Holy crap! Hamelin really does an amazing performance with Liszt. Definitely gives Bolet and Howard a run for their money. Thanks for posting this performance.
Very interesting! Hamelin is great as always. There are three places where the actual text of the Dante Sonata is uncertain - as in we don't 100% know what Liszt intended to put into the final manuscript. The first occurs at 4:34 - the return of the introductory material the second time around should probably resolve to a#-minor, instead of major. Leslie Howard says this is indicated by most of Liszt's manuscript fragments, but was changed in some editions and sometimes printed with the double-sharp as it is in the sheet music used in this video - and used by Hamelin as well. I must say I much prefer the a#-minor chord there. The second point of uncertainty comes at 10:46 toward the end of that fantastic modulatory sequence - Howard again argues that Liszt simply failed to correct the final draft sent for publication and forgot to add the "flat" in front of the B in the chord. So in his view the chord should be played with a Bb, as an Eb-Major chord, rather than it is in most editions, with a B-natural, as an augmented chord. Here my personal choice would be to go against Howard's choice, and side with the version used by Hamelin (and in the sheet music here), I think the augmented chord sounds more satisfying, and a very Lisztian touch. The third place where manuscripts differ is at 12:42 - here Howard again says that Liszt simply forgot to add the sharp sign in front of the melodic G in the right hand coming down from A to F#. Hamelin seems to agree as he plays a G# in this performance - unlike what can be seen for example in the sheet music in this video. (Here I agree with Howard and Hamelin, G# sounds more appropriate.) It is so interesting that there are still many editions of this piece in circulation where the printed notes differ in several places.
Thank you for those notes. I'm interested in learning this piece and I will take all of this into consideration. Regarding 12:42, I once heard this played by someone else and the person played a G instead of G#. Even without knowing the score, I knew at the time it must have been intended to be G# because it functions within the upper tetrachord of an A-major scale descending from A to E.
Is there anything Hamelin hasn't played; he has one of if not the largest repertoires of any concert pianists I know well. Even today I look at his tour dates and it's not like he's playing the same pieces, every concert is a different recital (stylistically as well as literally). Looking back at the incredible range of pieces he truly has perfected in the past really makes him shine out as one of my favourite pianists of all time; incredible guy who I really hope to see live soon! Thanks for posting so many of his performances with score, saves a trawl through petrucci aha ;)
Alternating between cziffra and hamelin - both such wonder pianists, genius and perfect performing at every turn, dare i say cziffras is my favourite, but lets be real here - shout out to the mother fucking Liszt who wrote this one of a kind piece of music viciously mashing elements of satanic and manihical explosotions with syrup-like oozing beautiful melodic and unforgetably enchanting melodies - Liszt really was the ultimate virtuoso pianist composer.
Douglas Smith, I like Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Rimsky Korsakov, Peter Tchaikovsky and others....dont know if you heard of these composers.
Sherldine Tomlinson wow you have a developed taste ....sounds like the Russian 5 ..definitely parts of such..thanks that gives me some ammo to work with and develop
Subjectively speaking as wonderful as this is,and Hamelin is one of the best, my favorite interpretation is that of the late David bar-Illan. he just brings more nuance to this piece than anyone else who has played it(that I've heard.) Maybe I feel this way because it was Bar Illan who introduced me to this masterwork.
Could you potentially elaborate? I'm trying to get better at appreciating performances, so I'd love if you could explain why this wasn't the best performance.
A Barenboimban egyetértek, Liszt tényleg nem az ő zeneszerzője. Szerintem ő egy jó művész, csak egyszerűen nem elég virtuóz ahhoz, hogy ilyeneket játsszon. Ránki tényleg nagyon jó (Volodos is), de nekem Hamelin a kedvencem - igazából a Bermant kérésre tettem fel. Azért vedd figyelembe, hogy ez élő, míg Bermané stúdiófelvétel. Mondjuk nekem hál' Istennek nincs abszolút hallásom, szóval nekem kevésbé fájnak a melléütések; engem inkább az érzelmek érdekelnek, azokat meg Hamelin nagyon jól hozza :)
Was he trying to be home before dark or something? Really wish he would slow down and extract the emotion out of more of the piece. Many parts were brilliant; makes me pine for the long lost (as far as I can tell) Enrico Pace recording from 1989.
TedManney Get This lis Liszt. The point of a reading of this score is to extract the "emotion" by pushing the tempo to the breaking point. This is what brings Liszt music to life. Only pianists like MAH have the equipment to bring out the inner pathos of such a monumental piece.
I don't follow your reasoning. The only way to bring Liszt to life is to play his pieces at a tempo that nearly makes them fall apart, but not quite? I've heard many examples to the contrary. The Enrico Pace recording I mentioned is slower than this one and is the best rendition of the piece I've heard. Unfortunately, it was taken down from RUclips years ago and I've never been able to find it anywhere.
