Claudio Arrau and his Favorite Pianists!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

00:00 Alfred Cortot - Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 3 (1952) 04:08 Ferruccio Busoni - Prelude Op.28 No.7 and Etude Op.10 No.5 (1922) 06:58 Edwin Fischer - Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8, Mov. I (1952, Live) 15:54 Artur Schnabel - Schubert Piano Sonata No.20, Mov. II. (1937) 24:09 Eduard Erdmann - Schubert Piano Sonata No. 21, Mov II. (1952) 31:55 Walter Gieseking - Schumann Davidsbundlertanze, "Nicht schnell" (1951) 36:02 Vladimir Horowitz - Beethoven 32 Variations in C minor (1934) 45:33 Camille Saint-Saëns - Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, opening (1904) 49:27 Emil Gilels - Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, Mov. II (1954) 54:39 Wilhelm Furtwängler - Bach Brandenburg No. 5, Mov. I Cadenza (1950) 59:15 Wilhelm Kempff - Bach BWV 140, Arr. by Kempff (1934) 1:04:23 Vladimir de Pachmann - Joachim Raff "La Fileuse" (1907) 1:08:01 Eugen d'Albert - Chopin Nocturne 15, No. 2 (1916) 1:11:01 Teresa Carreño - Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, Final (1905, Piano Roll) 1:12:17 Josef Pembaur - Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (1929) 1:24:10 Conrad Ansorge - Mozart Sonata K 330 Mov. 2 (1928) 1:28:14 Alicia de Larrocha - Granados "Los requiebros" from Goyescas (1984, Live) 1:36:49 Daniel Barenboim - Wagner "Liebestod", Arr. by Liszt (1983)

[@turnen1]

Qq

[@cananmaxton9662]

Beautiful compilation!

[@cananmaxton9662]

Are you musician, Ozan?

[@reamartin6458]

Pleas pin 📌 ☺️ Ps hi again

[@johnbarnswallow]

Thank you for putting this together! I heard Arrau many times and once played to him at his home in Queens. What a gentleman.

[@rubinsteinway]

Ditto!

[@antoinenaik2225]

Choice of interpretations paired with Arrau's quotes is absolutely marvelous. Thank you

[@barrygordon5323]

I saw Mr arrau in concert.never have I heard a man play piano on such a spiritual level, the Liszt sonata was monumental, one could make a good argument that all-around he was the best,a true artist .

[@EElgar1857]

This is just brilliant! Your channel has never before "popped up" for me, unfortunately.

[@zlatan503]

Favourite pianists of my favourite pianist... Thank you Ozan this is wonderful.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

The pleasure is mine!

[@PianoAngelicus]

What an incredible gift of a video this is! The words of Arrau with the delights of listening to all the different ‘greats’ of the past was beyond a pleasure. One of my teachers was a great student of Arrau so we have such respect and reverence for him. Fantastic to see Teresa carreno included. I won the RCM’s Teresa Carreno memorial competition back when I was a student!

[@beluch2768]

So interesting. These presentations are really a treasure. The quoted material, too. Thank you for this wonderful contribution.

[@aleksandrarutyunyan5925]

Շնորհակալություն, հարգելի Ozan ձեր աշխատանքի համար, հոյակապ նվեր է բոլորիս համար!!! Aleksandr, from Armenia.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Շնորհակալություն!

[@burmesecolourneedles4680]

Fabulous! And thank you so much for the mention, I'm delighted you were able to use the recording in this context!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Thank you too. I discovered this rare and precious recording on your channel, it was essential for me to tag you!

[@clementepokevideos]

Great video, thank you so much

[@amielvan1]

Thank you so much for posting this. I respect no one’s opinion better that Arrau’s. About Scnabel: He seems to be considered the “god” of most great pianists. I listened to recordings of his and found him lacking of spirit and emotion. Could not understand his greatness. But today I was so moved by his Schubert. Arrau’s explanation of the deterioration in Schnabel’s playing following the ascent of Nazism may explain it.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Yes, I feel similarly to you for Schnabel's very famous Beethoven sonata interpretations. But I think there is "soul" in his interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. For example, the second movement of Mozart's 27th concerto! He plays the Beethoven concertos with similar beauty. But his treatment of sonatas is too didactic.

[@Bruce.-Wayne]

Arrau's Beethoven 32 piano sonatas recording is top 5 best rendition

[@sirdicaudore]

Another magnificent tutorial video! Thanks so much!

[@tomaxi007]

Claudio Arrau war einer der größten Interpreten seiner Zeit. Es ist so wohltuend, wie großzügig und herzlich er über seine Kollegen urteilt. Das zeigt einen wirklich großen Künstler und Mensch, weltoffenen und gönnerhaft! Warum können nicht alle so sein?

[@andreahighsmith636]

I absolutely agree, Tomheart. Arrau was a great and humble. A man at the service of the composer and the music itself, with so much talent and inspiration. He's like a 19th century gentleman away of the fashion and the media that govern today.

