Recording in Beethovensaal, Hannover Germany, Dec 2009. Wilhelm Kempff recorded Beethoven cycle in the very same hall.

Beethoven moonlight Valentina Lisitsa Neumann sm69fet Korg MR1000 Canon 5d mark Zeiss Contax lens

The most beautiful and inspired melody ever written, isn't it? I don't feel any kind of video or visual is adequate for this music. Too much action , with hands flying all over the keyboard ( Liszt made sure it is one of the most difficult transcriptions - ever ) . To fully enjoy it , download a free MP3 at my Google Music store: market.android.com Outside of US download here : tinyurl.com If you feel creative, please go ahead and make better visuals - or just use it as a soundtrack for a self-made Christmas card, or share it with your friends as is... Enjoy - and Merry Christmas !!!! The video was recorded a week ago , in Hannover - for "Liszt project", my attempt to recreate old style recording -- with final result being an fully analogue vinyl LP... PS. Turns out Google music is not available for non-US users. I uploaded it on file-sharing and links are available at my twitter account ( ValLisitsa) and Facebook. or directly: tinyurl.com Sheet music is available at IMSLP here ( it is a beautiful first edition in public domain ): tinyurl.com

Ave Maria Franz Schubert Hail Mary Classical Hannover Boesendorfer Imperial Celine Dion Luciano Pavarotti Beyonce Andre Rieu Jackie Evancho Andrea Bocelli Renee Fleming Hayley Westenra Kathleen Battle Jenkins Sarah Brightman Groban Il Divo Jessye Norman Placido Domingo Gounod Bobby mcferrin Joshua Bell Susan Boyle Charlotte Church Barbara Booney

Valentina Lisitsa plays Rachmaninoff Etude Op. 39 No. 6 "Little Red Riding Hood"

Rachmaninoff Etude Valentina Lisitsa grand piano Bosendorfer virtuoso pianist ラフマニノフ：練習曲集〈音の絵〉 Richter Ashkenasi little red riding hood speed рахманинов етюд картина красная шапочка валентина лисица

Live from Seoul. Encore #1. Liszt "La Campanella"

Valentina Lisitsa Liszt La Campanella Paganini Philharmonic James Judd Steinway Beethoven ラカンパネラ ピアノ カンパネラ ユンディ・リ

This is perhaps the MOST unplayable piece of music I ever encountered! La Campanella , or Feux Follets ( both are clearly hinted here) are walk in a park in comparison....Early Liszt, from the period when he honestly thought that piano being a percussive instrument there is no point of making any attempt at legato,and one might as well enjoy frolicking in most head-spinning skips and repeated notes :-) The piece (which is based on Manuel Garcia's popular song) was titled in the first edition as "Op.5 #2". Funny , I think that was the last piece Liszt gave an opus number, anticipating how many works he is going to write :) Liszt intended this piece as a bravura finale for his recitals - but according to many reports , he failed utterly . Too difficult???? LOL A friend of mine who used to present great Soviet artists on their tours in Italy told me that the only person who played it LIVE was Pletnev. But even then Pletnev told him that he quit on this piece , calling it "unplayable". You can check for yourself - the music is available freely here: tinyurl.com Let me know how far you progress, OK ? It makes for an easy sight-reading. But do pay attention to indicated tempo marks. They are truly insane :-) For some fun go to middle of page 22 or page 28 and tell me how you like it :-) A hint... it would make for a hilarious video. Hitting those notes is a gamble no matter how many days spent practicing. La Campanella infamous skips are two octaves shorter .... Liszt recording <b>...</b>

Valentina Lisitsa piano Liszt Spanish Rhapsody Rondo Contrabandista Rondeau Cecilia Bartoli

Rehearsal run before recital in Musikverein, Vienna

Valentina Lisitsa Beethoven appassionata op 57 schubert vienna classical sonata piano bosendorfer imperial boesendorfer Bösendorfer backhaus wilhelm kempff gilels Brendel Uchida Rubinstein Serkin richter Schnabel gulda gould ベートーヴェン：ピアノ・ソナタ第23番

