Arrau plays Liszt - Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude, S. 173/3 (1847)

[@이상호-l5c1z]

I’m South Korean. I played this in my grandmother’s funeral service. Everyone were crying including me

[@md88kg]

A piece of divine peace, as though the Maker himself were sitting at that piano.

[@GouganeBarra-u4t]

Liszt playing homage to God... serene, divine, beautiful. Arrau is the perfect messenger... capturing the soul of the music perfectly !

[@eddiebeato5546]

Claudio Arrau’s tonal quality is the acme of pianism. Scores of pianists could play faster scales, arpeggios and octaves, but when it comes to the beauty of the piano as a cantabile instrument, former pianists, such as Vladimir Horowitz and Claudio Arrau, are still unrivaled. The key to their artistry is “personality,” which stamps every note with something unique, ethereal and inexplicably beautiful! Now, I have to say that Franz Liszt was not just a superb musician of the highest rank, but a mystic...and hence his artistic sensibility when writing such sublime music as only possible to blessed spirits from the higher spheres of Pythagoras... From this perspective, Franz Liszt’s conception of glorious things could surpass our religious squabbles and schism. Even if one is an atheist, one is bound to admit a superior numinous experience with the Benediction of the illustrious Master of yore.

[@dougjohnson3299]

How eloquently you describe what sets composers like Liszt and interpreters like Arrau and Horowitz apart from virtually all others! Thank you.

[@jonathanhos6031]

Please DO NOT plug in any commercial advertisements during a classical music playing !!! Put it in the beginning or at the end .

[@lukasmiller486]

It’s about MONEY.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

Tell KZbin, not here.

[@GouganeBarra-u4t]

If you want no commercials buy the cd. Commercials are annoying, but we are getting the music for free !

[@rofai-ek9903]

You can also do the thing where you skip to the end of the video then replay it so that the ads disappear

[@gerardbegni2806]

Arrau plays this "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude" with the interior feeling and the correct tempo which makes him one of the best if not the best interpret of this sublime music.

[@hanslangrieger5648]

Ja.

[@not2tees]

I just read that Arrau's teacher was himself a pupil of the great Liszt.

[@Michel-eg9eh]

Couldn't agree more!

[@dougjohnson3299]

Yes

[@dougjohnson3299]

Martin Krause​@@not2tees

[@dougjohnson3299]

Franz Liszt and Claudio Arrau. Reverie and Spirituality and Contemplation lifting the listener to new heights. My 96-yr-old friend drifts off into a peaceful slumber..

[@hastensavoir7782]

the Perfect piece of music in these trying times of Quarantine. May God be with us all.

[@ybayab]

מגוב

[@lltinkerbell]

🙏🌼

[@dwacheopus]

3 years...

[@MBL2210]

My last wish will be this recording to be played at my funeral, so every one gets reminded of how delicate this life can be. And of course, everyone will be very near to God, listening to this piece, and I hope they will continue to listen - in solitude. That's when it hits the most.

[@Michel-eg9eh]

Superlative indeed! Sorry for this shortish comment, but this piece, in this particular rendition, gets me so emotional - i.e. at once meditative & tearful, for multifarious reasons (notably the composer + the performance!). By the way, here and elsewhere, Arrau almost always rules!

[@e.conboy4286]

MBL … I hope you are still with us! This is actually the first time I’ve had the pleasure of hearing this and I am spellbound!

[@dougjohnson3299]

I will request this specific interpretation by Maestro Arrau to be played at my life celebration. Thank you for the idea. Bless you. It is so beautiful.

[@dougjohnson3299]

I hope to emulate you in your desire.

[@mikedaniels3009]

Maestro Arrau = THE ONLY PIANIST in the world who actually UNDERSTOOD this piece. Whoever else plays this, you never get to hear THIS balance of bliss and internal peace.

[@lefinlay]

Hough also does a very good job in my opinion

[@Piflaser]

Listen to Engerer.

[@fiokomjutub972]

@mikedaniels3009 @mikedaniels3009 Arrau and You ! of course. Yes ? Nobody else understood Liszt and this music just the two of you. Bravo.

[@marieclare-ue6kl]

​@@fiokomjutub972what to do? Some have ears, but do not hear.

