9 Short Scenes About Rach 3 | ft. Garrick Ohlsson

[@dcc70]

Off topic random thought: I didn't truly appreciate the genius of a symphony composition until I sat through a rehearsal where each section plays separately as a fabric of the whole. It's mind boggling how many voices a composer must hear going on simultaneously in his head.

[@mangomerkel2005]

Exactly my thoughts! And now add the fact that they didn't have any electricity or programs. They only had paper and ink. Also, they had to know the sound of each instrument perfectly, adding to the fact that the composer only heard his composition for the first time when an orchestra already learned it. No software like nowadays. That's why I refer to classical music as intelligent, or even the most intelligent music.

[@anthonychristie7781]

This guy's got such a big brain, a big heart, and the true visceral pi-animal spirit. What a pleasure! Thank you, sir.

[@privateperson8289]

I could listen to him talking all day :)

[@colmsomers9063]

Rachmaninov is the genius here. Garrick is in awe of the music.

[@anthonychristie7781]

@@colmsomers9063 Ya. Goes without saying. But they're both pretty smart, pretty human, pretty humane. Both pianimals.

[@leo32190]

What is a pi-animal spirit?!

[@anthonychristie7781]

@@leo32190 The guy's an animal! Flesh and blood. He has an animal spirit. A pianimal! Don't worry about it. Just me having a bit of fun.

[@thai-pc4jy]

Analyzing music is so difficult but really makes you appreciate the piece 100x more than before.

[@R1skArb]

Brilliant! Not sure which I like most: 1) Garrick's effortless virtuosity 2) Ben (Tonebase editor)'s trolling of Garrick in the captions 3) The fact the real audience for a how-to video of Rach 3 is like 8 ppl worldwide (I exaggerate) - but adored by all

[@vickiehorowitz1934]

I love his "good luck with that" comment re the repeated notes lol

[@erickfreitas6577]

“i hope to play more cleanly on the real life” 😂😂😂😂

[@FreakieFan]

"Well, this is all very difficult." Hahaha, that sums up Rachmaninoff in a nutshell

[@davidkessel1832]

Unfortunate that this needs to be interrupted by absurd ads, but that's life. A great summary of one of the most significant compositions by one of the most significant composers.

[@pauldavies5611]

How I wish he had been my teacher. He has a very precise but relaxed style that is probably very soothing to his students.

[@iansutton9746]

This an amazing explanation of "how to do it!" Ohlsson has magnificent insight into this monumental piece of genius that few pianists usually never used to dare to tackle, other than the composer himself, who reputedly never played it again after hearing Vladimir Horowitz virtually swallow "it whole," to quote VR. Now dozens of pianists do it, usually quite magnificently. But Ohlsson has a particularly terrific grasp of its incredible difficulties and handles them brilliantly...and wittily. Thanks a whole lot, Maestro Ohlsson and Tonebase!!

[@ThePianoFiles]

While Rachmaninoff is quoted as saying that, it's not true that he never played it again after hearing Horowitz play it - his recording of the work was made after he would have heard Horowitz play it.

[@LisztyLiszt]

14:33 "So good luck with that" Brilliant

[@mcinshadley]

I still remember seeing him so many years ago in Northampton MA, on the campus of Smith College. He played an unaccompanied Chopin's 2nd concerto. Two minutes into the first movement someone's alarm watch went off (this was before everyone had cell phones) and he stopped playing. He said something to the effect of "it was his job to worry about time, not the audience" and started over from the top. Smooth sailing from there.

[@kable321]

"an unaccompanied Chopin's 2nd concerto"?

[@mcinshadley]

@@kable321 Yes, I vaguely remember him talking beforehand about playing the lesser known 2nd, and even more infrequent being unaccompanied. It's certainly the only time I've seen an unaccompanied concierto performed.

[@Mike1614b]

I saw Garrick play about 20 years ago. It was wonderful. but I was so defeated by his virtuosity, I couldn't play the piano for about a week. while I rehabbed my ego

[@SimonCU]

What did he play?