Finally a chance to use all 97 keys, live , on video :-) In the original score , the decending broken octaves passage ( so-called martellato, around 8:00") is reduced in left hand to a single line at the bottom , when Liszt-times piano run out of keys to decsend. The effect of using the missing lower octave - particulalry in live setting - is simply stupendous. There is nothing that can match sound of roaring Imperial extra-low notes! It has to be heard live - or at least in analogue recording ( that I am going to make very soon , a "Liszt project " ) . This is the piano I am going to use :-) Bosy rules !!!!

Ballade Liszt Beethoven-Haus bonngerd Finkelstein Boesendrofer Imperial 97 keys Valentina Валентина Лисица

Live in Seoul. Encore #4 Please come to London on June 19th of 2012 if you want to hear this piece live ! I am making my debut at Royal Albert Hall :-) Валентина Лисица

For Elise Beethoven Valentina Lisitsa Backhaus Wilhelm Vienna Wien Austria Seoul Philharmonic James Judd Steinway Pogorelich Валентина Лисица

Valentina Lisitsa

Totentanz Valentina Lisitsa валентина лисица лисиця piano classical music concert without orchestra Sennheiser TWIN MKH800 MKH 8040 JVC GYHD200 RME

Valentina Lisitsa plays Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 4 From DVD Chopin - 24 Etudes

Chopin Etude Valentina Lisitsa grand piano Bosendorfer virtuoso pianist 肖邦24首练习曲肖邦Ashkenasi Cortot pollini Argerich women Richter

Here's my video-portrait of piano genius Valentina Lisitsa, my favourite classical pianist and certainly one of the very best classical pianists the world has ever witnessed. I interviewed and filmed Valentina on 2 April 2009 in London. I've combined my material from London with dvd-material and pictures of Valentina (all used with permission) and I hope the result shows both Valentina's immense musical powers as well as her friendly, spontaneous, energetic and witty nature... she's such a delightful person. Apart from this portrait I've published the complete pieces of music Valentina played during the interview (4x Rachmaninoff and 1x Schumann) elsewhere on my Youtube-channel. Check them out, they're all great performances! It was so much fun meeting Valentina and producing this video! :) Hope you'll enjoy this video and look out for your response. [Pieter de Rooij, 15-6-2009]

Valentina Lisitsa piano pianists best Western classical music Pieter de Rooij Steinway Bosendorfer Rachmaninoff Ravel Beethoven Schubert Liszt Chopin Ukraine United States Kiev 2009 interview talk interviews talking

Rachmaninoff Concerto # 1 Cadenza. Fragment of recording with the LSO, M Francis. Abbey Rd Studios , London Sept 2009 Catch live performance with the WDR orchestra and Saraste conducting in Cologne and Duisburg, Dec 9,10/2010. www.duisburger-philharmoniker.de www.koelner-philharmonie.de

Valentina Lisitsa cologne Köln WDR

Valentina Lisitsa plays Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 12 "Ocean Etude" From DVD Chopin - 24 Etudes.

Chopin Etude Valentina Lisitsa grand piano Bosendorfer virtuoso pianist 肖邦24首练习曲Ashkenazy Backhaus Cortot Horowitz Pollini Kissin women

Tchaikovsky Concerto #1 Valentina Lisitsa (fragment)

Tchaikovsky Valentina Lisitsa

Classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa on her favorite pieces, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, Godowsky, and on how to be concert pianist while raising her son. Interview by Lothar J. Riedl, Neustein Cultural Society, Salzburg.