[@alger3041]

​@@fiokomjutub972Arrau and me.

[@absinthesizer]

This was the performance I imprinted on as a teenager, and I've never since heard a performance that conveys this sense of repose.

[@paulobarcelos2308]

The Greatest Master of the Pianoforte ever. Arrau forever. Pupil of a pupil of Liszt, Martin Krause, Arrau revealed to the world what composer Liszt really is.

[@dougjohnson3299]

Yes!

[@HermanIngram]

😂

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

It's heaven. Arrau's work was all heaven as well. What a truly wonderful man. :-)

[@dougjohnson3299]

Oh, how I wish I could have shaken his hands just once!

[@brettowen7174]

Still the best rendition of this sublime work.

[@anthoniam8473]

This is the best version of this heavenly piece. Thank you, Master Arrau and Master Liszt.

[@marcosviniciosribeirocompo1137]

You are absolutely RIGTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Hallh2008]

Hay mucho por elogiar al querido Arrau.

[@Torebordalpiano]

What about Stephen Hough's?

[@coquimbo53]

Toreidbor The tedious comparisons... Please.!!!..just listen to him ... Period.!

[@dougjohnson3299]

​@154Ann Maestro Arrau is my hero of music for all time for all people for all genres. What an artist! And a truly humble gentleman.

[@ThePiano50man]

My father's piano teacher playing. This was the first Liszt I ever heard and fell in love with it. Only recently did I learn it and I always hear something new when I play it. A masterpiece.

[@58flixbu]

Deeply fascinated and touched again by Claudio Arrau's playing....

[@dougjohnson3299]

Maestro Arrau!

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Beauty beyond words and even thought. Wondrous Liszt. Fabulous Arrau. :-)

[@Bampaloudu64]

Il y a quelque chose de vraiment divin dans la musique de Franz Liszt. Du point de vue des accords, des émotions, des harmonies qui aspirent au ciel, à l'immense, à l'éternel. J'aurais vraiment aimé rencontrer cet homme.

[@Michel-eg9eh]

Third classical LP I bought as a teenager (the first ones were Mussorgsky's complete works for piano by Michel Beroff - 2 LPs, equally outstanding). 46 years later I still don't think I was misguided in theses choices and I don't think I ever will! The Arrau disc also included the Bm Sonata (A-side) and 2 Concert Études: Gnomenreigen (Ronde des lutins) and Waldesrauschen (Murmures de la forêt) to fill up the B-side!

[@julianallen6849]

One of the the noblest and grandest of piano works

[@fliszt11]

Absolutely my favorite piece from the Romantic repertoire. Perfect ABA structure with the B "Schumnannesque" section recalled in the Coda. A perfect prayer and love song for a divine or human love.

[@timotot123]

Nice critique. I think we're on the same page :D

[@n0rg]

Absolutely right Richard.

[@sballet99]

Thanks to Jin's short film, I aprecciate this masterpiece

[@Fxrever]

idem

[@mootothearmy4596]

Sandra Quinteros yes I finally found this 😍😍😍😍

[@nuka9239]

Sandra Quinteros glad i am not the only one

[@mochimin_pjm4310]

Sandra Quinteros SAME I’m happy I found it

[@lefinlay]

Who tf is Jin?

[@joegamba4635]

absolutely breathtaking.........it seems impossible that a human being could have written this..thank you.

[@darylsmith5517]

you nailed it.

[@dougjohnson3299]

And Maestro Arrau brings out all the qualities of this moving work of art.

[@albertomartin4812]

What a performance of this sublime piece. Not much more can be said.

[@guirlandes3]

What a sublime performance, quite the best on record in my view. I grew up with this recording, having been introduced to it by Garrick Ohlsson the moment it was released in 1970 or so, I believe. Not too long afterwards,I played it for and studied it briefly with Arrau in Chester, Vermont.

[@MrPaevo]

+John Bell Young Do you pick up any of the melody with the right hand thumb, for instance on page two when it modulates to d-sharp minor? I find that the reach from d-sharp to a-sharp can't be made cleanly without creating a unwanted break in the phrasing.

