+Leonardo Rojas It is totally pimp. A glissando is a slide up a series of notes. You know how you can plink one finger down on a piano note and just pull it up the keyboard with your arm/wrist? He does that but in an octave form; two notes, octave apart, and he slides them up the keyboard, simultaneously. It requires amazing dexterity and precision to keep the two tones in sync without flubbing it up. It's basically proof that Hamelin's technique is on another level than that of normal humans.
This is the greatest feat of pianistic art ever. The cadenza is such a gift of creativity, effort and achievement. Both the piano and the house should explode upon the last note.
From 8:40 to 11:40 is Hamelin's cadenza. To have a cadenza at this point has become the new "norm". Hamelin has already set the bar impossibly high. You ROCKED it, man !
fish and banana a technically brilliant sometimes improvised solo passage toward the close of a concerto. This was Hamelin's own unique addition to the piece starting at 8:25
The cadenza and the original piece are absolutely not consistent for me. I doubt if Mr Hamelin really likes this rhapsody. (Sometimes he uses too much rubato.) Anyway, it is obvious that he is a fantastic piano player.
6:07 I feel like many pianists just don’t care at all about this part, they play it real fast and the real, catchy melody just disappears. This is exactly why I love Hamelins’ version the best, aside from the cadenza
I think what’s really extraordinary about this recording, is I haven’t heard one audience member cough. All joking aside this really is one of the best interpretations of this piece I have ever heard, really enjoyed listening to it ❤
And this is why this guy rises above the others. He understands things on a level deeper than the notes. He gets the sense of it and his playing is an act of creation as much as recreation that can act as an extension of the original work, not just something from his own mind. Extraordinary!
Mark Mc Donald it is written down actually, if you search up the cadenza with sheet music you will find a video with this same exact video playing with the score following along
This piece has been heard for decades in movies, Bugs Bunny cartoons, TV commercials, and has become so commonplace that one can forget just how beautiful it really is when played by an artist like Marc-Andrė Hamelin. He’s spectacular!
Liszt indicated before the coda 'Cadenza ad libitum', so it is perfectly acceptable to show off you skills there if you think the original is not difficult. :)
@@antonygonzalez1672 The phrase "ad libitum" means "if you desire" (or "if one desires" in the formal tenses). The word "libitum" is not really related to "liberty" meaning freedom, but rather "libido" meaning "want or need for which meaningful and fruitful prowess exists" (this definition is of my own devising, but it usually refers to sex drive, lol). In my interpretation, it means: "You've just spent the last 9 minutes of your life performing (and the last 9+ years learning the skills, techniques, and nuances of) this piece, so now it's your turn to give something back. Show me what you've got!!!" But literally it means "add something here but only if you want to". But we all know that @Peter Rabitt is right... it was a dare!
The best version of Hungarian rhapsody I’ve ever heard, and seen, every part of this mans routine was amazing, I love how his arms and hands are completely sovereign, he’s so smooth!!!!
By far and away my favourite performance of this piece. Not as fast in some places as others, but only because Hamelin plays it at a pace he feels is musically correct (he's right, by the way!) and not due to any technical barrier (see the last three minutes for proof of this). Quite simply magnificent, and great fun to boot!
I will say that "he's right, by the way!" defeats the entire point of it being the way that "he feels is musically correct" because that means that it's not the way he feels is musically correct, it means that's the way that is correct. You can interpret music in many different ways, and you will find interpretations that you prefer over others. But I also agree that this is one of my favourite interpretations of the piece (I'm not quite good enough at piano myself to say which is my favourite as I am still missing some of the ability to notice all of the nuance)
@@pranksterhive302 I just went and listened to it, I quite like the tone he brings with the way he plays. However I personally prefer some of the speeds Hamelin plays it at. Thank you for reccomending another recording.
@@orsemcore Not really, since I have watched this and onther countless pieces for the beauty of it... I was actually trying to play an octave glissando when i remembered about Hamelin's cadenza and came here to watch it again... I actually appreciate (classical) music to a level that helps me quite literally to keep myself alive so...
Joonwoo, thank you for the information! The English translation of "cadenza ad libitum" is "flourish, if you want to". So the Japanese text appears to let people know why Hamelin isn't sticking the sheet music. Very useful indeed!
