I had the fortune of attending Buniatishvili’s Schubert concert about two years ago and can say her playing is very consistent with this recording. She is indeed creative with a magical and soft touch, yet powerful at the same time. I agree with rvpiano, just like her colleague Trifanov, she will mature with time.
I would rank her Schubert right up there with Sokolov, Volodos and Radu. Sofronitsky, of course, is on another level. |
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The Schubert Bb Sonata D 960 to me is one of the most profound pieces of art in existence. It’s greatness lies in it’s simplicity. If one tries to do too much with it, to overly emote as Buniatishvili does, it loses something.
As much as I respect and admire Buniatishvili, I think she needs to mature into this music. No doubt she is a major talent and more creative than most of her contemporaries.
The Impromptus go very beautifully under her fingers. |
@twoleftears I haven't sampled this disc yet but tomorrow I'll surely do so. I have very high hopes for the future of this pianist but like Trifonov she has masses of technique but they need time to grow into the stars they will be in the future. I also think she has an enormous pallet of colours to fall on as exhibited in Pictures at an Exhibition. When I look at the You Tube video of her playing this piece every time I catch a closeup of her face her eyes are tightly shut and a rapturous look on her face (Liszt would certainly approve) I also like her rendering of Standchen but can I point you to another recording of it from Kissin who I think makes more of the virtuousity in it and therefor making the piece sing more and there are many footfalls in that piece so a transcendental technique is really needed in those Schubert/Liszt pieces. |
Listening to Buniatishvili's Schubert disc: Sonata D 960, Impromptus D 899 capped with the delicious Liszt Standchen transcription.
I am entranced by her playing. Rermarkable lyricism and delicacy in the p and pp passages.
The piano sound is interesting too; don't know if it's the piano she's playing or the recording, or both. Compared to the string of Hyperion recordIngs I've been listening to of late, it's softer, warmer, more rounded. It suits her meditative style of playing, I think.
Has anyone else sampled this disc?
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For me the Russian school is the best example of a teaching that exemplify in his pupils and masters the 3 main factors i listen to in a pianist:
The first factor is the one linked to the hues and "NUANCES" in color , ONE NOTE says all....Moravec, the pianist’s pianists ( he is not Russian i know) is an emblematic master of this colors and pastel mastery of note where the timbre playing of the instrument fuse with the microdynamic timbre gesture of the body....This is the seeds of the pure beauty, ethereal and/or incarnated ....
The second factor manifest itself between TWO NOTES : by constrasting, balancing, polarizing,attenuating, etc it is the INTENSITY... The abyss where gods and magicians transform crowds and the world....The hungarian Nyiregyházi and Sofronitsky playing Scriabin are supremum examples...For me this factor is linked to the ethos and/or the pathos....
The third factor is the dynamical and rythmic, and motoric mastering with THREE NOTES and more ... Pure VIRTUOSITY....Too many examples here and not necessary to give one... But Hamelin and Earl Wild or Horowitz for example own enough of the first 2 factors to exemplify the third without any negative coming from it....Here it is between the living logos versus the logical formula or the mechanical and the rythmical....
Artistry, Demonic power, and virtuosity....
An artist must slowy feel his artistry first , more than he can practice it, but he can practice his virtuosity and invoke then the circonstance when he feel it at his best....
The demonic power is linked to the miracle of the moment and cannot be practiced at all, it can only exploded....We may learn virtuosity, but nobody learn how to be a god and improvising and throwing miracles on listeners....
Artist, gods or magicians we can also call them....
We can all argue about our evaluation on this 3 factors scale of any pianist....It is relative to our own internal alchemical balance and then perception.... Never mind this subjective fact, these 3 factors can be use to describe the piano playing for me....1-2-3 notes....
Mozart and Chopin are supremum artist, Listz and Scriabin more on the demonic side for example, and Beethoven more in equilibrium between these 2....
it is only my way to communicate how i listen to pianists....
