It is so sad that such a genius as Ivo Pogorelich no longer played like this. If you have heard him play live in the past few years you will certainly be dissapointed. He turns 4 minute chopin nocturnes into 15 minute epics. He started to decline after his wife died about 10 years ago i think. I was at a masterclass of his last year, and it is obvious that this man is still a genius despite his now extreme eccentricities.
Yo creo que no , véalo en su sitio web , ha vuelto en gloria y majestad ....es cierto que después de la muerte de su esposa quedó destrozado , ella era su mentora, apoyo incondicional y su esposa a quién él amó profundamente, a veces ocurre que toma años superar la pérdida de un ser amado , ellos estaban cooptados ambos.
He had the sacred fire.The atmosphere that he creates here is just extraterrestrial.One can understand the outrageous mood of Master Argerich leaving the jury in protest for the elimination of this incredible genius! And nobody could suspect that Mrs.Argerich doesn't know about false notes and changes in tempo! She didn't care! And modestly I don't either. This man was unique,blemishes and all.
Too good for a competition! If you have the pretension of winning, just don’t make the jury jealous of your talent. So rare to see someone making actual music in the horrible context of a competition
I think the problem was that his interpretation was godlike, but he made too many errors for the judges to let go. I don’t think they were jealous, though
@@PokeMaestro I assumed he meant the round he got disqualified, which was stage 3(?). There were a lot of minor mistakes and slight note slips in the sonata(which in my opinion doesn’t detract from the performance at all, but I’m not a judge)
maybe it's just me,but after listening to this interpretation I find it hard to listen to others playing that ballade.This is the ultimate way to play this...it just feels right,like coming home.Thank you Pogorelich!!
Mee too. My piano teacher sent me of Bella Davidpvic, is also very beautiful BUT this is SO incredible deep....as if every note he breathe and let resonates in the whole universe through his whole body. As if every note is the last word before ge dies....just for me he comes from an another planet.
It’s so incredible that his beautiful interpretations for Chopín and others were partially due to the inspiration he got from his wife...it’s so tragic that her death affected his playing so deeply later on. However, there is a tragic beauty in his love for her and how he expressed it through his piano playing. Even if others don’t find this to be the case, his interpretations are once in a lifetime, and I feel lucky to be able to listen to these recordings
Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958 as son of a musician. He received his first piano lessons at the age of seven and went to Moscow at the age of twelve to study at the Central Special Music School and then at the Tchaikowsky Conservatory. In 1976 he began intensive studies with the renowned pianist and teacher Aliza Kezeradze, with whom he was married from 1980 until her untimely death in 1996. Mme. Kezeradze was able to transmit the spirit and matter of the school of Beethoven and Liszt, the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school, originated in Vienna and than carried through to the Conservatory of St. Petersburg, flourishing towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th. Century. Pogorelich´s sound, concerts and recordings pay homage to this exceptionally refined, visionary, and truly revolutionary woman, who so lovingly made Pogorelich a unique artist of genius. Ivo Pogorelich won the first prize at the Alessandro Casagrande Competition at Terni (Italy) in 1978 and the first price at the Montreal International Music Competition in 1980. In October of the same year he entered the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw where, when prevented from participating in the final contest as a soloist with the orchestra, a fierce controversy resulted in the renowned argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, a member of the jury, protesting and leaving the competition, joined by other members of the jury panel, with the words “He is a genius”. The New York Times once wrote “He played each note exactly, with such a feeling, such expression, he was an entire orchestra- it was as if he played 200 years ahead of our time”. In this spirit Ivo Pogorelich is known today as a poet of the instrument. Ivo Pogorelich is not only an artist of the highest caliber, discipline and musicianship, but the archetype of the modern artist, the isolated and courageous master, who finds his own way to new heights of expression, no matter the prejudices or the barriers of misunderstanding raised against him. He stands alone at the beginning of a new epoch like a prophet, mapping the routes that art would take. Pogorelich´s cathartic and mystical sound, is concerned with the ultimate mysteries that transcend this world. His grandiose, colossal and majestic art, symbolizes the struggle of the human soul to find release