@@kuuderepiano2988 I noticed that too. At this point, I almost want to chalk it up to tradition, but it still seems weird. Good news: It only took me a few seconds to get over it as I got lost in the music, lol. Absolutely beautiful.
My son (autistic with one ear) has near perfect pitch, can identify any note. Walked in Hollywood Pianos in Santa Ana CA and found a key out of tune in less than five minutes. He records instruments, one note at a time, on his iPhone, which he then brings into FL Studio on the PC to tune and expand into a full 88-key range. He then applies that “sound font” to a MIDI file, such as this piece, so that this now sounds like it was played on that particular instrument. For example, he sampled a 100-year-old piano in Oatman, AZ, along the original Route 66. Decaying in the desert sun and with most keys not working or out of tune, it comes to life again when that sound font is applied to this MIDI file. It sounds beautiful. His next mission is to record all the notes of a pipe organ once he has access to one. He’s a shy one, won’t share his work. I’m trying to convince him to put these up on YT to show what he does. All self-taught, no instruction. They’re wonderful to listen to. I’ll see what he can do with this one. 😊
I think it is pretty clear that there are few if any pianists alive who can rival Hamelin technically. He may not give the most profound interpretations but he is certainly subtle in a Michelangeli sort of way, and his musical genius far surpasses almost any of his contemporaries. I think his playing resembles how Liszt himself likely would have played, he just looks like he's toying with the piano!
Those octaves at the end are insanely fast. How is this even humanly possible? I've seen fast octave players before but this just takes the cake completely.
It's inspired by alkan the best pianist to ever live. Liszt once said that alkan had the best technique he had ever seen but chose to live life as a recluse.
While I can respect interpretations such as that which we heard from Horowitz, I can affirm as a musician who is working on this piece (and cadenza) right now, that this is the most difficult, longest, and by far most musical cadenza ever performed for this piece. Liszt had his own set of cadenzas that were beautiful in their own little ways but none compare to this modern time machine of a show off. Hamelin takes listeners through a history of music with more technical classical/baroque exercises as observed after his grand re-introduction of the main theme. Ensuing, he moves to a more romantic style, that would have definitely been approved by Liszt himself, with glissandos on white keys, glissandos on black keys, even multiple glissandos at once with the same hand! And might I add, with perfectly smooth execution. Along with all of this, he adds a bit of modern jazz intertwined within the entire thing, most notably at the beginning of his cadenza. This piece is a classic, but Hamelin’s very original cadenza invites players to test their skills, play with a new, more exposed interpretation, and ultimately have fun with the piece. At the conclusion of his cadenza, Hamelin mimics a pattern seen throughout the entire piece, and some of the other Hungarian Rhapsodies, by restating a main theme but in a diminished chord, and finishes off with Liszt’s own theme and ending, in the original key. Overall, no other interpretation of this piece (other than Horowitz’s) comes close to competing. With that being said, Horowitz’s interpretation is very interesting. I like it, and find it exceedingly original. However, for me it quite honestly ruins the piece. He makes it “Horowitz’s Hungarian Rhapsody (with a side of Liszt)”. I still have outstanding respect for Horowitz, he is among the greatest pianists there ever was, but Hamelin is also up there with other big names like Valentina Lisitsa and Daniil Trifonov.
I suggest you listen to Cziffra's recordings of this, especially the one he made in the early 70s. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fnChH3cFPnY.html&start_radio=1
I agree. Hamelin is one of those weird folk where I don't particularly prefer his interpretations for most of the "staples" of piano anthology. But in cases like this, or other supremely virtuosic shit, he's extremely hard to beat. He's like a slugger in baseball. He's either going to strike out or hit a home run. In this case he hit a grand fucking slam. Nobody is ever going to beat this cadenza.
By default, anyone who actually plays the entire piece is so much better. Lang Lang plays a crude truncated version. While this particular version is somewhat more improvised than typical, it is lovely to listen to an shows true musicality.
@@nathanyang9188 they're saying that because they saw Yang is Nathan's last name, which is associated with the Asian race, so they're poking at Nathan based off of that assumption.
