Ben Kim plays Intermezzo by Nikolai KAPUSTIN, from Concert Etudes, No. 7

Ben Kim
playing Nikolai Kapustin
Concert Etude No. 7, Intermezzo
Recorded at UdK Berlin
Tonmeister: Laura Schneider
Video: Till Egen

[@TrevorGomes]

Have you released your Kapustin performances as an album anywhere? I enjoy your renditions more than any others I've heard by a mile (maybe even Kapustin's own, which is just insane).

[@MichaelConwayBaker]

Ben should give some master classes on Kapustin!!

[@ilovebuckwheat]

I love your Kapustin interpretations. They uniquely draw out the exquisite details of the pieces in all the right ways, and this one is no exception! I especially find the left-hand emphasis around 3:25 quite nice.

[@menglin7432]

Very interesting take on the piece. I love it!

[@eunjihymn]

진짜 최고에요..

[@789armstrong]

Superb!

[@stravinskky]

이분꺼 넘 좋음

[@zeppy13131]

Hi Ben - Nice playing, but if you listen to Kapustin's own recording of this, you'll hear that he played it much more steadily-like a '30s dance piece-rather than rhapsodically and "classically" like this. When he wrote this, I think Kapustin was inspired by the great Harlem stride pianists of that era, who developed their "two-handed" swing style to emulate dance bands. It's often effective to slow down and speed up to add extra feeling-but here, the rhythmic pulse suffers. Listen to Kapustin and you'll have a much better idea what he intended.

[@michaeldavis623]

Good feedback but personally I like the artistic liberties he took in this performance. I think people get caught up in trying to sound exactly like the standard when people should just have fun with it. Besides 99% of pianists don't ever make it to the big stage anyways so just do what you want.

[@jamesdongvideos]

@@michaeldavis623I agree. Of course it's nice to listen to Kapustin's steadier pulse, but when we try to play it like that, it often sounds boring as shit. Nothing we can really do about that, Kapustin just had a special way of playing super traditional and 'right wing' that we can't really replicate.

[@michaeldavis623]

James Dong yeah for sure, it’s hard to imitate other people just find your own voice. Even if it’s no perfect just have fun with it.

[@juanquiroga8933]

look at how he uses time at 0:51-0:55, lit af

[@alanscott4441]

i have to assume that there is more than one way to honor this extraordinary music.

[@quirien10]

Formidabile !!

[@MichaelConwayBaker]

He plays Kapustin in just the right way.

[@yakinikuuuu354]

테크닉은 정말 완벽한데 7번 해석은 조금 아쉽다.. 다른 곡들은 정말 잘침

[@carriemingram5106]

That’s my secret Boo 😊

[@carriemingram5106]

나는 그를 사랑해요

[@johndoily9407]

sounds a bit chopinesque/schmaltzy the way you play it