I am speechless; Yuan Sheng's recordings of Chopin's music are astoundingly beautiful. His tone color, lyricism, poetry, richness of sound, and technical command of the instrument are second to none, as his ability to deliver a convincing performance. In my opinion, he ranks among the greats and deserves much more recognition by music lovers and the general public. He is nothing short of a master at his craft. I am glad to have had the chance to work with him in a masterclass at age 15 (a decade ago).
I knew his work on Bach's Partitas and I was enchanted with the complexity of his interpretatios. Each detail is observed. In Chopin, he did the same!!
I thoroughly enjoy Yuan Sheng's performances of Bach's Partitas and French Suites everyday. Im only discovering this one today. His attention to historical interpretation brings the music to life. Hearing him play Chopin on a 19th-century piano adds another layer of authenticity. What a great and spirited performance! I wish we could see live concerts of him...
Oh so beautifully played. Yuan Sheng, you deserve to be up there with Lang Lang and Yuja Wang, two of your fellow countrymen and countrywomen, in terms of being recognized by the world.
My jaw was dropping during the whole outer sections of the Op 48 No. 2 Nocturne! Sheng managed to elicit the perfect Pleyel tone, akin, in my ears, to a drizzling rain. The pp / ppp in the Op 48 No. 1 and Op. 62 No. 2 Nocturnes (without the true una corda of fortepianos of the earlier 19th) is also incredible! If my memory serves me, I believe Sheng recorded this at the Frederick Historical Piano collection in Ashburnham, Massachusetts
This young Chinese piano player has a bright future as a concert performer. His technique is faultless to my naïve ear, but I can feel the music, the sense of timing, the containment. No demagoguery here. The use of a Pleyel 1845 piano is a fine touch, as this was most likely the kind of piano Chopin played. The sonority of Pleyel, that is perhaps not very popular nowadays, resonates splendidly with Chopin music and his romantic period. I just heard the prelude number 2, a particularly introspective and difficult piece. Ingrid Bergman in the movie "Autumn Sonata" describes it as one of: "These terrible preludes". This is a movie by Ingmar Bergman where Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman play the same prelude 2 (played in real life by the Swedish pianist Kabi Loretei) in a movie sequence. Another prelude (Raindrops) is heard in the Van Gogh dream of Akira Kurosawa's film "Dreams". Yuan Sheng give both preludes a surreal, tense, magic, deeply suffering atmosphere. Thanks for posting.
Whether he knew it or not, Chopin, like all great artists, also suffered for all kindred, sensitive souls. He let us know that we are not alone, and therein lies much of the appeal of his superlative music.
This is a truly fine performance by this young pianist. I confess that the music of Chopin has not moved me, in general, as strongly as has the work of other composers. However, this presentation makes me realize that both a certain sensibility - technically & emotionally realized here by Yuan Sheng - & a specific sound of the instrument, this Pleyel 1845, convey a musical intention that is indeed moving: an expressive purity that is hard to describe. For my ear, even the great Steinways of today overwhelm something in Chopin's compositions, that we find here simply revealed. Thanks to all.
He’s no longer young. He’s now a professor of piano at the most prestigious conservatory in China. But I do wish that he gets invited to play in major concert halls around the world.
This is music I've heard many, many times, played by great masters. But I'm quite taken by Yuan Sheng's playing, and by the sound of that Pleyel. Quite transfixed.
The sound of this piano reminds me of an upright. Not that I have anything against uprights, they have their own character and charm. Wouldn't mind owning one...
He recorded with a Pleyel piano from 1845, the piano during Chopin's era. It has a similar yet distinctly different sound to the modern grand. Yet, I cannot help be amazed by the absolutely amazing command of the instrument and tone color he brings out.
¿Qué decir después de leer los comentarios de especialistas? Creo que es muy original utilizar un piano de la época de Chopin. Como sugiere uno de los comentaristas, sería interesante escuchar una misma pieza con un piano actual para comparar sonoridad. El contenido musical no se alteraría, que es lo fundamental. Gracias por tan buena música y tan excelente pianista. R.
Many people including myself consider Steinway pianos to be the best, but has Steinway, in a way, 'colonised our ears' by dominating our perception of what a piano should sound like?