[@Mike1614b]

@@SimonCU mostly a Chopin program. I was wowed by his Sonata No3 in B minor

[@RaineStudio]

I find his playing inspiring rather than daunting. He is so smart and congenial and it makes me feel like he is an ally, not a competitor.

[@colmsomers9063]

Rachmaninov is the genius here. Garrick is in awe of the music.

[@alex7633]

Went to his concerto in Madison in May. He played the emperor concerto and Pathetique 2nd movement as the encore. THE BEST concert I have ever been to.

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

This legend must be kept alive at all costs.

[@Ben-kh2rh]

Protect him at all costs

[@matthewbbenton]

I love that I’m watching all these tips for tricky Rach 3 passages, as if I could play it in a thousand lifetimes.

[@jwilliams8210]

I also met Garrick Ohlsson many years ago. I believe he performed a (Bartok?) program in upstate NY. Truly a very gracious and accommodating pianist and I still remember the encounter fondly to this day.

[@1389Chopin]

'good luck with that'...'this is all very difficult' - that was funny

[@denaro572]

This guy is just so intelligent and an amazing pianist. I love this channel!

[@adamrainis90]

I don’t know why, but I always feel like he makes me think of John Williams in the way he speaks - always enjoy his discussions on various pieces of music.

[@maestroadam]

This piece is absolutely monumental. I really enjoyed this “highlight reel”.

[@pianoatthirty]

SO INSPIRING. Garrick’s youthful, joyful energy is infectious.

[@earthwater9964]

Absolutely cool! And what a different sense it is when piano is so "naked", heard by itself, without orchestra's cover. I am amazed at what a stunning, modern writing this is! Thanks dear Sir!

[@sonicplayroompiano4302]

What a gargantuan, seemingly effortless golden tone without out a hint of harshness. Seems like a cool guy and very passionate about what he's teaching in this video.

[@fredericlinden]

A Master. And explaining so well the essential aspects of the work.

[@rwjazz1299]

I'm so grateful to Garrick for taking the time to produce these videos.

[@privateperson8289]

I agree, its not all about the piano being supported by the orchestra, its more of a dialogue, sometimes together some times apart....

[@derinderruheliegt]

“So, good luck with that...” Hilarious!

[@Highlander1432]

Garrick thank you so much for giving us this! I love the insight The themes being reintroduced and blended is so beautiful in the second movement The breakdown of the cadenza was so cool also

[@cirrusclouds8296]

I'm just amazed to see how he makes it sound and look easy. Beautiful and marvelous! Thank you Mr. Ohlsson!

[@eddydelrio1303]

Wonderful Masterclass! A wonder of our modern world that any and all of us can enjoy this supreme privilege!

[@muhchung]

Rachmaninoff usually composed with small intervals, but look at what he could do with such minimal materials! For instance, his vocalise, the clarinet melody of his second symphony, etc.

[@kzelmer]

A master of voicing and variations. His variations on a Chopin's Prelude (who was also a master at worjking with small intervals) are delightful.

[@sebastian-benedictflore]

You can tell he learned (probably Fuxian) counterpoint

[@susanhawkins3890]

Love Vocalise!!!!

[@susanhawkins3890]

@@sebastian-benedictflorewhat is Fuxian???

[@sebastian-benedictflore]

@@susanhawkins3890 of or relating to Fux.

[@lucjanocastro]

Great, Prof Ohlsson! It is such a coincidence. Since yesterday I've been listening to several recordings of this piece, which one is my favorite above any other. Rach 3 is a monumental composition for me. The ossia is breathtaking and as you said: " it's so beautiful that is hard to stop playing it " Well, for me, I shall play it in another life. I stick with the listening for now😄. Thank you for this wonderful present!!! Ps: what a spectacular sound from your Steinway!!!

[@frankwalker5040]

I enjoyed this very much. Wonderful explanation. His playing has such facility, and his hands are so relaxed. I'll be watching more of these great masterclasses.

[@gabrielbustos2706]

It’s easy to be relaxed when you have a hand span like his!

[@poplarboydavid]

Thoroughly enjoyed this! Looking forward to seeing Garrick play in London this year!!!

