A wonderful encounter with Valentina Lisitsa 

Ohhh, she is a sweetheart. What a wonderful woman and a fantastic pianist. I would love to meet her

I messaged her one time to say that I had tried to see her in Miami and was disappointed not to have made it. She sent me a personal email inviting me to come see her Wigmore Hall rehearsal at the Boca Raton Steinway Gallery. I will never forget her kindness, or her performance for that matter. She's at the top of my A-list !!!!!!

Valentina's pianistic talent is matched by her personal magnetism. She is truly a wonderful person to be so forthcoming and friendly with everyone. May God always smile upon her and bless her.

Wow! If anyone has the right to be a diva, it is her. So it is very refreshing to see that she is so down to earth despite her incredible talent! Brava!

She is SUCH a lucky person to have been born a genius with a photographic memory along with prodigious motor skills. And it's so obvious that she appreciates what she has been given and works very hard, yet is so magnanimous with her free street performances. You can see that she enjoys every minute of it and wants to share it. Such a sweet, bubbly, effervescent personality!

Her comment about " MUSCLE MEMORY " being at the basis of her technique is very, very interesting, instructive and analytical. This definitely explains a lot about how we learn many different physical skills and implies that it is a type of memory separate from, and equally effective as, let's call it " Mind memory ". This is a very interesting observation because it could be the way of explaining when someone is doing something very well, IN THE GROOVE, " naturally " , without thinking....it may be because their performance is based mainly on this muscle memory. This is something people should be very aware of and apply it to different activities by saying " don't overthink things...just act by basic instinct or " muscle memory ". Speaking as a life long keyboard musician who paid his way through LAW school by playing in a wedding band on organ and accordion with no classical training, I only later in life tried to learn some Chopin and was a big big fan of HOROWITZ...and found out how hard it is mentally and physically to play these piano busters. the perfection and virtuosity of Valentina is truly impressive. I have listened to dozens of her videos and her fluidity and seemingly effortless and FLAWLESS performances are unique. Even HOROWITZ made the odd mistake in numerous of his various videos posted on RU-vid...but I have never heard any kind of error in any of Valentina's performances and videos. Maybe there are some but they are certainly not obvious. I have listened to performances from virtually ALL the renowned great pianists, and there are many, and Valentina has played her way deservedly into this ELITE group. Congratulations to this wonderful and beautiful pianist. She certainly deserves to be considered one of the best of all time.

I don't care about her accent. She speaks in music. The global language.

Prachtige ontmoeting Pieter! Haar manier van vertellen over zichzelf is heerlijk naturel, zonder blokkades, dat hoor je ook terug in haar ontwapenende pianospel. Ze krijgt vaak meer emotie uit de muziek dan de componist er dacht in te leggen lijkt het wel, met recht virtuoos heet het. Mijn absolute favoriete klassiek pianiste, door haar ben ik van de ene op de andere dag ineens gevallen voor klassieke piano. Klinkt misschien gek, maar zo ging het. grtz, Paul

Valentina's beauty is of the sort that is rarely seen, because it is a combination of sight, sound and an aura. The fact that she so modestly shares her talent in this "open market" in such an embraceable manner is all the beauty my soul/heart can handle. Despite her recollection of years of dedicated practice and tutelage, she represents her incredible gift as "Gee, look what I found. Let's see how much fun WE can have with it". I'm in love with her in the most generous way: I have no problem with the fact that millions of adoring fans love her as much and I must, therefore, share her with them. It's a truly beautiful thing.

КЛАСС ИГРЫ ВАЛЕНТИНЫ ЛИСИЦЫ ФАНТАСТИЧЕСКИЙ. В моем понимании она лучшая пианистка в мире. Ее игра - это из мира прекрассного!!!

I´ve never imagined that such talented pianist was so humble and so sweet talking. No hermetisms. Lisitsa, I already was a fan, now I´m huge fan of yours.

I discovered her recently and 1 thing is sure...i cant die till will wont see her in a live concert.(even in a station :) Best piano player ever saw!!!!!Tnx for every single upload,bow before u Valentina!I hope 1 day i can give u a big bouquet of red roses:)

She's a genius, speaking with a music directly with my soul and heart. She can interpret and transfer emotions written in notes like no other person... And she seems like a very nice person :-)

Great artist and great person. She has a beautiful and joyful soul. Thats why she can play that way....

she feels the music!

pieter, have you seen the interview with argerich and charles groves? valentina reminds me a lot of the sort of innocence, like she is doing nothing special at all. but the range of her repertoire is unreal. watched the rach sonata 1 3rd movement and had tears in my eyes. besides she looks a lot like my cousin (now departed) and her one daughter (a pianist). my family are from eastern europe region also. i guess i got a little emotional. oh well. men from europe are allowed to cry.

