Balakirev - Islamey, Op. 18 (Pogorelich)

[@Dylonely_9274]

One of the most impressive piano solo masterpieces.

[@chamestb6632]

he he he ha

[@jukeban646]

HeHeHeHa

[@RandrianarisonMickaeLavalette]

yes !! :)

[@shouzhebg]

sup

[@KittiezeittiK]

Jejejeja grrrrr

[@Sahasrarasmi-Sancodite]

The GREATEST RENDITION of Islamey, bar none. Pogorelich is a virtuoso pianist from another galaxy, who appeared on this earth and advance musical interpretations from the "wordly" to the "other wordly". ❤❤

[@unnikrishnanvr186]

Out of all interpretations out there, this one is definitely my favourite. The tempo is perfect,accents are beautifully executed, and he absolutely nailed the second theme.

[@Fritz_Maisenbacher]

7:31 .. I'm not always a great fan of Pogorelich, and more a supporter of Barere or Horowitz, but here .......... his "Presto Furioso" I have to reconsider my own patterns, Ivo is breaking all the possible limits ... this is glorious, glorious ... something lethal, out of other realities, and no more ours ............

[@tedallison6112]

I play this every day, right after Petroushka

[@akadetrorjk]

And before Scarbo of course

[@tedallison6112]

@@akadetrorjk -are you supernatural? Had did you figure out? I actually play Gaspard ( Ondine-Le Gibet Scarbo) 1st---but, I was shredding my hands doing this before the other 2 too many days consecutively.

[@akadetrorjk]

@@tedallison6112 Yeah, I was like this too in my first month of playing, you'll figure it out

[@tedallison6112]

@@akadetrorjk-right & I'm SO sure you can play this repertoire too!

[@Dylonely_9274]

And after played Liszt sonata before petroushka

[@outrun9354]

2:46 wow, even Balakirev used the licc

[@Dylonely_9274]

😂

[@OctoPlaysPiano]

HAHAHA 😂😂😂

[@Tennisisreallyfun]

Amazing!!! And the old recording quality makes it sound like it’s being played in a room while it’s raining outside which sounds magical😂 I LOVE Pogorelich🤩

[@pi5549]

Thankyou to the kind Uploader, a magnificent Pianist and the glorious Composer. If aliens pick up on our radio waves, I hope they get a good dose of this.

[@joonhajun4460]

Best pianist from 90s

[@ronl7131]

Young Pogorelich such great Artistry!!!!

[@jonathanidiagbonya1103]

Nobody plays this like Pogorelich!!

[@chezbe]

Paul Barton?

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

I mean, he does brazenly ignore some tempo and dynamic markings in the piece Which is kind of his whole thing but yeah

[@knox2685]

Pogorelich is truly a genius

[@imdarealani]

Amazing performance.

[@RandrianarisonMickaeLavalette]

yes !! :)

[@adamwatson-br2cx]

Goodness... has to be one of the most difficult piano pieces ever written..... exhausting to listen to! 😁👍🏻

[@mikehutton3937]

It was, between 1869 and 1906. Then it became a challenge to write something harder. So Ravel wrote Gaspard De La Nuit, and Scriabin wrote his 5th sonata. It has to be said in Scriabin's defense, that he wasn't actually trying to make the 5th purposefully hard. It just turned out that way. But Ravel knew exactly what he wanted to achieve, and he was largely successful. The beauty of both is that, while Islamey sounds ludicrously difficult, Gaspard doesn't, It just is next level difficult. If you want a piece that is utterly ludicrous, the piano transcription of Ravel's La Valse borders on the ludicrous. But there are other, more modern pieces which require advanced techniques that the likes of Balakirev, Ravel, and Scriabin would not have dreamt of.

[@mikehutton3937]

It is also worth noting that this piece inspired what was possibly the most narcissistic piano pieces ever written. In a world where, 25 years later, numerous composers would write piano music for one-handed pianists, dedicated for professional pianists who had lost a hand or arm in the Great War (Ravel's concerto for the left hand is one of the most famous), Scriabin wrote his opus 9 prelude and nocturne. For the left hand. Not for someone else who'd lost their hand in a war or a tragic accident. No. He wrote this for himself because he injured his right hand practicing this piece - Balakirev's Islamey. Because his hands were too small for the job. As it was he regained full use of his right hand within five years. In Scriabin's defence, he went on to change piano music forever in 1907 with his 5th sonata.

[@marielaclericorhodes3030]

I've always loved this work, compliments

[@Rudel23]

Listening the first bars, my 1st. instinct was to say " too slow" but...then I liked the tempo and the performance more and more...I would say: great performance!

[@RandrianarisonMickaeLavalette]

yes !! :)

[@OmgEinWahnsinniger]

With this tempo and of course of pogorelichs amazing playing it has much more clarity imo and certain voices are much easier to destinguish.

[@Ryan_gogaku]

I wasn't aware that he would take quite *that* much liberty with the original score. I didn't think people did that with Balakirev. It works, but the changes at around 1:00 caught me very much by surprise.