[@guirlandes3]

Arrau, who had a huge hand, was not one to advocate playing in any way other than the exact manner in which it is notated. That was easy for him to say! I don't recall what I did, as its been many years since I played it, but I certainly have no objection to redistributing if that is more comfortable, and so long as it is seamlessly done!

[@yuezhang273]

Can you remember how maestro Arrau's opinion about the feeling of this piece, and about how to play the right hand accompaniment which is difficult, Merci beaucoup!

[@dougjohnson3299]

How fortunate you are!

[@agelessprajna2955]

when i first heard this composition i was spellbound, i continue to feel the same way to this day; it is to my feeling one of the best compositions Liszt ever wrote and of course Arrau plays it beautifully

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Me too. I always end up a re=teary mess. It makes life worthwhile and me feel a better person. Nothing got do with religion∏just the beauty of a human soul.

[@dougjohnson3299]

Yes!​@TERRYBIGGENDEN

[@mrionestrovsky]

Fantastic interpretation of this great pianist that I was lucky to listen alive more than once, in São Paulo (Brazil), many years ago. Mário Santos,SP (Brazil)

[@PP-oz4ef]

Lucky man.

[@dougjohnson3299]

How fortunate you are!

[@rinacravero]

Fantástico gran maestro Claudio Arrau. Después de abandonar esta vida, quedó catalogado como uno de los mejores pianistas de todos los tiempos.

Por que Liszt é tão tocante assim? Maravilhoso, sublime e celeste!

[@alexs1504]

I don't know any pieces that are more peaceful than this one, honestly I'm looking for it, Liszt is an absolute genius

[@Alix777.]

You don't know any piece at all

[@aeroslothy]

Please, listen to Ballade 4

[@alexs1504]

@@aeroslothy 4th ballade is not really the most peaceful, very living piece but not peaceful at this one (I love it tho)

[@FrostDirt]

@@aeroslothy Ballade No. 4 is anything but peaceful

[@SShrikke]

This is why liszt is my favorite

[@rinacravero]

Qué hermosura! Gracias Claudio Arrau donde se encuentre al otro lado de la vida. ❤️

[@Raeburn10025]

Absolutely gorgeous.

[@skimask777]

WOW! This brought me closer to God. I think I'll start going back to church from here on.

[@michaelj1237]

don't know if others feel this too, but this piece gives me peace and brings me to a state of reflection. i wonder what pianists themselves feel or ponder when they play this masterpiece.

[@ralphneiweem6604]

Most pieces fall apart when played too slowly. This would be too slow in any one else's hand but Arrau's, and, in fact, gains hugely in stature. Revelatory. And what utterly glorious sound.

[@dougjohnson3299]

You're right.

[@frankstaab3588]

As beautiful as the music is this wonderful landscape.

[@cyntias.4127]

Beginning to end marvelous!

[@KenWangpiano]

Arrau definitely has my favorite interpretation

[@dougjohnson3299]

Arrau forever!

[@marcosviniciosribeirocompo1137]

12:46 piano gives LIFE !!!!!....MY GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is HEAVEN !!!!!

[@dougjohnson3299]

Yes

[@dougjohnson3299]

Floating through the heavens

[@perlarsson9101]

This very recording of this very piece, might be the pinnacle of mankind.

[@Michel-eg9eh]

And it very well might be why mankind should strive to perpetuate itself, instead of choosing the path of self-annihilation - no reference to the "mystical contemplation of God" intended - (Cf. Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary's definition of the word 'self-annihilation'), only ecological considerations are implied here! Granted, some religious people, on account of their faith, could argue that the former considerations trump the latter ones... I just happen to not be one of them for ethical reasons, though I've nothing against the "mystical contemplation of God", if that's all possible to us mere human beings.

[@fanstarvd]

Magnifique

[@anamariasampaio257]

Boa noite. Gratidão. Muito linda a música. ❤ 🎉 😅

[@Dylonely_9274]

I love it. Arrau is one of my favorites.

[@pedrofernandez5005]

Hasta las lagrimas con la belleza sublime de esta pieza y Arrau...

[@antoniofernandez-albalatga5731]

Un verdadero maestro.Gracias por tan religiosa interpretación.

