Don't care that it's fake! This was a tribute to Clara Schumann, wife to an ailing husband, who raised seven children, performed, composed and eventually had a concert career! What an impressive memorial for Women's month!
The very best dubbed-in piano film performance I've ever seen. It must have taken a great deal of effort to fake it up to such a high level of fidelity. Usually actors and film makers don't go to such bother. So in the end still a remarkable cinematic sequence even if not a real performance.
Yes, agreement on all fronts. When there's the long distance shot from the balcony you can see her left hand (low to high) is going in the opposite direction of what you actually hear.
@@RaineStudio I'm in basic agreement. It's clear she has musical instincts and took her lessons with Rubinstein seriously. It's very tough to do this. Most producers and directors are hypersensitive about visual aspects (eg., is the jacket buttoned the same way in take 3 as it is in take 10) but pretending to play on camera is not of great importance perhaps most of those in charge are not musicians. Clearly, in a film where the star is supposed to be a concert pianist, more effort is made in having it look real and Hepburn was such a consummate professional, she would have insisted on taking the time to do it right.
I hope you all realise out there that the pianist in this entire film is Artur Rubinstein! He actually gave Hepburn instructions in wrist and hand work. It is true.
Hahahaha No! Well her hand and arm motions were very convincing. Film, like life, is all illusion. I understand she was an accomplished pianist and her private life.
@@tomkellycartoons, Well, as a pianist myself, I was not totally convinced. Even in the slower parts where it seemed that she was playing the correct notes, there was still way too much tension in her hands to really look real. I suspect that in her life, she had had some piano training but not enough to play these difficult pieces.
For anyone out there wondering what she is playing (or pretending to play), it's three pieces from Schumann's "Carnaval" opus 9. She starts with "Valse Allemande", then (skipping "Pagannini") she plays "Aveu". The last piece is the Davidsbundler March against the Philistines, the finale of the Carnaval.
I don't see the problem here. Rubinstein did the playing and he coached Hepburn with the hand movements as it would appear. The poster for the film actually says that the pianist is Rubinstein. I also have photos of Rubinstein coaching Hepburn for the hand movements away from the piano in the filming studios. Rubinstein did this for 3 other hollywood films as well.
In the movie "Finding Venus" which stars Glen Close a soprano sings the Wagner opera pieces in the film and Glen Close does the acting -but as Glen Close studied to be an opera singer when she was younger she is recorded as having stated that she could have sung the Wagner opera pieces herself if she had really wanted to!
She was playing excerpts from Schumann's Carnaval. Indeed it was Rubinstein who played. Carnaval was one of his "warhorses" He played it in his last recital in Amsterdam in 1975.
I'm only guessing... but isn't it where with the teaching tradition you are supposed to keep your hands close to the keys? Her hands at times are a couple feet above the keys. I'm a believer in whatever one naturally feels, but just curious what you and your teacher think about that.
@@mwj5368 it’s a technique often used by early 20th Century pianists. They are often using the gravity to get a louder sound out of the piano, which makes them all have their unique sound compared to today I guess. You gotta watch and listen Grigory Sokolov. He still does that often.
Audrey Hepburn also played a guitar player, and a cello player too in a convincing way. She was a classical dancer in her young years, so used to hear know by heart and express with her body beautiful classical music.
Sure, she's miming to a Rubenstein performance. The thing is, though: if KH didn't already have a pretty darn good skill at the piano, she could never have pulled off this miming, this well. She _knew_ this music, and she knew where the correct notes were, and (for the most part) hit them. She could probably actually play the piece, recognizably (if at an amateur level). Without a piano background, there's no way even Rubinstein could have taught her to mime his performance. (Have you ever had to watch an absolute beginner try to learn even Frère Jacques or Three Blind Mice at the piano? It can be excruciating and endlless! You don't attain decent fluency on the piano in mere months.)
this reminds me of my favorite "stunt pianist" movie, September Song, with Joan Fontaine. I won't bore you with the plot, but Fontaine plays a concert pianist. At the end of the movie, she is playing the Rachmaninov II piano concerto. the camera cuts between Fontaine's face shots which are done from an angle where you can only see her face above the piano. the other shots are taken looking over her shoulder where you can see what are supposedly Fontaine's hands playing the keyboard. But you can tell it's a different person because the hair style is just a bit different. And the stunt double does an excellent job of playing.
What an amazing performance by the one and only Kate Hepburn! You could totally believe that she'd abandoned a promising career as a concert pianist for acting. It must have taken many long hours of practice to be able to attack the keyboard at speed so convincingly. Brava!
