I´m a big fan of bachs passacaglia. This is the greatest organ work i ever heard, but this interpretation on the piano became one of my favourites. It´s played so sensitive and wonderful by Žukov.
Rest in Peace, wonderful sublime Russian pianist. We all loved you so much (Igor Zhukov 31 Aug 1936 - 26 Jan 2018). I am not exactly sure why, but each time I listen to Zhukov's music I am reminded of how great and fantastic a country Russia is and will always be.
I´m sorry to know he passed. Discovered his interpretation several years ago and it´s been one of my favorites since then. Rest in Peace, and thanks to him for this amazing interpretation.
@@sweetlord3672And Germanic music and musicians too. Truth is The cultures of the people produce the greatness most often, despite not because of their country’s leaders who too often wrongly equate themselves with the country and “the people.”
What a fabolous pianist! No human words can describe what Zhukov accomplishes here. The best version ever (far more inspired, illuminated, sublime than Zimerman's IMHO). Not from this planet!
Unglaublich! Unbelievable! The energy was there but l was never overwhelmed! The changes of tempo, the characters, and then the fugue! What a marvel of a player! We need these today.
Never heard a more clear and transparent rendering: you hear everything: not even at the organ does this happen! There are more majestic interpretations - hear Zimmerman - but I don't remember any clearer.
In Zhukov’s Bach, I feel the Universe turn on its axis, galaxies form, explode, and disperse, the Earth take shape, mountains rear up, and rivers begin to flow. The transcendent might of this music and its interpretation, in all its dark majesty, is moving in an utterly mysterious and overwhelming way. To this we can add, Zhukov’s transcription is a masterpiece of translation from the organ’s language and resources, to those of the piano. Something inevitably lost, but a great deal gained in articulation, clarity and sonorousness.
Excellent description.... this music is truly that of Creation... by a consolidator/creator that has never been matched in music. As much as we love the works of those that came after, Bach is the father, and we are all in his shadow. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x5NulTMVQPI.html
Igor Zhukov is, to me, a 'newly discovered' pianist, which I found through his Scriabin recordings, and he has, from what I've heard so far, just about the best interpretations of pieces I've heard. Just excellent. They are really clear and not over done.
His Scriabin is out of this world. And so is this! Just a phenomenon of the piano that no one knew about, but thanks RU-vid. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x5NulTMVQPI.html
This is a stunning realisation - it retains all the majesty of this most majestic of Bach's organ works in a way that none of the better-known transcriptions of other Bach organ works seem quite to do. What a terrific performance!
BLOODY HELL... The ending of the Passacaglia may have been the most awe-inspiring and Majestic sounds I've ever heard come from the piano. Do you know if he ever notated his transcription? I would love to play this! Incredible... bloody incredible.
BLOODY HELL. That's my exact same reaction everytime (hundreds for the last years) I come back and back again to this incredible transcription. God only knows how badly I long too for having the sheet of Zhukov's transcription, I would do everything to have it on my piano. Sad to say, the ONLY piano transcription that really blows my heart away is the only one that can't be (as far as I know) found anywhere: I listened pretty much to all the others, so easily available on IMSLP Petrucci Library at a simple click distance, ... but nope, none of them is even remotely comparable with Zhukov's beauty. I can't help but imagining he actually put this written, it's too long and complex not to have noted everything, but most likely it's just a manuscript laying in a closed forgotten cupboard of his family home. A true treasure his family is maybe not even aware of, that would make so many of us pianists happy and that would be such a beautiful way to honor the memory of this fantastic Musician forever. Should anyone know a way to have the complete sheet of Zhukov's transcription please advice, I would be grateful for a lifetime!
I played the D'Albert transcription recently, but have to admit that Zhukov's technique and passion are a cut above anything for the piano so far. So many individual moments, particularly of voicing and thematic highlights, this is just revelatory.
О, это одно из прекраснейших фортепианных исполнений пасахалии Баха, что доводилось когда-либо слушать. Спасибо огромное автору канала за представление шедевра!
Non conoscevo questa composizione di Bach né il pianista : sono rimasta letteralmente affascinata ed emozionata . Ho ascoltato altre interpretazioni ma questa è proprio speciale per sensibilità e profondità. ❤
Igor Mikhailovich Zhukov (born 1936) is a Russian pianist, conductor and sound engineer.... After the war ..Zhukov studied in the Moscow Conservatory first with Emil Gilels and then, in 1955, with Heinrich Neuhaus. He graduated in 1960, having won second prize in the Long-Thibaud Piano Competition in Paris.Apart from a career as a pianist, Zhukov also conducted his own ensemble - the Moscow Chamber Orchestra until his retirement from conducting in 1994, and was the pianist of the long-running Zhukov Piano Trio which was founded in 1963 and continued performing until 1980 ... (WIKI). ... Thank you so much for the wonderful upload.