[@christopherczajasager9030]

A fascinating compilation 👌 👍 👏 😄 ♥ 😊 👌 👍 👏 😄

[@stephenhunt8756]

Superbly fascinating as always ozan fabien guvener and thanks. As a special could you put back into circulation the wonderful 50 mazurkas...I can't find them anywhere. For me that is your greatest programme.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

My Mazurka selection took a lot of effort, unfortunately that video was removed from KZbin due to copyright reasons. Maybe I can republish a different version with various changes or share it elsewhere.

[@fredericfrancoischopin6971]

So thank you for this. A great collection of great pianists! Arrau knows the taste of his mouth.

[@rubinsteinway]

I heard about Pembaur from my piano teacher but never heard his playing until now. Interesting. Thank you for posting it. Would love to hear more of him if possible.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Other recordings that I know of are available on KZbin. I recommend all of his Liszt recordings, Liszt's 2nd piano concerto and Liszt's "Waldesrauschen". His Chopin records are also available (Prelude 15 and Ballade 3), but I think his rubato is too much for Chopin.

[@steveegallo3384]

Kempff.....The only pianist who ends Bach BWV 140 the way I do.....Hard & Loud.....BRAILLIANT......I thought no one else knew. BRAVO from Mexico!

[@MilanIvan-g9d]

Bravo

[@rd6931]

This is very interesting, especially Arrau's dynamic with his mother.

[@barrygordon5323]

I heard mr arrau at Royce hall UCLA and shaked his hand backstage ,,he played the Liszt sonata,, incredible,the most spiritual concert imaginable.all around the greatest pianist ever .liszt Beethoven,anything, perfect . Beethoven,anything

[@jiechenwong]

Absolutely inspiring. I hope you will do more of these! ❤️

[@junacebedo888]

I only heard one Beethoven 4th concerto of Arrau; the spanish inflection on the passages are noticeable

[@steveegallo3384]

Colossal curation....beyond words.....Happy New Year from Mexico!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Thank you too, Mr. Steve. Happy new year!

[@brettowen7174]

He still is my favourite interpreter of Liszt's benediction de Deux dans de solitude.

[@rad-guidance7]

Agreed, his interpretation is literally Divine.

[@jpdj2715]

Shift happens and typos too. You butchered "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude" from "Harmonies Poetiques Et Religieuses" ["Benediction of God in Solitude"] into "benediction de Deux dans de solitude" ["benediction of Two in some solitude"]. IIRC my primary/secondary school French and English lessons of more than half a century ago.

[@giulianoapostata]

Thanks !

[@steveegallo3384]

Colossal Curation....again! BRAVO to you, Professor!

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Thank you!

[@berlinzerberus]

Beautiful! But I am the opinion that there are light years between Claudio Arrau and Daniel Barenboim, pianistically, musically and artistically.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Yes, I was surprised at Arrau's praise of Barenboim. I think he is comparing Barenboim with the new generation of famous pianists. Arrau did not like new generation pianists, who were known for their piano competitions and whom he thought were not qualified enough. Barenboim is better than those pianists, but of course not at Arrau level.

[@berlinzerberus]

...Yes, you only can say: 'Once upon a time' - Barenboim is past his prime long ago

[@MrInterestingthings]

Amazing to read what Arrau says about erdmann who few know wheras eiseking recordings used to be in every store .Youd see them before you saw Mike Jackson or thriller . Arrau had so much class and being brought up in Germany I'm amazed he is so honest -esp. about Geiseking. Arrau was well read and considered that necessary for an artist . I'm amazed that Geiseking who played eery composer imaginable -something few Germans did back then (he recorded Rach before Horowitz did. I'm amazed he played a lot of Russian music .Gawd we are so lucky to have Furtwangler in the Brandenburg 5 !!!

[@stephenhunt8756]

The Erdman rivals Richter, and that is something very rare.

[@peter5.056]

De Larrocha sounds like she has four hands playing that Granados Goyesca.

[@asitis56]

His Moonlight Sonata is other worldly.

[@lospazio]

It is surprising to learn that Arrau liked Horowitz. They could not have been more different.

[@WalyB01]

Well, its Horowitz his playing would en should impress any pianist. Listen to this Bach marvelous. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3evmGR8msRoiKs

[@dipierro4]

My reaction exactly. I guess it shows that I still have much to learn.

[@martinmysteres1384]

I think most pianists like Horowitz (at least they respect him), unless they are particularly pretentious. But Horowitz also liked Arrau and Serkin or Cortot... Just like Arrau, he was humble enough to like very different pianists !

[@lospazio]

@@martinmysteres1384 Alfred Brendel spoke very disparagingly of Horowitz in an interview that I read.

[@martinmysteres1384]

@@lospazio Oh really ? What did he say ?

[@michelangelomulieri5134]

Emilio…my beloved! Arrau was absolutely right on his playing

[@Chopin-Etudes-Cosplay]

What are the “breaking of the hands” and “problems” of Cortot that Arrau is alluding to here?