The playing reflects Yuan’s deep involvement with Bach, and the Pleyel, despite tuning issues, lends itself to the transparency of texture and intimacy of communication which is ideal for Chopin.
Interpretazione molto calibrata della prima Ballata, non originalissima ma sicuramente espressiva e pertinente; il suono del Pleyel d' epoca ha ovviamente un suo profondo fascino, essendo Pleyel il marchio prediletto dall' Autore, anche se il timbro sembra in questo caso inclinare più all' ovattato che all' argentino... La meccanica di questi antichi strumenti viceversa non aiuta l' abitudine odierna al virtuosismo trascendentale, ma questo è un altro punto di discussione, che poco c' entra nel caso di una simile scelta strumentale. Grazie per l' interessante produzione, che mi riascoltero' con calma.
The sound of the piano is pretty peculiar, which piano was used for this recording? It sounds like a piano from the style of the ones at the beginning of XX century.
Superb playing. Very poor choice of a piano. IMO, Chopin (and most other composers of the past) would embrace the modern piano were they here today and it is idle speculation to think that they might have done otherwise. Similarly, do you think that the Wright brother would rather fly in an airplane like the one that they built or in a modern jet? A composer/pianist of Chopin's stature could have a piano built according to his own specifications, as Barenboim did with Steinway & Sons.
@@excelsior999 Steinway is such a powerful and colorful piano with a very rich timbre, since very long ago. this is NOT the piano Chopin had in mind when he wrote his pieces. that's why they made this recording on a period instrument. It is very important to be aware of how Chopin's piece sound on a Pleyel (very sweet tone with none of power) to make it sound like this on a contemporary Steinway nowadays.
@@LuisKolodin I repeat - If Chopin were composing these pieces today he would play them on a Steinway. A master pianist with sufficient knowledge and experience can master a modern piano without being overwhelmed by it. It is interesting and instructive to hear a Playel (or other such instrument) being played for the benefit of students in a conservatory or for the general public in a museum setting - but on a concert stage or on a commercial recording which hopes to attract a wide audience? I don't think so.
Is it my imagination or does the Maestro add his own embellishments, Earl Wild-style? Personally, I love them....but except for Horowitz' "Great Gate of Kiev" and some Volodos, I've never heard it before.
Horowitz claimed that Chopin never played any of his compositions the same way twice, and Horowitz used that quote to justify adding his own touches to some pieces (when he wasn't hitting wrong notes).
@@excelsior999 -- You were on a roll until the "wrong notes" aspersion. Even Mighty Richter hit wrong notes....and Weissenberg too right at the very end of the Rakh 2.......
@@excelsior999 -- "At least stating it"?? You trivialize your own misdemeanor with shameless nonchalance leaving others to suffer its repercussion. Now, indeed, you SHOULD press the point...if only to articulate what possible motive you had to inflict that level of gratuitous emotional distress.
this piano is simply too old. it sounds like a fortepiano. there are better Playels to record this repertoire... despite that, the playing is AMAZING!! sometimes I even forget what a horrible piano this is... ! (you could have used the Pleyel Hiroko Sasaki used to play Debussy... it is not the PLeyel Chopin could have used, but sounds much better)
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Tracklist:
0:00:00 Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23
0:09:40 Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38
0:17:13 Ballade No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op. 47
0:24:50 Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
0:36:14 Impromptu No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 29
0:40:20 Impromptu No. 2 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 36
0:45:34 Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 51
0:51:08 Impromptu No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
0:56:16 Prelude No. 1 in C Major, Op. 28
0:56:57 Prelude No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 28
