this amazing content deserves way more views. Simply amazing. Please post regularly (at least weekly if possible), algorithm loves it. this has a bright future
Interesting facts: In a subsequent scene in Lenau's Faust poem, "The Forge", Faust has a chance encounter with the same girl again but under quite different circumstances! Four years after sending this piece to his publisher Franz Liszt received four minor orders in the Catholic Church, one of which was exorcist. So the composer of The Mephisto Waltz actually became an exorcist.
Started learning piano fairly late, but now better than ever, and this video popped up. :D Definitely too hard, but it was so neat to see how a professional pianist approach learning a piece and the story and imagery behind this piece. The meaning is up to interpretation for sure, but the way you described the piece made this piece even more enjoyable to listen to.
How MARVELOUS! So often even magnificent performers can not clearly elucidate their process, but you are so illuminating about the various levels and aspects of preparation. I play the harp, and I will definitely be sharing this as required viewing for harp students; so many of these ways of thinking are relevant for any instrument. You have such a frank approach and gracious presence - which, in my experience - the really great ones have. ("The mark of a great beauty is her ability to laugh at herself." - Agnes DeMille) What a joy and inspiration. Thank you so much, and I do hope you'll do more of these.
Thank You also to Dominic, that was magic. Irene is a fascinating pianist and also very sympathic in my opinion, she explains very well. Very good Interview and music study, very very good 🌟🙋
Great video - this was the piece that kindled my interest in Classical Music and I've heard it hundred of times but still learned a lot by watching this.
Dear Irene Exercising this piece was my childhood fixation. I don't have your study, schooling and expertise behind me... I may never even be able to play Mephisto well, but I thank you for this magnificent video of yours. It is very encouraging to discover that some of the practice methods you recommend, to get around some difficulties, are exactly what I think they are. I live in Florence, I hope I can hear you here, at the Verdi theatre or at the Teatro del Maggio. Best wishes, and thank you. Francesco Giannoni
Could you do a tutorial on liszt's mephisto waltz no.4 or maybe rachmaninoff's op.33 no.4? This video helped me a ton in practicing the technique for this waltz, so im sure any further workshops you will record will be super helpful to us!
I had played the First Mephisto Waltz. It is likely one of the best programmatic pieces by Liszt of a dreadful scale. Here is my take on what I think the story portrays in the waltz's coda......My imagination... "Then, everybody does a wild waltz dance for the last time in place, starting slow, and then fast as the grand finale---the nightingales, Faust's seducee, Marguerite, the cavern spirits, and the party-goers, all participate. It is now a full bacchanal-like atmosphere---Mephisto is now like Paganini--every explosive up-and-down bowing, spiccato runs, double stopping--is like a fireworks display to them. On the Bb minor/Db chord, Mephisto signals a big pillar of hellish fire going up and down, pleasing the partyers, and then, on the last octave run, Mephisto signals the partyers to raise their glasses, drink until the glasses are dry, and then they all fall down dead drunk in supine position--as that devil-violinist does his crash-out on the violin with a snarky smile!"
Wow! Great video! I like that you give the program of the piece and practice tips. Knowing what a composer is describing always increases appreciation of a piece of music. Where can we find Lenau's poem?
If you're able to navigate in German (or know how to turn on Google translate for entire websites), this is Lenau's complete poem "Faust": www.zeno.org/Literatur/M/Lenau,+Nikolaus/Versepen/Faust?hl=faust+lenau
And here is a great English translation for just the one episode "The Dance in the Village Inn": www.thomaslabe.com/research/liszt/media/Lenau-Der-Tanz-in-der-Dorfschenke-Dunn.pdf
@@irenekimpianist Thanks for the links. I also found another literal English translation in the "G. Henle Verlag" edition of the piece at the website of that publisher. The poem can be viewed online in the sample pages on the "Look inside" link.
Hi Irene, great video! I'm learning the Mephisto right now, so one question about that: I've noticed (youtube 25% of the speed) the majority of pianists play the 'leaps of death' jumping of a thumb to either 1-5 or 1-4 octave, there are however some that play (like yourself) from second finger to the octave. Did you try to practise both when you started? If so, why did you decide to go 2 - octave? I'm currently practising both and thumb seems to be better for hand position on an octave but awkward to hit the first note and second finger is the reverse of that. And by the way have you heard Katsaris play these jumps? He's a world record holder, playing the left hand with two hands at this speed (around 220) seems impossible. Then there's Horowitz, the ever-so-idiosincratic gentleman with an over-sized bow-tie who doesn't give a sh*t about anybody and plays at 118 and is the slowest of all time. 🤣 So, all in all a lot of fun with this piece!
Hi Miha! Whenever coming across super-technical passages like the "leaps of death," I try several fingerings and choose the one that ultimately feels the best in my hands. Sometimes, even then, after bringing a passage up to performance speed, I realize that a different fingering works better, given the speed. I found that the 2 - octave allows me to be a lot more accurate than 1 - octave; I can use the swivel from the 2nd finger to the octave to measure out the distance of each leap, and my thumb is not doubly occupied. I'm not sure how Katsaris manages it, but I am very content letting him keep his record.
Too bad for the piano out of tune and the amoroso out of tempo (way too slow !) as it's a tempo / a poco meno mosso, as pointed by Liszt and Leslie Howard. The piece also goes well with the night procession and eventually Feux-follets (the 5th étude d'exécution transcendante), both from Faust too. Congratulations for making the video and publishing anyway.
Thank You very much for the competenceful music study. I have for more than twenty years a real passion for Liszt (piano) works and Mephisto Walzer is one of my favourites. I think You play and explain this masterwork very very well!!
Very simply: you are moving to much and that affect your playing in negative way. You can not move so much at piano and play this piece... Move less body and make more music. Your playing is sterile, and a lot of hand movement so you giving false picture that you want to show hand acrobatic but in FACT you cant play technically this composition. Its to much for you. So you want to soften that FACT by moving to much.
