Valentina Lisitsa, Do your childhood pieces bring childhood's peace ? Does time slip, warp and distort when you play ? Do young little hands reappear on the keys ? Can you remember when the sun took those hands outside to feel the wet sand ? A touch, a smell, a gentle note floats through a piece of white lace protecting the piano. Don't dare look up, you may discover .... you're all grown up. Valentina, beautiful playing and thanks for letting us visit. ...and then.. oh wait.... what for dinner ? where's my son ? ..when's my next show ? .....what time is it ? I Gotta Go !
I'm so happy to find this piece performed by Valentina! I think Tchaikovsky's piano music has been underrated by the public, and it takes a world class pianist like Valentina to help Tchaikovsky back in place again. Thank you, Valentina!
When I studied a bit of harmony from Piston's manual I bumped into many examples from these ops for young piano students, from Schumann and Tchaikovsky. Very delicate and poetic, even the title.
Good Lord it has been a long time since I heard someone mention Hanon and Burgmuller! My lessons too included those "masterpieces". Add a bit of Czerny and Khulau a bit later.... Brings back some fond (and a few tedious) moments at the keyboard under the watchful eye of my teacher/mother , and others. Never heard these though - and Tchaikovsky has always been my favorite composer. Will have to get these, just to see if my 81 year-old fingers are up to it.... Methinks they might be...Thank you for the post. BTW, an old Native American once said, "Life is like the breath of a buffalo on a cold winter's morn'. It is the shadow, that races across the prairie and loses itself in the sunset." It is fleeting dear, don't spend the precious minutes of life dwelling on others who make ridiculous and obtrusive remarks. Ignore them, and go on about enjoying the minutes of the life you live, and the people who enjoy you. There are many of those people - too few of those minutes....
It's so awesome of you to play and record simpler pieces for all of us beginners. This is where all of the inspiration begins!! Thank you so much Valentina!!!! Some day soon, I hope you will visit Sonoma County and play at the Green Music Center.
Beautifully played! I love this album so much, it's a pleasure to play and to listen to. Thank you so much for revisiting these precious pieces, Valentina! Greetings from Germany - hope to see you in concert one day :)
I've heard you in Zwolle, the Netherlands. I was with my daughter and we met after the recital. You are amazing, one of the best pianists of the world!!
valentina, I can't help but feel like inviting you to Bulgaria every time you upload. i long to see you! you made me fall in love with classical music!
Beautiful performance, as always! I especially loved the songs themed on different cultures (Italian Song, Old French Song, Russian Song, German Song, etc.); I felt like I was traveling through Europe without leaving my kitchen table!
Wow. Thank you for providing this, it's so inspirational to hear pieces manageable for pianists across a wide range played so expressively. Gives the pieces renewed life and interest and those learning them a level of musicality to aspire to. They are very musically rich pieces but too often are heard raced through in demonstrations lacking this kind of interpretive depth, so these performances shared for all are very valuable.
Valentina, thanks so much for the most wonderful gift of hearing you perform pieces that we mere mortals can play :-). I have my copy of the Album for the Young with all the time marks of the little jewels that you have given us to enjoy. I like not only hearing your fantastic performance but also observing the great technique that you use to make the piano sound like a fountain of dreams!
Really appreciate this performance. I was forced into piano lessons by my mother as a young person, Children's Album was one of the few enjoyable moments in the ordeal which I can still appreciate.
I took the sheet music for this set out of the Free Library of Philadelphia as a boy and played through all the pieces many times, but then had totally forgotten about them until I heard this recording (a half century or so later). Thanks for such a beautiful video.
You really played all this at age 4? Amazing to know this! This very special composer had music in his veins, no wonder the young Rachmaninov idolised him. You do him great service here. Thank you for all your music, it is a huge part of my life!
How can such simple music convey such depth of feeling? The children's album describes a great arc, from the awakening morning prayer to the tolling of church bells, perhaps at the end of life. The last piece, In Church, is closely related to Tchaikovsky's hymn of the cherubim from his Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, another sublime and awesome work. It also anticipates the end of the sixth symphony, The Pathetique. The pieces in between cover aspects of life seen through the eyes of a child, from European adventures to the imagined life of toys.
When I was 4, my parents were debating whether to get rid of the piano or get me lessons. I was continually banging on it. LOL. Fortunately, I got lessons. :) Love your music, Valentina. I'm in Austin, TX. If you ever get down south in the US, sure would love to hear you play here.
