Eliot Fisk plays Paganini at the New York Guitar Festival

[@danilocabaluz]

Genial !!!! impresionante el fuego que hay en esta interpretación !! un gran artista !

[@natenexplosion]

He's got a lot of fire when he plays. I liked this very much. Great job!

[@yeahyeahyeah5089]

Exactly how this piece was meant to be played.... like an insane person XD I'm 10000000% sure paganini would've loved this performance lol

[@octaviogonzalez8322]

And i think you are fucking crazy...

[@LonnardTree]

If he played it insanely and it sounded decent, that would be one thing. He just skips through some of the hardest parts of the song by playing a bunch of unconnected nonsense. Paganini would have attacked him.

[@micoveliki8729]

@@LonnardTree would deffinetly take your opinion when you call a piece a fucking song. Second what Eliot did was revolutionary no one before him had trancribed all 24 caprices for guitar. Thirdly all transcriptions of Paganinis caprices after him are more or less based on his ideas and FOURTH AND MOST IMPORTANT if you don't realise the guitar and violin have diffrent spans when it comes to high and lows so its more than obvious that he is not gonna play some notes that don't exist on guitar...

[@Rainbient]

He is pushing the envelope in regards to difficult pieces that can be played on the classical guitar. Good for him!

[@treboryevrah]

Fisk likes to take his abilities to the edge when he plays. I watched my son take a master class from him. He knows his stuff.

[@patrickverdi989]

The year was 1999 and I was going into my Senior year of music college. Mr. Fisk came in and gave the master class of my life. He sightread pieces effortlessly we all had been working on for years. I couldn’t believe my ears or my eyes. His energy and the sound he compelled from a borrowed student’s guitar was other worldly. Then I did my best to perform this piece as part of my Senior recital only to miss the mark. And I now see I was trying to compare myself to the incomparable.

[@peterguitar2]

I remember reading an article in Guitar review where Fisk basically said there are too many modern guitarists playing too conservative, and afraid to make a mistake... I think that this seems to be true of many guitarists. If one listens to Segovia, and evaluates, one can see he always played Inspiring interpretations and put his inate musicality into the work. One can say the same of Fisk.

[@vanguard4065]

fisk sucks

[@adolescenterevoltado9008]

@@vanguard4065 why?

[@AngladaFamilia]

Took my sons to see/hear him play in Santa Fe years ago. He was very approachable, and kind. You don't find that in many top musicians.

[@beoz658]

simply Amazing gonna start listening to all the great classical guitarists starting today KZbin is the greatest

[@MichaelZammito]

Thank you for sharing your hard work and well earned ability, grace and excellence with us at The Phil. Show Stopper. 🤘

[@laserdudeman]

This is amazing... It would take me a few lifetimes to get this good. Elliot is playing Paganini's caprice #24 exactly how it should be played on guitar. It's a show piece not necessarily something soft and gentle, but brilliant and expressive. Glad that his is available for us to witness.

[@rdonoian]

as for the 24th, i saw a girl perform it "perfectly" like williams at a masterclass but once eliot started to go into the history and interpretation i was blown away, especially the focus on the rhythmic importance of each variation. i didnt like his version as much because i didnt understand it, now i do and its my favorite. i dont care if anyone likes him or not but i would just like them to meet him and hear him in person instead of making judgements based on youtube videos

[@Liantotjahjoputro]

I love my teacher Eliot Fisk. For me he is great. You can say anything and you can do that. BRAVO ELIOT FISK!!!!

[@PatrickJamesKearney]

Paganini would have loved this performance! Before commenting negatively (or commenting at all) : A) Prove that you can do better. B) Familiarize yourself with Paganini's biography. Bravo Fisk.

[@PastoAzul]

Every once in a while, lost in the messy slop, you hear some really impressive licks.

[@wecanonlywish9194]

True.. Su Meng mastered this piece when she was young..and played it BETTER..Sorry Elliott

[@Daves_not_here]

Bravo!My hat is off to Elliot for this stunning arrangement!

[@DanielMarquesGuitar]

Love that energy and authenticity.

[@theOneTheHunter]

randomly appeared in my feed and i loved it. His interpretation was incredible

[@guitarfestival]

Glad you like it. Please check out more of our videos.

