las cuerdas? Momentos desenfocados...mal...mal...deberían haber mostrado más sus manos
H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. In Scarlatti's times Allegro did not mean speed but moos. This is a massacre. A l'epoque de Scarlatti Allegro ne siginfiait pas un Tempo mais une atmosphere , un caractere. Quelle horreur.
When I first heard this version many years ago I thought it was the Bee's Knees. I thought it was wonderful. In the years since then I have improved as a musician and as a pianist. Now it sounds like someone showing off how fast they can play with no regard for the music. There is nothing clever about playing so fast that it destroys the music, no matter how amazing your technique might be. To be blunt I have changed my opinion by 180 degrees. I now think that this is an awful performance. In fact I hate it. And while I am whingeing, why did no-one bother to clean the keyboard before making a video in which it features?
I'd love to hear your interpretation in comparison. Publish it on your RUclips Channel, post a link in this video's comment section. We'll be the judge!
![How to Play Scarlatti | Sonata in B minor K.27 [Tutorial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zt7W9vqrsO8/mqdefault.jpg)
I have seen this video at least 20 times, it is just incredible the way Benedetti plays this sonata, the fluidity of his fingers, the precision of his technic, and the beauty of his rendition...just out of this world.
I agree, definitely!
Precisely
His brilliant playing is matched by the brilliant filming and editing. It's one of the best films of piano playing!
so true.. this recording has something magic.. i saw this video 20 years ago and it never left my mind. rewatched it dozens of times
Please reupload this in better quality
I think this is the best version of this wonderful Sonata. Michelangeli was a true Master!
This is the most fascinating piano video ever
Perfect. Aristocratic and restrained yet stately and expressive.
Questa rappresentazione di Michelangeli e' pura perfezione! Se si parla di perfezione al piano si parla di Michelangeli!! Superbo!
Restrained yet expressive. Complete mastery through combination of technique and freedom of expression.
his face says "NAILED IT" at the end. priceless.
Impression de grande légèreté. Tout s'envole avec facilité et vélocité. C'est magnifique, un peu rapide pour une oreille ordinaire. Merci de cette vidéo.
2:14 - 2:18 Unbelievable work with his pinky. The greatest interpretation by far.
Assolutamente meraviglioso!
Fantastic version.
Simply Beautiful ...
i love this interpretation since long time. its truely masterful... there is something magic with this particular recording of him who cannot be explained or achieved.. everyone who criticises his interpretation should try to play this piece in such a way and he will find out how great michelangeli really is..the magic is in the details and the flow of his playing.
Fantastic!
This amazing video is a great help to understand how he used the sustain pedal in this performance! Great help
The sustain pedal is the heart of this sonata... ABM is creating the heartbeat with his every rhythmic tapping of the sustain pedal- he manages to tap it every time right on the pulse of beat and establishes a "flow". It breaths life into every note of the piece... This is the key to the magic of how he plays this piece...
But ABM is an alchemist... To master him you would have to isolate all the infinite subtleties that he fuses into every fiber of a given piece he plays... And the forces in which he draws from in his playing can't be isolated, so all those little gem pieces of his puzzle just never come together to and sound as magical and alive as it does in his hands...
He's an enigma and so is his playing`1
brilliant !!!!!!!!!!
Exquisite. Purely amazing.
meraviglioso!
Etonnante interprétation ❤ tellement légère que l'on dirait une source qui coule. Amazing ❤❤❤👍👍👍👏👏👏
It's a bit silly to equate speed with lack of expressivity, or vice versa, or to qualify any musical interpretation on the basis of tempo alone. There is an Emil Gilels version on youtube, which I love, which others would accuse of being too slow. In Michelangeli's case, saying the music is "destroyed" and "not speaking" because it's "too fast" is aural myopia, pure and simple. There's a lot going on there, precise and beautiful detailing, joy itself.
I agree entirely. My own preference for listening would be this one or even better the one by Jack Gibbons (for the better sound recording) as it clearly brings out the structure of the piece and the wonderful falling melodic line.
i agree.I think so many people equate a piece played slower as being more musical and not simply listening.I guess everyone has thier own opinion and thats ok.
You couldn't have put it better!