Valentina Lisitsa interview in Salzburg Villa Neustein Kulturverein Ludwig van Beethoven Schubert Franz Liszt Frédéric Chopin Leopold Godowsky Godowski life family balance work raising son education concert pianist classical favorite pieces Cultural Society Christoph Ferch Lothar Riedl nocturne Mondscheinsonate Die Fledermaus Symphonische Metamorphosen Des Mädchens Klage piano concerto plays symphony minor

Rehearsal run before recital in Musikverein, Vienna

Valentina Lisitsa Beethoven appassionata op 57 schubert vienna classical sonata piano bosendorfer imperial boesendorfer Bösendorfer backhaus wilhelm kempff gilels Brendel Uchida Rubinstein Serkin richter Schnabel gulda gould ベートーヴェン：ピアノ・ソナタ第23番

No recording, no matter how perfect, can do a justice to this sonata. The sheer power and strength of this enormous stream of sound, Amazon river of piano writing, doesn't translate well into limited bandwidth of even the most hi-def capturing. It's best left to concert halls. I hope those of you who have a chance will visit Dortmund in a couple of weeks , April 17th to be exact : tinyurl.com There is lots of Scriabin, more Rach and some Liszt...but this piece is a true centerpiece of a program. And this it the only occasion for me to play it live this year. So, grab your chance :-) lol Few words about the piece- being Op 28 , it has far more famous and popular pieces for its neighbors: 2nd Symphony, Third Concerto, Cello Sonata...Since no Hollywood movie ever borrowed either a melody or a plot fro this piece, it remains largely as unknown and unappreciated as it was when "born". Rachmaninoff, being extremely insecure about himself and his art, asked for an opinion of several friends. Of course, being real friends ( lol) they didn't pass a chance to say that the piece is too long, too boring and too difficult. Rachmaninoff subjected it to several bodily mutilations- again, acting on "helpful" friends' suggestions, cutting out good 10 minutes = 25% of the original piece. He later said about inflicting similar cuts in 2nd Symphony that he feels like he is cutting his own live flesh... One of those friends, Konstantin Igumnov, delivered the debut performance of the mutilated <b>...</b>

Konzerthaus Dortmund Scriabin Faust Liszt Igumnov Royal Albert Hall Rachmaninov Рахманинов Игумнов Мастер и Маргарита Скрябин Соната фортепиано Ашкенази Симфония horowitz Горовиц

If you are tired of too much Chopin lately :-) Here is a tiny bit of Rachmaninoff - his #2 of Moments Musicaux (I am going to perform a complete set in Montreal for Pro Musica this March 7th by the way). No fancy camera work here -- just one (first note to the last) take from the real recording session. Just one of many takes, not necessarily the one that will end up on Rachmaninoff solo works CD (with First Sonata and miscellany of Preludes etc). See, nowadays recording process is about basically making sure that every note is played, at least once. It can easily lead to making hundreds or even thousands of little "takes." If one person is apt to make a mistake here and there- multiply it by orchestra members - and you arrive into 1000+ takes. Everybody who tried to take a photo of a group with iPhone can relate to it. How many times have you have to take a picture to NOT get somebody with eyes shut or mouth open :-) The difference between a live performance and a recording is just as vast as the difference between watching a play in a theater and a movie. All of it of course thanks to modern recording and editing equipment (in movies just as in music). It used to be different and great musicians of old times would come to studio, play just as they would for the audience (the only difference being, they could do another try if things didn't quite work on the first take) and go away with a magnificent recording. We can complain all we want about old recordings as being <b>...</b>

Six moments musicaux (French for Musical Moments; Russian: Шесть Музыкальных Моментов Op16 Rachmaninoff Rachmaninov Flat minor Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов Валентина Лисица

Please, pleeeeease , don't succumb to a common mistake of thinking of it as "An-under-minute-waltz". It would be called a "Bumblebee waltz" then.! No, the title of the piece means a delicate, petite, small-sized , exquisite -- like a piece of a sparkling jewelry - think of the expression "in minute detail". That' s the meaning. Incidentally it is called "Valse du petit chien", "A little doggie waltz" in French. How it happened? Actually a friend of Chopin's and his biographer cited a little playful puppy running rounds trying to catch its tail - as an inspiration for this piece. Whatever :-)