This removed all doubt. Hamelin is the best pianist that ever lived!!!!! Just my opinion. No disrespect to the others. I have been humbled. Nothing more to say.
His improvisation is so beautiful and interesting. I have never heard such an interesting thematic blend as he gives here. He makes this piece seem like a brand new invention. Just so poetic.
For me Hamelin has to be one of the best modern pianists. I was trying to re-find this video recently and on countless "best modern pianists" lists I couldn't find Hamelin which is insane to me. He is ABSOLUTELY up there with the greats.
Jack White The alternating octaves are the easiest thing in the rhapsody(and in this cadenza)... purely mechanical. There are things far worse and finger-twisting.
***** Fast octaves (and chords and arpeggios) just come naturally for me... but I don't have perfect technique overall, just because I have a very good (nothing is perfect) technique in a couple of areas such as octaves. Every pianist is different.
I keep coming back to this terrifyingly amazing genius of this cadenza that is more technically challenging than the original piece itself. ❤ Hamelin's technique is zen like and insanely perfect. It is impossible to overly praise this.
11:35 The cadenza alone (8:27) would make anyone freeze in astonishment from his supernatural talent, but this is yet another display why no one will ever hold a candle to his talent. He almost makes a mockery out of what Liszt composed. MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN IS THE KING OF PIANO, HANDS DOWN!!!
Agreed. Hamelin is unmatched in his capabilities on the piano. Many other pianists do amazing things on the piano, but ONLY Hamelin can do such things at such an astonishing virtuosic level AND make it look easy (for him).
@Gary Allen People like to consider Liszt as a god. This is because people are naive. He made many errors, left notes out, and seldom played the piece the same. He would not have qualified for any competition round 2 today. Read books that were written 100 years ago.
What an amazing performance! Hamelin is playing a truly monster piano piece and he looks so relaxed like he's having a drink at a cocktail party. Bravo!
Mind-blowing! Now let me augment that old pun: On a "Claudy" day, I got into my "Van" and went "Chopin" but I forgot my "Liszt" so I had to go "Bach". I just couldn't "Handel" the stress. LOL!
He actually read the sheet music and did what you're supposed to do with ad lib cadenza's: improvise and/or make your own. Classical musicians have become lazy and the art of improvisation is dying, with pianists playing the suggested cadenzas, or just skipping them entirely. I hope a new trend starts and people begin to improvise and show some actually creative input again. It frustrated the hell out of me when I was getting my undergrad, and I worshiped those that could improvise like demi-gods. Hamelin is on a whole other level, as he is also a very skilled composer and arranger...a true musician!
@@evifnoskcaj well, first of all, you have to admit that what actually killed improvisation were the composers themselves. People started writing very intricate and complicated piano music that first of all took quite some time and a bit of extreme skill to perform well and secondly, raised the bar of how piano music should sound that audiences simply preferred well written, intricate and virtuosic pieces that could never actually be improvised to that level. In other words, written music became more important that improvised music because the level of written music far outclassed the normal human ability to improvise music. Also, consider that before a student became a virtuoso player, they had several hundreds of music they had to go through and fully master first. The time taken to master these pieces only meant that there was little time to practice improvising stuff. Thirdly, people want to actually hear the great composers and not the thoughts of the pianist in front of them. This is a real problem. So whilst I sympathize with your frustration, I also understand why classical music became stuck in between the pages.
I am in awe ! He is playing at Princeton University Concert Series in Richardson Hall in NJ on Thursday Apr 4th, 2019 playing Hayden, Shostakovich & Schubert if you're interested
I thi k the concert hall and stage is so dark so as to conceal the secret that Hamelin has a third arm and hand. He is truly amazing, Lizst would have been delighted. As Shumann said, Lizst composed many of his piano works for about 10 or 12 pianists in the world.
He makes it look so easy. His lack of facial expression is almost remarkable, as he keeps a relatively straight face for most of the song and seems to be fairly content. I applaud him for this. With the amount of emotion this song has, it can’t be easy to maintain a profession like appearance. Might I add that this performance topped Valentina Lisitsa’s just because of the octave glissando :)
![Hamelin plays Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 [HIGH QUALITY]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