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

He means Cortot's technical problems. But Arrau did not care about Cortot's mistakes, for him the important thing was the quality and feeling of interpretation on the piano. In Arrau's opinion, Cortot knew all about the technique, so the source of the problem was mental. As far as I know, Cortot both suffered from memory problems in his old age and stopped practicing. If his aim was technical perfection, he could have achieved it, already in his pre-1925 recordings it is seen that he is a virtuoso with perfect technique.

[@blakeray9856]

It seems more likely to me Arrau meant by "breaking the hands" not playing the hands together with perfect simultaneity.

[@gastonruizoyarce4818]

@@blakeray9856 I think he referred to Cortot arranging passages for one hand into two hands.

[@donaldallen1771]

@@blakeray9856 I think you are right. Horowitz did that, too. It was customary in past times. Mozart did not like Clementi's playing because "his hands are always together".

[@MaScalo4508]

I think you can actually hear the voice from a sound producer saying "NOW!", giving Pachmann the indication to start the recording. Voices from the past...

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

Quite a fan of Arrau's Waldstein.

[@rodrigocespedes6243]

Arrau also liked Rudolf Serkin, right?

[@ralphziigersson3975]

No mention of Rubinstein...They were rivals of course...but he probably didn't like him personally...

[@DA-ok6rf]

He did not mention Sviatoslav Richter. What a disappointment!

[@carlfigueiredo2095]

D A: Or Rubinstein!!!!

[@porkyappleyard641]

Or Cziffra, Hofmann, Michaelangeli, Godowsky, Wild and some others

[@marksmith3947]

I can't believe he liked Barenboim!

[@mariaangelicatoledotorres7194]

Por favor pongan él título del tema que estamos escuchando grácias.

[@sebastianfernandezsoto1037]

Está en la descripción, saludos!

[@mariaangelicatoledotorres7194]

@@sebastianfernandezsoto1037 grácias por responderme.

[@jesusr8895]

Barenboim de sobra en ésa lista.

[@strongaesthetics]

I miss Rubinstein and Richter here.

[@andreahighsmith636]

...and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli?

[@nickarteaga175]

It would be interesting to hear some of the great pianists criticisms of other pianists which would also give some insights. Arrau, for instance, had a lot of criticisms of Rachmaninoff. He thought Rach was a great pianist but a horrible interpreter.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Yes, he also made many criticisms; I guess he didn't find Rachmaninoff's changes convincing, because Busoni was making similar changes. But Arrau doesn't seem to like the old school Russian pianism in general. Both composers and pianists.

[@jiyujizai]

💚🌱🙄🥀

[@ustadspencertracy7195]

And to think that he didn’t like Rachmaninoff or Godowsky.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

Yes. He cited Rachmaninoff and Godowsky as great pianists, but disliked their interpretations. Arrau: "Godowsky was one of the greatest technicians, but his playing was boring. He never played very loudly, never above mezzo forte." Arrau: "Rachmaninoff was a really great pianist, but not a great interpreter, because he made everything into Rachmaninoff. He was a sensation in Berlin after the First World War. I heard a few recitals-it must have been in the twenties. Technically, he was phenomenal. But I thought the sound was not very good. And from the standpoint of interpretation, it was appalling. He didn't seem to care at all what the composer meant. He even added several bars of his own to the end of the Funeral March Sonata of Chopin. You know, once I played the Beethoven Eroica Variations in Chicago and RachmaninoflP came backstage during the intermission to tell me how beautiful it was. He had never heard of the piece before. He was very friendly, very complimentary. But he wasn't even surprised that he had never heard of it! The Eroica Variations!"

[@ustadspencertracy7195]

@@OzanFabienGuvener I think deeming someone “a great pianist and a bad interpreter” is harsher than simply saying that that someone lacks technique, because it implies bad taste.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

@@ustadspencertracy7195 I agree. Technical problems are not important for Arrau anyway, he is looking at the piano interpretation. As far as I understand, Arrau does not say that Rachmaninoff is bad, but he is not satisfied with his extreme individuality, he thinks that Rachmaninoff has changed the structure of the work. It was clear that this bothered Arrau.

[@asassymusician6534]

@@OzanFabienGuvener I think its more common for a composer to take liberties in performances of pieces. For example, Rachmaninoff Playing Chopin's Op64 no1. The addition of a few notes towards the end of the middle section is more consistent with the piece and sounds really good in my opinion. I adopt this into my playing.

[@OzanFabienGuvener]

@@asassymusician6534 I also like Rachmaninoff's additions for Chopin 2nd Sonata and Schumann Carnaval. Especially Rachmaninoff's change of dynamics in the Chopin Funeral March is very impressive, the forte changes made at the end are very striking. All the great composers were making such changes, and Chopin could play his own works very differently from the score. Arrau actually contradicts himself a bit, as Busoni was probably adding more individual touches than even Rachmaninoff. But Arrau is generally distant towards the Russian school of pianism (and of course Russian composers) and it's likely that Arrau thought Busoni's changes to the score were more clever and creative.

[@lourak613]

Cortot, of course, was a master pianist - and yet - the rubato, to my taste, is terribly excessive.