Bravo à Sylviane DEFERNE, pour la somptueuse interprétation de ces "Barricades Mystérieuses" de François COUPERIN. Le jeu est tout en nuances. Il est assurément le résultat d'une mûre intériorisation de l'Oeuvre. D'un réel et sincère "ressenti", il va tout droit à l'âme recueillie. MERCI !
Thank you for this, Sylviane. I must say, you’ve saved my life with this performance. It’s so pure, so unique, so exquisite. The melody, the middle notes, how you sing with the architecture of the whole piece and the sections, it’s almost magical and unreal. All I hear is barricades of love, of life, of passion and barricades of what making music is. Thank you, thank you so much!
Sometimes an exceptionally gifted, perceptive person can see something in a composer’s music that perhaps they could not see at the time themselves. The spirit of the original is the same & in no way demeaned, but by your interpretation you have given us a different perception of this wonderful piece. I think you’ve recognised that its beauty is best evoked by this tempo, thus letting the melody unfold slowly & gently. Congratulations, and thank you for posting this highly enjoyable video!
I actually would not say that slower is definitely better. I also love some faster renderings (e.g Éva Szalai). Yet this rendering by Silviane Deferne is really special!
Haunting and beautiful piece. The flow is endless from note to note and phrase to phrase. She does such justice in transfering a harpsichord piece into the piano.
Une des meilleures versions de cette pièce sur yt. La musique c'est pas seulement le respect du texte, c'est aussi l'expression du coeur. Si Couperin a écrit "vivement'", c'est à mon sens , pour dire "avec de la vie". Sinon il aurait pu se contenter d'écrire allegro ou rapidement... En plus ce piano est somptueux...
Absolutely beautiful, played with passion and soul! I heard this piece today for the very first time on public radio in Minnesota and had to go to youtube to hear again. I play cello professionally and in my head can hear a cello obligato part to this wonderful piece.....
My favorite version of this great piece on RUclips. The tempo is just about perfect--moving and elegant. Can't stand the high speed versions. Well done Sylviane!
Great observation. You made me listen for & appreciate that. She makes it almost a distinct voice, by giving a subtle bell-like sonority to that thread of notes.
Wonderful!! Best pace I have listened to so far and with a lot of sensitivity! It may not be the pure Couperin-way, but if Couperin had lived later and with a grand piano... Thanks!! :-)
Wonderful interpretation. I can't understand pianists who elect to rush 'Barricades' - the slower tempo brings out the beauty and delicacy of the composition.
Still one of the best renditions of Les Baricades, certainly the best I've heard on a piano, IMO. Listen to it frequently. Thanks for having this available to..... what, drop into a dream state for a few minutes in this crazy political world? Maybe. Merci, Sylviane, merci beaucoup.
Such an exquisite, thoughtful demonstration of Couperin's timelessness, played by a maestra who uses the piano in such a way, I suspect Couperin himself would nod and perhaps sit down at the modern piano himself!
Every evening before I go home I play this. And Max and Rudi, my two wolves sit by my desk. And if it ends too soon for them they let me know, and I play it again! And then I can go home.
Hey Peter Hontaru, Lovely, good luck. How wonderful, please put your interpretation on you tube too. It will be lovely to hear it. Hope you like it. Angela Hewitt is a baroque muse. Whenever She plays Bach or Couperin, I always hear the composer, never the interpreter, this by itself is a magic musical moment to experience. Talk soon
after having started to learn this piece, I more and more believe that this is the version that matches my taste the most of all available versions here on youtube. Sylviane brings a lot of subtle details to the surface that are often neglected superficially or killed by speed. Of course this is interpretation of the artist and maybe was not intended by the composer. At least Couperin was not able to make himself heard in the same way - simply because the technology of instruments was not developed yet at that time. This would by the way be my answer to criticism like "this is not Brahms": music is always transporting emotions from the artist to the audience. If Couperin had had a modern piano, I am sure he would have been glad to have so many more possibilities to express feelings than on a harpsichord. Thank you, Sylviane!