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Yes Mahgister, Sofronitksy certainly ruined me, after hearing his Schubert I'm having a hard time listening to anyone else.. |
One day someone make the observation that the piano with which he must play this evening is in a very bad shape, to whom Ervin Nyiregyházi replied, "it is me not the piano which will make sound"....
I always were amazed by this pianist and it is the same for Russian pianists.... Music is never only sound....
Just to pull your beard....
By the way i prefer good piano sound but....i prefer Neuhaus on a bad piano or Sofronitsky to almost anyone...
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Yes, she studied with Neuhaus.
quote
(Virsaladze)
A bad pianist can either play a Steinway well or ruin it. It doesn't bother me to play any instrument, and not just because of that. But unfortunately the pianos provided at Moscow Conservatory are in the worst condition. If you came, you'd understand. The pedals squeaked, they were out of tune, and the left pedal of the instrument in the classroom where Prof. Neuhaus taught was always creaking and squeaking. Every piano they had was a real embarrassment. Even now [laughs].
(Kobayashi) That kind of instrument was even in Prof. Neuhaus' class?
(Virsaladze) Even in Prof. Prof.Neuhaus' lesson room.
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Thanks for this very interesting post....
Very useful.....
She is a student of Neuhaus, one of the Towers of the Russian School and not the shortest one at all....I will listen to her...For me the greatest school of piano but it is only my taste.... 😁 |
Eliso Virsaladze This pianist is truly incredible. She is almost as old as I am. From Tbilisi and then Moscow. quote What are you conscious of when you approach, for example, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, etc.? (Virsaladze) Well, you can't express the music of any one of these composers without playing many of his works over many years. Beethoven has it all. If you can process Beethoven correctly, you will be able to understand the works of other composers in theory, that is. Take a look at Beethoven's sonatas and in them you can find Chopin nocturnes, various theme s and variations, Schumann, and Brahms, as well as even Prokofiev and jazz in them . For example, you can even hear his Op. 101 sonata (Sonata No. 28), Hammerklavier (Sonata No. 29, Op. 106), and the later string quartets in Webern and Schoenberg. . . . On the other hand, how difficult the technique for playing Mozart is! The fewer the number of notes in a sonata, the more difficult it is, because it's as if you are naked and exposing yourself in public. Still we have to make something out of nothing. In that sense, Mozart is more difficult than Beethoven. Beethoven is a dictator. He tells you what to do and it's all written on the score. Mozart does not do that for us. But there are a variety of reductions [meaning "various editions" of Mozart's work, and subsequent generations of people have been saying, “ play it like this” and “play it like that” and adding various things. People always want to put in something extra here, and add something new there. For example, today many people say that to play Chopin, you should use the Ekier editions. However, there were many wonderful performances of Chopin's music in the past. They say that Cortot was a Chopin player, but of course he wasn't using the Ekier editions. Anyway, regarding editions of Mozart's music, I think there is a great deal of nonsense out there.
www.tokyo-ondai.ac.jp › cms › uploads › 2019/11PDF https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Eliso+Virsaladze+ hint: if you are looking for her recordings, be aware that her name is spelled several ways: "Eliso" and "Elisso", "Virsaladze" and "Wirssaladze" |
I enjoy exploring repertoire off the beaten track.
Last night was a disc of Lyadov's piano music.
Tonight is a disc of Eugen d'Albert's piano music. What a biography! Look him up for an interesting read...
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P.S The fact that the Samsung Foundation loaned her that 1704 Strad
helps a bit . Fantastic instrument ! |
My putter died . Interesting younger violinist very romantic and harmonic to the teeth .Born of Korean parents in Germany. https://youtu.be/EmULX9QHCUU?t=1 Raised and studied in Germany lives there as German Ciitizen(smart lady} . Chausson, Poeme Op25 |
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@schubert Sorry Len, did you mean to send a link to the Liszt concerto. |
Very good for the Liszt fan.A very good Concerto 2 with elements explained by the artist .
The Gotthenburg Orch . is made for Liszt
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I've been enjoying Julia Fischer for few days. Truly impressive. Loved her Dvorak concerto.