Her pretend playing is extremely convincing and it undoubtedly took a great deal of time and practice in order to produce this result. This is virtuoso playing and was certainly not Ms. Hepburn but her acting skill makes it appear so.
Just a note: Many, many actors were multi-talented. Some were artists in painting or sculpting. Many could play musical instruments. It is obvious that Mz. Hepburn had some familiarity with the piano as she played the piano in several films. If she was dubbed in this one, there was a reason, but it is obvious from the camera angles that she could play well.
I, always admired Katharine Hepburn. She was very outgoing and outspoken... minded, during her times. I would have loved to interviewed her before her death. She had so much more to express. I always felt that she never totally expressed some of her deepest thoughts and feelings, that she wanted to. Not from interviews that I have seen in the past. It was as though she still had much more to Express regarding her life.
Henry Daniell appeared as Liszt in this film and his playing was as convincing as Hepburn's. There's a great scene where Liszt is playing so vigorously, he ends up breaking the piano.
A tiny bit of the piece that repeats at the end. Is missing.Yes we are witnessing miming and so much of it is really excellent.Katharine Hepburn could not be anything but. Hand shape and tone production are right.
At any rate, this woman was truly brilliant ( four Academy awards). And she couldn't have performed those two pieces so convincingly without having studied the piano for years. Rubinstein's ( his student's ) coaching notwithstanding. That Chopin Mazurka, and Robert Schumann's finale to his ' Carnavale ' . Nothing easy there, at all.
@@johnsarkissian5519 There are fifty one: and I have two performances by Rubinstein. And, William Kapell. But, you are making me work. If someone else hasn't revealed the one she performed in the movie before I've found it. I'll find it later.
@@arthurhogan3047, I am a pianist myself, fully familiar with Chopin’s Mazurkas some of which I have even performed during my recitals. I was just wondering what Chopin Mazurka you were talking about since in this movie clip there were no Chopin Mazurkas. All that I heard were two movements from Robert Schumann’s Carnavale. I am not at all familiar with this movie. So, I’m wondering, did Hepburn play a Chopin Mazurka in an earlier scene?
@@johnsarkissian5519 : Well then, my friend. I won't waste any more of my time. The piece in ' question ' I thought, is from Schumann's " Carnival ". ' Not having heard that section in years. There is a similarity to Chopin; Mazurka - wise. Thanks for the heads up.
@@arthurhogan3047, Mine was an honest, simple question. Sorry for causing any confusion. I had no intention to put anyone on the spot. I really thought that you meant there was another clip from the movie where she plays the Mazurka, and I was curious to see it. Speaking of misidentifying a piece, in his memoirs, Stravinsky mentions that in his ballet “The Fairy’s Kiss” which is mainly based on melodies by Tschaikovsky, he could not recall whether a certain part of the ballet was his own invention or was it by Tchaikovsky. Quite amusing, but as you can see it can happen to the best of us!
At about 1:38 she finishes a little run with a mid-high octave, which would have been played with her right hand. But she clearly shows the chord being banged out with her left hand, low on the keyboard, where only bass notes are played.
Dear Goofybeard What? Have you really never heard of this most brilliant US American actress that learned to play violine for a movie so well that a world class violinist was pretty impressed? For another movie she learned to play guitar. This multiple Oscar winning actress always prepares incredibly well for any movie! Are you able to guess who this super talented Lady is? Best regards, luck, health and wisdom.
@@Chr.U.Cas1622 , that was EXACTLY the point: I was praising Miss Hepburn. Best regards, luck, health, and put on your eyeglasses before reading the others' comments....
@@Barbapippo What??? Good grief, man! I only told you respectively commented that even nowadays there is a famous actress that does great acting like K. Hepburn (because she doesn't pretend to play but even learns to play instruments well etc.p.p.). You should definitely not tell others to put glasses on. This is definitely something your not entitled to because you're obviously neither able to read a comment correctly nor understand it! I don't understand why you're so eager to show this in public? By the way: I guess that you also don't know what great actress I talked about: It's famous Meryl Streep of course.
@@Chr.U.Cas1622 Sorry, I misunderstood your comment and stupidly over-reacted to its unnecessarily agressive/patronizing tone. Anyway, I guess that Meryl Streep is rather the exception than the rule; it would be easy to prove by a long list of examples that 1) in the past, practically every actor playing the role of a concert performer was coached so that he/she looked as realistic as possible; 2) today, apart from some notable exceptions, this is no longer true.