[@ic5720]

El maestro interpretaba estas hermosas obras con la mayor fidelidad posible. Grande Don Claudio

[@OriginalBasaliskos]

@newFranzFerencLiszt I heard Garrick Ohlsson in concert yesterday play this. He was a student of Arrau, and I'm finally glad I got to hear him live.

[@CH3CH2OCH2CH3net]

Love this performance. Thanks, also, for selecting this picture: it's really nice!

[@PieInTheSky9]

Powerful performance! I love how it sounds like he's just digging the sound from out of the piano. Gives it a full robust sound which I can't get enough of. As far as the speed is concerned, I honestly think this piece loses a lot at faster tempos. I personally like the slower tempos better, but that's just a matter of opinion and tastes. Liszt probably would have played it at all kinds of different tempos.

[@charleswelsh5637]

That is very much Arrau - the digging

[@MartinVanBoven]

Yup. Never hitting the keys, always "clawing" into them.

[@davidrmoran]

Agree, and well-put, but it sure is hard to imagine Liszt playing anything this slowly and ponderously

[@dougjohnson3299]

Maestro Arrau believed that " speed is the opposite of passion". He put his heart and soul into all his interpretations. Viva Maestro Arrau!

[@luizfernandg]

I love this piece with Arrau, but there is also a very beautifull rendering from the young Brendel! For the ones who adore the piece, very worthy hearing that is!

[@235saphire]

It is a wonderful piece of music. The title says it all. Putting it in more words lessens it.

[@claudiosoto4945]

Maestro Arrau, que sublime tu voz, como gotas de lluvia tus manos se posan sobre las teclas de tu piano y así tus notas se posan sobre mi alma

[@dougjohnson3299]

Maestro would be touched deeply, I believe, by what you wrote. I know I am. Thank you.

[@Michel-eg9eh]

Arrau peut-être égalable, mais sûrement insurpassable, du moins dans ce chef-d'œuvre de Liszt!

[@ungava100]

While struggling to learn the piano in the late 30's and 40's, I played my grandparents' piano paper rolls recorded by Ferruchio Busoni. To me then and now they were a blessing, encouraging me a promise of the reality awaiting me when I pushed on.

[@dougjohnson3299]

Maestro Arrau Loved Busoni!

[@williamsu5552]

Arrau really changed everything i understood Lizst!

[@the_missing_bench]

Arrau's is the only interpretation of this music that makes sense to me. The others play it too fast, that the experience of being with God, the 'solitude with God' referred to in the title, completely disappears in their interpretation, making the music sound banal. Under the hands of a great master like Arrau, one gets transported to a spiritual place, the experience of it, sublime and heavenly, just as Liszt intended it to sound.

[@albertomartin4812]

You are completely right. :)

[@josebatista3489]

I agree.

[@kringagomes266]

I agre with all you wrote!

[@Gwalchaved86]

Try Hough's version. You may still prefer Arrau, which is quite understandable, but I think Hough does not fall into the defect you describe. He even plays the andante more legato, in a way I prefer to Arrau's for this specific moment. Globally, I find his version actually quite close to Arrau's, meaning that he may have been inspired by his illustrious predecessor.

[@timotot123]

Claudio Arrau was so special and an absolute musical genius that most of us cannot quite comprehend it. He was very loyal to the interpretation of his repertoire and also could bring out brilliant virtuosity and attack of the keyboard when he felt it necessary. Ultimately he only wished to give a great service to this universal language and he undoubtedly achieved that in his lifetime

[@chefrye4580]

I see references below to unfavourable comments long since deleted. But for anyone with an emotionally sincere response to this music, what is there not to enjoy? This is one of the highlights of the piano repertoire and in performance here it is given the most eloquent and noble breadth of expression.

[@dougjohnson3299]

Well-stated!

[@charleswelsh5637]

I've been a fan of Arrau for a very long time. My father saw him in the 1930's (in Kentucky!) and brought him to my attention when i was studying the piano (to limited effect haha) Anyway I highly recommend his recordings of the Transcendental Etudes. I wold say he is rather neglected as a huge talent of his time.

[@punkpoetry]

+Charles Welsh really? He's widely considered one of the unarguably great pianists of the 20th century

[@marcosviniciosribeirocompo1137]

For me: ¨THE PIANIST ¨!!!!

