Pianists explain why Alfred Cortot is one of the Greatest Pianists 

Anyone else noticed the depth of thought in those comments? Meanwhile in 2022, you're lucky to get one coherent sentence from people.

I'm so flattered to be included in your quotes, and listed as a pianist alongside so many great keyboard giants. More importantly, you've put a wonderful and well-curated group of recordings together that judiciously demonstrate Cortot's uniqueness.

Cortot's sound was extraordinary, and absolutely unique. Thank you so much for your excellent selection. I haven't listened to Cortot's recordings for many years: hearing him again I am astonished at his musical imagination, intellectual grasp, and what feels like unbridled spontaneity. To those who berate Cortot for wrong notes, I would remind them that Vladimir Horowitz said that it is impossible to play the Chopin preludes better than Cortot, both musically and technically. And Artur Schnabel who, on being asked to re-record something, said "I might play it better, but it won't be as good".

Great video! Finally someone understands!!!

Cortot!!! ....The mere sound of his name evokes romantic and elegant sensations. No one played Schumann like he did.

Once Cortot was playing in a provincial town in France and more people came to the concert than they had room for so they added extra chairs around the piano. In Cortot's line of sight sat a woman wearing a hat with a long vertical feather, after some time Cortot noticed that the feather was keeping the beat while he was playing. He later said that he knew from the feather's movements that she must have been an eminent person in the musical art and he started to follow it with his playing in the concert. ;D This is a true story that i translated from the French. It always makes me smile and gives an idea of his character and the musician he was. He was also an excellent conductor.

What a pleasure! He marched to a different, but enchanting drummer.

Alfred Brendel said that " the best recording of Chopin Preludes is the recording by Alfred Cortot in 1933 " .

* If the text is unreadable, please increase the quality of the video! When I opened this youtube channel 10 years ago, my goal to share the Cortot recordings that were not on RU-vid and I wanted to prepare such a video for my favorite pianist in honor of the 10th anniversary of my channel! In this video, I used Cortot recordings from 1902 to 1953. I scanned over 50 sources for this video, I've read most of it in the past but looked again for the video. Pianists talking about or associated with Alfred Cortot in the video: Andras Schiff, Alfred Brendel, Wilhelm Kempff, Vladimir Horowitz, Claudio Arrau, Murray Perahia, Walter Gieseking, Martha Argerich, Alicia de Larrocha, Dinu Lipatti, Vlado Perlemuter, Stephen Hough, Jorge Bolet, Byron Janis, Heinrich Neuhaus, Eric Heidsieck, Philippe Entremont, Paul Badura-Skoda, Daniel Barenboim, Györg Sandor, Gina Bachauer, Yuja Wang, Magda Tagliaferro, İdil Biret, Yvonne Lefebure, Piotr Anderszewski, Angela Hewitt. And Bonus: Pablo Casals and Jed Distler. I also added the piaist explanations in the video to my site: www.chopinzee.com/2022/08/pianists-explain-why-alfred-cortot-is.html Tagliaferro: "Cortot was such a fabulous man, with total culture. He was turly exceptional as a musician. As a teacher, he wasn't interested in technique per se and his students usually had it already. His interest was in interpretion, and the images that he conjured up for us were absolutely visonary. He was a true poet, and his playing always came from the heart. Even in the fastest and hardest passages, the sense of the music was always his first concern." Brendel also said this to describe Cortot (I forgot to add while editing): “The one pianist who equally satisfies my mind, my senses, my emotions.” This sentence describes the Brandenbug recording beautifully. Debussy had an article on how to play Bach, and that's the closest I've heard to Debussy's description! Cortot perfectly reveals the polyphonic structure, but at the same time, he played naturally, as if it was composed at that moment, not like a dusty piece of past history. The sense of integrity, dynamics, fluidity, everything in this recording is magnificent and so natural. I've always been fascinated by Cortot's sound and creativity on the piano. Check out how the right hand melody sounds like a harp in Chopin's "harp" etude It's as if the strings are drawn just like on the harp! In his Albeniz Malagueña recording (1923), the piano turns into a guitar. The Liszt sonata and Debussy Preludes contain an amazing color palette. The timpani effects in the Liszt sonata are obvious, the bells effects in the La Cathedral engloutie, and in Liszt's 11th Hungarian rhapsody recording (especially 1925), the piano sounds like Cimbalom. He was also one of the best at getting the piano to sing, for example in his Schubert Litanei adaptation recordings. Et cetera...The pure timbre that Cortot derives from the piano is also unique and individual. His tone was soft and dark, intense and velvety at the same time. Today, musical works are studied only theoretically, but in the 19th century many musical works were based on paintings, poems, novels, stories. Cortot didn't ignore them. Another feature of Cortot is his mastery of storytelling. For example, he was aware that the titles that Debussy put on the works were not random, or he knew that Schumann's Papillons was based on the Jean Paul novel, these details guided his interpretations of the works. Cortot's storytelling was unmatched. The pianists in the video seem to have already mentioned everything else. 00:00 Bach - Cadenza of Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 (1932) * Orchestre de l'Ecole Normale de Musique, conductor and piano Alfred Cortot. 04:00 Debussy - "La cathédrale engloutie" (1947) 08:31 Chopin - Prelude No. 4, Op. 28 (1933) 10:23 Chopin Etude No. 5 Op. 10 (1923) 11:56 Chopin Etude No. 1 Op. 25 (1934) 14:06 Chopin Sonata No. 3 Mov. III excerpt (1933) 16:44 Schumann - "Kind im Einschlummern" from Kinderszenen (1953) 18:24 Schumann - "Der Dichter spricht" from Kinderszenen (1953) 20:34 Schumann - Kreisleriana excerpt (1935) 24:00 Franck - Symphonie Variations (1934) * London Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Landon Ronald 28:18 Wagner - "Hojotoho!" from Die Walküre (1902) * with Félia Litvinne 30:07 Liszt - Piano Sonata excerpt (1929)