I don’t know what is going on, I studied in Moscow, I am a conductor living in Australia 🇦🇺 bhh un t I’m in totally love with your music and with you. I adore your universe of sounds and passion. You are just adorable. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please do an updated interview she is one of the best

Amo Valentina,i love Valentina..como muitos brasileiros.

wow that was awesome. .I have been trying to find an interview with her like this for a long time. .What an unbelievable talent!

I was merely a decent drummer in H.S. and college, but I don't need a doctorate in music to recognize the 'once in a hunded years' phenomenon named Lisatsa. I don't need to listen to any other pianist.

I really hope to see her one day. Such talent!

What an amazing musician!!!

How talented and charming Valentina is. What a gift she is sharing, and how truly amazing she is! Bravo!!!

How many people love you, your technic, your playing, your charisma, your ukranien accent, your blondie slavian hair. I am among them Valentina, yes, I certainly am. No conditions. Love you so much. I can not stop listening your performances. Great Valentina. Grande Valentina!!!

This Incredible Phenomena called 'Valentina Lisitsa' will give me a 'Heart Attack' sometime..!! Because of the Emotional state I get into, and the streaming shots sky high adrenalin, when I listen (and watch) her playing (anything even a C scale), I bought All the Decca records she made,, but they're not enough, comparing to her prolific 'RU-vid records .. Moreover, 'she is a Wonderful Human, a diamond pure soul ... God bless her... I don't think there can be anybody who wouldn't love this Lady... XX.

What a gem of a posting. Thanks!

America is fortunate to have you as 'our' pianist. Please tour more extensively in the US!

Valentina, you are such a wonderful person! It sounds in your music but now I can see what kind of soul is behind this beautiful music :)... Wish you all the best :)

One of the best pianist of today.

Finaly an enterview with Valentina! A great oportunity to know what we all already knew about his lovely personality. The enterview was given at the date of my birthday, whatta a gift! Valentina, many thanks for sharing your time with us! I'll be back to my lessons....

Beautiful pianist, and a beautiful person - she deserves all the luck in the world, simply an amazing individual and a pleasure to have discovered her. Just goes to show some good can come from RU-vid and the internet

She is as enchanting as her playing. So natural and warm. I love her and her music.

Wonderful Valentina!!!!!!

Playing is an extension of her being, more than a physical act.

I saw her on tour last year with Hilary Hahn. It was a stupendous display of musicianship from two of the greatest musicians. Both were vaery nice and stayed after the concert to sign autographs late into the evening.

Not only is she an ultra-talented pianist, she also seems to be a lovely person. I just discovered her today and have been listening to her beautiful playing for the past 3 hours.

Pieter, thank you for creating this! What a wonderful look into this incredible woman! Love how she found her own path into the music.

Thank you for sharing your great good fortune at having this time with her. She is a wonder.

I adore Her accent TOO, I just adore everything She IS...She is like a beautiful , beautiful dream of an angel... God bless You, dear Valentina Lisitsa!

What an incredibly lucky person Valentina is!! And that she knows this, yet her sweet personality allows her to be happy, and bubbly, and just full of good humor is so nice. So many people at that level, it seems, are nowhere near as approachable on a personal level, but she's just a sweetheart, no two ways about it. Arguments can and will be made for just who is the greatest pianist of our time, but in the category of most lovable among them, Valentina wins the gold, as far as I'm concerned.

thansk you very much 4 the video!! valentina ... the best !

Thank you for posting this. I hope you post encounters with other great pianists.

Many thanks for sharing. It's very rare indeed to see such talent! Valentina is clearly very special in every sense: Truly lovely!

My favorite!

Thank you Pieter for sharing - What a great opportunity to be able to sit and have a one on one conversation with such a great pianist. She plays with such wonderful expression. I truly enjoy listening to her preform.

After watching this, I liked Valentina Lisitsa even more, which is kind of impossible since I already liked her so much. She deserves the best and I love her accent!!!

Fully agre with "one of the very best classical pianists the world has ever witnessed". She is, in my opinion, the one who has best joined perfect techinique with tons of emotion.

She's officially my piano idol.

wuuoaaw!! ...Valentina is the best classical piano player I've ever heard... I'm from Peru. She came to my country with Hilary Hahn last Saturday and it was wonderful. I'm in love with her..... I wish she could give a recital as a solouist here.... Thank pieterr for this realease... Miguel

Marvelous long overdue portrait of a great artist!! I hope she one day gets the worldwide recognition she deserves!! Thanks for this! She's very charming and brilliant!

Thank you for sharing. I would not have know about Valentina and I am in love with her playing now !

Pieter, thanks so much for your sharing this wonderful, warm hearted, talented artist. My Mac Pro never had it so good!

Thanks for doing this video & putting it out there. Valentina's fans (and there are many) will appreciate this. Thanks to Valentina for participating :)

Thanks for doing the interview and posting it up here. She's made a really good move making herself accessible on RU-vid. I'd not've been exposed to her otherwise and am rapidly becoming a fan.

An Amazing Lady with a Beautiful God Given talent. All I can say is Thank you for sharing this beautiful sound and gift.