[@robertoalexandre4250]

What a transcendental and spiritual performance. One must imagine this live and not some note-perfect, audio-enhanced video. Mr. Fisk is perhaps the last of the titans. How exciting this is even in a video. The rest is pretty much, with the exception of a guitarrist here and there, sameness. Mr. Fisk is the Ralph Waldo Emerson in his understanding and spirituality, and the Walt Whitman, in his passionate exuberance, of the guitar.

[@Patenando]

Did he just retune the guitar in the middle of playing it?! Mind blown.

[@gus345]

when i first heard this i was in shock....only because it borders on bad, as in its not a conventional way of playing this piece.....but after watching it a couple of times i came to realize that its not bad at all...its not "unprofesional", and he did not "destroy" it..its actually quite the opposite..theres genius in his playing and interpretation....its just hard to see at fist.......good job mr. fisk

[@urmum2614]

Idk man

[@huenna]

It took me about 20 seconds to realise it was ACTUALLY Elliot Fisk playing. The guy that transcribed 24 Caprices for guitar...

[@Gguy061]

We need things like this to show that even the great virtuoso is human and faces their own daunting challenges

[@zaenkmus]

I'll always be a fan of Eliot for being himself...he runs the full gamut of expressions through his guitar. He has many recordings I like...check out his recording of Beasers "Shenandoah". Beautiful.

[@spectrumifs]

Saw him in concert last night. Gorgeous tone when he plays slowly (especially in the neighborhood of frets 9-12). Unfortunatey, way to many notes turned into plastic-sounding popping noises when he exceeded the speed limit.

[@MaritimVerlag]

Check out "Ricardo Havenstein" & "Gerret Lebuhn" on iTunes. They are students of Mr. Fisk.

[@matrags]

Fisk has a very er...unique style shall we say. A lot of folk don't care for it.

[@reynaldo121]

It's not style. It's poorly played arpeggios and scales.

[@adilzahrani]

that was awesome man....

[@MoebiusTripper]

Fantastic!!! One of the greatest classical guitar players in the world...His CD of all of the Paganini Caprices is legendary...A true master and performer on the same level as Segovia...

[@JacarandaMusic]

The first guitarist to play all the Paganini Caprices was actually Antonio de Innocentis in 1992; Eliot Fisk has acknowledged this. Antonio has also recorded them all. The performance here by Fisk is well below his normal standard.

[@medardoarce9361]

One of the best classical guitar performers ever

[@River2SeaUSAOfficialvideos]

If someone post one of Fisk's playing on youtube, without disclosing his name, nor showing him in the video. It will be very interesting to read the comments on it afterwards, especially they are from some of those who are antagonizing here.

[@michaelgarcia2050]

From what I understand, Paganini was a bit crazy and played like a madman - in light of that, Fisk is probably doing a pretty accurate rendition.

[@baack2roots]

Eliot is a real virtuoso guitar. Amazing work!

[@scotthowes1869]

If you really have the guts to be critical of someone who puts it out there like Eliot does here, you need to provide a link showing how you can do it better. That is the problem with critics in general... all talk and no go. Have you ever performed in from of people? And then to have tuning issues... that is tough. If you had performance exp. those of you who complain would be more accepting of others. Wow, look at me, now I'm critical of the critics. Just enjoy it for what it is. You go Eliot!

[@CasterScarlet]

In front of an audience, especially if you are an expert, you are simply not allowed to make THAT MANY mistakes. Tuning problem is just embarassing on its own. Eliot Fisk is not a beginner. He is an expert. I'm not saying every guitar expert should be able to flawlessly play this piece. But if you can't, simply don't attempt to perform it in front of a live audience. That goes with every piece on every instrument. He straight up murdered it. It's a shitstorm after 0:24. And this isn't the only video. He sacrifices everything for the sake of speed. Every time a piece starts to pick up some pace, he makes more and more and more mistakes.

[@nickmclay]

Scarlet This video makes me feel embarrassed to watch. I have so many pieces I feel that I am not ready to play for others....I play them a whole lot better than this. This was not interpretation or spirit. It was musical murder.