What pleasure you have brought to this listener’s ears after listening to Alfred Cortot over many, many 😂 decades! Thank you for your carefully selected quotesthat provided insights into Alfred Cortot’s interpretations , especially off Chopin and Schumann, as well as photos. Cortot is the benchmark for all other pianists.

The goal is not technical perfection. The goal is soul. Cortot has the soul.

Fabulous upload. Thank you for keeping his extraordinary vision alive in 2022!

A beautifully put together collection of performances and comments. Thank you. Many of us have been persuaded to think that some steely fingered young pianist who can play fast and furious without a single missed note has 'technique'. I think my eyes were opened when, many many years ago, back in the sixties, Murray Perahia waxed lyrical about Cortot's playing - his colour and his phrasing.

It's heartening to find so many varied pianists who, despite having widely different keyboard personalities and approaches to music-making, nevertheless all regard Cortot as a supreme master of the piano and a great, if inimitable, artist. I especially like how they point to his unique species of poetry and fantasy, the way he uses touch and color and phrasing to re-create these classic scores in such surprising and revelatory ways. I'll never forget when I first discovered his recordings of Schumann--it was like entering territory you feel you know and then suddenly encountering it as a whole new, strange, beautiful world. A thrilling experience. And that happened with the Chopin Preludes and Etudes as well. Does anyone make the "Aeolian Harp" sing like Cortot? Simply ravishing playing.

fantastic, and completely deserved.

Masterfully done. Thank you. The quotes are illuminating. The recordings are extremely well selected. And many of the photos I've never seen before. A real learning and eye(and ear!)-opening experience.

Thanks for this wonderfully put together compilation of Cortot and these truly insightful comments and observations regarding his all encompassing musicanship!

... music is based on breathing... Truly and right.

Thank you for posting this -- very valuable to any pianist!

I was shocked when I was listening his Chopin Etude,waltz. He influenced my music for life

a wonderful idea and document, much needed nowadays, thank you for creating it. Cortot was one of the most inspiring artists ever lived.

Bravo for this amazing uploading. A true homage to Cortot's consummate artistry!

Absolutely wonderful video. Where are the photos from? I recognise very few of them

A magnificent document of great historical importance, Thank you. I was gifted recordings of Cortot's superb Chopin by my esteemed former teacher, John Lavender. In earlier years I had the great honour of being taught by Elizabeth Huban, a pupil of Cortot and one of his demonstration pianists. She was a delightful lady and a wonderful teacher. Every now and then, after a lifetime of study, I feel (fairly) certain, just for a phrase or two, that I have captured the spirit of this great genius.

This video is an absolute gem - anyone interested in music in general should be familiar with it. Thank you so much for this invaluable contribution!