[@johnlovric5896]

really? one of 20 greatest Pianist of 20th century

[@Michel-eg9eh]

@@johnlovric5896 Is Chico Marx included in your list?

[@GUSTAVOMARZANO]

Maravilloso. Gran Artista . Muchas gracias. Bendiciones

[@marcosviniciosribeirocompo1137]

When I hear ARRAU play this or any other piece, i simple can´t hear from another hands !!

[@NoahJohnson1810]

What? I don't hear his hands :( what do they sound like?

[@marcosviniciosribeirocompo1137]

+Noah Johnson My english is not good ...or maybe this expression in portuguese is¨ diferent ¨ in english !!?

[@jim62ist]

I think Mr. Johnson is trying to be clever. Unfortunately, he has not succeeded. In any case, your meaning is perfectly clear.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

@@jim62ist no?

[@segmentsAndCurves]

@@jim62ist I don't get it from the first read too.

[@Erik83474]

Just out of this world....

[@georgewuteng]

Astounding. I was not very familiar with this piece until my professor recommended it, saying it is one of their "desert island" compositions. It is now one of mine as well, and this performance of it a "desert island" performance too.

[@chrismontis]

very noble playing :)

[@FranciscoArvizuH]

Terrific, marvelous! The number One.

[@estherszalay5921]

Magical! Thank you.

[@gkollias14]

The best exampe of the angelic side of Ferenc Liszt.

[@darylsmith5517]

No one but Claudio Arrau has played this piece the way it should be. Just sayin.

[@mariolongo7369]

Grazie Arrau, grazie Liszt ❤

[@fliszt11]

Tim, I am happy you share my love love for this lovely piece. I was fortunate to hear it t live twice played by Jorge Bolet at SUNY Purchase and Duchable at Lincoln Center. He wrote it for his mistress and was he ever in love and a very spiritual man .. If you love Liszt as I do (a member of the American Liszt Society) make sure you read Alan Walker's trilogy biography of Franz Liszt. A great biography of he most fascinating musician in the 19th century.

[@timotot123]

wow...what incredible experiences you've had Richard. I started learning piano quite late, from age 13 when by accident I turned on the TV at home, and an Arts program was on in which a Recital was taking place, and this collosal work was being performed which by coincidence i saw from start to finish. I sat in owe from the shear magnificence and organic beauty of this work that i was hearing for the first time. It was Liszt's sonata, being performed by Peter Donahoe, and this was 1998. So i went to order the music at a local music store, even i couldn't read music at the time, and spent the next year or two teaching myself theory, and learning my first ever piece, which was this work. It was crazy

[@jacksonzeng3988]

deep into the heart

[@lauradefusco9583]

Un suono meraviglioso,inconfondibile,

[@mariarosanovello7803]

Salve Sig.ra de Fusco,solo l'altro giorno ho trovato il ricordo di un suo concerto a Torino.2 marzo 1980,un bellissimo programma di Beethoven e Chopin...approfitto per salutarla con molta simpatia e auguri di ogni bene..

[@lauradefusco9583]

@@mariarosanovello7803 grazie signora Novello per le sue cortesi parole

[@alhbardalan4907]

Wow! This piece by liszt is a great masterpiece! Arrau and Brendel are my favourite. There is a magnificent and rare performance by Brendel (very rare LP Philips '70). If you can, find it and you are a lucky man.

[@michaeloleary1867]

Wonderful!

[@gerardbegni2806]

Outstanding interpretation of that great piece by Arrau !!!!!

[@Tutonico]

superbe c'est l'un de mes morceaux préférés. #Philonico a fait une superbe vidéo desus.

[@teabun13]

Thanks for the recommendation Yunyi.

[@AratiBalakrishnan]

Tia Rowe Same!

[@PRIMAN777]

Sublime,Transportador, Armonía Infinita... Rejuvenece nuestro Ser despertando nuestra Alma, ayudandonos a La Ascención... "Yo Soy La Resurrección y La Vida, Yo Soy La Resurrección y La Vida,Yo Soy La Resurrección y La Vida"... Hagamos 3 respiraciones profundas y nos Elevamos a La Luz de La Inmortalidad...