If Francis Couperin had a modern piano, he would be perplexed by the heavy, sluggish action (as heavy as an organ with the manuals coupled) compared to harpsichord, the lack of clarity in the lower tenor and bass, and the necessity to play a piece with the tempo indication of vivement (deeply) more slowly by comparison. He might recommend as he did in his written directions to play his works on other instruments an octave higher. He would inquire where was the level to engage a four foot register, where was the the second manual, and why was the instrument built with only one basic timbre for both 8'choirs, without the presence of two somewhat contrasting colors (nasal and flute like) similar to the instruments known to him as well as the absence of the buff stop. He would comment that the distance of the octave is wider than normal, similar to the Hamburg builder Fleischer is of late reputed to use. The presence of extra keys in the treble and and bass would be as equally perplexing as the natural keys being white, instead of a black color (ebony) and the accidentals keys being black instead of having white tops of either bone or ivory. The left pedal withdraws one of the two indistinguishable registers, but doesn't produce any noticeable change to speak, the right pedal sustains the tones by lifting the dampers, special effect of little utility other than a novelty. His final query would be why instrument was mis-tuned tuned so strangely instead of being in Mean Tone temperament, which his compositions exploited the colors and associations of emotions with the keys as he originally conceived. He would also relate how he believed the harpsichord to be an expressive instrument, that this "piano" is anything but quiet, might be of utility to practice on to play the organ, but lacks the directness of speech of either the harpsichord or a clavichord (a practice instrument of some French organists) which the half vibrato of the latter instrument likewise is missing. I have read a variety of similar comments about how so and so (J S Bach, D. Scarlatti, et al) would just love and prefer the "modern piano" by 20th and now 21st century individuals taken out of context of individuals who lived and died centuries ago. Bach (who initially criticized the fortepiano, only to find approval for an instrument that has little in common with the modern piano other than a partially shared name, but never wrote music specifically with the fortepiano of Silbermann mentioned by name), Scarlatti (who wrote some music for the earliest of fortepianos and still composed music outside of their keyboard compass, for harpsichord and the collection from Venice list the work as Sonatas for Harpsichord in the 1742, and the second 1749, subsequent books of Sonatas have a different format and no designation). I do believe if through a worm hole time vortex a modern piano did appear to both Couperin, Scarlatti, and J S Bach, they might be intrigued and curious, and after having the instrument tuned (a hazardous predicament) to their preferences, they might write music specifically for the instrument, but unlike the music they wrote for the harpsichord or organ.
Really we have no way of absolutely knowing how Couperin or his contemporaries would have reacted to hearing their keyboard mucic on a modern piano. We can easily argue that they would love (or hate it), but maybe that's more a justification of personal preference than anything else. We can obviously get some information from historical sources and so on, which is valuable. I would however pose the question, why do we need to put so much effort into validating or dismantling a certain interpretation? I feel we as musicians or music enthusiasts often place unnecessary emphasis on something being "right" or "wrong", as it's an art form we're talking about, which by definition I would say makes most of that very subjective. For me, this interpretation and the piece are both something I enjoyed very much.
Comparing this performance with others with harpsichord and/or lute-theorbe or guitar, this is one of the best. With your light touch, good piano, good recording and nice ambient: I love it and keeps me floating onward carried by the notes. 👌 THANKS
The stern critics must remember that the music did belong to the composer, true enough. Remember though, it belongs to us. To enjoy, to practice, to perform---- to interpret what it brings to our hearts. I've played this piece for forty years. It sounded different each time.
I have always adored this piece and only learned today who wrote it and the name of it. It is magic, lifts the spirit, makes you want to move in some strange way. I don't want it to end ever and the comment someone made who has wolves that insist on listening to it more than once struck me as quite credible. Always loved wolves. Interested to know if my dog has similar feelings.
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One of my favorites to play. This is the correct tempo, the piece is pure meditation.
ndeed. Too many just race through it and mssl all of it;s subtle nuances.
Plus je l'écoute, et plus je pense que cette interprétation des Barricades Mystérieuses est la meilleure...
Absolutely
I agree with you
Bien d’accord
I agree. She gets a tempo that fits so well.
This is the best performance of this piece on piano on RUclips that I've found so far. Everybody else rushes it so much! Thanks a lot and God bless!
Bravo à Sylviane DEFERNE, pour la somptueuse interprétation de ces "Barricades Mystérieuses" de François COUPERIN. Le jeu est tout en nuances. Il est assurément le résultat d'une mûre intériorisation de l'Oeuvre. D'un réel et sincère "ressenti", il va tout droit à l'âme recueillie. MERCI !