What a great document!

in addition to the great musicianship Cortot demonstrated, there are so many technical wizardries in Cortot's performances that it is mind-boggling how one can do it! Pure magic

The way this is put together shows real and profound understanding. Thank you!

Sono capitata per caso o per magia tra grandi esperti. Io ci capisco poco, ma mi piace ascoltare musica e apprendere qualche nozione, che arricchisce il mio bagaglio del "sapere". Grazie. Vedo e sento che c'è un grande lavoro alle spalle per fare tutto ciò. Complimenti Buona giornata.

Շնորհակալություն, դաշնամուրային արվեստի գանձարանի դռները բացելու համար ։ From Armenia

Learning about him for the first time. Beautiful.

My learning of Cortot is thru my study of Alfred Brendel whom I admire as one of there very best ever. Thank you for this review.

When we hear his recording made before the second world war, we don't hear that much wrong notes. It's after the second world war and all his political and highly controversial "activities" with the Vichy régime that his tecnique and memory began to fail dramaticaly. In the 30 th, even Horowitz came to him to have some technical teaching !

Merci beaucoup. C'était le temps de l'école française de piano, que l'espèce d'esprit américain finit par détruire.

Thank you very much for another absolutely wonderful video. Honestly, these are some great videos. Pls keep up the good work.

How does a human like Cortot exist? I don’t know. He is what I look for in music, the more deeper I feel the music, the more I know about music, the more impressed I become of Cortot. I simply don’t understand how he can make music so alive. The music in itself is there alive in it’s purest form at the hands of Cortot.

On parle souvent des fausses notes de Cortot, mais il est difficile d'y préter attention tant son interprétation reste géniale et fidèle à l'esprit de la composition. Cortot est capable de souligner des lignes musicales avec une clarté qui inspire les virtuoses des générations suivantes. Son interprétation est plus riche et plus complète, que nombre de ses ainés. Je me demande même s'il n'a pas trouvé dans la partition des lignes mélodiques que le compositeur lui-même n'aurait pas remarqué, ou que l'éditeur n'a pas su retranscrire correctement d'après le manuscrit. Je pense ici à l'étude 1 op 25 où la mélodie dominante en "grandes notes" avec un accompagnement de "petites notes", fait place à une deuxième voix mélodique légèrement décallée en mesure 15 et 16, inscrite dans les petites notes sensées constituer l'accompagnement, et que Cortot met en valeur d'une façon lumineuse. L'enchainement mélodique devient plus complet, plus logique, et plus riche. Son interprétation est brillante, et sa technique, impressionnante.

I played Cortot's famous rendition of the op. 28 Chopin Preludes for pianist Bennet Lerner. His first response after listening was "he has so many ides!"

Hey that Debussy piece was talked about in the last University Challenge. This is my first time listening to it

Alfred Cortot was a great figure in the music world of the 20th century. His mistakes are many, but they are inevitable in the style of his era (expressionism). Sounds musical to me. In France at the same time, Debussy was the only one worthy of comparison. No one can imitate the moment when he brings out artistic acoustics from a piano. When Horowitz escaped from the Soviet Union and came to Paris, he said later that it was Schnabel and him. Who thought he could not defeat these men. In Pollini's practice room (who passed away in 2024), his writings and version of Chopin's scores were stacked under the piano. I once saw a photo of the room in a Japanese music magazine. his influence can be seen in the recording of famous etudes. Currently, it is not possible to make mistouches in recordings, but the note value of a 3:1 dotted note can be emphasized to about 4:1 (easy to understand with Winter wind), or a note one octave apart can be added to the highest and lowest notes ( notable in revolutions). He was not only a pianist and conductor (Wagner's Paris premiere), but also a composer (he created many independent etudes for the fingers), the Paris premiere of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3, and an educator (Lipatti,François,Perlemuter,Haskil,Kempff,Michelangeli,Demus,Skoda,Toyama,Heidsiec,etc. He was able to turn his weaknesses into strengths without fitting into a mold), and even had the talent of a practical person (running a music conservatory). He didn't have time to practice the piano, and there were days when he couldn't even touch the piano for a month. When he was asked to perform in America, he took a month and completed five Beethoven concertos in that time. His reading of musical scores is not arbitrary. It's definitely not a sentimental thing. It's easy to understand if you think about it mathematically. However, it may be the opposite for people who are not good at mathematics... He asks us to think of a musical score as a set of points in an N-dimensional space, or as a determinant. It feels like it was converted by multiplying by a certain determinant. A straight line on a plane becomes curved, but its length remains unchanged. There are some principles. It's a secret technique. This is not a world of romantic, self-centered satisfaction, nor is it an easy omission due to technical weakness. Through the listeners' ears, their hearts are filled with poetic emotions.