I'm getting into Bruch violin concerto, looking for recommendations for LPs. So far heard Fischer, Oistrakh and Kyung Chung.
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I know Jim . I just don’t like to listen that way .
Brixet= The Empire is still there .
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No Len didn't buy it I came across it on Qobuz and was hooked at the first listen. |
Came to me who he was when I saw his "Madrigals For A Tudor King"on Amazon as I have that(somewhere).They are out the Four Voices but will pop up on my waiting list.
Did buy "Song of Songs" which I will get on Friday .Clueless about what it is .
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@schubert Len, if of any interest to you there is a glorious madrigal recording on Qobuz at the moment. Verdelot : Madrigals for Four Voices.by Profeti Della Quinta. It is some of the finest singing I have heard in a very long time with perfect diction so in tune with each other. I'm afraid to say I hadn't heard of Philippe Verdelot before this but I will definitely be looking him up for more .
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Today: Alkan, Chanson de la folle au bord de la mer, played by Vincenzo Maltempo on a 1899 Erard. I suppose this is much closer to what people would have heard at the time. |
Mendelssohn's 'Songs Without Words' was my first attraction to his music for solo piano (many years ago). I started with Barenboim's and most recently acquired Shelley's in the 4 vol set. All good - I think I still like Barenboim's more of these two.
But, forgetting anything but the shear beauty of the sound, I can't resist 'pigging out' with Kyoko Tabe's recording on Denon. It just 'sings'! To me anyway. :-) Try it if you haven't already.
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Rossini, Üne Larme, Ensemble Explorations, Roel Dietiens |
Hmmmm, should check that out .
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Schubert,
Will listen to Schubert sonata and trios soon.
Right now listening to CD of the underrated early Tchaikovsky symphonies performed by Markevich and the London Symphony. (I still have the budget Philips LP’s of them.) Classic renderings in classic warm Philips sound. |
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Mendelsson's Octet is an absolute Masterpiece .
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Now here is a d.960 for you rv . I call her goldylocks, not too much , not too little! (with a 58+9 first) https://youtu.be/c3gQhCsPZ8w?t=1A lot of people play Schubert , few understand him like her . |
Mendelssohn: complete piano works, Howard Shelley, 4 vols. i have only the three cd but i concur with your enthusiasm Mendelssohn is an always underestimated genius like Haydn, compared to some others, but save for personnal taste, it is truly a great composer.... Shelly is sure a very great pianist....This music can be listen all day long... |
Mendelssohn: complete piano works, Howard Shelley, 4 vols. Honestly, I don't know why M's piano music, beyond the Romance sans paroles, isn't more widely played. Excellent. Also excellent performance and excellent piano sound from Hyperion.
Hyperion are on a roll. Brahms, complete Variations for piano. Garrick Ohlsson. Wow! Some, err, muscular music here. Extraordinarily good piano sound.
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Schubert,
Thanks for citing Rachel Podger. Quite beautiful.
Menuhin, too |
Yes, Milstein was one of nature’s miracles.
After the age of 75 he was still as fluid and immaculate as ever.
And oh so musical. |
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I heard Nathan Milstein play Tchaikovsky concerto with Eugene Normandy and Philadelphia Orchestra, Thanksgiving 1960. His bow began shedding, concertmaster offered his, offered shaken off, music proceeded with NM pulling loose hair off the bow whenever he had a 2 second break. When it was all over, thunderous applause of course, and Milstein reached up to Ormandy on the podium, who lost his balance on his bad leg, and nearly tumbled, but Milstein saved his fall.
Never forgotten.
Meanwhile, now listening to Maria Tipo (born 23 December 1931) play Bach on her piano. So fine.
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I heard the Barenboim several times Jim.Like everything he does it was done very well.
I heard his orchestra many times when it had other names
and he has lifted to a higher level.
But , I still think E-P Salonen is a better conductor and Cho-Liang Lin gives an immacaculate performance from the first to last note, second to
none !
Of course we all hear what we hear.