[@UlisesVictoria]

With all due respect, I don't need to do something "better" to be able to criticize it. If that was the case you shouldn't be able to criticize anything, unless you were a master of everything. Because you are a guitar player you shouldn't be able to criticize a bad piano performance? The movie critic you read in the newspaper can direct a movie better? Or you don't have the right to say a book is boring because you are not a writer? Or criticize a congressman actions because you are not a politician? I don't think so. And yes, I have performed in front of many audiences, and if I feel I'm not 110% sure I would perform flawless, I just don't do it. Fisk's performance IN THIS VIDEO is sloppy. Period. Not even you can say otherwise. And this is not to criticize Eliot Fisk. Just his performance of this one piece in this video. Is your whole point to say we don't have the right to don't like something and say it? Should we applaud sloppy performances just because the performer had the "guts" to do it? or bad movies? Do you?

[@scotthowes1869]

Yuliboe Great points. Maybe it's how we criticize things (I'm including myself in this, I've definitely had my moments of ahole-ism.) I certainly have a lot of opinions about things that I'm not an expert in. Mean spirited stuff, however is not really useful, it's just mean. Or if you are going to be mean, be funny. Like, Wow, Eliot, it's ok to tune before you actually play a piece.

[@UlisesVictoria]

Scott Howes Cheers, Scott. I do applaud your mature response. Best regards.

[@MaritimVerlag]

Check out Ricardo Havenstein & Gerret Lebuhn. They are students of Mr. Fisk. (youtube & iTunes)

[@maravonferne4289]

Eliot Fisks Performance has fresh power and the feeling of a young and wild paganini. The so-called "perfection" of the studio-recording of Meng Su sounds like a piano, technically perfect but boring. i want to see her play that one live to all those mistake-counters and what it would sound like...

[@JoelSalazarM]

Mara von Ferne we already have plenty of violin players playing this piece. Why on earth do you want a guitar player playing missing two thirds of the notes but having the remaining third still sounding almost like paganini?

[@theshmusic]

Fisk's interpretation of Caprice 24 is interesting to say the least. Even still, he TEARS IT UP!

[@JoelSalazarM]

How did Eliot Fisk's career recovered after this tragedy?

[@jgrossma]

Good trolling. A+. Even if he never touched a guitar again for the rest of his life, Fisk has done more in his career as a classical guitarist than 99.99% ever will. By the way, this performance was so "tragic" that the audience gave Fisk a standing ovation for it. Edit: This was at the NY guitar festival. . .the audience at that event is comprised almost exclusively of serious guitar fans and guitar players. So maybe they saw something you didn't.

[@JoelSalazarM]

Sure. I have participated in standing ovations for models that fall at the catwalk, marathon runners who cross the finish line crawling and humiliatingly poor vocal performances due to stage fright at auditions. Standing ovations can mean a lot of things, but there's a meaning they certainly don't have: a measurement of approval or disapproval of the artistic/technical value of an interpretation. I would have clapped at Eliot for trying... have I not seen him bragging about himself and how he was chosen by Segovia as a student every time he can. Eliot is like one of those 1980's metal guitar players bragging about their speed only they were able to play their crap in a more or less proficient way.

[@jgrossma]

Really? How many times have you spoken with Mr. Fisk? More than zero times? Where have you ever seen him bragging about ANYTHING? By all means, show me a link if you have one. I'm not sure what, if anything his instruction by Andres Segovia 40 years ago has to do with this performance, but FWIW, Fisk often speaks about his time with Segovia during interviews because (for obvious reasons) people explicitly ask him about it. I think that says more about Segovia's legacy than it does anything about Fisk.

[@jgrossma]

By the way, Fisk holds professorships in classical guitar in two continents (including at the prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston and the Mozart University in Saltzburg) and in addition to English speaks fluent German, and Spanish. This is what Segovia had to say about Fisk: I consider Eliot Fisk as one of the most brilliant, intelligent and gifted young musical artists of our times, not only amongst guitarists but in all the general field of instrumentalists. His clear and flexible technique, his noble style of interpreting the beauty of the classic compositions as well as the colourful music of today, put him at the top line of our artistic world. - Andrés Segovia Again, praise from Segovia four decades ago doesn't speak to Fisk's poor performance of Paganini, above, but the guy legitimately is one of the most accomplished classical guitarists out there.