[@chester6343]

Garrick is an authentic guy

[@michaelhoppe8367]

Incredible master class for such a virtuosic piece. What a pleasure to watch and listen to this video. Thank you!

[@cheemomugdoo799]

I can only imagine having the power to sit down at a piano and do things like this whenever I want. I wish my parents were "mean" to me and made me take piano lessons at a young age.

[@macrubit]

There would have still been a very slim chance of reaching this point anyway…

[@Mike1614b]

@@macrubit yes, like one in ten million.

[@juicedelemon]

That's like torture yourself for nothing... you gotta have a soul in it

[@JLFAN2009]

Think again about wishes and regrets: the odds of *making it* in a career as professional pianist are so slim, that NO child should be pushed into it. Rather, it should be the other way around: the child should be the one who begs for lessons and pursues a career at all costs. Mark Hamill said that if somebody approached him and expressed an interest in pursuing an acting career, he would discourage the idea vehemently; but if the person persisted (repeatedly came back), then he MIGHT be more encouraging: success in the world of arts and entertainment is as much about persistence, as it is talent. Unfortunately, talented pianists are dime-a-dozen -- just like talented actors. As it is, those who *make it* are not necessarily the most *talented*: rather, they're the luckiest (that's how Emanuel Ax put it). You have to have the right connections -- being in the right place at the right time, to capture the attention of the right person.

[@cheemomugdoo799]

@@JLFAN2009 Oh I am aware of the odds, and for me, it would not be as a concert pianist, just as someone who could play the piano at that level. I was never given the option of playing the piano as a child, and when I asked my mother why, she said, "Well you never asked." I suppose she had a point, although I was a stupid kid, what did I know? I do remember one of my classmates in grade school breaking out a very polished rendition of The Entertainer on a random piano in the school. I was amazed, but I guess I never mentioned it to my parents.

[@tidnid1869]

I had the beauty of seeing Garrick play Grieg PC with the BBC SSO last year

[@James_Bowie]

There's a video on KZbin of Jorge Bolet rehearsing parts of Rach 2 with conductor Paavo Berglund. Watching Mr Ohlsson's explanation here for Rach 3 has shed new light for me on why it was so necessary for them to have that time together.

[@blackkeymaestro]

Thank you so much for this. If I were to ever decide to get a piano teacher, I would very much like someone like him!

[@dasglasperlenspiel10]

Very helpful, enthusiastic, and, of course, inspiring. I can't wait to get back to MY piano now, and try out some of these ideas! Good Job!

[@stevenhaff7973]

This is beyond wonderful. Thank you Mr. Ohlsson!!

[@perappelgren948]

❤️🙏 Love and eternal bliss! Scene 8, the lyrical meno mosso (the G major, the triplety one)... At last, somebody dares to take on this one, the most hidden Rach3 secret of them all! So many thanks, Maestro Ohlsson, for revealing this.

[@freudje]

I can't even play the piano, but I love this piece so much I want to appreciate more what those poor players have to go through 🙂

[@worrellrobinson4332]

Thank you Garrick Ohlsson, a great short tutorial on Rachmaninoff 3rd keep up the good work stay blessed and fantastic kind regards Worrell Robinson.

[@emb74]

I think the last 2.5 minutes of this music is some of the prettiest ever written/played.

[@robertjones447]

There is unity to Ohlsson's interpretation. Thank you!

[@lindorsibande]

I love these kind of videos that dive deep into the music we so love to listen to time and time again.

[@briananderson8428]

"You're a member of the orchestra providing color." That alone was worth this marvelous 28 minutes.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Thank you, kind sir, illustrious pianist for your useful, down to earth, inspirational advice, so beautifully demonstrated.

[@CS-px9rr]

Gosh, his lecture is almost as enjoyable as the piece.... I wish I was good enough for this to be relevant to my playing....