Valentina Lisitsa

This is one of complete takes from analog recording session back in December 2011. The sound is NOT what is recorded on that towering set of microphones on a background, it is from a lowly Korg recorder backing up video.... I don't know if this particular take will make it on vinyl LP , we decided on "no edits allowed" policy for analog - but unlike a performance at a concert , I get another chance :-) And yes, we had a few people in audience - they were all well behaved :-) lol Sheet music here: tinyurl.com This is a "hard core" score :-) There is an "Erlkonig lite" version by Liszt ( as played by Yuja Wang ), I have it as "ossia" in my old Russian edition it was also published by Kranz in Lepzig. Can't find it on IMSLP though... Erlkönig Schubert , Liszt , von Goethe Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm. "My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?" "Father, do you not see the Erl king? The Erl king with crown and tail?" "My son, it's a wisp of fog." "You dear child, come, go with me! Very lovely games I'll play with you; Many colourful flowers are on the shore, My mother has many golden robes." "My father, my father, and don't you hear What Erl king quietly promises me?" "Be calm, stay calm, my child; The wind is rustling through withered leaves." "Do you want to come with me, pretty boy? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters will lead the <b>...</b>

Erlking Goethe Ian Bostridge Le Roi de aulnes Jessey Norman Ann Sophie von Otter Fischer-dieskaufranz Schubert Piano Boesendorfer bosendorfer Imperial Korg Sennheiser Recording LP vinyl turntable analog analogue direct disc Studer Garrard 301 401 Grace tonearm Project Audio 33rpm Gramophone Record All-Nippon News Network

Another "trial run" practice . Again a fabulous Bosy Imperial. Schubert-Liszt Des Mädchens Klage The clouds rush by, the oaks roar, The maiden rests on the green by the shore as wave breaks with force, with force And she sighs into the gloomy night. eyes blurred with tears. "My heart has died, the world is empty, no wishes left to me in this life, oh, gods take your child back, I have relished earthly bliss, I have lived and loved." The tears run down to no end, Mourning will not bring back the dead, Tell me what eases the ache For sweet love's lost passion. I, the heavenly, will not deny it. Erlkönig Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm. "My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?" "Father, do you not see the Erl king? The Erl king with crown and tail?" "My son, it's a wisp of fog." "You dear child, come, go with me! Very lovely games I'll play with you; Many colourful flowers are on the shore, My mother has many golden robes." "My father, my father, and don't you hear What Erl king quietly promises me?" "Be calm, stay calm, my child; The wind is rustling through withered leaves." "Do you want to come with me, pretty boy? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters will lead the nightly dance, And rock and dance and sing you to sleep." "My father, my father, and don't you see there Erl king's daughters in the gloomy place?" "My son, my son, I see it <b>...</b>

Valentina Lisitsa Bosendorfer Rosette Anday Friedrich von Schiller Goethe Валентина Лисица

This is Chopin's response to Liszt's "Funerailles" ( I know, I know, Liszt wrote it AFTER Chopin died - so let's say it was Liszt's response to Chopin's Fantasy) The same plan - starting with a funeral introduction , same f -minor, same abundance of octaves... But Funerailles is a great piano war-horse, favorite of any "virtuoso" with a decent octave technique - sure and cheap way to impress and thrill the audiences. Fantasy in comparison is a poor cousin , underappreciated and often misunderstood : the worst offenders are often female pianists ( LOL, huuuuuge grin goes here ) playing it in overly sentimental and romanticized way - complete with hands flailing , eyes rolling and hair flying :-) Guys just can't do it :-) How did it happen? Liszt was a great self-promotion and marketing guy - he discovered a neat trick of "programming" in music , forcing music "to tell a story"- and listeners suddenly thought " Gee, now we understand what this music is about , how cool !" This was his trademark -but it was certainly not his invention. In fact , most if not all music has a "program" , something composer thought of when composing and something we think of when we listen .It can be something very concrete and extremely detailed ( Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique for example)- or just a vague hint of an idea that makes us think further ( Beethoven 5th Symphony ).The problem with detailed programs is that music can become "dated" , tied to a certain event that might be of no <b>...</b>

Valentina Lisitsa minor Fantasy Chopin Op 49 Валентина Лисица

It is very tough to give any meaninful inetrview at 9 AM :-) ...or to play anything.... But Bosendorfer showroom had such a gorgeous Imperial that it was hard to resist!