[@GiampietroDiSanto]

Fisk has apparently failed to learn the most important lesson of all from Segovia: humility. You can hold all professorships in the world but if you use your talent just to boast and show your ability, you're worth nothing. He has to hope the folks in Saltzburg didn't see this performance 'cause if they did they'd probably kick him out of the University. By the way, could you explain what speaking languages other than English has to do with playing guitar? I myself speak more than one language but I don't consider myself a genius or a virtuoso on the guitar. I see Fisk must be kind of a god for you but this doesn't account for such a lack of objectivity you show in your comments: this is a poor performance, period. I'm not talking about his past or his ability, I'm just saying THIS performance is very bad. Admitting it wouldn't diminish Fisk's value as a musician or his talent.

[@MaritimVerlag]

check out Ricardo Havenstein on iTunes, he's been a student of Mr. Eliot Fisk

[@bwv1]

Never laughed so hard before watching a guitarist play, a delight to watch

[@reynaldo121]

Yes, it was a horrible rendition. Eliot Fisk does have digital speed but it sorely lacks clarity.

[@wendelllanders8439]

Stellar performance!!Bravo!!!!!

[@dadwhitsett]

As Chopin once said: "After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." Hmmmm....

[@AnnieCanada]

Wonderful.... Beautiful Magic!

[@megacookie73]

It sucks that so many people see classical music as just a "technical" test. When did we become athletes that shallowly look for "perfection". Elliot fisk is explosive in this performance and still manages to capture the tiny nuances of this caprice. Who cares if there are some "mistakes", find anyone else that will give you that interpretation.

[@reynaldo121]

There a many other guitarists that can play this without the Eliot Fisk mistakes. John Williams, Su Meng and Nicola Hall are just a few that come to mind. If you attempt to play a piece like this it does become a technical test. It requires technical proficiency to play it at an appropriate tempo and once you achieve that level then you have to play it with some sense of musicality. Eliot Fisk failed at both points.

[@megacookie73]

@@reynaldo121 I believe a hundred percent that Eliot Fisk could play the caprice perfectly at the same tempo as those names you've listed. I've had the pleasure to see him perform and attended a master class of his when he visited my university. Eliot's got mad chops brooo and i got to see his silky nails crazyyyy. I don't know what to say if you can't hear the musicality but I know I can and I also know that anybody with enough time can perform the caprice perfectly as its a popular competition piece. if you have a problem with his technicality I mean there are limits to the stress fingers can handle and even if Fisk was as relaxed a player as John Williams he plays it crazy fast. If anything we all know he can play it great slow, so why can't he experiment with it as fast and as explosive as he wants it to be in his mind?

[@reynaldo121]

@@megacookie73 Go to kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJrYfmaViZ6nfNE and see what playing the caprice with musicality really looks like. It also helps to listen to violinist play the piece. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX6voHWOnLWcopo

[@shawnlane8298]

impresionante , en mi vida de tocar la guitarra nunca ma habia imaginado algo tan superior a todas las versiones de guitarra de esta obra

[@tmjcbs]

the first 25 seconds are, well, let's be positive.....acceptable, after that, the interpretation quickly falls apart.....was he afraid of missing the last underground?

[@peplicus]

The fact that over 800 people have watched and commented on this video is postive. Whether you like it or not. Or think there´s a better way of doing the same thing. The fact that is creates this controversy means it moves people in some way.

[@Scatyricon]

A brave and gutsy performance!

[@gitarre1987]

He's so musical!

[@dutcjoc]

OMG!!!!!!!! This is really outstanding.... best guitar player i have ever seen.

[@TimothyOBrien1958]

I saw him play in the 70's. Was an amazing experience.

[@rafalnieznany9120]

Great interpretation, although, of course, performance is not technically perfect. Maybe Eliot just tried to give hints to other performers how this one could be played, how to stuff this piece with a soul? Caprice 24 can withstand brave interpretation and then it can be more beautiful, isn't it? Almost all reasonably good interpretations of it found on YT are quite similar, "standard". However this one is not, moreover, it is not strange. I like it. As another example - try to listen Asturias performed by Łukasz Kuropaczewski and compare it to most other reasonably good performances. It is also way different, more brave and still great!