I hope Scotia hears they had better get off the T- vessel built on Clyde-Side /
i
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@rvpiano RV I noticed your comment abut Milstein and yes I would definitely put him with the other two but I doubt if there was anyone who could play the sonatas and partitas of Bach like him his sense of structure and ability to land on a note after the most ferocious arpeggios with perfect intonation is nothing short of staggering. I listen to the D Minor Partita from him at least once a week |
A great big yes to Julia Fischer for me , she is a supreme virtuoso and probably the best of todays bunch . She is dammed near as good on the piano also. My love affair started with her a number of years ago when she was playing the Dvorak Concerto at the Proms and got a rapturous applause from the audience. She came back on a number of times and then came back with her violin and stood stock still as if pondering something. After a short time she looked up and apologised for saying nothing so she told us that when she walked on she didn't know what to play and since there was twenty four of the we knew then that it would be Paganini's 24 Caprices but she said it so matter of factly that we all knew she had them all at her fingertips. What a performer, no other today like her.
Now about the Sibelius Violin Concerto for me it's another young lady I listen to , it's Lisa Batiashvhili who captured me . She is wonderfully accompanied by Daniel Barenboim at the helm of the Staatskapelle Berlin. there are parts that the playing just takes your breath away. |
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Great as Oiistrakh was/is I can think of 2 others I think better in the Sibelius. Kyung Wha Chung , London SO/ Andre Preven/ Decca Cho-Liang Lin Esa-Pekka Salonen/Philharmonia Orchestra /SonyThe Finn really brings it home . To me this young lady, who died young, is the best of them all . Plane crash in 1940’s. https://youtu.be/gWV6gkeUUyo?t=26Philharmonia/ Walter Susskind This was made in 1945 and though the recording was not great she was . In this recording everything is Great ! https://youtu.be/A2gni0hiIz4?t=5 |
Oistrakh, notwithstanding Milstein or Heifetz, may be the greatest violinist of them all. |
I dont know if someone exist who cannot be impressed by that version of Sibelius... You are perfectly well and right ... 😊 |
Is anyone familiar with this LP? Sibelius: Violin Concerto / David Oistrakh / Ehrling / Stockholm Festival Orch. 1954 on Angel Just listened to it on YouTube and was very impressed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n-QHS888r4What are some other notable recordings of this Sibelius work? |
@jim204, "Although not my favourite pianist by any means Mr Goulds 1955 Goldbergs given the Zenph treatment are now very enjoyable indeed and if I want to listen to Gould's account then that is the one I pick up." I feel exactly the same. I do listen to the others, though the original quirky1955 took a bit of getting used to as I had heard the 1981 first, but this is the one that demonstrates the advances in recording technology between 1955 analogue (or even 1981 early digital) and 2007. As for Rachmaninov, yes I wouldn't have minded hearing Zenph's re-recording of Ashkenazi's PC2. Or even Perahia's first try at Mozart's PC21. The originals are still marvelous though. "We did a sales call at Sony, and met with the president of Sony Music," says Zenph president John Q. Walker, recalling a meeting with Sony Classical, which owns the masters for the original 1955 recording. "He took our demo CD, listened to it for three minutes, and said "Let's do albums." Some more background here. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10439850 |
@cd318 Although not my favourite pianist by any means Mr Goulds 1955 Goldbergs given the Zenph treatment are now very enjoyable indeed and if I want to listen to Gould's account then that is the one I pick up. I am really saddened that Mr Zenph's wizardry was assasinated by big record companies never to return. Shame on them can you imagine that Zenph could have brought Rachmaninov and Hoffman and possibly all the Golden Age pianists back to life but no, big business had to crush it till another centenary would come up and they would reissue hiss ridden reissues again and again. Just imagine a little collaboration and we could have been listening to musicians recorded from 60 years and more sounding as if they were in your home. No big business won't let the little man win. Signing off now in case I blow a gasket. |
The exquisite Brahms Opp. 117, 118, 119. Nicholas Angelich is a pianist new to me, but I'm impressed. |