On peut être un “inconditionnel” de Richter et admirer en Cortot une autre face du “génie”, celle de la poésie et du chant.

YES, MSSR CORTOT HAS GREAT FINESS WHEN PLAYING THE CONTRAPUNCTAL PASSAGES OF THIS BACH CONCERTO. HEHAS GREAT ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH THE VOCAL LINES AND KEEP ALL OF THEM SEERATE AND CLEAN. I DIDN´T THINK I WOULD LIKE THIS VIDEO,, BUT I AM MUCH SURPRISED BY THE ELEGANCE OF IT ALL.

Absolutely gorgeous! The best of all times…

Wer die Wiedergabe technisch weiter verbessern will, kann ja den Vorschlag ausprobieren, der hier beschrieben ist: *Mein 'Vorschlag' einer* EQUALIZER-Einstellung -13,5dB (60Hz) -13,5dB (230Hz) -13,5dB (910Hz) -15,0dB (4kHz) +15,0dB (14kHz) Zur Modulation durch 'Bass Booster' Apps. Die Klangfarbe der Instrumente wird nicht verändert. Da jedoch vor allem die mMn. *eigentlich kaum wahrnehmbaren* Obertöne jenseits des "Notenfrequenz-Spektrums" zunehmend verstärkt sind, gewinnt die Wiedergabe merklich an Brillianz bzw. "Plastizität". (An der Tonquelle sind zunächst die Obertöne maßgeblich und stark mit-verantwortlich für die Tonqualität des Klanges. Je *weiter entfernt* ein Hörer, umso deutlicher lässt die sehr hochfrequente Signalintensität nach; *schneller* als die tiefere... Für ältere Aufnahmen bereits relevant beim Input in die unterschiedlich im Raum postierten Mikrofone. Dem wird mit neuester Aufnahmetechnik natürlich Rechnung getragen. Bei früheren Produktionen wirkt hier mAn. eine moderate Verstärkung der in einer Aufnahme abgeschwächt *original* vorhandenen höchsten Frequenzen *der Aufzeichnung* > 2 kHz diesem Hochton"defizit" leicht entgegen. - - Hören Sie selbst.. Erstaunlich.) *Vergleiche* die Wiedergaben mit/ohne o.a. Equalizer-Einstellung.... Hier wird die 'klarere Übertragung' recht deutlich hörbar; wie ein leicht 'verschwommenes' Foto plötzlich scharf wird. *Warum* das so ist, kann man an dem *Graph* der Funktion, die sich aus dieser Einstellung ergibt, verstehen. *(Leider* wurden die Bemerkungen von einigen als Negativkritik *missverstanden;* das sollten sie *NICHT:* Nur Vorschläge zum Anhören *ALTER* Aufnahmen.) Der Vorschlag wurde etwas ergänzt, weil es unterschiedliche Equalizer gibt! Die Profis brauchen den Hinweis nicht. Er bezieht sich allgemein nur auf 'Bass Booster' Apps, ohne Zuschalten des BASS BOOST. Die meisten können damit ja richtig umgehen; viel Hörvergnügen!

Un grand merci.

I adore Cortot but I have to wonder how much difference the piano made. He played a Pleyel rather than a Steinway

The best

I agree. He is definitely one of THE greatest!!!

I would imagine that Cortot & Sviatoslav Richter (my favorite pianist) didn't see eye to eye. Richter was a devout purist; only playing pieces the way the composer wrote them.

Trop beau

I bought this Brandenburg with Cortot on 78's, just so I could make a recording of this part of it.

Chopin is one melody ( Samson François said ) so without rubato there is not a melody but a robotic music Cortot understood

Schöne Aufstellung, danke! Schade, daß man die Kommentare der Pianisten nicht für eine word Datei kopieren kann. Haben Sie dazu einen link?