from the bonds of its material body. His exquisite and overwhelming music continues to echo throughout the entire performance and beyond, so the action is at once momentary, eternal and complete. Pogorelich´s interpretations are indescribably beautiful and irresistible. His sound is pure poetry and extremely emotional, yet entirely unsentimental. We are hypnotized by his new and radical naturalness, by his nobility, dignity, severity and sobriety; transporting us to states of wonder, ecstasy, meditation, love and compassion. -- Sound and Silence, Life and Death, Time and Space; collapse into the Eternal moment of Infinity. -- ----------------------- "you have to get into the phycological frame of mind in which composers wrote their works in order to discover its secrets. virtuosity comes from the greek origin virtue. original is finding the origin Gaudi said. rachmaninov had arthritis at the end of his life, he was so weak that his sound was very short, that is the reason he played fast, to fill the vacuum. if you have long sound you are in command to achieve clarity and the hypnotic sound between the notes. the problem was always the conflict and the difference between the absolute and the relative quality. beauty in music is like in diamonds, the purest diamond in the world is the Koh-i-Noor, it is the absolute beauty to which others with relative beauty are compared. work as hard as a galley slave. one should always try as much as possible to rediscover music as though one is hearing it for the first time, searching everywhere for new meanings and new depths. the highest function of the artist is to release the spirituality and the emotional immediacy that lie within the score. sound becomes metaphysical only when you have completely explored all physical possibilities. you should explore until reaching the absurd. music takes you to another universe of eternity that remains with you after the concert is finished." Ivo Pogorelich. ------------------------------------
Ivos playing gives me chills from beginning to end. From the first few notes spilled beauty and almost instant tears. He kept that going the entire song. The brilliance of this man is unfathomable. No one else comes close in this piece. I didnt even realize it was a little slower. I was too busy in awe of the beauty of every phrase. And then, theres the english suites. Head exploded. Bravo Mr. Pogorelich. I feel lucky to be alive at the same time as you.
WOW! Ivo's conception of this piece is on a huge scale. A psychological/emotional drama laid out in terms of sound. He has the guts to have ideas about how the piece should go; and is daring enough and risk-taker enough to present them. Martha was correct - he is a genius!!
I love his playing this piece. Chopin's Ballade no.2 is very difficult to play and interprete, but he seems to have his own unique interpretation of this piece and to show love for Chopin. He's the best pianist in the world.
Andrei, Zimmerman is as exciting as tits on the nun!!!!! BORING!!! Kissin is a great pianist, will be great if he could stop rocking back and forth Saw your page, goodness you "fell asleep with your head in the chest"!!!!!!! Listened to Izzy, BORING Ivo is pure fire!!! Exciting, unconventional, THANK GOD!!!!!! JUst like Alexei Sultanov was!!!!
This is a great example of how incredible the different roles are of both composer and virtuoso. Ivo has a fantastically unique interpretation, that compliments Chopin's intentions with interpretation. In the same way that Shakespeare didn't mean his lines to be read, but acted. Probably the finest Chopin virtuoso of all time. We need more Ivo.
Cela fait certainement 30 ans (depuis lui en fait) que l'on n'ose plus jouer en proposant une véritable interprétation dans un concours international : il n'y a plus que des machines formatées. Que l'on soit ou pas d'accord avec ce qu'il propose, à 22 ans à l'époque : chapeau !
Je suis plutôt d'accord avec vous. Le formatage des conservatoires et des master-classes, c'est ennuyeux. Je dois avouer cependant que notre époque nous donne quand même beaucoup de bons interprètes, après tous les Arrau, Brendel, Bolet, que nous avons connus. Alors, c'est vrai, peut-être seraient-ils encore meilleurs s'ils s'affranchissaient davantage de ce qu'ils ont appris dans leurs écoles !!!
+Diana Kas Exactly, I have no idea (other than for monetary reasons) why there is any competition in music (especially classical music), and I believe it's one of the main reasons why the genre has become so stagnant. I know lots of classically train musicians that have crossed in to jazz because of the ridiculous requirements judges ask for in these competitions. If you qualify at this level, shouldn't we just appreciate the uniqueness of every performance rather crowning what we think is a modern day Chopin? Hell regardless of how well experienced the jury may be, even they could be slightly "off" in terms of what Chopin really asked for in these works.It is said that Chopin himself never played his pieces the same twice. How is music supposed to evolve if we keep trying to perfect the past.