Dear@@Barbapippo Many thanks for your honest reply. To say that you are sorry for something that you said is a very respectful thing. Even more because you did it in public. Chapeau! 2) Even nowadays there are some amazing and let's call it hypertalented actors/directors/artists that are prepared and do prepare well for movies etc.p.p.. For instance Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Clint Eastwood, Julia Roberts and so on. Nevertheless: You are absolutely right. In the old times actors mostly/usually had a much better and comprehensive education. A lot of them could dance/stepdance/sing/play an instrument and and and.. They took their work more seriously I guess. Nowadays sometimes I can't even understand what they say (no speaking lessons). Additionally all that cussing/swearing in lots and lots of movies/videos is disgusting and so extremely unnecessary. I will definitely never understand what is so great about using f_ck and f_cking all the time. To describe bad AND even good things! But I better stop here now because my blood pressure already begins to rise. Thanks again for your decency. Have a nice day. Sincerely yours.
Ella tiene que ser pianista para hacer esta actuación aunque quizàs no suene ella. Hay que ver los tiempos en los que se ven sus manos y los que no. Gran interpretación. Gran actriz!!
I'm pretty sure she was only pretending. But still, most of the time when actors "pretend" to play, we can absolutely tell. It's a testament to her acting skills that it's so difficult to tell that it's not really her playing! :)
@@Beethovenfan12 Yes, credit her for taking the effort and pains to make the playing so credible. Most actors come off ridiculous when acting as conductors or pianists.
Today, unfortunately, no one knows how to play faster octaves with the arms, and blocked wrist...there are no modern virtuosos....Hepburn makes the difference! Ah ah 😉🎼
Whether she really played or not is inconsequential, she appears to play and does it really well - she was an actress after all, not a concert pianist. One detail the producers and directors overlooked is the fact that such a flat chested lady does not seem ready to breast feed a baby. In any case, it was a stupid idea to interpose in this scene!
The Schumanns were wealthy enough to hire a ‘wet nurse’ for every baby-which they did! It should be noted, though, that flat chested, thin women are perfectly capable of breast feeding.
@@elonamasson7569 I guess that was a politically and factually incorrect comment. Just not what I envision as the image of a wet nurse. I am sure thin women do just fine with their babies…
@@debradorfman7940 me too. I asked Vittorio Gassman's daughter if her father ever played a violin, and she assured me he didn’t. His faking was less convincing than Ericson's.
Some of the best fake playing I’ve seen in a movie. Yes, I know, “her tension and height are all wrong. Tsk tsk.” But she matches the music quite well, esp compared to some of the laughable film-music performances we’ve all seen. A consummate actress.
I read all these wonderful comments ... ha ha ..... her playing is completely unconvincing, very fake. Of course she is a GREAT actress. The fault is in the film maker. It is really an insult to Katharine Hepburn. Perhaps really low standard for the time compared to today. As a comparison, check out Gary Oldman performance of Immortal Beloved. He is really an accomplished pianist. He talked about how he spend a lot of time on the movie set practicing the actual passages (not easy) on a Steinway to prepare for the shoot. And even then, the producer of the film is very sparing in showing the piano playing full hand motion. BUT I still laughed at all the comments here.
Who would bring a baby to the side of the stage crying during the mother's performance. Not to say that the baby and the mother's behaviors were odd, but what idiot of a sitter would do THAT??? Cute how it played out with the skipping of the length of the piece, but I'd have smacked that sitter if that was me. 😆
Her fingers and wrist are too rigid anyway. She isn't playing. If she were she would end up in hospital with at best severely dislocated fingers at worst broken.
Clara Wieck is a lot better than her father in piano playing. She wrote a piano concerto at age 18 ! Her piano technique is even better than her husband Robert Schumann.
Katharine Hepburn's arm and hand movements are hilarious. Obviously, she never got very far with her piano lessons. Fortunately. as demonstrated by his performance, Rubinstein got quite far with his piano lessons indeed!
This was an amazing woman. Beautiful, talented and also a major athlete. So many actors and actresses are multi-talented and have training and abilities in various performing arts...so hats off to them. However, we should resolve this nonsensical accusation that she is not really playing and that she is somehow " lipsynching " or just pretending to play and that it is really Rubenstein playing. Anyone who plays piano can see that she is actually playing and that she is following the score perfectly which she could not do by just moving her hands up and down on the keyboard without really being able to play or without knowing the entire composition perfectly....PATENT NONSENSE.
Don't care that it's fake! This was a tribute to Clara Schumann, wife to an ailing husband, who raised seven children, performed, composed and eventually had a concert career! What an impressive memorial for Women's month!