I wish I could play it this well. There is lots of technique here to be sure, but not much...musical or Lisztian insight, and that really is the challenge with Liszt, and the downfall of virtually all those who quest for the LIstian grail: the making of music; and there is much there to be realized. Try this! The entire traversal (all 3 hours of it) of this complete Years Of Pilgrimage is alternatively transcendental and magisterial. Technique in service of music, rather than the other way round! I've set it to start this point in the 2nd Year, but listen to the whole thing at one sitting! You'll be glad you did. ruclips.net/video/kH6bFu7la5g/видео.html
+Ethan If this were Brahms I would agree. But I highly doubt Liszt himself would have played them in time. Liszt was known to have an extremely improvisational style of playing.
he was known to improvise but he also put allot of work into the perfection of the keys sound so yes he did improvise allot more during pieces lenghtening/shortening some notes but it was to bring out the most of the piece itself, so rushing is good but i feel like allot of piannists playing liszt play it by rushing through allot of parts that if played slower would bring out much more from the piece
PieinTheSky and B Man - I don't think that's true actually. I mean - yes, Liszt always improvised in his playing, adding sections to pieces like when he performed the moonlight sonata in England, but Liszt ALWAYS played perfect timing, because he always played the piano aided with the metronome in his childhood and so he was used to this perfect timing that it grew up with him altogether.
An exceedingly skilful pianist. Steinway is his racing car. But sometimes it pays to create the impression of speed rather than to race against the clock. Liszt has given so many emotional pointers (disperato, amoroso etc.) which must not be flattened out. In that respect I value Lazar Berman higher.
![Gunna - HIM ALL ALONG [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7Wf0h1Q8a4/mqdefault.jpg)
Hamelin is one of the greatest pianist, and this perfermance is stunning!
Holy crap! Hamelin really does an amazing performance with Liszt. Definitely gives Bolet and Howard a run for their money. Thanks for posting this performance.
Very interesting! Hamelin is great as always. There are three places where the actual text of the Dante Sonata is uncertain - as in we don't 100% know what Liszt intended to put into the final manuscript.
The first occurs at 4:34 - the return of the introductory material the second time around should probably resolve to a#-minor, instead of major. Leslie Howard says this is indicated by most of Liszt's manuscript fragments, but was changed in some editions and sometimes printed with the double-sharp as it is in the sheet music used in this video - and used by Hamelin as well. I must say I much prefer the a#-minor chord there.
The second point of uncertainty comes at 10:46 toward the end of that fantastic modulatory sequence - Howard again argues that Liszt simply failed to correct the final draft sent for publication and forgot to add the "flat" in front of the B in the chord. So in his view the chord should be played with a Bb, as an Eb-Major chord, rather than it is in most editions, with a B-natural, as an augmented chord. Here my personal choice would be to go against Howard's choice, and side with the version used by Hamelin (and in the sheet music here), I think the augmented chord sounds more satisfying, and a very Lisztian touch.
The third place where manuscripts differ is at 12:42 - here Howard again says that Liszt simply forgot to add the sharp sign in front of the melodic G in the right hand coming down from A to F#. Hamelin seems to agree as he plays a G# in this performance - unlike what can be seen for example in the sheet music in this video. (Here I agree with Howard and Hamelin, G# sounds more appropriate.)
It is so interesting that there are still many editions of this piece in circulation where the printed notes differ in several places.
Thank you for those notes. I'm interested in learning this piece and I will take all of this into consideration. Regarding 12:42, I once heard this played by someone else and the person played a G instead of G#. Even without knowing the score, I knew at the time it must have been intended to be G# because it functions within the upper tetrachord of an A-major scale descending from A to E.
Is there anything Hamelin hasn't played; he has one of if not the largest repertoires of any concert pianists I know well. Even today I look at his tour dates and it's not like he's playing the same pieces, every concert is a different recital (stylistically as well as literally). Looking back at the incredible range of pieces he truly has perfected in the past really makes him shine out as one of my favourite pianists of all time; incredible guy who I really hope to see live soon! Thanks for posting so many of his performances with score, saves a trawl through petrucci aha ;)
Moonlight sonata?
5:38 Ahem.
5:39 Never the wrong time for personal hygiene.
LETS GO HAMELIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alternating between cziffra and hamelin - both such wonder pianists, genius and perfect performing at every turn, dare i say cziffras is my favourite, but lets be real here - shout out to the mother fucking Liszt who wrote this one of a kind piece of music viciously mashing elements of satanic and manihical explosotions with syrup-like oozing beautiful melodic and unforgetably enchanting melodies - Liszt really was the ultimate virtuoso pianist composer.
Holy cow! this would take like a month to learn!
Aaron Petit Unless you are Valentina Lisitsa of course. 😢
She learnt Rach 3 in 3 days. 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
Don't overrate her, only because she's blond and a bit fat around her hips.
Henry Denner actually that was Arcadi Volodos who learned Rach 3 in 3 days.
Peter Berger wth
Learning notes is just a begining.
Grandiose, puissant, ultra technique et superbement interprété !!!
Oui, oui, oui, et oui!!!
At the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York, 2004.
Lets get on board the Hell train...based on Dante's Inferno...wild ride..
I love classical music, Russian composers my favourite.