0:58:57 Prelude No. 3 in G Major, Op. 28
0:59:57 Prelude No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 28
1:01:48 Prelude No. 5 in D Major, Op. 28
1:02:25 Prelude No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 28
1:04:19 Prelude No. 7 in A Major, Op. 28
1:05:07 Prelude No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 28
1:06:53 Prelude No. 9 in E Major, Op. 28
1:08:07 Prelude No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 28
1:08:40 Prelude No. 11 in B Major, Op. 28
1:09:20 Prelude No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 28
1:10:37 Prelude No. 13 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 28
1:13:49 Prelude No. 14 in E-Flat Minor, Op. 28
1:14:26 Prelude No. 15 in D-Flat Major, Op. 28
1:19:42 Prelude No. 16 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 28
1:20:52 Prelude No. 17 in A-Flat Major, Op. 28
1:24:06 Prelude No. 18 in F Minor, Op. 28
1:25:11 Prelude No. 19 in E-Flat Major, Op. 28
1:26:30 Prelude No. 20 in C Minor, Op. 28
1:28:22 Prelude No. 21 in B-Flat Major, Op. 28
1:30:17 Prelude No. 22 in G Minor, Op. 28
1:31:12 Prelude No. 23 in F Major, Op. 28
1:32:14 Prelude No. 24 in D Minor, Op. 28
1:35:07 Nocturne No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9
1:40:37 Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 9
1:45:12 Nocturne No. 3 in B Major, Op. 9
1:51:53 Nocturne No. 1 in F Major, Op. 15
1:56:23 Nocturne No. 2 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15
1:59:57 Nocturne No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 15
2:04:03 Nocturne No. 1 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27
2:08:44 Nocturne No. 2 in D-Flat Major, Op. 27
2:14:14 Nocturne No. 1 in B Major, Op. 32
2:18:42 Nocturne No. 2 in A-Flat Major, Op. 32
2:24:07 Nocturne No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 37
2:30:21 Nocturne No. 2 in G Major, Op. 37
2:36:24 Nocturne No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 48
2:42:33 Nocturne No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 48
2:49:36 Nocturne No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 55
2:55:01 Nocturne No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55
3:00:00 Nocturne No. 1 in B Major, Op. 62
3:06:53 Nocturne No. 2 in E Major, Op. 62
3:12:47 Nocturne No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 72
3:17:04 Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Posth.
2
Un grand merci à vous aussi 👏
I am speechless; Yuan Sheng's recordings of Chopin's music are astoundingly beautiful. His tone color, lyricism, poetry, richness of sound, and technical command of the instrument are second to none, as his ability to deliver a convincing performance.
In my opinion, he ranks among the greats and deserves much more recognition by music lovers and the general public. He is nothing short of a master at his craft. I am glad to have had the chance to work with him in a masterclass at age 15 (a decade ago).
A highly underrated pianist. Yuan Sheng never fails to surprise me with his interpretations.
I knew his work on Bach's Partitas and I was enchanted with the complexity of his interpretatios. Each detail is observed. In Chopin, he did the same!!
I thoroughly enjoy Yuan Sheng's performances of Bach's Partitas and French Suites everyday. Im only discovering this one today. His attention to historical interpretation brings the music to life. Hearing him play Chopin on a 19th-century piano adds another layer of authenticity. What a great and spirited performance! I wish we could see live concerts of him...
Oh so beautifully played. Yuan Sheng, you deserve to be up there with Lang Lang and Yuja Wang, two of your fellow countrymen and countrywomen, in terms of being recognized by the world.
盛原，男，享誉国际的中国钢琴家。他出生于北京的一个音乐家庭，父亲盛明亮为小提琴家，母亲吴文俊为钢琴家，均曾任职于北京中央乐团。盛原五岁开始随母亲学习钢琴，后在中央音乐学院师从于李其芳、李惠莉以及周广仁诸教授。1991年作为所罗门·米考夫斯基教授的奖学金学生赴美，在纽约曼哈顿音乐学院深造，并获得音乐学士和硕士学位。盛原曾在多位著名音乐家的大师班上演奏，计有安妮·费舍尔、傅聪、拜伦·詹宁斯以及乔奇·桑多尔。盛原于2005年起在中央音乐学院钢琴系任副教授。曾先后在20多个国家和地区举办独奏会、协奏曲及室内乐演出。获得多项荣誉奖章。
盛原可与著名小提琴家盛中国有血统关系？
@@PS-kd1if 没有吧，不太清楚。
My jaw was dropping during the whole outer sections of the Op 48 No. 2 Nocturne! Sheng managed to elicit the perfect Pleyel tone, akin, in my ears, to a drizzling rain. The pp / ppp in the Op 48 No. 1 and Op. 62 No. 2 Nocturnes (without the true una corda of fortepianos of the earlier 19th) is also incredible!