So true, a great pianist and great woman
The very best dubbed-in piano film performance I've ever seen. It must have taken a great deal of effort to fake it up to such a high level of fidelity. Usually actors and film makers don't go to such bother. So in the end still a remarkable cinematic sequence even if not a real performance.
Yes, agreement on all fronts. When there's the long distance shot from the balcony you can see her left hand (low to high) is going in the opposite direction of what you actually hear.
She;s perfect...incredibile...
@@miamonmiller3967 That one stuck out but otherwise, the best job of fake playing I have seen.
@@RaineStudio I'm in basic agreement. It's clear she has musical instincts and took her lessons with Rubinstein seriously. It's very tough to do this. Most producers and directors are hypersensitive about visual aspects (eg., is the jacket buttoned the same way in take 3 as it is in take 10) but pretending to play on camera is not of great importance perhaps most of those in charge are not musicians. Clearly, in a film where the star is supposed to be a concert pianist, more effort is made in having it look real and Hepburn was such a consummate professional, she would have insisted on taking the time to do it right.
Check out Mahersala Ali in "Green Card." Also very good. I'm not going to get into comparisons though.
I hope you all realise out there that the pianist in this entire film is Artur Rubinstein! He actually gave Hepburn instructions in wrist and hand work. It is true.
I read she was coached by one of Rubinstein's pupils, Laura Dubman.
Hahahaha
No!
Well her hand and arm motions were very convincing.
Film, like life, is all illusion.
I understand she was an accomplished pianist and her private life.
@@tomkellycartoons, Well, as a pianist myself, I was not totally convinced. Even in the slower parts where it seemed that she was playing the correct notes, there was still way too much tension in her hands to really look real. I suspect that in her life, she had had some piano training but not enough to play these difficult pieces.
Get out of here with your facts and reality. Katherine Hepburn is a great pianist who happens to play like Arthur Rubinstein
@@rosgill6, Yep, you are correct! BTW, there’s a bridge out there for sale for you!
For anyone out there wondering what she is playing (or pretending to play), it's three pieces from Schumann's "Carnaval" opus 9. She starts with "Valse Allemande", then (skipping "Pagannini") she plays "Aveu". The last piece is the Davidsbundler March against the Philistines, the finale of the Carnaval.
Thank you!
A++!:)
Thank you for your program notes!
@@helenespierman151 No problem! I have a pupil now who's playing Schumann's Carnaval, so I am very familiar with the music.
it's such s GREAT work...!!! up there with the Fantasy in C, Kreisleriana... Symphonic Etudes... and many others...
If she's not a wonderful pianist, she's a wonderful actress! (but we all knew that) ❤️
Audrey ?
Actually,she was a mediocre actress and in the beginning she was downright bad
I heard that she was instructed for hand shaping in this movie by one of Clara Wieck great grand student !
I used to play the piano in a marching-band, that's why my shoulders are impressive!
Just trying to lighten the mood. 😉🇬🇧
thumbs up if you're watching this for a college class rn
what is the name of the repertoire?
@@Loosh66 The concluding movements of Carnaval, Opus 9, by Robert Schumann.
She was truly magnificent....
I love this movie. I've seen it dozens of times.
Can you tell us what it is please?
@@sheilaleslie1323 "Song of Love"
I don't see the problem here. Rubinstein did the playing and he coached Hepburn with the hand movements as it would appear. The poster for the film actually says that the pianist is Rubinstein. I also have photos of Rubinstein coaching Hepburn for the hand movements away from the piano in the filming studios. Rubinstein did this for 3 other hollywood films as well.
No one said it was a problem, the user uploaded to show how convincing she made the playing look. Wakey wakey.
@@slapmyfunkybass wakey wakey you! One of the replies I got insisted that Rubinstein did not coach Hepburn and that she also played the music itself.
Old enough to have attended a Rubrnstein concert in person. This id beautiful to watch and listen to.
The real Clara Schumann was my great great great grand piano teacher ! So proud to see this clip !
Honey, she's everyone's great great great teacher. Welcome to the 3 million of us descendents.
@@needtoknowbasis3499 Maybe 6 millions now !
@@needtoknowbasis3499 Replying to something written 4 years ago, lol.
In the movie "Finding Venus" which stars Glen Close a soprano sings the Wagner opera pieces in the film and Glen Close does the acting -but as Glen Close studied to be an opera singer when she was younger she is recorded as having stated that she could have sung the Wagner opera pieces herself if she had really wanted to!
That should have been the movie "Meeting Venus"!
she was so in love and never pretend to married
She was playing excerpts from Schumann's Carnaval. Indeed it was Rubinstein who played. Carnaval was one of his "warhorses" He played it in his last recital in Amsterdam in 1975.