Thank you for this, Sylviane. I must say, you’ve saved my life with this performance. It’s so pure, so unique, so exquisite. The melody, the middle notes, how you sing with the architecture of the whole piece and the sections, it’s almost magical and unreal. All I hear is barricades of love, of life, of passion and barricades of what making music is. Thank you, thank you so much!
Sometimes an exceptionally gifted, perceptive person can see something in a composer’s music that perhaps they could not see at the time themselves. The spirit of the original is the same & in no way demeaned, but by your interpretation you have given us a different perception of this wonderful piece. I think you’ve recognised that its beauty is best evoked by this tempo, thus letting the melody unfold slowly & gently.
Congratulations, and thank you for posting this highly enjoyable video!
Beautiful beautiful beautiful. I love the slow tempo and all of the rubati. Lovely performance.
Superbe! C magique vraiment très beau
The best piano interpretation of this piece IMO...and i've listened to quite a few))
Tempo and touch are excellent; so many play this elegant piece much too fast. Sylviane has got it just right in my opinion. Bravo!
Hello there, if you have a chance listen to Angela Hewitt, it is a treat.
agree with you the piano sheet says "vivement" but I really think that "lent" is better for this piece.
Yes the slower tempo seems to really bring out the wonderfuness of the melody.
I actually would not say that slower is definitely better. I also love some faster renderings (e.g Éva Szalai). Yet this rendering by Silviane Deferne is really special!
Haunting and beautiful piece. The flow is endless from note to note and phrase to phrase. She does such justice in transfering a harpsichord piece into the piano.
un vrai plaisir de combiner la simplicité, la sensibilité et une véritable originalité dans une interprétation forte et rayonnante. Merci
quelle chaude sonorité, ce piano est merveilleux, tout comme l'interprétation, bravo !!!
I love slow tempo !! Thank you
The piece by itself is magnificent, and this was an exquisite rendition.
Bravo!
Thanks for finding the right tempo its the key for unfolding the melody tempo is always king! You have a beautiful legato.
It's a wonderful piece of music and I've heard beautiful versions, but this interpretation in particular makes my heart glow. Absolutely lovely.
Une des meilleures versions de cette pièce sur yt. La musique c'est pas seulement le respect du texte, c'est aussi l'expression du coeur. Si Couperin a écrit "vivement'", c'est à mon sens , pour dire "avec de la vie". Sinon il aurait pu se contenter d'écrire allegro ou rapidement...
En plus ce piano est somptueux...
She really makes allows the music to speak. I've watched this about 100 times in the last few days.
Absolutely beautiful, played with passion and soul! I heard this piece today for the very first time on public radio in Minnesota and had to go to youtube to hear again. I play cello professionally and in my head can hear a cello obligato part to this wonderful piece.....
Musique d'un Monde où les sentiments entretissés sur la trame du plaisir d'aimer transcendent nos vies de jour comme de nuit !! Merci Sylviane !!
I felt all tingly. Amazing performance of this piece... warmest I've heard...
Une interprétation originale et sensuelle, qui porte bien le mystère de ces barricades
Mon interprétation préférée.... que de sentiments....
... and touched the FACE OF GOD !!!
I love this particular rendition of the Barricades Mysterieuses, and return often to hear it.
Same here
Just returned to listen, which I do often. This is beautiful.
Thank you, Sylviane; played at a nice pace and with a nice touch.
Quel enchantement ! Une interprétation toute en nuance et sensibilité... Une relecture magnifique de l'oeuvre de Couperin. Bravo !
My favorite version of this great piece on RUclips. The tempo is just about perfect--moving and elegant. Can't stand the high speed versions. Well done Sylviane!
Que j'aime!! Moi, tt petit musicien , je comprends tout...😃😃. Merci pour cette belle interprétation!
A nice take on this splendid piece. Brava for being a little different and pulling it off so gracefully.
Love the emphasis on the middle notes
Great observation. You made me listen for & appreciate that. She makes it almost a distinct voice, by giving a subtle bell-like sonority to that thread of notes.
Extraordinary and beautiful playing, I’m a fan
Loved your dynamics and what a setting too!
Very sensitive and moving!
Perhaps my favourite rendition on piano.
Thank you.
Absolutely beautiful.
Just listened again for the umpteenth time. Best performance ever :-)
Still the best performance ever.
