Benjamin Grosvenor - Inside the mind of a piano prodigy

[@RBGTalk]

A prodigy that actually followed through to adult success. Kudos to you sir

[@pianosenzanima1]

yes they are so many that are lost on the way its crazy

[@liliangardner1371]

Bless you, Benjamin, for gifting us with hours of beautiful music on the piano.

[@irenedhakde4692]

I was lucky enough to attend one of his concerts the other day in Mumbai. What a bliss!!!! Fascinating!

[@sfopera]

Genius. His concert in Chicago last year was fantastically good.

[@aspibillimoria3382]

His performances in Mumbai (September 2022) were superb!!

[@irenedhakde4692]

We are so lucky to have such quality performers coming to Mumbai. Something fod once that is not terribly "mediocre"! That was so refreshing!!!

[@BOCELLIRITTER]

Wonderful pianist! Hopefully will be able to listen Benjamin’s interpretation Beethoven’s third piano concerto tonight.

[@RobertOrgRobert]

Thank you sir for your commitment to music

[@scottmiller6495]

How can anyone not love this guy he is the best modern pianist in the world today no question !!!!!!!

[@西田廣之]

I can’t wait your concert in Kyoto!

[@a320214]

Thanks for sharing this master work !!!

[@maatthieu]

I really like this guy :) Maybe it's because of his simplicity and kindness compared to his fantastic interpretation of all I've heard. He really makes me discover again Chopin by his audacious artistic choices. For example, imagine that you play the piece in your head and, because there is no physical constraint (no hand), you can emphasize to the extreme all the characteritics that make the beauty of the piece, (it's hard to explain) ; and then you would say to yourself I wish somebody can play like this one day. Well when listen to Benjamin's play, it turns out he plays exactly the way I've imagined and even better :)

[@opustravels3659]

Yes, my same thoughts exactly.

[@johnhewihewinson6450]

Maat tieu

[@eggizgud]

Love that sequence from age 5 playing tentatively "with no great desire to practise" to "fell in love with playing" at what seemed to be just months later, playing at a skill way beyond his years.

[@hdholl9696]

'Generally I practise about eight hours a day.' That is an awful lot.

[@pianosenzanima1]

LOL 15 seconds in and i already LOVE this guy. "why am I doing this to myself...AGAIN" man, you fucking SLAY xD

[@christopherczajasager9030]

T h e greatest English born pianist

[@alicerodrigues6725]

Que prodígio! É muito talentoso, seus dedos parecem dançar sobre as teclas. Sou agora uma grande admiradora. Espero me impressionar mais no concerto de domingo (21/05) aqui no Rio.

[@KenWAnderson]

Well Benjamin, even when you're spending all those hours alone practicing, you have friends (at least one) who are not only delighted with what you do, but are interested in who you are as a person. Remember that, and make contact with us when you need/want that company and friendship. Blessings. (Ken)

[@opustravels3659]

Lucky you, Ken, I bet Benjamin is an interesting friend :-)

[@alydar2716]

Ken W Anderson That was very kind of you to say what you said. I feel the same way. I think this young man is phenomenal; the sacrifices he has made since a child, the unique tallent that he possesses.... it's a gift from God. The pleasure and joy and happiness that he can bring to us, his listeners and admirers, is unmatchable. He can find comfort in these facts if they be enough.... that he has a unique power over others to bring us enormous enjoyment. It is a gift and a talent and a skill all combined to make him the wonderful person that he is.

[@789armstrong]

already a keyboard giant in my opinion.

[@marcusvaldes]

I've seen him. He's the real deal!

[@ondine9997]

What is the first piece, with frequent trills?

[@ondine9997]

I must know

[@abhinavtiwari3671]

I am wondering too, somebody please let me know :)

[@jackcurley1591]

It's the first Liszt transcription of a Chopin Polish Song. I believe the body of work is known as the Six Chants Polonais

[@ondine9997]

Jack Curley Ahhhhh Thank you so much sir!

[@jackcurley1591]

no problem :)

[@fretmajik777]

This guy is amazing. But does he ever create his own classical music? And if so is it available for purchase?

[@opustravels3659]

He's not a composer, no, very few are both composers and classical pianists nowadays.

[@DidNotReadInstructions]

Jeez. Dude seems Sad and lonely a bit. Glad he is doing what he is doing but damn, probably a complex dude.

[@sacrilegiousboi978]

I think it’s mostly just because he’s a very serious and dedicated person. That being said, he does seem less smiley and happy than when he was when he was a teenager. In some other recent interviews he does seem more socially awkward than he used to be. 8 hours practice per day whilst doing solo tours doesn’t seem like it would allow for much social interaction.

[@tazokakabadze3828]

Sometimes I practice up to 11 or 12 hours,usually 6 because school doesnt help in having free time that much.Just nsow I nailed mazeppa,took me only 2 months to learn.

[@elan0054]

If Benjamin keeps it up, he'll surpass the likes of Horowitz, Richter, et al. No doubt.

[@twangbarfly]

@bill Bloggs And you play better with the end of your nose. But then again, not everyone had the opportunity that you did of taking masterclasses in concert piano with Les Dawson and Mrs Mills

[@sirdelrio]

Benjamin is the only, THE ONLY pianist I'm interested in this generation. Hate all those chinese robots of Julliard.

[@jack-ux6wn]

What about Jan Lisiecki. His interpretation on Chopin is just wonderful.