[@JoelSalazarM]

Rafal Nieznany "not technically perfect" is fine, but this performance does not fall under that category. It is worse than "technically deficient" and closer to a "technical disaster". When you say "Eliot just tried to give hints..." are you refering to the few notes he actually played fine as the "hints"?

[@rafalnieznany9120]

Everything depends what you focus on. Technique may be a tool or a goal. As far as I've observed, guitar players often tend to overrate technique - precision and speed (or rather in the reverse order) matters, melody, emotions and stuff like that are somewhere in the far background. However, ability to correctly express emotions with music is something quite uncommon and very valuable. I'd even say it's the core and soul of true music. One probably can't learn it, she must be born with it. Great, if it is backed by perfect technique - better tools, potentially better results. But it is not essential. Of course without enough technical skills its actually impossible to express anything. Agree or not but it is NOT this particular case. Obviously, I personally prefer "spirit" over technique. In this performance some moments are actually hard to withstand, but in emotional layer, agree or not, it's overall quite impressive, wild Paganini, as it should be. However, if you are blinded by the technical defects, you'll never notice this - I understand it quite well - believe or not. I am actually really impressed by some Japanese guitar performances of C24, they aren't "robotic" as some say, but I can't hear Paganini there, sorry... Btw. this one is probably Eliot's own transcription from original violin one...

[@vericose1001]

Dude's is amazing right here.

[@Grisha_Goryachev]

Note to you all: Mr. Fisk never has time to read any of this. He always has something better to do.

[@AbeKenney]

Grisha Goryachev I have time to read this and respond because I am thankful both of you exist!

[@Doomzdayxx]

This is fucking sweet. Im starting classicallessons next month,cant wait.

[@goldenviolins1]

This is some of the best guitar playing I have ever heard, God bless you Elliot Fisk.

[@MaritimVerlag]

Check out "Ricardo Havenstein" on iTunes. He's a student of Mr. Fisk... Great!!!

[@wisesatyr72]

I can even imagined what is like to see the Real Paganini playing classical guitar..it must be like seeing Steve Vai 300 yrs ago

[@EricGodfree]

@RayColon Paganini was actually a great guitar player as well. He also played viola

[@fxx5jrr6]

There is really no doubt that Mr. Fisk plays at an EXTREMELY high technical level. You just cannot deny the chops that it takes to get through something like this. He is a master of the instrument. That said, his interpretation is horrifically ugly on just about everything that he has ever recorded. You wouldn't think that it would be possible to make the classical guitar sound so cold and empty but, here it is.

[@jeremyirland4586]

It's a live recording. Try fewer bath salts.

[@therapist6328]

Damn even your mistakes sound amazing Dr.Fisk.

[@james_daniels]

Great guitarist but very sloppy performance. Not saying he isn't or great or amazing. Just saying I understand alot of these critical comments but I also sympathize with those who truly think he did good and enjoyed his performance. Maybe he was drunk while he played this. That's what it seems like.

[@ashgasparyan5804]

james cava idk if you even play classical guitar or know what he’s playing but you can’t say it’s a sloppy performance without even knowing what he’s playing the song isn’t even originally a guitar song

[@Gitanoz]

Thanks mate and Feliz Navidad.

[@SonnyKraack]

0:07 like the discrete way he tunes his guitar in while playing :-))

[@SimonPhoenix1985]

He is great!

[@greenati]

Can not enjoy that. Having a carrier playing like that is a mystery to me.

[@fernandogoes7218]

I like Fisk interpratations. And I really like the soul and intentention of his Paganinis play, but It is really out . 50% of notes in the garbage.

[@Ibik]

thats amazing!

[@josephgrossman3613]

Fisk, again playing on the ragged edge of technique here. I give the guy an "A" for effort, and although this was a less than perfect performance, let's face it, most guitarists would kill to play this "badly". Probably 95% of guitarists couldn't even play this at all, let alone at Fisk's blistering tempo.