Just watched this movie yesterday with my piano teacher of 11 years. Brought us both to tears. ❤
I'm only guessing... but isn't it where with the teaching tradition you are supposed to keep your hands close to the keys? Her hands at times are a couple feet above the keys. I'm a believer in whatever one naturally feels, but just curious what you and your teacher think about that.
@@mwj5368 it’s a technique often used by early 20th Century pianists. They are often using the gravity to get a louder sound out of the piano, which makes them all have their unique sound compared to today I guess.
You gotta watch and listen Grigory Sokolov. He still does that often.
@@sebbo3810 Hi Sebbo! Very nice of you to take the time and even led me on to Sokolov, and a technique that's interesting.
The piano was played by Arthur Rubinstein.
thank you for that info!
I don't know. That sure didn't look like Arthur Rubinstein. That's really good make-up.
Audrey Hepburn also played a guitar player, and a cello player too in a convincing way. She was a classical dancer in her young years, so used to hear know by heart and express with her body beautiful classical music.
Sure, she's miming to a Rubenstein performance. The thing is, though: if KH didn't already have a pretty darn good skill at the piano, she could never have pulled off this miming, this well. She _knew_ this music, and she knew where the correct notes were, and (for the most part) hit them. She could probably actually play the piece, recognizably (if at an amateur level). Without a piano background, there's no way even Rubinstein could have taught her to mime his performance. (Have you ever had to watch an absolute beginner try to learn even Frère Jacques or Three Blind Mice at the piano? It can be excruciating and endlless! You don't attain decent fluency on the piano in mere months.)
this reminds me of my favorite "stunt pianist" movie, September Song, with Joan Fontaine. I won't bore you with the plot, but Fontaine plays a concert pianist. At the end of the movie, she is playing the Rachmaninov II piano concerto. the camera cuts between Fontaine's face shots which are done from an angle where you can only see her face above the piano. the other shots are taken looking over her shoulder where you can see what are supposedly Fontaine's hands playing the keyboard. But you can tell it's a different person because the hair style is just a bit different. And the stunt double does an excellent job of playing.
@sifridbassoon I think you mean the movie September Affair (1950).
Then there were the hairy arms?!/:-)
That’s Paul Henreid looking down at her with love and in shock! 😄 Never have I heard Schumann used in quite this way.
What an amazing performance by the one and only Kate Hepburn! You could totally believe that she'd abandoned a promising career as a concert pianist for acting. It must have taken many long hours of practice to be able to attack the keyboard at speed so convincingly. Brava!
Yours is an intelligent comment.
Yes, even without moving the hammers on the strings.... She sounds just like Arthur Rubinstein 🤭
@@blingmeblingme101 (did they use Rubinstein's recording...???)
Her pretend playing is extremely convincing and it undoubtedly took a great deal of time and practice in order to produce this result. This is virtuoso playing and was certainly not Ms. Hepburn but her acting skill makes it appear so.
Convincing---until you realize that the keys aren't moving.
Just a note: Many, many actors were multi-talented. Some were artists in painting or sculpting. Many could play musical instruments. It is obvious that Mz. Hepburn had some familiarity with the piano as she played the piano in several films. If she was dubbed in this one, there was a reason, but it is obvious from the camera angles that she could play well.
I have the dvd of this movie and sometimes watch it
Which movie is it? If you don’t mind sharing. Thank you.
@@ameanastasiu ...SONG OF LOVE
I, always admired Katharine Hepburn. She was very outgoing and outspoken...
minded, during her times. I would have loved to interviewed her before her death. She had so much more to express. I always felt that she never totally expressed some of her deepest thoughts and feelings, that she wanted to. Not from interviews that I have seen in the past. It was as though she still had much more to Express regarding her life.
Clara Wieck wrote her Piano Concerto in A minor when she was 18 and premiere by Franz Liszt.
What talent she had. Tremendous! Rubinstein giving her advice doesn't alter the fact of her virtuosity.
''her virtuosity'' ?? you do realise shes just miming don't you? she couldn't play the piano.Its Rubinstein you are listening to!
A wonderful replica of a real performance.
Excellente pianiste ! Très inspirée dans ces extraits du Carnaval de Schumann !!!
Proud to see my great great grandteacher at the piano played by a very fine actress.
amazing did not know she is pianist ! when I was 16 yrs. I saw Schumann's movie, she acted as Clara Schumann.
"Do you think she skipped something?" LOL, that was a well-timed line!