Scarlatti y Michelangeli místicos
and to all those who says something about the tempo - scarlatti was known to be a very impressive virtuoso. Roseingrave (a composer) wrote after a concert „Ihm sei gewesen, als ob zehn Mal Hundert Teufel gesessen wären, nie zuvor hatte er ein derart hinreißendes Spiel gehört.“
that doesn’t sound like slow tempo :)
The best
Non so se Dio esiste, ma di sicuro si è affacciato un attimo.
Scarlatti on fire 🔥
It is funny how noone dares to argue Michelangeli's way of playing :D
No question a sort of mainstream is often stating some absolute truths after great classical
soloists and no doubt an army of fanboys just
follow the "unique thinkng" with little or no clue what they're talking about.
Actually a few "out of the choir" comments are
out there about the two renditions by B.M.
currently available on YT.
I wouldn't be arguing "the way" he does play
for I'd rather be mainly focused on my personal feeling and enjoyment when listening to B.Michelangeli other than Pletnev or any other soloist.
I'd also like to highlight that the same pianist
could be extremely entertaining when playing
Chopin as like as truly disappointing when
performing Bach (just an example),hence it seems to me a bit too daring expressing firm
absolute ratings on the whole artistic figure.
Michelangeli was an incredible performer and musician. But i'm amazed that no one listener has the suspect that the video is runnig faster. The sonata is an exercise , indeed, and is written with the indication Allegro for the tempo. Is enough observe the hands ande the keys and the sound to perceive that the video is accelerated. The hands plays correctly in Si or B minor on the keyboard but the sound is in Do or B minor If you adjust the pitch at the original key, (with Audacity or a simple audio application) you got the real time of Michelangeli's execution.
Marco Guadagnini, Rome
Astounding! No one can play this way. Impossible! But true.
Perfino le mani sono perfette.
La visione del sommo Michelangeli crea dipendenza, mi sa.
It always amazes me how a lesser mortal like me could nitpick this superb artist!
Belleza y perfección!
Sublime❤️❤️❤️
When this was shown in "the art of piano" I thought I could do this, as K27 is not as brutal as K24, and I did play Chopin 10 2 at speed, but the clarity and eveness at this speed is very, very difficult indeed!
Il filmato è leggermente accelerato. Lo si vede dal movimento delle mani e anche dal suono , il pianoforte sembra accordato di quasi un semitono eccedente.
Genius
There's a later one from 1962 that's just a wonderful but a little more clear. I still like this one best!
Susan S. Hedges that’s because this one’s a little out of tune, this is between b min and c min. And there’s a bit more reverb in this one.
I like both versions :)
C'est juste... Magnifique ♥
J'aimerai l'apprendre celle la :)
Bravurní provedení celé sonáty,jak po stránce technické,tak zvukové.
baroque tuning was A415, about a half step lower than we're used to, so it sounded Bb-ish.
Generally speaking, Michelangeli tends to play a little slower on most pieces, but this one, he is simply the fastest, fast on a slower with the pace faster than Chopin's etudes.
Fast, was it? The sonata is marked Allegro and I think Michelangeli rendered it appropriately taking only slight retards where he wanted to emphasize certain transitions; it doesn't ever really sound hurried, but rolls along at a nice clip in three-beat time.
Now, if it were played at around the tempo you're suggesting... I'm not sure its character would reflect what Scarlatti suggested when he marked it Allegro.
Faster that anybody, and adds a chord at the end.....the problem is that Michelangeli's approach sounds so good that he recreated this piece into his own piece.
💚
❤
@ Gorgiadilentini
I still think if the video was slowed down to the right speed it would still be pretty fast.
It would interesting to try that actually.
amazing
🏆
Either the video has been sped up or he is playing in C♯
🦁
Ah so after having to settle for the reflection inside the lid we get to see one third of his face at the end. All very art house.
agree.
It sings like no other recording or artist I've heard playing this
@Ellinidara i believe its insuperable.. unsuperable unfortunately is not a word
Probably Michelangeli would happened to play the piece very fast, but he is NEVER a showman. Please listen to other performances of him.
Is this in B Minor? Sounds different that usual but for the best!