If my memory serves me, I believe Sheng recorded this at the Frederick Historical Piano collection in Ashburnham, Massachusetts
This young Chinese piano player has a bright future as a concert performer. His technique is faultless to my naïve ear, but I can feel the music, the sense of timing, the containment. No demagoguery here. The use of a Pleyel 1845 piano is a fine touch, as this was most likely the kind of piano Chopin played. The sonority of Pleyel, that is perhaps not very popular nowadays, resonates splendidly with Chopin music and his romantic period. I just heard the prelude number 2, a particularly introspective and difficult piece. Ingrid Bergman in the movie "Autumn Sonata" describes it as one of: "These terrible preludes". This is a movie by Ingmar Bergman where Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman play the same prelude 2 (played in real life by the Swedish pianist Kabi Loretei) in a movie sequence. Another prelude (Raindrops) is heard in the Van Gogh dream of Akira Kurosawa's film "Dreams". Yuan Sheng give both preludes a surreal, tense, magic, deeply suffering atmosphere. Thanks for posting.
Sometimes I can only groan, and suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano!
Frederic Chopin
great quote!
Whether he knew it or not, Chopin, like all great artists, also suffered for all kindred, sensitive souls. He let us know that we are not alone, and therein lies much of the appeal of his superlative music.
Che gran esecuzione e il rispetto del suono, come da tradizione orientale... grazie Sheng..!
De tout coeur MERCI
Marvelous performance, one of the best I have ever heard. Thank you.
This is a truly fine performance by this young pianist. I confess that the music of Chopin has not moved me, in general, as strongly as has the work of other composers. However, this presentation makes me realize that both a certain sensibility - technically & emotionally realized here by Yuan Sheng - & a specific sound of the instrument, this Pleyel 1845, convey a musical intention that is indeed moving: an expressive purity that is hard to describe. For my ear, even the great Steinways of today overwhelm something in Chopin's compositions, that we find here simply revealed. Thanks to all.
You're so right, about the piano and about Yuan Sheng.
He’s no longer young. He’s now a professor of piano at the most prestigious conservatory in China. But I do wish that he gets invited to play in major concert halls around the world.
Truly aetherial sound. So beautiful.
TOTALLY AMAZING PERFORMANCE !!!!! ❤
아름다운 피아노 연주곡 잘 들었습니다~감사합니다~🎵🎹🌿🍀☘🌹🌹☘🍀🌿❤❤
This is music I've heard many, many times, played by great masters. But I'm quite taken by Yuan Sheng's playing, and by the sound of that Pleyel. Quite transfixed.
what a gem
Fabulous, delightful, thank you so much for posting. 👍👍👍👍🌹🌹🌹🌹💋💋💋💋🍾🍾🥂🥂
goosebumps!
Wonderful!!
Happy Valentines Day 😀💘💋🍫🍓🍒💝💕🌹💌🌄
4:44 when you hear the violin...
The sound of this piano reminds me of an upright. Not that I have anything against uprights, they have their own character and charm. Wouldn't mind owning one...
ya.. i call it out of tune
It's actually 175 years old, if that's what Pleyel 1845 means on the cover. So not bad all things considered
He recorded with a Pleyel piano from 1845, the piano during Chopin's era. It has a similar yet distinctly different sound to the modern grand. Yet, I cannot help be amazed by the absolutely amazing command of the instrument and tone color he brings out.
19th Century composer- 19th century piano. Awesome!!
Bella música! , emocional el Pianista 👒
Lovely music ❤️
😳 MERCI 💖💝 YUAN SHENG !!!
I like this amazing sound of the piano.. 😊
¿Qué decir después de leer los comentarios de especialistas? Creo que es muy original utilizar un piano de la época de Chopin. Como sugiere uno de los comentaristas, sería interesante escuchar una misma pieza con un piano actual para comparar sonoridad. El contenido musical no se alteraría, que es lo fundamental. Gracias por tan buena música y tan excelente pianista. R.
The whole point of playing this early piano is that it is contemporary with Chopin d'uh you people criticising it 😂
Many people including myself consider Steinway pianos to be the best, but has Steinway, in a way, 'colonised our ears' by dominating our perception of what a piano should sound like?
FREE MUSIC FREE TIME TRAVEL FREE MUSICIAN OF FIRST CLASS FREE EMOTIONS FREE TEARS
FREE COMENT
The playing reflects Yuan’s deep involvement with Bach, and the Pleyel, despite tuning issues, lends itself to the transparency of texture and intimacy of communication which is ideal for Chopin.