Henry Daniell appeared as Liszt in this film and his playing was as convincing as Hepburn's. There's a great scene where Liszt is playing so vigorously, he ends up breaking the piano.
More convincing than hers I thought
Hate to burst your bubble but those were Rubinsteins fingers you saw playing
@@EvanKaplanPianist I'm aware of that. I meant his appearance of playing was convincing.
The Competition has some great performances like this by Richard Dreyfus and Amy Irving...
She was coached by Lily Evans on arm movement for this movie. Katherine Hepburn can play a little bit.
I thought she was dead.
She was coached in pianistic movement by Artur Rubinstein.
Just exquisite!
Wow, If I didn't know it wasn't real I'd swear she was really playing.
“Didn’t she skip something…?” A bit of an understatement! Good air piano work…
A tiny bit of the piece that repeats at the end. Is missing.Yes we are witnessing miming and so much of it is really excellent.Katharine Hepburn could not be anything but. Hand shape and tone production are right.
That was just to let us know it was "deliberate" and not just a bit of movie they-won't-know-the-difference.
@@anne-louiseluccarini4530 Baby needed feeding so high speed and cut some of the music.
At any rate, this woman was truly brilliant ( four Academy awards). And she couldn't have performed those two pieces so convincingly without having studied the piano for years. Rubinstein's ( his student's ) coaching notwithstanding. That Chopin Mazurka, and Robert Schumann's finale to his ' Carnavale ' . Nothing easy there, at all.
Which Chopin Mazurka?
@@johnsarkissian5519 There are fifty one: and I have two performances by Rubinstein. And, William Kapell. But, you are making me work. If someone else hasn't revealed the one she performed in the movie before I've found it. I'll find it later.
@@arthurhogan3047, I am a pianist myself, fully familiar with Chopin’s Mazurkas some of which I have even performed during my recitals. I was just wondering what Chopin Mazurka you were talking about since in this movie clip there were no Chopin Mazurkas. All that I heard were two movements from Robert Schumann’s Carnavale. I am not at all familiar with this movie. So, I’m wondering, did Hepburn play a Chopin Mazurka in an earlier scene?
@@johnsarkissian5519 : Well then, my friend. I won't waste any more of my time. The piece in ' question ' I thought, is from Schumann's " Carnival ". ' Not having heard that section in years. There is a similarity to Chopin; Mazurka - wise. Thanks for the heads up.
@@arthurhogan3047, Mine was an honest, simple question. Sorry for causing any confusion. I had no intention to put anyone on the spot. I really thought that you meant there was another clip from the movie where she plays the Mazurka, and I was curious to see it. Speaking of misidentifying a piece, in his memoirs, Stravinsky mentions that in his ballet “The Fairy’s Kiss” which is mainly based on melodies by Tschaikovsky, he could not recall whether a certain part of the ballet was his own invention or was it by Tchaikovsky. Quite amusing, but as you can see it can happen to the best of us!
At about 1:38 she finishes a little run with a mid-high octave, which would have been played with her right hand. But she clearly shows the chord being banged out with her left hand, low on the keyboard, where only bass notes are played.
In the old days, actors playing the role of a pianist prepared themselves, so that the scene could look credible.
Dear Goofybeard
What? Have you really never heard of this most brilliant US American actress that learned to play violine for a movie so well that a world class violinist was pretty impressed? For another movie she learned to play guitar. This multiple Oscar winning actress always prepares incredibly well for any movie! Are you able to guess who this super talented Lady is?
Best regards, luck, health and wisdom.
@@Chr.U.Cas1622 , that was EXACTLY the point: I was praising Miss Hepburn. Best regards, luck, health, and put on your eyeglasses before reading the others' comments....
@@Barbapippo
What??? Good grief, man! I only told you respectively commented that even nowadays there is a famous actress that does great acting like K. Hepburn (because she doesn't pretend to play but even learns to play instruments well etc.p.p.). You should definitely not tell others to put glasses on. This is definitely something your not entitled to because you're obviously neither able to read a comment correctly nor understand it! I don't understand why you're so eager to show this in public? By the way: I guess that you also don't know what great actress I talked about: It's famous Meryl Streep of course.
@@Chr.U.Cas1622 Sorry, I misunderstood your comment and stupidly over-reacted to its unnecessarily agressive/patronizing tone. Anyway, I guess that Meryl Streep is rather the exception than the rule; it would be easy to prove by a long list of examples that 1) in the past, practically every actor playing the role of a concert performer was coached so that he/she looked as realistic as possible; 2) today, apart from some notable exceptions, this is no longer true.