Que hermosura eres tu Valentina, bella flor del campo llena de gracias e increíble talento, preciosa joya de diamante eres tu.

i had been wondering what kind of person a complete genius like her would be, someone who spends so much time behind her piano.. i think it must feel like she is the piano sometimes, telling her feelings through the keys. and now i see she's also a very nice person. what a nice video, thank you :)

She's wonderful. A really beautiful person.

Wonderful download Pieter - thank you. Lovely lady - so talented. I am delighted to know that Valentina is from the Ukraine. An international treasure. We are blessed in being able to see Valentina play on You Tube.

A great video....would love to hear more about her technique...!

Simply amazing... r!

Merci !

thankyou to valentina and his interviewer! I hope to see much more contributes, i have no word to say how I appreciate her music. I hope to meet her one day. Greetings to all from Italy - Firenze

Valentina 👏👏👏

great video, she must be a very lovely person !

She is gifted and lovely !

Dear Valentina, Dear Peter, Exactly here I discovered the best Pianiste of the world ....many years ago . Val is still excellent butshe producin less Videos than before . Anyway! I remain fidele to Val .....for ever !

Valentina... we LOVE you!!!!!!

really wow... she's great ....

WONDERFUL ! One of the best pianist of our time :)

I like your accent ! and of course your playing ! Thanks Pieter !

Another big idol of mine.She is fantastic.

I am so glad I discovered her she is amazing

Fantastic!!! I like soo much Velentina and her music.I await the day when she can come to Montevideo or Buenos Aires with much hope.

Grande, grande, grande!

I've heard her several times in concert. Nothing pianistic seems to be beyond her. She's also very charming.

Beauty and talent. Congratulations.

You're incredible...wonderful!

It is just amazing what RU-vid has done for artists like this and for us in the general public...the chance to discover huge, previously unknown talents like Valentina who otherwise would have had a difficult time to find an audience or a recording label. Unparalleled exposure for her unique, understated "virtuosity"....she makes it all look almost too easy and yet the sound coming from the fingers, which HOROWITZ would say, is the most important thing, is full of passion and emotion without the theatrics. I have listened to all the great pianists hundreds of times and they are all pretty amazing, with HOROWITZ naturally topping my list. But when I finally came across VALENTINA'S video performances I was amazed at the consistency of her virtuosity throughout the entire range of musical compositions and composers and the apparent ease with which she navigates through these difficult pieces. This is rare quality even at the top. I know that to most people who do not play piano, and who therefore do not realize the difficulty of the key signatures and fingering involved in executing these pieces so flawlessly, she may as well be running her fingers across a flat table for all they know...TOO BAD. But for those of us who know a little about the piano, and even for those piano students who can probably all play these same pieces with some degree of proficiency, it must still be impressive to see this consistency and flawless performance. This is all without the extra energy created by the presence and response of a live audience to inspire the performer. Hopefully some label will sign her and she will get a string of concerts around the world...she is special.

Besides brilliant pianist, she is a lovely person and fun!

Enchanting. From the top of her head, (and her beautiful hands) to the tip of her Bosendorfer!

wow.i love this woman

@consultjohan : Of the stills in this clip I took (of course) those in London - done after my filming - those at 1'01 and 5'02 (there's more on my website). The other stills in this clip, such as the well known one at 3:43, are by Alexei, Valentina's husband. All used with permission of my dear friends :)

Nice work Pieter..Im so jealous you got to meet her!

Awesome video! Thanks for that! "D

I love this verry much

priceless!!!!!!

Pieter. Thank you for posting. I had the opportunity to attend a concert then have a master's class with her last year. It was one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. She truly is a wonderful pianist I, if not the best we have today. My lesson may not of looked it like it went well because I was so nervous playing with her, but I didn't forget anything either. I went home and much later her teaching clicked! I would love to get with her again someday.

Alles is goed hier Pieter (in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen kijkt men zelden vooruit en toch is het er continu genieten van eindeloze vergezichten ;) Dank ook voor de tips! Wel een beetje balen dat Valentina hier uitgerekend komend weekend speelt, had ik dit eerder geweten dan had ik mij hierop kunnen voorbereiden, ik zit nu reeds vast aan afspraken. grtz, Paul

Ik bedoel natuurlijk Pieter de Rooij. And this is a very sympathic portrait ! Thanks a lot

I Love Her

You can tell she is a very nice person, I would love the opportunity to meet her personally.

She is amazing...

I am also Ukranian but can't write it or read it. My Ukranian grandmother who came to America in 1907, never taught me. Now i am too old to learn and she passed away about 40 years ago. But she would have loved your piano playing even more than i do. You are the most talented pianist i have ever heard!

she is so nice we love her

What a nice lady, she would always be good company. Her talents require no comment from me. She has given me some nice daydreams.

She's so beautiful!

Charming woman, playful, with humour and 500% profi

She is great....more any pianist on earth.....the greatest perfectionolist of her timw