[@gameclips5734]

well that dynamic change seemed like the only tasteful interpretation he made, the rest was just extra loud, i guess since it was a live performance and he felt it suited

[@MorganHayes_Composer.Pianist]

His more recent renditions will take even greater liberties . I heard him play it in Oxford awhile back .

[@erwinschulhoff4464]

apparently its called the russian crescendo(???), when the score indicates a crescendo you descresendo(????)

[@soratonin]

It's Ivo Pogorelich, of course he took a lot of liberties lol

[@evifnoskcaj]

This is a great performance! I think this incredible piece demands virtosity of the performer.

[@pianoman551000]

you think??

[@VaradiAbel]

No shite Sherlock!😂😂😂😂 Ur a true detective

[@quarkonium3795]

Considering that this is a candidate for the most technically difficult piece ever written I would think so

[@emilyhutjes]

OH OH how brilliant. I can follow everything between the lines, the rest in black makes me dizzy.😅 But thank you very much @WS. (Holland) 🌷🌷🌷

[@FritzKreutz]

Gewaltiger Vortrag!!!!!!

[@throxing8865]

Alright this is scary good - real question is it possible he has his technician make is action quicker before this performance?

[@ludwigvanbeethoven61]

this must be under the top ten of most difficult piano pieces ever xD

[@SpaceofSpace]

at least

[@quarkonium3795]

Top three I would say

[@jamiepound53]

I just wrote a harder piece, I called it 'E major at 600bpm'

[@Shinobu_Kocho578]

@@jamiepound53There's a difference between speed and actual difficulty... But again... 600bpm is mental😂

[@lisztomaniac2718]

Hard, but far from top ten. Probably not even in top 100, if you consider Stockhausen, Finnissy, Ferneyhough, Sorabji. Here are some harder pieces that are also actual music: Alkan's solo concerto, Le Festin d'Esope, Liszt's Beethoven transcriptions (not sure if all of them), Feinberg's sonatas, Szymanowski's sonatas, Ives' sonatas, Mereaux' etudes, Liszt, Gaspard de la nuit, Alkan's Trois Grandes Etudes, Le Preux, Comme le vent, Godowsky's Chopin etudes, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, Liszt's Spanish Fantasy and Spanish Songbook, Liszt's transcription of Symphonie Fantastique, Beethoven's Hammerklavier, Alkan's Scherzo Focoso, Brahms' Paganini variations, some of Scriabin's sonatas, Rachmaninoff's 1st version of the 2nd sonata, 3 Movements from The Firebird. And there are many more, of course.

[@TheodorKohler]

Bravo!

[@musiclover148]

Astonishing that this is humanly possible. However, what I notice the most in following the score is how I P ignores the dynamic contrasts requested by the composer. No doubt those passages are harder to play p or pp than f, but his way, they all sound the same.

[@LuisKolodin]

he ignores it and does not play warmly. sometimes it is just aggressive.

[@briany2094]

To my understanding, strong weak symbol post romantic period should be understand as a relative concept among phases, Unlike the times in classical or earlier.

[@jimmike10]

I always wonder if Balakirev ever could play this.

[@handznet]

I think not. This is why it is so difficult

[@PumpkinTheFool]

Apparently there were "some passages I could not play" in Balakirev's words. So no, he couldn't play it all, though, how much he could is left to speculation.

[@Недоэтого]

@@handznethe could

[@Damian_Theodoridis]

@@Недоэтогоactually he couldnt

[@musicrenz24]

The last phrase is like: playing piano after having a lot of red bull and speed intus

[@sparkydogsparky2992]

This may well be the definitive recording of this piece, but you owe yourself to listen to the Horowitz recording. It's more of a "Horowitz-Balakirev" piece, but it's worth a listen. I also expect with the new crop of pianists out of the orient, we'll see new recordings which will show additional facets of this marvelous piece.

[@24spoce8]

" the orient " 💀

[@seanfogarty5559]

The orient 🥴

[@pineapple7024]

Just because the piece has “oriental fantasy” in the name doesn’t mean we have to go back to 1870 every time we talk about it

[@eternityhacks6358]

Horowitz is one of the worst

[@theclassicalarchive]

@@eternityhacks6358Bruh

[@PFunk-vf1nh]

I play this with my left hand only at double speed. 😂 But seriously: Ivo Pogorelich is one of my pianist heroes!

[@ifoundleon]

I had the pleasure of being at this performance at Carnegie Hall. It was incredible. However, recently I experienced Masaya Kamei's performance of Islamey during his Semi-Final at The Cliburn, and actually like it far more. Seems more modern, cleaner, and more respectful of the beauty of the composition, less about showboating and being bombastic. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYiaXmqui7-hZtk Islamey starts at the 49:40 minute mark in the link.