Dear@@Barbapippo
Many thanks for your honest reply. To say that you are sorry for something that you said is a very respectful thing. Even more because you did it in public. Chapeau!
2) Even nowadays there are some amazing and let's call it hypertalented actors/directors/artists that are prepared and do prepare well for movies etc.p.p.. For instance Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Clint Eastwood, Julia Roberts and so on.
Nevertheless: You are absolutely right. In the old times actors mostly/usually had a much better and comprehensive education. A lot of them could dance/stepdance/sing/play an instrument and and and.. They took their work more seriously I guess. Nowadays sometimes I can't even understand what they say (no speaking lessons). Additionally all that cussing/swearing in lots and lots of movies/videos is disgusting and so extremely unnecessary. I will definitely never understand what is so great about using f_ck and f_cking all the time. To describe bad AND even good things!
But I better stop here now because my blood pressure already begins to rise.
Thanks again for your decency.
Have a nice day.
Sincerely yours.
MARAVILLOSA EN TODO Y PARA TODO. . .
Henry Daniell as Liszt in the same movie was much more convincing. Watch him. He was similarly convincing in Camille
Sure wish I had that piano.
Ohhh. Thanks
Ella tiene que ser pianista para hacer esta actuación aunque quizàs no suene ella. Hay que ver los tiempos en los que se ven sus manos y los que no. Gran interpretación. Gran actriz!!
❤️ Kate
ВЕЛИКОЛЕПНО...❤
HOLY FUCK..... have we come a long way from perfection....
This video is incredible. What an human female can be ....
I have seen Leslie Howard mimicking violinplaying equally convincing.
What a nice surprise!
I’d like to know what film it’s from. I’d certainly give it a go. Anyone know?
Never knew Hepburn was such a fantastic pianist!
I'm pretty sure she was only pretending. But still, most of the time when actors "pretend" to play, we can absolutely tell. It's a testament to her acting skills that it's so difficult to tell that it's not really her playing! :)
@@Beethovenfan12 Yes, credit her for taking the effort and pains to make the playing so credible. Most actors come off ridiculous when acting as conductors or pianists.
I was going to say the same thing, then read the comments about how hard she worked to fake this playing scene. Bravo KH!
Lol, no she wasn't. Xo 🤭
@@blingmeblingme101 Ha! I was just kidding!
Please give me the right link so that I can watch the full movie :")
It's called " The Voice of Love" and the pianist throughout is Artur Rubinstein
I tried that, and all it got me was a Johnny Cash song and lot of other crrrrrap!
It's called Song of Love. It was just on TCM in October.
ok.ru/video/842577742499
The 1947 movie is “Song of Love”
Absolutely incredible! Is it possible that some of it was filmed more slowly and speeded up? Not that it matters - either way it is fantastic!
No.
It was possible but they didn't use that trick. Look at her face and mouth during the velocity sequence - natural motion.
How was this done?? They didn't have CGI back then so this is quite impressive. Way more believable than Elijah Wood's 'La Cinquette'
She had me until about 2:20, where the right hand octaves don't match up, then I was like, "Ok, where's Sviatoslav Richter hiding?"
이분이 영화 러브어페어에서 피아노치시던 숙모로 나온분맞죠? 영화배우인데 피아니스트이기도 하셨나보네요 ~👍
Artur Rubinstein plays and Hepburn acts.
Miss H was a natural at the keyboard. The Hs were a musical bunch.
But they weren't at concert level, of course.
@@cynthiaharrington9886 Do you feel better by saying that?
What movie was this?
Thats Henry Fonda in the balcony
Great prop make belief playing
Today, unfortunately, no one knows how to play faster octaves with the arms, and blocked wrist...there are no modern virtuosos....Hepburn makes the difference! Ah ah 😉🎼
I'm thinking the actual piano there is an old Knabe. My best guess, anyway.
utube smile by john bavas
What is she playing?
What movie is this from?
See other comments.
Had me fooled.
Whether she really played or not is inconsequential, she appears to play and does it really well - she was an actress after all, not a concert pianist. One detail the producers and directors overlooked is the fact that such a flat chested lady does not seem ready to breast feed a baby. In any case, it was a stupid idea to interpose in this scene!
The Schumanns were wealthy enough to hire a ‘wet nurse’ for every baby-which they did! It should be noted, though, that flat chested, thin women are perfectly capable of breast feeding.
@@elonamasson7569 I guess that was a politically and factually incorrect comment. Just not what I envision as the image of a wet nurse. I am sure thin women do just fine with their babies…
@@miamiracer : I am sure you meant no offense. In general, the stereotype is valid, but there are many exceptions.
