Quote:
Originally Posted by skaltezon
Chopin's 'Marche Funebre' -- Arturo Michelangeli
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Keeping with the death theme, last night I listened to an interesting and wildly intense piece by Liszt called "Totentanz" (Dance of Death), a set of variations for piano and orchestra:
Franz Liszt - "Totentanz" (excerpt)
This portion of "Totentanz" is performed stunningly by
Valentina Lisitsa (
Valentina Lisitsa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), whose fingers really do seem to fly over the keys. I like the gentle beginning the most. The frenzy of the main body of the piece is impressive and inspires the image of a legion of dancing skeletons and corpses, but it doesn't appeal to me as much as the delicate introduction. Complex, extremely fast-paced piano pieces like the main body of this one sometimes make me feel as if they were designed more to impress than to convey a musical message or mood.
In contrast with the rush of notes in Liszt's "Totentanz," the simplicity and economy of Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C Major is much more my style. Prelude No. 1 in C Major is piercingly beautiful to me and doesn't require vast ornamentation and a profusion of notes to hold my attention. It is one of my favorite piano pieces. Since you have beyond a shadow's shadow of a doubt heard the original, below, I also found a modernized version to give you something new to listen to:
J.S. Bach - Prelude No. 1 in C Major
Hélène Grimaud - pianist
I had to search through around twenty YouTube videos to find a performance I liked. So much for the claim that posting and commenting on YouTube videos doesn't take effort!
Next, the modern version...
A variation on Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C Major
Played on a synthesizer, which creates an interesting, haunting effect through the echos that gives me chills...
Quote:
Originally Posted by modatrio
I love Youtube
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I'm not familiar with the "I love Youtube" piano piece!
YouTube is great, though, I agree. It is such a fast (and free) way to hear performances, share music and allow others to listen to what is going into your ears. What are some of your favorite piano pieces that you've heard on YouTube, modatrio?