[@angelinayuanyuanzhang2860]

For anyone wondering I just went back to check and Yunchan also plays with the thumb-index mini cheat

[@margarethansen7480]

Thanks a lot for this increadible masterclass, Sir and Tomebase!! It’s so nice having a precious channel like that, and this great maestro explaining and playing ❤Rachmaninoff such as he does! No more words to say that I love that!!👏👏👏👏👏

[@francescovalsega]

Subtitles are amazing 🤣🤣. Toccata becomes takata, "scherzando" becomes "scared sando" 🤣🤣🤣

[@15silverblade]

watching pianists playing Rach 3 is so agonizing that makes we feel sorry, like if we owe them for taking us the 'wonderland'.

[@18724AK]

Thank God! Garrick Ohlsson plays the Ossia-infinitely preferred. And, well, damn.

[@gunnarkoss9262]

I love, that he doesn't talk about emotional things - doing by teachers who cannot play the Instrument.

[@tfustmuls826]

My favourite piano concerto. I like listening to this at least once a day

[@duqueadriano0081]

What a pity for you guys not having him talk about the Eb major section in the third movement. It's by far the hardest.

[@ThePianoVault]

Such a wonderfully humble pianist!

[@zzmike]

Always my favorite piano concerto. Wonderful observations.

[@evifnoskcaj]

Exactly right! Sometimes the sheet music has mistakes, is an attempt at what the composer wants but not what they actually want, and you have to learn how to interpret the music beyond notes and words on the page. However, sometimes composers are very literal and want only what is on the page, but sometimes you can surprise them and bring them over to your interpretation and appreciate their own composition for other reasons. IThe best is when you can work with the composer while they are alive, but if you don't have that, studying their lives, when in their lives the composition was created and, if it was created for someone, who it was created for, having HIP or Historically Informed Performances and at least an understanding of time period instruments and common performance practices at the time (and the composers opinions on that), and by listening to the composers own performances of their works, but some composers actually prefer and admire the performances of other performers from their time period. For example, Rach thoroughly enjoy Horowitz's performance of Rach 3. With music, we need to take a gestalt approach: understand all aspects of the music, as an art form, in the technical sense, the details of performance practices of the time period, the theory (or sometimes lack thereof out of sheer spite), the personality of the composer and details about the composers life, the versions and edits of the sheet music, the theory, technical understandings, and any dedications and the reasons why. Often, compositions are an expression of the soul of the composer, which is hard to capture, but we can try. It's an emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and cultural journey, for each composer and each composition. ❤️✌️

[@arupsan]

Sir , can not describe the joy seeing this kind of music training specially about Rachmaninov and other classical composers . Best channel ever for musicians and composers And means much more for the world of self taught musicians and composers.

[@richardcasey4439]

This is just so good. Bookmark and like (twice)

[@truBador2]

Garrick you are a mad man to play this piece! Your technique is great!

[@AL-pu7ux]

Would love to know more about how he creates these colors and phrases. This video was such a gift.

[@robertjason6885]

Rachmaninov Clearly states his name at the end of the 2nd and 3rd piano concerto and 2nd symphony. He does so in a bit of an a-rhythmic manner In the 4th piano concerto… Back on point, Mr Ohlsson is in superior form here pianistically and verbally. Thanks sir. I

[@pinocesi8402]

Thank you maestro 💯🎹❤️🙏

[@daveydoodle52]

Incredible technical mastery and insights, yes, but beyond charming is Mr. Ohlsson's humor. I laughed out loud at his "dog-paddle" description of his hand movements, and, his: "Well, I've been sitting here...." to the orchestra before launching into a bravura passage. Thank you!

[@kenelliott8562]

So wonderful to hear you speak and illuminate details of this piece! AWESOME!!