Namm 2011 Anaheim Interview Bosendorfer Imperial 290 piano Moonlight Beethoven Rachmaninoff Concerto #1 2nd cocnertochopin Nocturne Flat Major Schubert Muller Bach Liszt Hungarian rhapsody

Grand Waltz Brilliante E Flat major op. 18

Valentina Lisitsa

This is a trial run :-) - getting ready for the recording of Liszt "project". Awesome Bosendorfer Imperial, is it not? Even on a small on-camera sound.... I will have a good and final one ( LOL) in a couple of weeks .Meanwhile , at least the hands can be seen here - and no violin head getting in a way :-) ( like "live from Palermo").

Valentina Lisitsa Bosendorfer Rhapsodie Валентина Лисица

Live from Seoul. Seoul Philharmonic/James Judd

Grieg Valentina Lisitsa Beethoven appassionata op 57 schubert vienna classical sonata piano bosendorfer imperial boesendorfer Bösendorfer backhaus wilhelm kempff gilels Brendel Uchida Rubinstein Serkin richter Schnabel gulda gould

Valentina Lisitsa, Chopin 24 Etudes DVD

Chopin Etude Valentina Lisitsa grand piano Bosendorfer virtuoso pianist 肖邦24首练习曲

Valentina Lisitsa Liszt Concerto No 1

Liszt Valentina Lisitsa

Valentina Lisitsa, Black & Pink DVD. "Encore" track

Liszt Paganini piano vienna classical sonata bosendorfer imperial boesendorfer Bösendorfer backhaus wilhelm kempff argerich michelangeli sziffra rubinstein yundi li

Valentina Lisitsa

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I went through love-hate "relationship" with this Nocturne. When I was asked by Lanaudiere Fesitval to select 7 Nocturnes for the concert ( I never played any before - to my utter shame ) I had to quickly flip through the sheet music and pick ones I thought I might stand :-) This one was number "last" on my list of things to do. I didn't start learning it until it was almost too late ( those who watched my webcast of practice can confirm :-)). I dreaded the moment when I will get sick and tired of this sweetest thing ever written with its gorgeous but repetitious melody.... Then I had my "eureka" moment . it happened when I started looking at Chopin's metronome markings - in all other Nocturnes they were perfectly in sync with today's consensus - maybe little faster here , slower there... But this one - oh my God ! Lento Sostenuto marked as 50 beats per minute in half-measure ( 150BPM in eights ). You know how fast is it ???? Check-it out and see if you can keep up with Mr. Chopin LOL ..... i can't , I still play it waaaaaay under tempo .Let's see how many "critics" will leave comments saying it is too fast .....But , no matter what it makes a perfect sense- and suddenly my dread turned into astonishment at Chopin's genius.The whole piece is suddenly transformed from overly long sugary-syrupy chant to an exalted and impassioned speech- you make whatever you want of this speech , maybe it is a declaration of love ? after all - the piece ends with the most beautiful duet of <b>...</b>

Hannover Hanover Nocturno Bemol Mayor Valentina Lisitsa валентина лисица лисицяjames Bond the spy who loved me Steinway metronome Sennheiser TWIN MKH800 MKH 8040 Canon 5D Zeiss Contax RME

Now, finally IN ONE GO and in HIGH DEFINITION (HD) - so, with far better visuals - my documentary on Valentina Lisitsa's stunning recordings of Rachmaninoff's piano concerti. Impressions of the recording sessions combined with interviews with Valentina Lisitsa, conductor Michael Francis and producer Michael Fine. Produced, directed, filmed and edited by Pieter de Rooij, Tonal Ties Productions, C. 2011.