Merci beaucoup, Sylviane! Je viens d'apprendre ce morceau, et maintenant je veux l'affiner pour que je puisse jouer plus comme vous!
Sylvianie plays this so beautifully. I was in heaven listening to it. C'est la magnifique
Beautiful interpretation by a beautiful woman - thanks for uploading this one.
Touching, tender and beautiful.
merveilleux, cette interprétation reste une de mes préférées, chaleur, mystère, tout y est
Wonderful!! Best pace I have listened to so far and with a lot of sensitivity! It may not be the pure Couperin-way, but if Couperin had lived later and with a grand piano... Thanks!! :-)
GREAT!
Beautiful.
Sublime interprétation, créative de nouvelles émotions, met en évidence une richesse que masque un tempo trop rapide.
This is a fabulous interpretation, just amazing.
This is the best interpretation I've ever heard.
Absolutely lovely ... in listening to you play, it's as if I hear someone extolling the beauty and virtues of his beloved.
Gorgeous. I love the sensitivity and the elegant phrasing. Just the right amount of rubato. Merci bien. Magnifique !
My words exactly.
+Bergi Lein me too
Mais quelle merveille!!
This brings some tears
great tempo. gracefully played
Beautiful. My favourite version. A wee touch of magic in there.
I enjoy listening to a brilliant artist. I wish I could be so gifted.
Wonderful interpretation. I can't understand pianists who elect to rush 'Barricades' - the slower tempo brings out the beauty and delicacy of the composition.
J'aime beaucoup ce morceau pour clavecin à l'origine et joué au piano, il est très bien revisité, et très bien joué, Bravo !
Gorgeous, Sylviane! Played with heartfelt yearning. Best I've ever heard.
Perfect tempo, love your playing
Still one of the best renditions of Les Baricades, certainly the best I've heard on a piano, IMO. Listen to it frequently. Thanks for having this available to..... what, drop into a dream state for a few minutes in this crazy political world? Maybe. Merci, Sylviane, merci beaucoup.
Splendid! Thank you.
Marvellous❤
What a wonderful performance. Thank you for uploading.
Beautiful perfect tempo
Excellent performance! Thank you.
Eine meiner liebsten Interpretationen dieses besonderen Kleinods an Musik! Auch in diesem langsameren Tempo faszinierend!
My favourite version
Such an exquisite, thoughtful demonstration of Couperin's timelessness, played by a maestra who uses the piano in such a way, I suspect Couperin himself would nod and perhaps sit down at the modern piano himself!
Perfection.
Every evening before I go home I play this. And Max and Rudi, my two wolves sit by my desk. And if it ends too soon for them they let me know, and I play it again! And then I can go home.
wow that's incredible! Would love to have at least a dog one day to play for!
Hey if u have a chance listen to Angela Hewitt doing it on lockdown 5. It is a treat
claudio nogueira your comment came at a great time because my book of this piece arrives tomorrow!!! Will listen now
Hey Peter Hontaru, Lovely, good luck. How wonderful, please put your interpretation on you tube too. It will be lovely to hear it. Hope you like it. Angela Hewitt is a baroque muse. Whenever She plays Bach or Couperin, I always hear the composer, never the interpreter, this by itself is a magic musical moment to experience. Talk soon
You have wolves, I envy you.
that was lovely thank you :)
C'est si beau.
Bravo, très belle interprétation pleine de libertés et donc de poésie !
J'adore cette interpretation. Merci beaucoup!
Tres bien Magnifique.
PERFECT!
I too like this tempo played by Ms. S. Deferne.
after having started to learn this piece, I more and more believe that this is the version that matches my taste the most of all available versions here on youtube. Sylviane brings a lot of subtle details to the surface that are often neglected superficially or killed by speed. Of course this is interpretation of the artist and maybe was not intended by the composer. At least Couperin was not able to make himself heard in the same way - simply because the technology of instruments was not developed yet at that time. This would by the way be my answer to criticism like "this is not Brahms": music is always transporting emotions from the artist to the audience. If Couperin had had a modern piano, I am sure he would have been glad to have so many more possibilities to express feelings than on a harpsichord. Thank you, Sylviane!