+Ry Segs fortunately nobody has a prescription on ideal interpretation of classical music, why is there Chopin music competition is beyond me. By what measure, other than passion, can one judge playing the most tragic, monumental, revolutionary and romantic music ever composed by a human?
This is for me the best interpretation of this ballad since there is much contrast between the soft/slow parts and the loud/fast parts. I love the abrupt silence following the last note in coda and his pause prior to resuming the ending (main) theme, now in minor key. his playing is like an interplay of war and peace. love this ballad.
Pogorelich's slow tempo was unconventional, and probably upset a few judges. At this slow tempo, the piece was no longer the virtuosic showpiece it is in other hands. One might not agree with the choice of tempo, but he played it in a way that highlighted the drama of the piece. Chopin was very much into opera although he never wrote one. This was probably the closest he got to - an operatic scene without singers and without an orchestra. In bel canto operas, you dwell on the lyrical and don't rush, and the lyrical episodes are punctuated by moments of high drama. At Pogorelich's slow tempo, suddenly every bar was singable (or at least hummable). This makes sense to me and I feel that the second ballade occupies the same emotional terrain as Otello by Verdi, who was born within three years of Chopin.
i'm not sure what slow tempo you mean, though.. the first theme was played slow, but it's anything but a virtuosic section.. the Presto/Agitato parts were played at full speed and nothing short of virtuosic.. so, honestly, i don't understand your comment..
The left hand melody line was beautiful! I've heard so many people play the right hand loud and overpowering, but this is fantastic. Best interpretation imo.
Pogorelich digs deep. Everything he does, whether we like it or not, is masterly. He understands the inner voice and measured workings of music. For me, Pogorelich sees through page to define the hidden meaning within every note of every phrase of every piece he plays. He electrifies. Even at his most eccentric he can do no wrong by me. I believe he is one of the greatest musical minds of our time.
I completely agree. His interpretations lead me always in the state of meditation. Other's interpretations never influence me that much. Deep is the right word. It's so deep that you feel the endlessnes all the time.
I just discovered some days ago this video and piece, I was totally out of the world and wa listening repeatedly this🔥so different than other but this way of playing is for me just coming home.....Thank you for your comment, I agree with you, he digs so deep deep in the soul of th piece(and composer) and feel, discover the hidden potential and let this come out.... I hear him is just music come from the another shore, totally beyond this world. He talked in a interview in Nara (Japan) ability to listen. He has unleveled extraordinary ability to listen, feel the depth of the music and fortunately has also the technique to express it. What a man, truly phenomenal. For interview and playing you can check "Pogorelich in Nara"
@@Tamasan100 I heard him live here in Sydney not long after the Chopin Competition. It was the mid 1980s, and he played Gaspard de la Nuit among other things. I have never forgotten the intimacy of the experience. The piano became an Aladdin's Cave of wonders, everything was just so beautiful!
@@Tamasan100 It was so many years ago now that I heard him. There were two performances I attended. What pieces is he going to play when you hear him in Belgium?
he has the best chopin interpretations in my opinion, Argerich is good but I just think Pogorelich has defined himself as one of the best in terms of Chopin
I attended his concert yesterday and I agree with you. He IS a genius. He can play Beethoven,Brahms,Rachmaninov or whatever with no "stylistically correct" interpretations/technique of the epoch. In fact it seems to be the Pogorelich stile and epoch. This is his genius, I think, because whatever the composer is, when we hear his interpretations now, we know it is Pogorelich's mind behind instead of composer's mind. His music has all the coherence, not of the composer but of the pianist himself.
Ohh...I saw him live preforming in Croatia(Country of his birth) in capital city Zagreb. On 12.3.2011.He is still awesome, after 30 years, there is still something in him. With his talent, he excite everyone else, and give us an opportunity to enjoy in MUSIC. Pogorelić we love you, and your AWESOME playing!!!