You're right. I also noticed that the color was different - in fact the film runs fast so it's effectively in C minor. Here's the ABM version sounding in B minor:ruclips.net/video/3FiZc7kbrWw/видео.html
I normally apreciate Michelangeli's playing, but this piece is simply too great and beautiful to be played this fast. Everything gets lost at this tempo.
yup. Actually I don't normally think much of him.
I prefer this one! By far! To me it is speaking in the greater context. I heard it once played in concert very slow and I couldn't stand it. It is not Chopin
I totally agree
VCguitar1 i love michelangeli but i preferenze ghilels .. anyway both are fantastic piano player
I wholeheartedly disagree. This piece is even greater at this tempo. It feel “lazy” to me to listen to it slower after hearing this version.
Michelangeli campeón
Amici giù il cappello...come già disse qualcuno (Robert Schumann) presentando Chopin.
Yes--fast, a tor de force, so clear and articulated well.
I PREFER a bit slower tempo; this music can bear this speed and still be 'musical'. A silly always personal bias argument anyway...
Very stylish and I'm pretty sure that's what Scarlatti himself wants, although I think the piece deserves a slower tempo.
This is in C minor not in B, of course it seems too fast
@Iamagorilla no I wouldn't, that ring carries elemental powers... thanks for the reminder ;-)
Anarquía en la elección de las tomas ¿de que sirve mostrar los apagadores de las cuerdas? Momentos desenfocados...mal...mal...deberían haber mostrado más sus manos
'lesser mortal'. Probably just as mortal as he was
For my modest opinion it seems too fast
Ogni volta che vedo questa esecuzione mi chiedo se Lui fosse veramente umano.
he would definitely pass grade 8.... learning this piece now arrrghhh
The Osteopath nah he would fail, thats the problem with exams
Dammit they changed my profile to have my name showing without my persmission
Exquisite technique ,but this feels rushed
The cuts at 2:10 XD
A very gd player,he played a bit fast but very gd!!
Technically admirable but way too fast in my opinion.
This exagerated velocity takes away all the beauty from this piece.
It's an allegro not a presto !!
Sounds like a 33t record tuned on 78t... great virtuosity anyway.
This video is sped up so obviously that even the tonality changes!
@gainweighttoday No, are u surprised? Look at that fu*king pinky ring on his left hand? Would u risk it? :)
sorry
H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. In Scarlatti's times Allegro did not mean speed but moos. This is a massacre. A l'epoque de Scarlatti Allegro ne siginfiait pas un Tempo mais une atmosphere , un caractere. Quelle horreur.
これが、スカルラッティか？？ちゃう思うけど。しかし、旧式の指使いやな。
To fast.
知恵袋から
too fast. of course, it's an amazing technique, bu the music is not speaking.
+Bethany Winham No...it's dancing!
Michelangeli is a great interpreter of Scarlatti, but for this piece I must say I prefer Gilels.
Are you talking about his drip slow version?
Tooooooo damn fast ugh!
It's just a crime what he's done to the fine piece of work which Scarlatti's K27 is !
His repertoire was very limited for a pianist of his calibre unfortunately
When I first heard this version many years ago I thought it was the Bee's Knees. I thought it was wonderful. In the years since then I have improved as a musician and as a pianist. Now it sounds like someone showing off how fast they can play with no regard for the music. There is nothing clever about playing so fast that it destroys the music, no matter how amazing your technique might be. To be blunt I have changed my opinion by 180 degrees. I now think that this is an awful performance. In fact I hate it.
And while I am whingeing, why did no-one bother to clean the keyboard before making a video in which it features?
I'd love to hear your interpretation in comparison. Publish it on your RUclips Channel, post a link in this video's comment section.
We'll be the judge!
che fretta,doveva scappare per un altro impegno?Va bene che è un allegro ma....
Il video e' accelerato, infatti.. Dimmi se questo e' un si minore!
Non credo che il video sia accelerato...devi tenere conto che è anche una registrazione abbastanza vecchia
Andrea M. non credo sia accelerato. in un altra versione del '62 stacca il medesimo tempo
HOLY CRAP TOO FAST TOO FAST
...daktilograf...
It is NOT THAT easy