[@josephgrossman3613]

Also, Fisk is playing this LIVE. This is not some cleaned up studio version, nor typical KZbin video where the player uploads their best take from 15 attempts.

[@TantoFaz13]

The tempo doesn't really impresses that much if he misses so many notes

[@michaelgraffam5423]

Yeah, I agree. I am not going to make excuses for the guy. At the end of the day music is about sound, and how those sounds make people feel, not technique, famous performers, ego and difficulty levels. This is garbage.

[@Grisha_Goryachev]

Most of you have not any idea about how great Eliot Fisk can play. One of these days I will make a video recording of his playing and teaching.

[@federicoyanezf.y.8359]

His right hand is a disaster

[@Levon_Lellore]

What do you mean?

[@LetzBeaFranque]

I saw this at Guitar Center in Boston.

[@emoboizryummy]

i've heard of this guy but this is the first thing ive heard him play and i must say... im a little disapointed

[@ianianian0110]

I get it. Disappointed of not knowing him before, yea?

[@andresludmer]

this may not be his best performance, but listen to his cd, were he plays all the 24 caprices adapted to guitar by himself. UNIQUE.

[@BernabeJiron]

UN DESASTRE TOTAL !! por favor don Eliot parece que va en moto... !!

[@onstagerecords]

always perfect

[@christinehorand-haberecht5843]

This is not music, this is a carcrash.

[@tupi1970]

Eliot Fisk is an extraordinary musician in all senses. He has his particular, personal and very extreme style; his expression is very intense and his palette of colours spreads in a wide range. One can agree or not with his choices, but undoubtly he is a great, sincere and responsable artist. It's easy to polemize about him, because his is so extreme sometimes, but he deserves always our most high respect. This video isn't technically perfect, ok, but live everything can happen,isn't it? Thanks

[@CasterScarlet]

Just stop. Every time a famous person gets criticised, some pompous know-it-all comes and says "Well, do it better then". If a world class guitar player is absolutely destroying a piece, he deserves criticism. I am not calling Fisk a bad guitarist. He is way above and beyond perhaps everyone that has commented on this video. But he played this particular piece in an unacceptably horrible fashion. You are a guitar player yourself and you must've noticed it too. Don't make irrelevant arguments.

[@GiampietroDiSanto]

I totally agree. He just wanted to show off and outdo himself. Well, he just managed to embarrass himself. Probably the worst Fisk's performance ever...

[@lawrencesilvestro8844]

A pro. Puts it back in tune without missing a beat.

[@scotthowes1869]

I agree this is not Eliot's finest moment and he didn't do a great job on this piece. I have played guitar for many years and if you are not ready to perform a piece you probably shouldn't. But, critics suck! Even the worse critic inside my own head. If you are always looking for faults, you can find them. It paralyses you and may interfere with someone who has something truly wonderful to share. Appreciate what you like and move on from what you don't. Do we really need to hear your snarky bs?

[@JoelSalazarM]

Scott Howes people with normal emotional intelligence can cope with criticism very well. They can even learn something from criticism from time to time. Baning negative comments and only listening to positive reviews devaluates whatever value positive comments might have. If you can't deal with negative reviews, to the point of making emotional comments criticising critics, I think you might benefit from talking about it to a Psychologist.

[@jgrossma]

Scott, Fisk *LITERALLY* wrote the book on Paganini's 24 caprices for guitar. I think he was the first one to commercially record all 24, and IIRC, he was the first to arrange some of these pieces. He's been playing these for years, and *always* at the ragged edge of his technical limits.

[@JoelSalazarM]

jgrossma I know, but even I can record the Paganini caprices with a team of sound engineers (and can't play 4 measures in a row live). Do you know of a single live performance of at least a couple of them that wen relatively well? I am not asking for a professional level performance, but one in which he at least hit the notes.

[@jgrossma]

Fisk hit enough of the notes (ie >98% of them) to get a loud ovation from the NY guitar society audience comprised almost exclusively of guitarists and guitar fans. So empirically THIS performance "went well", even though he made a few mistakes. Fisk is the only classical guitarist I'm aware of who has even attempted to record all the 24 Caprices for guitar. Had you listened to his disk of same (clearly you haven't) you'd know he did NOT have it "cleaned up" with sound engineers. . .he plays on the "ragged edge" there too!