I am fitted out for a suit of goosebumps when I hear this man play. He carries the flame in those morbidly sensitive hands, fingers like nocturnal antennae perceiving..
It's quite true what you are saying. I attended one of his concerts in Italy, and I felt really sad for him. He had no energy, no emotion, it sounded like someone who wants not to live anymore. His head was completely shaved, and he used scores for all the pieces. He was fatter than here too. The tempi were very very slow. He played the longest and weirdest Fur Elise ever. However, I managed to shake his hand at the end and get an autograph.
This is practically like listening to Sofronitsky or Richter. Arguably just as good, definitely as inspired. For me Sofronitsky's bel canto is pure heaven, though.
! Thank you so much for posting also the Ballade N.2 from that memorable performance!!! The time dilatation at 7:45 during the trills is so brilliant and the following double notes are taken at breathtaking speed!
8:19 to 8:33 was when Pogorelich was really thankful that not only had he remembered to bring a handful of Fruit Gums to the concert (and store them in his mouth for first 8 minutes or so) - but that, yes, Fruit Gums really were indeed his very favourite of all sweets - mmm!
I like the way he ended the stormy coda as if letting the last high note instantly stop and plink out. The mood of this ballad is about abrupt/sudden interplay between the extreme feelings of quietude and agitation without gradual transitions in both tempodynamics. The E to Am chord ending is also played very emotional. I just felt the tragic recapitulation of the original Fmaj theme now being played in its Aminor counterpart. IMO,this ballad is a more appropriate wartheme than the 1st balad.
I recommend Chopin's Preludes by Pogorelich. They are the best I've heard. Argerich and Bolet don't even compare to his interpretations. So fierce and patient, but delicate at the same time.
Music is to be enjoyed, not compared. Neither Argerich nor Bolet compares to Pogorelich, nor does he to them, nor any of them to any other. This is not a competition. But I guess it takes a certain maturity to realise that.
Nothing beats this interpretation of this Ballade. It started very slow, then abrupty shifted to very fast. Very quiet then very loud. And that E - Am ending (considering this has F major theme) says a lot how depressing and tragic this Ballade is. More sad and tragic than ballade 1. Only Pogo can interpret these.
this performance rlly were like a thunderstormy like its called to chopin ballade no2... xd this performance will inspire and affect on my performance of it too thanks pogorelich 😊😊😊
Give me his wrong notes over the bland, uninspired "perfection" of so many modern pianists. His playing just vibrates with life, tenderness, passion, drama, extreme pathos ...
"Chopin´s playing evoked all the sweet and sorrowful voices of the past. Chopin sang the tears of music...in a whole gamut of different forms and voices, from that of the warrior to those of children and angels..." Bohdan Zaleski, polish poet, personal diary 2 feb 1844. "Under the fingers of Chopins´s hand the piano became the voice of an archangel, an orchestra, an army, a raging ocean, a creation of the universe, the end of the world." Solange Clesinger. Ivo is the archetype of the modern artist, the isolated and courageous master, who finds his own way to new heights of expression, no matter the prejudices or the barriers of misunderstanding raised against him. He stands alone at the beginning of a new epoch like a prophet, mapping the routes that art would take. Pogorelich´s cathartic and mystical sound, is concerned with the ultimate mysteries that transcend this world. His grandiose, colossal and majestic art, symbolizes the struggle of the human soul to find release from the bonds of its material body. His exquisite and overwhelming music continues to echo throughout the entire performance and beyond, so the action is at once momentary, eternal and complete. Pogorelich´s interpretations are indescribably beautiful and irresistible. His sound is pure poetry and extremely emotional, yet entirely unsentimental. We are hypnotized by his new and radical naturalness, by his nobility, dignity, severity and sobriety; transporting us to states of wonder, ecstasy, meditation, redemption, love and compassion. Sound and Silence, Life and Death, Time and Space; collapse into the Eternal moment of Infinity.
Agreed. His Scarlatti is beyond perfection. I adore his reading of the Brahms, and like you I'd walk/even crawl a hundred miles to hear him play. His is a magnetism that draws you in. I heard him here in Sydney in the early 80s and both times were magical. He played Gaspard. Extraordinary! Have you heard him play Islamey? Unbelievable!