John Ericson did a better job of faking it in RHAPSODY 1954. He "plays" Rachmaninov's piano concerto no. 2. He's very convincing.
I loved that movie
@@debradorfman7940 me too. I asked Vittorio Gassman's daughter if her father ever played a violin, and she assured me he didn’t. His faking was less convincing than Ericson's.
Only Liberace had a better playback style. 😉
pufffaw, this is nothing
when i pretend-conduct my stereo, it sound JUST like Karajan and the BPO
Some of the best fake playing I’ve seen in a movie. Yes, I know, “her tension and height are all wrong. Tsk tsk.” But she matches the music quite well, esp compared to some of the laughable film-music performances we’ve all seen. A consummate actress.
And you know this how?
@@robertdabbs2606 Know what?
Katherine Hepburn is not Artur Rubinstein !
The air play. She's not pressing the keys.
Ha ha. 😂That is the fastest Pause and Davidsbundler I've ever heard.
Yes; movie running-time-tempo or 'tempo di cinema'...
what is the name and composer of this piece?
Carnaval Op. 9 by Schumann
@@syrasyusyusyu thanks so much! I love this piece.
No toca ella,pero si lo parece.
But she played the piano in real life, didn't she?
It sounds like Rubenstein
Without her and her husband and Felix Mendelssohn , we may not come to know J S Bach.
I didn't know that the Schumanns were part of that revival.
@@soaringvulture Schumann's publication company published the first compilation of BWV in 1850 on the centennial of Bach's death.
😂😂😂😂😂
Yes, but could Rubenstein act as well as Hepburn?!
Rubinstein in drag for sure!
You must change the Head like , in spite she was great artist, she didn' t play the piano.
Looks like part of the Picture of Dorian Grey
I read all these wonderful comments ... ha ha ..... her playing is completely unconvincing, very fake. Of course she is a GREAT actress. The fault is in the film maker. It is really an insult to Katharine Hepburn. Perhaps really low standard for the time compared to today. As a comparison, check out Gary Oldman performance of Immortal Beloved. He is really an accomplished pianist. He talked about how he spend a lot of time on the movie set practicing the actual passages (not easy) on a Steinway to prepare for the shoot. And even then, the producer of the film is very sparing in showing the piano playing full hand motion. BUT I still laughed at all the comments here.
🤑🤑
From "Papillons" by Robert Schumann.
It’s carnaval op.9
Who would bring a baby to the side of the stage crying during the mother's performance. Not to say that the baby and the mother's behaviors were odd, but what idiot of a sitter would do THAT??? Cute how it played out with the skipping of the length of the piece, but I'd have smacked that sitter if that was me. 😆
Would love to see her try to rip a fake guitar solo a la Eddie Van Halen. Lol.
Her fingers and wrist are too rigid anyway. She isn't playing. If she were she would end up in hospital with at best severely dislocated fingers at worst broken.
Only saying.....
Is this really her playing? She wrote in her book that she couldn't play and wept because she was forced to.
Lily Evans All music used in "The voice of love" are Arthur Rubinstein's recordings, he also coached Katharine Hepburn with her arm and hand movements
Clara Wieck is a lot better than her father in piano playing. She wrote a piano concerto at age 18 ! Her piano technique is even better than her husband Robert Schumann.
Katherine Heartburn, the proto- feminist nazi, at the piano? (is the music dubbed?)
Why does she have man arms?
Just be glad she wasn't coached by Glenn Gould!
Katharine Hepburn's arm and hand movements are hilarious. Obviously, she never got very far with her piano lessons. Fortunately. as demonstrated by his performance, Rubinstein got quite far with his piano lessons indeed!
They are surprisingly not that bad to me
Hepburn did just fine,wouldn't you say .
This was an amazing woman. Beautiful, talented and also a major athlete. So many actors and actresses are multi-talented and have training and abilities in various performing arts...so hats off to them.
However, we should resolve this nonsensical accusation that she is not really playing and that she is somehow " lipsynching " or just pretending to play and that it is really Rubenstein playing. Anyone who plays piano can see that she is actually playing and that she is following the score perfectly which she could not do by just moving her hands up and down on the keyboard without really being able to play or without knowing the entire composition perfectly....PATENT NONSENSE.
Fooled you, dude.
She is definitely NOT playing.
She's miming incredibly well, but no, it's not real.
@@reuben854 Well, she definitely is playing. Now, the piano might not have strings but Hepburn is playing it.
@@soaringvulture No she's not. It was a decent attempt at mimicking.