Valentina Lisitsa Western classical music Pieter de Rooij Rachmaninoff Rachmaninov piano concerto concerti concertos interview documentary report interviews best Steinway pianist pianists Bosendorfer Ravel Beethoven Schubert Liszt Chopin Ukraine United States Kiev 2009 2010 talk talking Michael Francis Michael Fine

Hahn and Lisitsa play the first movement from Charles Ives's Fourth Sonata. The whole album is in stores now.

Charles Ives Hilary Hahn Valentina Lisitsa classical music musician performance sonata violin piano Grammy awards album new release

Live in Seoul. Encore #2. Schumann Traumerei

Traumerei Schumann Valentina Lisitsa Kinderscenen Argerich Horowitz Clara Haskil James Judd Philharmonic Beethoven appassionata op 57 schubert vienna classical sonata piano bosendorfer imperial boesendorfer Bösendorfer backhaus wilhelm kempff gilels Brendel Uchida Rubinstein Serkin richter Schnabel gulda gould

And... it's out! Hilary Hahn's "Charles Ives: Four Sonatas" album with Valentina Lisitsa was released on October 11, 2011. View the EPK for this album here.

violin piano Hilary Hahn Ives sonata classical award Grammy Valentina Lisitsa new release album music EPK 2011

Valentina Lisitsa plays Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Recorded live on May 22th, 2010 in Leiden, Holland by von Aichberger & Roenneke GmbH Michael von Aichberger Dominik Roenneke Florian Breuer Michael Hohnstock Thanks to Alexei Kuznetsoff and Cum Laude Concerten, Leiden Michiel van Westering

Valentina Lisitsa Piano Klavier Solokonzert solo concert Franz Liszt Rhapsody classical music Klassik pianist

Valentina Lisitsa plays Schubert-Liszt Abschied! from Schwanengesang From her DVD - Schwanengesang, Schubert's last 14 songs transcribed by Liszt

Schubert Liszt Schwanengesang Abschied Valentina Lisitsa grand piano Bosendorfer virtuoso pianist

This is an awesome piece by a very very old Liszt. There is nothing flashy or "virtuoso" ( thank you ,Liszt, for not using a famous march or Celeste Aida for this paraphrase lol) but the colors Liszt evokes from the piano , those lush yet eerie colors anticipate what Impressionists were to discover later. The story here is simple and you probably well know it . If not - here is a very short synopsis: the action takes place in exotic ancient Egypt. But the plot is like any modern soap opera - simple and unbelievable. A love triangle : Pharaoh's daughter falls in love with a promising military man , but he is in love with her slave girl. Everybody suspects everybody. Slave girl turns out ( hello, soap opera ) to be a daughter of Egypt arch-enemy, king of Ethiopia. Egypt is at war with Ethiopia and they seem to be winning , until our hero , blinded by love, tells military secret to his sweetheart. The end is brutal. Pharaoh's daughter offers to save him if he marries her and forgets the other girl. Upon refusal, in rage she orders her beloved to be buried alive in a temple as a sacrifice to angry gods. While the tomb closes over his head he sees that Aida, his beloved , joined him in the grave. What in real life would be a gruesome scene of death by asphyxiation turns by miracle of music into one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Our couple is together without need to hide , for a first time ever they can freely express their love - they bid farewell to mortal life <b>...</b>

Freni Carreras Muti Celeste Aida tomb scene Bergonzi Price Ravenna terra Addio Alagna Gheorghiu Domingo transcrition Possente Phta Egypt Arena de Verona Gran Scena della Consacrazione Fthà Tu che dal nulla Danza Sacra delle Sacerdotesse. Immenso. Valentina Bosendorfer imperial 290 vinyl analog LP tuntable Garrard 301 401

Valentina Lisitsa in Seoul S Korea 2000

Valentina Lisitsa Rachmaninoff Rach2 Rach concerto piano