コルトーは20世紀の音楽界の傑物。ミスタッチは多いが、彼の時代様式（表現主義）では必然性がある。私には音楽的に聞こえる。同時代のフランスでは、ドビユッシーしか並ぶべき存在がない。芸術的な音響をピアノから引き出す瞬間は誰にも真似は出来ていない。ホロビッツがソビエトを脱出してパリに来た時、この男たちには勝てないと思ったのは、シュナーベルとコルトーだったと後述している。 ポリーニの練習部屋には、ピアノの下にコルトーの著作とコルトー版のショパンの楽譜が欄積みされていたという。有名な練習曲の録音には、コルトーの影響が見え隠れする。現在ミスタッチは出来ないが、3:1の付点音符の音価が4:1程度に強調されたり（木枯らしで分かりやすい）、最高音・最低音に一オクターブ離れた音を付加させる（革命で顕著）。 コルトーはピアニスト、指揮者（ワグナーのパリ初演）のみならず、作曲家（沢山の指の独立を意図した練習曲）、教育者（リッパティ、フランソワ、ハスキル、ケンプ、デムス、遠山、エドシック、等々・型にはめずに欠点が長所に生まれ変わる）、実務家（音楽院の運営）の才能すらあった。ピアノの練習など時間が取れずに一か月ピアノに触らない時間もあった。アメリカ公演を頼まれたとき、一か月時間を取りそれで、ベートーベンのコンチェルト5曲を仕上げたこともあった。 楽譜の読みは恣意的ではなく、数学的に考えると、楽譜をN次元空間の点の集合と考えた時に、ある行列式を掛け算して変換したように感じる。直線は曲線化しているが、連続性は失われない。何かの原則があるが秘術だ。ロマン的な自己中心的な満足の世界ではないし、技術的な弱さの為の安易な省略ではない。 ちなみに、最初のブランブルグ協奏曲は、第5番である。

cest avec le carnaval op-9 de Schulann enregistré en 1928 que Cortot délaissé la méticulosité de la tecchnique pianistique pour aller au delà rejoindre l'ame réelle de la musique , avant les records de 1900-1910 prouvent quil etait le commun des mortels : un pianiste doté dune grande technique

He was best Chopin, Schumann and Debussy pianist i think. But Cortot's Bach also gold!

To LISZT: There is a sonata from him in B minor (1852-3).Is there also a sonata in h-moll,or am I wrong and this is/applies to another piano piece? Thanks in advance.

One learns more about the commenters than about Cortot. But very interesting. Like crumble talk about the cake.

This is fantastic scholarship, thank you

That's incredible!

Do you hear that low out of tune G in the Liszt Sonate?Neuhaus heard everyone and to him Cortot had more. This amazes me??? but what do I really know.Children sleeping is a remarkable recordingThe Poet peaks has a sound each note weighted in comparison with every other ! There is true living as he plays ! The etudes are remarkable ! Rach was not impressed with Cortot and thought only he and Hofmann mattered ;wheras Busoni told a class where Rosina and many other important pianists were present -none of them added up to one Lhevinne . Rach and Lhevinne gave concerts in conservatory and later before leaving Russia . Cortot and Schnabel are pianists I don't hear and know enough to truly appreciate . Samson Francois & Yvonne Lefebure are certainly great compelling musicans. Cortot had so many that came to him from elsewhere since he taught for so many decades. His legacy will never die . Tagliaferro was a monument in Miami and her long memory was a living testament to the early years of the century .

Please, what kind of piano is he playing on? Thanks in advance.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

28:18

Il fait chanter les notes comme personne

I revere Cortot. But why is his tempo so fast in La cathedrale engloutie? What's the hurry? This is one of his very few recordings that leaves me musically unconvinced.

I think he had only 12 private students in his lifetime. One was from Kansas...

I always think of Cortots past as a nazi. I wish I could watch or read something that explains it in his favor. I mean, how bad a person could he have been, playing like he did?

Some of us have things to do and you post something that simply cannot be ignored. Please stop!!

As Bach is the total master og barock, Debussy is the same for impressionism.

Nothing controversial about Cortot. He is up there with Horowitz and Sokolov as one of the all-time greats

such a great pianist, alas, and equally great Nazi collaborator! Takes the joy out of it for me...

What nonsense to add all those extra basses that Chopin never wrote.

Nope, absolutely not one of the greatest. Neither was Horowitz, but quite a few excellent pianists have a very high opinion of Cortot, and many others not.