Sherldine Tomlinson thank you ...good to know. ..any specific
Douglas Smith, I like Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Rimsky Korsakov, Peter Tchaikovsky and others....dont know if you heard of these composers.
Sherldine Tomlinson wow you have a developed taste ....sounds like the Russian 5 ..definitely parts of such..thanks that gives me some ammo to work with and develop
***** thank you
Bravo!!!!
Subjectively speaking as wonderful as this is,and Hamelin is one of the best, my favorite interpretation is that of the late David bar-Illan. he just brings more nuance to this piece than anyone else who has played it(that I've heard.) Maybe I feel this way because it was Bar Illan who introduced me to this masterwork.
+Images Oubliées I'll have to hear Volodos play it.
This marks the 2nd recording that’s brought me to tears, the first being Trifinov’s recording of Transcendental Etude 3
While there are many great performances of this monumental sonata.My favourite remains the great english pianist.John Ogdon.
As much as I love listening to Hamelin; I think he really had an off day when he played this piece.
Could you potentially elaborate? I'm trying to get better at appreciating performances, so I'd love if you could explain why this wasn't the best performance.
AtherisMagic I think the beginning was war too fast and nervous
Hmmm, ezt még nem hallgattam, majd utánajárok, köszi. :) A videóról mit gondolsz, amit még anno küldtem?
A Barenboimban egyetértek, Liszt tényleg nem az ő zeneszerzője. Szerintem ő egy jó művész, csak egyszerűen nem elég virtuóz ahhoz, hogy ilyeneket játsszon. Ránki tényleg nagyon jó (Volodos is), de nekem Hamelin a kedvencem - igazából a Bermant kérésre tettem fel. Azért vedd figyelembe, hogy ez élő, míg Bermané stúdiófelvétel. Mondjuk nekem hál' Istennek nincs abszolút hallásom, szóval nekem kevésbé fájnak a melléütések; engem inkább az érzelmek érdekelnek, azokat meg Hamelin nagyon jól hozza :)
You're optimistic :p!
Was he trying to be home before dark or something? Really wish he would slow down and extract the emotion out of more of the piece. Many parts were brilliant; makes me pine for the long lost (as far as I can tell) Enrico Pace recording from 1989.
TedManney Get
This lis Liszt. The point of a reading of this score is to extract the "emotion" by pushing the tempo to the breaking point. This is what brings Liszt music to life. Only pianists like MAH have the equipment to bring out the inner pathos of such a monumental piece.
I don't follow your reasoning. The only way to bring Liszt to life is to play his pieces at a tempo that nearly makes them fall apart, but not quite? I've heard many examples to the contrary. The Enrico Pace recording I mentioned is slower than this one and is the best rendition of the piece I've heard. Unfortunately, it was taken down from RUclips years ago and I've never been able to find it anywhere.
ruclips.net/video/5OXxPlg3VwY/видео.html
Nonsense. Hamelin's performance is decidedly one of my favorites, alongside Arcadi Volodos.
Sofronitsky ?
I wish I could play it this well. There is lots of technique here to be sure, but not much...musical or Lisztian insight, and that really is the challenge with Liszt, and the downfall of virtually all those who quest for the LIstian grail: the making of music; and there is much there to be realized. Try this! The entire traversal (all 3 hours of it) of this complete Years Of Pilgrimage is alternatively transcendental and magisterial. Technique in service of music, rather than the other way round! I've set it to start this point in the 2nd Year, but listen to the whole thing at one sitting! You'll be glad you did.
ruclips.net/video/kH6bFu7la5g/видео.html
This piece also only has technique in service to the music
Why doesn't he play the opening octaves in time? This is MONUMENTAL music, it needs space and pathos, not silly rushing.
+Ethan If this were Brahms I would agree. But I highly doubt Liszt himself would have played them in time. Liszt was known to have an extremely improvisational style of playing.
yes of course, improvisational, wonderful, but still it is rushed. I dont think the character is rushed
It's Liszt. Get with the program.
he was known to improvise but he also put allot of work into the perfection of the keys sound so yes he did improvise allot more during pieces lenghtening/shortening some notes but it was to bring out the most of the piece itself, so rushing is good but i feel like allot of piannists playing liszt play it by rushing through allot of parts that if played slower would bring out much more from the piece
PieinTheSky and B Man - I don't think that's true actually. I mean - yes, Liszt always improvised in his playing, adding sections to pieces like when he performed the moonlight sonata in England, but Liszt ALWAYS played perfect timing, because he always played the piano aided with the metronome in his childhood and so he was used to this perfect timing that it grew up with him altogether.
Igen? Nekem nem mutatja a túl sok negatív szavazatot, itt minden teljesen normális...
An exceedingly skilful pianist. Steinway is his racing car. But sometimes it pays to create the impression of speed rather than to race against the clock. Liszt has given so many emotional pointers (disperato, amoroso etc.) which must not be flattened out. In that respect I value Lazar Berman higher.
Can I have the sheet please?
Sure
The best is by John Ogdon.
Vitaly Pisarenko has a pretty amazing interpretation as well.
Quasi Faust??
Nope, I do not think so ! Nope ! this is not Hamelin !
Best moment 15:15