[@grantc4516]

Yeah? WHAT about Jan Lisiecki? He's not in this video.

[@jack-ux6wn]

Grant C He said the only one in this generation. Jan is in this generation so I mentioned him. didn't think that needed explanation lol

[@grantc4516]

What on EARTH are you talking about?

[@jack-ux6wn]

Grant C OP mentioned that Benjamin was the only pianist he was interested in in this generation. I asked 'what about Jan Lisiecki'. This was my way of asking his opinion on Jan as he is a great pianist of this generation. Is English your second language?

[@MegaPianogenius]

he keeps on about muscle memory so you don't have to think i thought professors say this is the worst technique to rely on? if you make a mistake you can't go back to the original piece that well so you need 4 types? kinsthetic conceptual auditory and visual

[@asdfghjkl_ipod_2020]

JUST practice slowwwww

[@christopherfleming3402]

I love how this young man plays. However, eight hours practice a day is ridiculous! It´s unhealthy and very unwise.

[@opustravels3659]

CHRISTOPHER FLEMING I agree completely

[@ganjamozart1435]

CHRISTOPHER FLEMING It's necessary with the repertoire demands of modern day concert pianists... Although there are some who can get away with two hours a day. Grosvenor is an interpretively gifted prodigy, so he probably has to work on the technical aspects a lot.

[@RevantuZ]

Most physicians and such will say it is unwise to practice for more than 5 hours, since it wears out the muscles over time. The extra few hours may help him in the short term, but I do worry that in 10 years he may find it has caused irreversible damage.

[@Patafisique]

Fleischer and Graffman probably wrecked their right hands with excessive practice. I sincerely hope he does not follow.

[@MrHoweYOUdoin]

I think it depends on the individual and their ability to relax while playing! When Rachmaninoff was preparing for a career as a concert pianist, he practiced for up to 16 hours a day. He did eventually develop what was likely tendinitis during his career due to overuse, but even then he recovered with rest over time.

If You do something for 8h, each day for a decade and not achieving greatnesses - i'd be very very disappointed. It's not too special to achieve such level of skill and understanding with such lifestyle.

[@opustravels3659]

Hah, do you know how many thousands of people do that without sounding anywhere near as great as Grosvenor? Ignorant comment, at best.

​@@opustravels3659 I think that ignorant is to say "anywhere near as Grosvenor". Or maybe You are just blinded fan. If any kid discovered as talent in 4, 5 years with the same attitude would go the very same path in the learning routine, with the same teachers, same mentoring - I'd bet You get something even better. Now he is at the level when he talks mostly about technique, virtuosity, precision, articulation... not much about interpretation, art, storytelling, sinking into a musical piece. On his face, You can see a struggle, not many emotions, no feeling and transition between moods, no much "flying" in there - nothing close to it...at least in this documentary. But my comment was not particularly about Benjamin, but about admiration of "musical athletes" who spend most of their available time and resources to one mastery. You've got Bolt in a 100m dash because there are no people who from age 4, 5 did more runs, combined with attitude, than him... even 2nd best. You've got Michael Schumacher, You've got Maris Strombergs in BMX(2 gold medal from 3) - the same story - no one spent on track with best possible coaches, mentoring, attitude more than them from a very early age - 4, 5. I would still be disappointed if with all those circumstances these people would not reach at least the highest level of technical skill - Is it even worth to waste enormous amount of resources to "not sounding anywhere near.."? But music is more than a skill. Right? :)

@@yosserc Again. The first point is the same. "Very few people" - I described why there are very few. Tallent is the word with too many implications. Fist You should have fun doing it, then You can do it effortlessly and constantly work on improvement, first of all - in Your own mind without any push or constant preaching, you can concentrate on achieving best result ASAP, because You like it and therefore You are more impatient. Returning to my point: 8hx365dx10+ - this one is simply possible if You first like what You do and focused to result. For example, some kids can go to a special musical school, practising 3x less than teacher told, and still having more score than others. They are not on the way of great success, but they have more cognitive capacity to handle more than others in a shorter time and their future will be dependant on if they want to work like a blinded horse for this or rather do some multidisciplinary science. Wiser kids want diversity and You can not control this and them. So sometimes "talent" might mean shallowness, specialisation of the person, limiting his range of activities, which is so known from the biography of many greats. Then those kids have brains wired perfectly to do this only thing better than those who do also something else for their mental healthiness, humanisation. There's almost or maybe even nonexisting cases when a child from 4 to 14-18 for 8h a day did just that at his own will. Always You see a strict parent and even parent from same field(fulfilling his own dream) next to him, preaching, coaching, commanding and if they are in International competitions from 10years - the career continues with great probability, but such cases are also rare, esp. if kid has honest interest, not just "must-do" routine. I still stay on my words - If you spend such many resources of time(not 3, 4, 5, but 8hours a day and each day for a decade or more) and this is only thing You can do really good, I would still be very disappointed if I don't hear the best possible performance made by 14..16-year-old. It would be interesting to find out from known greats: how much time they actually spend by piano and is it really needed instead of giving time for processing, thinking, maybe reading something, experimenting, writing own piece to improve musicality even more, etc.

[@thicksaui]

Man, you couldn’t handle 3 hrs a day for 1 year.... if you open your mouth just for stupid opinions just close it please, and if you can wear a mask !😷

@@thicksaui is commenting option only for useless vomits about opinions? Keep going!

[@aalexjohna]

He talks like an idiot- it sounds like his bollocks haven't dropped