[@kalikatespeliculero4771]

While I do agree with your opinion, I think there's something ballsy about this kind of "old school interpretations" (Pogorelich is not really old school, but his playing resembles it somewhat) . This kind of "giving no fucks" interpretation is usually missed in today's time, where we have switched to a more academic approach of pieces rather than each pianist having a unique, more aggresive personal style. In my opinion, it is more pleasant to listen to this pieces played the way they are played now, but I do enjoy hearing a different interpretation every now and then. For example, see Hoffman playing Ballade 4 or butterfly etude. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKKzf2edjd5raZY kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4TRdKZqgL9ngKs

[@ifoundleon]

@@kalikatespeliculero4771 Pogorelich was incredible in concert. I think that wild abandon suits a live in-person performance. It's exhilarating. But when it is recorded via audio or video, I appreciate a more accurate playing of the compositions. Masaya Kamei also has a softer and more poetic approach in his playing, which I am more drawn to these days. With all the craziness happening in the world, I appreciate a more sensitive, almost vulnerable interpretation.

[@mobilephil244]

This was very much an adrenaline fuelled live encore. It does indeed merit a slightly more respectful performance.

[@samh1996]

Scriabin’s worst nightmare.

[@alhths-n9w]

why? im just asking because I do not understand the reference

[@samh1996]

@@alhths-n9w Scriabin injured his right hand while over-practicing this piece of music on the piano.

[@alhths-n9w]

@@samh1996 oh ya i knew that, i thought he recovered tho

[@haroldpierre1726]

At some point, the composer said, "I am going to make this composition impossible to play."

[@mobilephil244]

At the time it appeared, it was considered to be the most difficult short piece ever written. Although it is still in the top 10, it's been eclipsed by the likes of Scarbo, much of Ravel and the Prokoffiev toccata.

[@josephhapp9]

@@mobilephil244 you are kidding me,,,Prokoffiev Toccata.

[@paologabrielromero8751]

Ravel: hold my beer

[@imagod4796]

@@josephhapp9 the Prokofiev toccata is way easier than this.

[@quarkonium3795]

@@mobilephil244 You must be joking. One of the students who studied under my teacher could play the Prokofiev Toccata pretty well yet he struggled to even maintain the correct tempo while hitting the right notes on the first movement of the Mendelssohn 1st Piano Concerto. No way in hell he could have even attempted to play this piece (not dissing him btw; he was better at piano than I ever was, it's just the toccata is not that hard compared to what's out there)

[@waggawaggaful]

I don't know what it is about my brain, but this composer's work just sounds like noise to me. And I love most classical music.

[@martinspiano7081]

1:06?

[@tomgentry5987]

Yea. It's like Tchaikovsky on steroids

[@waggawaggaful]

@@martinspiano7081 @tom gentry to me it just sounds like he's hitting random notes with no attempt at making discernible melodies. but i think if i listen to it again and again it'll eventually sink in and i'll start to hear and understand the musical ideas. he's new to me. i'm used to beethoven, chopin, rachmaninoff.

[@martinspiano7081]

@@waggawaggaful fair enough

[@musiclover148]

Try the orchestral version. The instrumental colors create a completely different musical world.

[@renelicht]

😍😍😍😍😍

[@olegmakarov7877]

Did Balakirev play himself Islamey ! I hardly believe 😊

[@ГлебМаматов-у4ы]

Yes. He was one of greatest pianist in Russian Empire

[@mobilephil244]

No. He modestly admitted that some passages were beyond him.

[@SourcianMStudio]

As a Muslim, I can confirm that this piece is so Islamic.

[@matthewclarke5008]

So cool, maybe there should also be a Christiany or Judaismy, or even Buddhismy, hopefully we have given the composers out there some ideas.

[@sohamsatapathy4151]

How about Blasphemy ? That'd be something !

[@pineapple7024]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@matthewclarke5008 Ever heard of sutras? Or St Matthew’s Passion? You will be surprised that “Christiany,” “Judaismy,” and Buddhismy” are, in fact, real things

[@ЮрийЧугаев-ч1б]

6:40

[@아목동아]

악보를 보니 무시무시하군요. 포고렐리치는 좀 더 높이 평가되어야합니다

[@sricube_16]

ISLAMEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY tried to make this piece Ian musecore and failed MISERABLY

[@tristangutierrezmolina]

WTF???? Noooo! Ya me pongo a hacer más!! No puede ser... Siento que he desperdiciado mi vida

[@pepitillop2673]

This is impossible in my opinion

[@9sunsjuddleponk]

Türk var mı

[@francescofusco9510]

i sleep listening to Stravinskij's Spring, so this does nothing to me

[@kitbuiz]

A wonderful piece - and a disgusting recording quality. Couldn't there have been a better one?

[@ortholol]

Traum pianos verison

[@sagar1992]

@@ortholol oh hell nah that's the worst

[@sagar1992]

Try out Gilel's recording. Here ya go kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooiTe6SZg5Vlp7M

[@josephhapp9]

1990 live.

[@Memories_broken_]

@@sagar1992 Its an amazing interpretation dont get me wrong, but imo it lacks emotion, especially around the second theme

[@handledav]

islam

[@handledav]

sl

[@handledav]

s

[@handledav]

‌

[@stephenn77]

No thanks!! The guy must have been drugged out.

[@dh5e6drdrhdgsrh92]

bruh