[@Tennisisreallyfun]

I’m a violinist myself rather than a pianist, but even I understand completely what the man is saying about cheats and semi cheats. There are passages in every piece for every instrument that, first off, make you want to stick a knife in the top of your chest and drag it slowly to the bottom and, second off, nobody will hear quite well because, well, they’re very fast usually. It’s rare that something played slowly cannot be learned. Take the Kreisler cadenza for the first movement of the Beethoven concerto. There is a passage towards the end that involves three double-stop triplets and a chord, repeating itself and climbing slowly up the register until the triplets are replaced by these massive up-and-down scales twice until we soar back down, right before we reach this gorgeous, divine recalling of the main melodic theme of the first movement. There is only one set of those three triplets that I cannot stand. No matter how much I practice it, I cannot make my fingers get it right. My solution? I run my bow loosely over the strings, creating a very misty sound, and then I play the chord that the triplets were leading too properly. Even I don’t know what notes I’m playing and I probably play different ones every time I play them too. But the audience will think it sounds lovely and, because I was repeating these lovely rhythms before and we were reaching a natural, tonal climax, they’ll fill in the right sounds on their own. A cheat, yes, but a very effective one🤣🤣🤣

[@user-vt5ep3mi3x]

Yunchan's performance led me here....

[@endo1987]

14:33 Good luck with that 😂😂😂😂 I´d apply this subtle piece of advice on the whole concerto.

[@picksalot1]

Thanks for sharing your musical insights, wonderful technique, and most of all what you're thinking about when performing complex and difficult passages. The fingers have a better chance of following the the mind has cleared the path.

[@mikestewart6517]

Much of the recorded Rach available (especially the Piano Concertos and the Symphonies) have large parts at tempos very much faster than he would play them at his public performances. During recording sessions he was under the rule of technicians constantly trying to get everything to fit on to the 33 1/3 disc. I was raised on those discs.

[@789armstrong]

Among the very best performances, a great video.

[@barney6888]

Many thanks to Maestro Ohlsson. This piece always floors me.

[@drdarrylschroeder5691]

Hello - Just when we were getting more deeply immersed in the Chopin, Mr Ohlsson reminds us not to neglect our Rachmaninoff. Just having certain points of structure explicated is sufficient to drive us back to the keyboard and practise, practise, practise ... Thank you for the inspiration.

[@shaunhermans]

Thank you Garry! This is levels above what I thought was possible. Not only do I think Rachmaninoff himself would've listened keenly to you here and even learnt something, but to hear you PLAY with this piece and consider its nuance, I just can't think of any words but thank you again

[@khenali25u8]

I cackled when he said "good luck with that" within the 14 minute mark.

[@fizzfox8886]

this is comparable to a sommelier talking about wine

[@srothbardt]

FABULOUS TECHNIQUE!

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Wonderful insight and superb pianism.

[@LAAR123]

He takes major 10ths with an almost closed hand!

[@littlebrookreader949]

I LOVED THIS!!! Thank you! Wonderful !!!

[@jeffparis2419]

Une Immersion Géniale dans ce fabuleux monument musical avec avec une approche sensible et technique vraiment bien construite sur l ensemble de l Œuvre … 👍🏽 il est clair en plus que les Américains sont des Acteurs Nés et Mr Olhsson nous entraîne avec aisance dans les arcanes d un Romantisme Sublime chez Rachmaninov, Merci 🙏🏼

[@carlhopkinson]

Love that relaxed super-efficient technique!

[@drdoctor510]

Huge respect

[@sallywebber6579]

Thank you so much Garrick. Warmest regards, Chris

[@GettingItDone]

32 short films. 9 short scenes. I see what you did there, and I love it.

[@emilyhutjes]

What a great channel this is, thank you. (Netherlands)

[@nickhickson8738]

What a joy. Thanks.

[@bachopinbee5991]

Wow! Wow! Makes it look and sound easy

[@SpiramusPresents]

HE IS THE REAL DEAL THANK YOU!!!!

[@franciscowalker5104]

ITS AMAZING!!!!

[@CS-px9rr]

This was SO enjoyable! Very much unlike my playing...

[@Clown321321]

Marvelous video, thank you!

[@classicalmusic432hz8]

Rachmaninoff was basically the greatest composer of the 20th and 21st century. Nobody can eclipse him ,not even stravinsky

[@erickfreitas6577]

YES!!!!!

[@austinkelley3570]

@@erickfreitas6577 Absolutely!

[@RobertOrgRobert]

Quite a few notes in this concerto !

[@ronl7131]

Enduring Masterpiece

[@CharlesAustin]

Bravo .. great pianism...!!