[@Geraldolini]

I saw Eliot Fisk in Salt Lake three years ago. Superb! Studied with Segovia.

[@rpcarnell]

Why people bashing him? He is great.

[@JoelSalazarM]

Roddy Carbonell you have to listen past the first 20 seconds ;)

[@guitarrandinaperu]

Respeto al maestro !! genio !!

[@maturefox1]

Normally I am not that clear, but this catastrophe just makes it necessary, to stick to the point: THIS IS CRAPP!!! I know guitarists playing this piece as quick as the tempo here, but FAR OUT BETTER!!! I know generations of guitar players claim Fisk to be the personified definition of virtuosic playing, but let's put it in the right row: He just tries to be quick and doesn't really succeed - just like Al di Meola in his early years, although one has to admit that this comparison is not really quite working, because Meola is playing completely different stuff in Jazz and was at least able, to quote the note text!!! Sorry to say, but this is no music - even not a quoted note text.

[@christinehorand-haberecht5843]

Yes,yes, yes and yes!

[@maturefox1]

I don't judge by the way I play - I judge by the way he plays and put it into a relation to the composition and that's fair enough! This is why I stick to my point: It's simply awful!

[@manitheman0806]

David Nolte I get your point and I have to say I agree with you....

[@williambarabanitz3858]

David Nolte I've never heard DiMeola playing poorly - is it a recorded or live performance?

[@raycolon3696]

@wisesatyr72 Nicolo Paganini was a violinist, not a guitarist. But, as many great composers, he WROTE pieces for other instruments. Malmsteen is also a huge Paganini fan and didn't realize, as a very small child, that what he was hearing on his parents' record player was a violin. He thought it was a guitar which is why plays SO fast; because he tried replicating the speed of the violin pieces :-)

[@VCguitar1]

Totally out of control...

[@ssimoessim]

VCguitar1 Control is a subjective measure and hardly the most interesting factor on a performance. Intensity of expression and total immersion on the instrument itself as if it were a different mean of expression, playing a piece as if you are the instrument playing , that is the the purpose of performative Art . The maximal study and domination of musical means of expression Commands a performance and not if you play “clean “. That , and not the clueless “note perfect” playing , without any philosophy or ideology constitutes nowadays the embodiment of decadence and philistinism in performative Art .

[@denparrish]

Hey Gitanoz, we're all anxiously awaiting your first video performance on KZbin !

[@cyrus234]

terrible

[@Elthenar]

@suksodsai I've often said that Paganini was the worlds first shock rocker, but he wasn't crazy. He could just do things that no one else at the time could do. Here, Fisk just seems to be trying to crank out the notes as fast as possible, often times his isn't even picking out the notes cleanly, he is just strumming.

[@vallecallejoseph6422]

ridicule !!!!

[@DevinUlibarriMusic]

Fisk plays with such conviction! It amazes me.

[@jenluvsblackcat]

Hahaahha! This guy blows!!!! It sounds like my cat being raped by a thousand rabid hamsters.

[@theanswer00]

oh man, look at his hands! Eliot is one of the greatest guitarist in the world and this piece is hard like madness on the guitar

[@Padrenoe]

That was awesome....period

[@rossconi]

Have any of you guys ever heard the word "performance"? Sure, the girls play it slow and technically, it's more correct. But this guy plays it in the spirit it was written in, warts and all. I like all the versions for different reasons.

[@sssaturnnn]

It seems to me you guys are all envious of this guy because he is playing well. This is his interpretation of this piece, whether you like it or not. People upload these videos just to share with others. If you don’t have anything to share except hate, vulgarity, and jealousy, you are in the wrong place. Viva Eliot Fisk!

[@s2p3r]

technically, eliot fisk is the best in playing the 24 caprices of paganini since in the first place he was the one who transcribed them all to the guitar, as 24 caprices are originally for solo violin. transcribing pieces from one instrument to another is no joke especially the technically demanding caprice no. 24.

[@ironlarbi]

his fingerpiking is awesome

[@tirandede]

a speedy tuning and transitions