...and I heard him twice in Melbourne in the early 80s plus once in Carnegie Hall NYC. Mesmerising. I've only heard his Islamey here on YT. There are no words. The virtuosic bits are the scariest piano playing I've heard; the melodic sections are heartbreakingly intense.
@@spikehofmann Mesmerising is the word. Spellbinding too. What I heard live was from another world, as well did you. Pianism at that time needed him, I feel. He brought another dimension to it to almost redefine the notion of what playing the piano was all about. Blessings!
Austria's famous Badura-Skoda was the man who insisted on dropping Pogorelič, and he was right, as was Martha Argerich, who insisted on keeping him in. It was a tough one for the jury because they highly respected both. And in the end Pogorelič won anyway! The scandal made him famous.
Poland in 1980 was under soviet control and domination. The soviets wanted the vietnamese pianist who also attended the moscow conservatory with Ivo, to be named first prize winner. So the jury HAD TO CAPITULATE, to give in to the political demands of a greater political power other than the jury. Hence the reason why half the jury scored him at the bottom. It had nothing to do with minor finger misses or any other musical styles of interpretation. The american -vietnam conflict ended in 1975. Hence vietnam was fully communist by 1980 and the soviets wanted to recognize their alignment with that country, vietnam. This decision was made long before the competition started and the head of the jury was made to understand what was the desire and position of their master, the soviet politics that controlled all of Poland in 1980. Those who knew what was what, had no choice, hence such a strange decision was made to not ALLOW Pogorelich to move on to the Final round, and not play with orchestra, and not win first prize, according to the wishes of the soviet political machine.
@@Sahasrarasmi-Sancodite Communist Poland wasn't that corrupt. The Jury was international and Ivo Pogorelić was a graduate of Moscow Conservatory. The Soviet embassy did not meddle in Chopin Competition outcomes. Dang Thai Son was a truly outstanding performer. Bruce Liu, the winner of the 2021 competition, was Dang's student at the University of Montreal.
The beginning is played more beautifully than I have ever heard before. For my taste, there is a bit too mush rubato in the presto con fuoco section. The performance is very moving.
This Ballade is just depressing in a beautiful way. It's starting in a happy/calm mood at F maj, then ends in a sad A minor. It's most quiet and most noisy - such a nice bipolar piece. :)
At times, I agree, yes, as any mirror might distort an image to become something more or less of what it is, and with Pogorelich I always hear more. I hear no distortion here however, just a heightened awareness of the inner voice and measured workings of the music, a reading which moves beyond itself and the frame that is the printed page :)
true, I believe Pogorelich to have a unique connection between the soul and the instrument. However, sometimes his eccentricity can take something away from the profoundness of the music to speak 'for itself.' I would walk a hundred miles to hear his scarlatti, and to hear him play the brahms intermezzo op 118 no.2 (wonderful recording. I wouldn't do the same for his Beethoven opus111 sonata. Still though, he is one of the greats. His Gaspard de la nuit is gives me the chills.
"It is said, albeit controversial, that this ballade was based on "The pilgrim", Mickiewicz's story of the invasion by warlike nomads and the struggle of young maidens under the form of water lilies." - This performance sound more like the story than those taken at the usual tempi.
I love the way he plays now. I find the deconstructionalism of his interpretations extremely interesting and suddenly we find out that we can re-read all over again the entire classical music repertoire. What I miss though, is his impeccable technique; he doesn't practice so much anymore.
And yet the way he plays now was already the way he played then, just more so. Slow was slower (and more beautiful). Fast... was faster than anyone else. But cannot be as fast at 50 as at 20. Deconstructive is an interesting word, and true, because the more you know, the less is left to know. His interpretations were always highly personal and highly emotional. And why else do we listen to, and play, music?
The tempo of the opening section is so excruciatingly slow as to sound positively endless, with the possible result of the listener losing interest before the following "action" section even occurs. This is pretentiousness on a grand scale, although there'll no doubt be Ivo fans who perceive this lugubrious interpretation as profound and sublime.