😳 ❣️ MERCI 💝 YUAN SHENG
Interpretazione molto calibrata della prima Ballata, non originalissima ma sicuramente espressiva e pertinente; il suono del Pleyel d' epoca ha ovviamente un suo profondo fascino, essendo Pleyel il marchio prediletto dall' Autore, anche se il timbro sembra in questo caso inclinare più all' ovattato che all' argentino...
La meccanica di questi antichi strumenti viceversa non aiuta l' abitudine odierna al virtuosismo trascendentale, ma questo è un altro punto di discussione, che poco c' entra nel caso di una simile scelta strumentale.
Grazie per l' interessante produzione, che mi riascoltero' con calma.
The sound of the piano is pretty peculiar, which piano was used for this recording? It sounds like a piano from the style of the ones at the beginning of XX century.
The make and year of the piano are in the small print, under the artist’s name.
A pleyel from 1845
Thank you!!
💞💞💞
Rare sound
this is an old piano / este es un piano antiguo
👍❤️
I can hear Moravec here!
🎹🎶🎵💖😊
How can you record with such a tuned piano?🙄🙄🙄
it is a very old piano that doesn't sustain correct tuning any more. They could have record it on a more young Pleyel that sounds much better!!!
@@LuisKolodin... or on a Steinway.
Superb playing. Very poor choice of a piano. IMO, Chopin (and most other composers of the past) would embrace the modern piano were they here today and it is idle speculation to think that they might have done otherwise. Similarly, do you think that the Wright brother would rather fly in an airplane like the one that they built or in a modern jet? A composer/pianist of Chopin's stature could have a piano built according to his own specifications, as Barenboim did with Steinway & Sons.
@@excelsior999 Steinway is such a powerful and colorful piano with a very rich timbre, since very long ago. this is NOT the piano Chopin had in mind when he wrote his pieces. that's why they made this recording on a period instrument. It is very important to be aware of how Chopin's piece sound on a Pleyel (very sweet tone with none of power) to make it sound like this on a contemporary Steinway nowadays.
@@LuisKolodin I repeat - If Chopin were composing these pieces today he would play them on a Steinway. A master pianist with sufficient knowledge and experience can master a modern piano without being overwhelmed by it.
It is interesting and instructive to hear a Playel (or other such instrument) being played for the benefit of students in a conservatory or for the general public in a museum setting - but on a concert stage or on a commercial recording which hopes to attract a wide audience? I don't think so.
😔💙🌱🎵
Is it my imagination or does the Maestro add his own embellishments, Earl Wild-style? Personally, I love them....but except for Horowitz' "Great Gate of Kiev" and some Volodos, I've never heard it before.
Horowitz claimed that Chopin never played any of his compositions the same way twice, and Horowitz used that quote to justify adding his own touches to some pieces (when he wasn't hitting wrong notes).
@@excelsior999 -- You were on a roll until the "wrong notes" aspersion. Even Mighty Richter hit wrong notes....and Weissenberg too right at the very end of the Rakh 2.......
@Carlo Cabz -- Agree 100%.....Greetings from San Agustinillo !
@@steveegallo3384 OK, I won't press the point. But I don't believe that I was out of order in at least stating it.
@@excelsior999 -- "At least stating it"?? You trivialize your own misdemeanor with shameless nonchalance leaving others to suffer its repercussion. Now, indeed, you SHOULD press the point...if only to articulate what possible motive you had to inflict that level of gratuitous emotional distress.
Well done Yuan. However the piano sounds like a player piano from a western bar. Interesting sound though.
So this is a piano model that Chopin himself could have played. Wonder what he'd think of modern pianos?
we will never know!...:)
@@AnnaKhomichkoPianist sadly
Exceptional pianist... But it makes no sense playing on an old and out of tune piano, no matter how much history it might have...
Horrible choice of instrument!
this piano is simply too old. it sounds like a fortepiano. there are better Playels to record this repertoire...
despite that, the playing is AMAZING!! sometimes I even forget what a horrible piano this is... ! (you could have used the Pleyel Hiroko Sasaki used to play Debussy... it is not the PLeyel Chopin could have used, but sounds much better)
Mediocre performances on a poor instrument. Thanks for posting. Very amusing to hear.