If Francis Couperin had a modern piano, he would be perplexed by the heavy, sluggish action (as heavy as an organ with the manuals coupled) compared to harpsichord, the lack of clarity in the lower tenor and bass, and the necessity to play a piece with the tempo indication of vivement (deeply) more slowly by comparison. He might recommend as he did in his written directions to play his works on other instruments an octave higher. He would inquire where was the level to engage a four foot register, where was the the second manual, and why was the instrument built with only one basic timbre for both 8'choirs, without the presence of two somewhat contrasting colors (nasal and flute like) similar to the instruments known to him as well as the absence of the buff stop. He would comment that the distance of the octave is wider than normal, similar to the Hamburg builder Fleischer is of late reputed to use. The presence of extra keys in the treble and and bass would be as equally perplexing as the natural keys being white, instead of a black color (ebony) and the accidentals keys being black instead of having white tops of either bone or ivory. The left pedal withdraws one of the two indistinguishable registers, but doesn't produce any noticeable change to speak, the right pedal sustains the tones by lifting the dampers, special effect of little utility other than a novelty. His final query would be why instrument was mis-tuned tuned so strangely instead of being in Mean Tone temperament, which his compositions exploited the colors and associations of emotions with the keys as he originally conceived. He would also relate how he believed the harpsichord to be an expressive instrument, that this "piano" is anything but quiet, might be of utility to practice on to play the organ, but lacks the directness of speech of either the harpsichord or a clavichord (a practice instrument of some French organists) which the half vibrato of the latter instrument likewise is missing.
I have read a variety of similar comments about how so and so (J S Bach, D. Scarlatti, et al) would just love and prefer the "modern piano" by 20th and now 21st century individuals taken out of context of individuals who lived and died centuries ago. Bach (who initially criticized the fortepiano, only to find approval for an instrument that has little in common with the modern piano other than a partially shared name, but never wrote music specifically with the fortepiano of Silbermann mentioned by name), Scarlatti (who wrote some music for the earliest of fortepianos and still composed music outside of their keyboard compass, for harpsichord and the collection from Venice list the work as Sonatas for Harpsichord in the 1742, and the second 1749, subsequent books of Sonatas have a different format and no designation). I do believe if through a worm hole time vortex a modern piano did appear to both Couperin, Scarlatti, and J S Bach, they might be intrigued and curious, and after having the instrument tuned (a hazardous predicament) to their preferences, they might write music specifically for the instrument, but unlike the music they wrote for the harpsichord or organ.
Really we have no way of absolutely knowing how Couperin or his contemporaries would have reacted to hearing their keyboard mucic on a modern piano. We can easily argue that they would love (or hate it), but maybe that's more a justification of personal preference than anything else. We can obviously get some information from historical sources and so on, which is valuable. I would however pose the question, why do we need to put so much effort into validating or dismantling a certain interpretation? I feel we as musicians or music enthusiasts often place unnecessary emphasis on something being "right" or "wrong", as it's an art form we're talking about, which by definition I would say makes most of that very subjective. For me, this interpretation and the piece are both something I enjoyed very much.
Lovely slow tempo for this piece!
Beautiful interpretation of beautiful music.
What a beautiful piece ❤️
Comparing this performance with others with harpsichord and/or lute-theorbe or guitar, this is one of the best. With your light touch, good piano, good recording and nice ambient: I love it and keeps me floating onward carried by the notes.
👌
THANKS
FAZIOLI ROCKS!
Superb.
Bellissima interpretazione. Un tempo pacato, un'esecuzione intimista condotta con grande maestria.
Wonderful performance!
Played beautifully on a piano that is exquisite!
0.0 Fazioli! WOW!
My impression is that they have the most dulcet tones. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to play one.
Excellent
qu'elle dexterite merci SYLVIANE
Equilibrio perfetto.
The stern critics must remember that the music did belong to the composer, true enough. Remember though, it belongs to us. To enjoy, to practice, to perform---- to interpret what it brings to our hearts. I've played this piece for forty years. It sounded different each time.
Fire.
incredible performance
Very nice, very fluid.
Nice nice! looks a nice place to play a concert!
So lovely.
My favorite version ❤️
I have always adored this piece and only learned today who wrote it and the name of it. It is magic, lifts the spirit, makes you want to move in some strange way. I don't want it to end ever and the comment someone made who has wolves that insist on listening to it more than once struck me as quite credible. Always loved wolves. Interested to know if my dog has similar feelings.
Magnifique interprétation sensuelle et veloutée
Beautiful
Tocca il cuore…