[@stephanie-theresegabrielat2344]

je m'incline devant une telle beaute de l'image et surtout de la musique!!!!! suzanne ozorak

[@christiangaillard6855]

Yes

[@pelegrino791]

Arrau is the only pianist I listen to on almost a dalily basis.

[@dougjohnson3299]

Yes!

[@finneyusd7765]

Beautiful.

[@mohamadza3ri391]

Wowwwww !!! It is at the top magnificence

[@philonico]

Superbe

[@daniellelambert8973]

magnifique merci à Matthias Enard de me l'avoir fait decouvrir avec son roman BOUSSOLE

[@kimmieb177]

Finally, someone who agrees with me!!! Why does it seem like people like us are so few and far between...

[@Philo-Vids]

A calm existence, an evocative, meditative and contemplative pilgrimage, as only possible to the peculiar psychic constitution of some privileged souls...Franz Liszt, Claudio Arrau, Jacob Boeheme, St. John of the Cross, and all those lofty spirits from paradisiac worlds of light, beauty, purity, beatitudes and love for the marvels of life! Claudio Arrau’s rendition of this journey is one of the finest renditions: rarely he is ruffled into something extraneous to the underlying heroic calmness and grandeur. It is very possible that he was living a very calm, unruffled, undisturbed existence...free from the din and noise of modern society.

[@alexandros789]

this music you listen here is 150years old... and a lot of people are still listening and loving it...do you think that lady gaga's music will be loved in 2200? this is IMMORTAL music, pop music is COMMERCIAL and TREND music,liszt's wrote in sheet human feelings...that's the mean difference between your music and liszt's music.

[@王允中-v3y]

Super best!!

[@fatmadridibenaissa3513]

Played with art .

[@mikedaniels3009]

Praise The Maker for: 1) Liszt 2) Maestro Arrau 3) The makers of Steinway 4) for Philips records 5) the inventor of youtube 6) for the smart phone 7) for everything good

[@jakob8076]

1) Ana Lager and Adam Liszt 2) Dr. Don Carlos and Lucretia Arrau 3) Heinrich Engelhardt Steinway 4) Frederick Phillips 5) Jawed Karim and Steve Chen 6) Martin Cooper 7) Physics, Biology, Math etc. Do you mean these makers?

[@giuseppemoscato8328]

You have forgotten the most important : Jesus Christ.

[@juanpabloriveros1574]

@@giuseppemoscato8328 and Martin Krause Arrau's teacher

[@md88kg]

May I be forgiven, because I don't understand Christ yet I suppose. ​@@giuseppemoscato8328

[@fatimacanche9081]

Arrau no hay otro que interprete mejor. a Liszt .Lo amo

[@marioguidoscappucci]

Che meraviglia!

[@APerson4889-g5f]

Here because I like Liszt.

[@tag6519]

Thank you.

[@christopherm8639]

Brilliant

[@FloydTheBarber99]

Beatles are a pop group, rolling stone a rock group, clash a punk band and after 40 year we still listen and love them and I think we will continue on this way.

[@atallaedits]

through the eyes of an elder man, standing on a hill alone, nostalgically remembering his past days, while watching the nature that he grew up in; the warm fields, blades of grass waving with the wind - just as they did before, in his childhood. the events of his short, yet seemingly never-ending life start rushing out of his subconscious like water breaching the dam; the good, the bad, everything. in the end, he returns to the present moment, his wise eyes calmly observing as the final rays of sunlight grace the land, before he closes his tired eyes and lets out one final sigh. it had been a good life.

[@Nickoking12]

so bad and gay lol pls stop these cringe comments

[@atallaedits]

i'm sorry if my comment offended you, but i see nothing "gay" and "cringe" in what i felt when i listened to this piece :)

[@papercup2517]

@@Nickoking12 Using 'gay' as a criticism/insult is pretty cringe-worthy, TBH. :-/

[@jaketang892]

wonderful arrau. may i please know where the place in the picture is

[@mattdugan2000]

Good god that was beautiful...

[@amarteville426]

Inspiration sans esbrouffe , moyens pianistiques au service du mystique , phrasés et plans sonores profondément présents mais sans être soulignés ...

[@Alix777.]

Arrau is the best