Strauss/Godowsky - Symphonic Metamorphosis on 'Künstlerleben' (Audio+Sheet) [Syomin] 

Even in jazz, it's hard to beat the 20th century .

Brillantly put: "above any psychomotoric imagination"!

I can't

Memorizing is the easiest part For as long as you have a sense of the melody

@@lovelynotes3065 godowsky is notoriously hard to memorize

One must memorize this to play it. Otherwise it is impossible.

​Exactly. that's what I had to do ​@@jimhall167

1 - 45, 1 - 45

​@@tobiedavis8841yes 1/2 4/5 its not a big stretch at all

not a trill, a tremolo

​@@ciararespect4296Idk what kind of hands you have if a 7th with 2 and 4 is not a big stretch

@@dzordzszs its only E and F Sharp in fingers 1/2 the D and E Natural and finger 4/5?

Yes great ear, but as a pianist the tuning gets bad after one round at this caliber most times. I just enjoy and ignore nowadays lol

@@PianoturtleX it makes you feel like it is recorded a long time ago. I like it

Take the final battle in Lord of the Rings, complete with battleaxes, giant trolls and Nazgul, and add an apocalyptic thunderstorm. That's what you've got here, instead of a sunny day in Vienna. I'm flabbergasted by what some of these pianists can do, but all this eruption of cacophony and clatter has added nothing aesthetic to my life. Some of Godowski's paraphrases are better, especially when the performance is allowed to unfold in a more natural and relaxed manner.

@@musiclover148 I think that, if you can accept it for what it is - a bit of bombastic, showy, over-the-top fun, with a dazzling, glittery edge added - then it can be very enjoyable - and very cleverly constructed, too.

@@michaeledwards1172 What you describe applies more to other paraphrases I've heard. I'm not going to listen to it again right now, eight months later, but as I remember, it didn't exude that Romantic warmth and charm that you want from a Strauss-Godowsky, along with the kind of casual virtuosity which allows the pianist to toss it off with lightness and elan, instead of making it sound like every Prokofiev "war sonata" played simultaneously. I'll try it again sometime. Maybe it will taste like a different dish!

@@musiclover148 Obviously we perceive it differently, but that is to be expected. cc Do you think, when you got the impression you described, that was more due to the way the music was composed, or more due to the way it was played?

you are absolutely right, I think, this interpretation has the focus on being brillant and impressive instead of enjoying the Strauss waltz together with the harmonically rich and phantastic phrases of Godowsky

Have you ever prepared a video score like this? It's extremely time-consuming. Having just recently done some score videos for the first time, I tip my hat and say "thank you" to the poster for the very good job they did with the page transitions.