I practically overdose from the profusion of competition videos on RU-vid ---almost all of them dull as dishwater, without the tiniest spark of originality. This is really worth hearing!
Who wants to hear another sanitised Chopin ballade from a young pianist from an emerging market territory? This is the real deal! Pianists should be going beyond the standard repertoire... Zhukov has gone way beyond it into a different sphere.
L'esecuzione di Zhukov è sicuramente la migliore che ho ascoltato. Trascrizione esemplare. Zhukov interpreta magistralmente il brano e mi trasmette grandi emozioni. Grazie per questo upload.
A revelation! I’ve listened to this on organ and piano and in other instrumental arrangements and have never heard anything like this. Absolutely riveting. He plumbs depths I didn’t know were there before. What an amazing and awesome gift. Thank you.
The descending sequence beginning at 9:40 is somberly majestic, an utterly transcendent passage. This melodic line is absent, or at least not foregrounded, in the other transcriptions I have heard. Possibly one of the “fictive” insertions Y. Corsellis has found fault with in some of his fellow transcribers? Even if it is Zhukov’s interpolation, though, I am not in the least bothered by it. An interpreter is already something of a co-author with the composer, and even more so in the case of a transcription from one instrument to another. I think the Zhukov “partnership” with Bach is a complete artistic success, infused with profound spiritual meaning. . .
It is inexhaustible. After I first listened to it I refrained from listening again-was afraid it would grow too familiar, and I would appreciate it less. I have since discovered this is impossible.
This is not only my favorite Bach piece, it's my favorite classical piece and it's great in all its transcriptions. I'm learning it in a piano transcription by Theodore-Szanto, probably 1920's. I tried to make the link work but it's available in .pdf at IMSLP for free. It's one the the best realized transcriptions that I've played. The notes fall under the hands effortlessly. Well, some effort. I always feel that Bach's music is 'inevitable' and this is him at his most inevitable. The other analogy that I've always appreciated about him is that he 'builds a cathedral' brick by brick until it (inevitably) reveals itself as a towering monument.
Unfortunately I cannot find this transcription on IMSLP. I am trying myself on the d'Albert transcription, and while it does not pose any great technical difficulties per se, the way how d'Albert has melodic and counter-punctual lines constantly move between hands places demands on phrasing, accentuation and even memory that seem at least in part avoidable.
that really would be a treasure for me if I could find this score. At least I know what name to look for now though! It is so clear, yet becomes so inevitable and relentless, with such a great sense of motion. It doesn't get bogged down with trying to imitate the different stops, etc.
@Jerry Li Your link leads to the original organ version, whose score everyone can find everywhere. What is strongly wanted here is the score of Zhukov's piano transcription we hear in this video, which can't still be found anywhere.
Я очень счастлив, что вы не забыли про ВЕЛИКОЛЕПНОГО ИСПОЛНИТЕЛЯ=IGOR SHUKOW I am very happy that you have not forgotten about the GREAT PERFORMER = IGOR SHUKOW
Mr. Richard Whitfield, you know your stuff. You are 2 for 2. The passacaglia-- maybe the greatest of all Bach. The piano transcription played by Igor Zhukov-- superior. Now 3 for 3----- consider my vote for the best organ interpretation-- the Michael Schneider. My favorite for sure among all the many versions I have heard live and in recordings.
Una obra maestra del màs vasto y sublime compositor musical de todos los tiempos en las manos de Igor Zhukov. ¿Què puede haber despuès de semejante cumbre?
I think Zhukov is on one level with Sokolov, Pletnev, Gavrilov, Bunin and Sultanov. But he and Musaelyan are extrodinary laconic and subtle at the same time and I would say both are the most bright examples of what Russian modern pianism is. Which is not modrn already so much...
It's great and everything but everyone keeps thinking Zhukov did much for arranging this. Fabulous performance indeed but it's pretty much the original transcription from Bach but Zhukov had to kinda implement the sound of organ pedals into piano which he did nicely but for the most part it's bach that puts us under this magic.
I like the piano transcription very much. The organ version has some grandiose overwhelmingly dark and threatening passages that are not achievable on piano, however.
D'Albert's version was (on balance) probably the best around. Until heard this! 🙂 Zhukov's Scriabin is becoming recognized as some of the finest ever recorded. The reverent attention he gives to the restrained passage from 4.57 onwards is amazing. So is his technique and control overall. Like the way he starts the Fugue with an increase in tempo as well, heightening atmosphere. Everyone has their own interpretation, this is far beyond mine. But that's what makes music like this so great, because people are out there discovering it, and re-discovering it, and re-discovering themselves. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x5NulTMVQPI.html
omg i didn't know Emil Naoumoff did one. I really appreciate his musicianship and would like to also hear his interpretation of this piece. I learn so much from his channel.
This is a stunning realisation - it retains all the majesty of this most majestic of Bach's organ works in a way that none of the better-known transcriptions of other Bach organ works seem quite to do. What a terrific performance!