Очень красивое приятное слуху исполнение! Привет из России и приезжайте к нам на гастроли, мы Вас очень ждем! Этот альбом должен быть услышан всеми школьниками начальной школы)
After listening to the SICK DOLL I wanted to take my daughter's Barbie to the Hospital. Thanks so much for posting a recording of pieces that the unwashed masses are trying to play in their dens with no audience. Your Liszt and Rachmaninoff virtuoso pieces are fabulous but these little gems are also very good. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I can't imagine the genius that allowed you to accomplish this at 4. Of course, it is clear to anyone with ears and a soul that you are the greatest pianist in the world, and to those of us who have been honored to meet you, you have proven Michael Fine to be correct when he described you as an incredibly nice young woman. Please hurry back to Longwood Gardens. I enjoyed Oriental and Durham, but Longwood or other venues in PA, NJ, MD, NY are more accessible from PA. Thank you whenever or wherever you appear in Eastern USA. We'll do our best to get there. My whole family are your fans and enjoy all your CDs and DVDs. I've become addicted to Nuances. I knew very few of Scriabin's works, so I thank you for waking me up to them. Please hurry back!
Hi Valentina, i just want to tell you that i'm waiting for any concert in Chile, i'm your fan since 2007 and i really would like to see you someday on my country, and maybe have an autograph from you! Have a great christmas, end and new year! Greetings from Chile. :)
ValentinaLisitsa thank you so much!!! It would be a great honor if you could attend the Festival Internacional de Piano Sala Bethoveen in Monterrey city
ValentinaLisitsa I know you were there twice and once in sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico city, but we already miss you!!! Honestly I have two dreams, go to a live concert yours and you upload a performance of a piece from the mexican composer Ricardo Castro
+ValentinaLisitsa Yes, in Italy too. "A caval donato non si guarda in bocca" ;) Thank you for the answer. I live in Sarajevo and it would be great if you could organize a concert here! Take care. Adi
+ValentinaLisitsa Oh my god, the doll's story (its sickness, its funerals and its substitution), and the way you played it, truly moved me :(( it's a horrible story, isn't it?
+ValentinaLisitsa Well, it's not weird at all, we generally prefer sad, melancholic musics maybe because they seem deeper, more intense. I think I'm going to play this part - I shouldn't have technical difficulties lol ^^ Anyway, thank you for sharing your experience! I talked to an artist of international renown, tonight! :))
I took the sheet music for this set out of the Free Library of Philadelphia as a boy and played through them all many times, but had totally forgotten about them till I listened to this recording (a half century or so later). Thanks for such a beautiful video.
I took the sheet music for this set out of the Free Library of Philadelphia as a boy and played through them all many times, but had totally forgotten about them till I listened to this recording (a half century or so later). Thanks for such a beautiful video.
I love this sort of "simple" piano music. I search You Tube for beginners playing their simple exercises. There is an honesty about these works that I find refreshing. At age 71, I have long ago got over that idea that "easy to play" is the same as "not worth listening to". I can remember when, many years ago, even Haydn's mature piano sonatas were rarely played, because they were too simple and too tuneful.And Scott Joplin was known only to a few dedicated folks.
+ValentinaLisitsa If I may...and if you object I will delete this comment... Another You Tube channel is PSearPianist, who uploads all the salon/parlor music of the 19th and early 20th century that is also overlooked because it was marketed to "amateurs". And yet the wonderful gems he has uncovered makes you wonder why. Well, mostly because the amateur home piano players are a dead market, that's why.
@@yuliawalker5622 Same here, I got back to playing the piano now during lockdown (after 40+ years :o)) - I am having online lessons now and just starting with this album :o)
@@goodstorylover I am in exactly the same place. Looking through music with dates from my teacher 1979. Feels like coming home doesn’t it? Now I am looking to trade in my old upright from a better piano. I hope you are getting much joy from your piano.
@@SoulfulSpinning Thank you, oh yes, it helps me with structuring my day (I work part time), makes me practice regularly (and not to give in to mood swings many people have in these hard times), and it is interesting to discover that even after all those years my fingers still remember something:o) I like your channel a lot, btw, you have another subscriber! Many regards from the Czech Republic.
The day I meet you I will probably cry with excitement and tell you how much you and your playing mean to me. I feel like I honestly already know you personally. I would probably be known as that crazy piano college student that posted and wrote so many facebook messages to you it could have possibly been considered as a crazy stalker alert Lol.. All I ask is that I can sit beside you one day and watch you play.. I would definitely love to do a duet with you. Maybe Hungarian Dance No 5 by Brahms ^^. As always, I love you as one of my idols for piano. Please continue giving us videos to watch and let me know if you travel close to Kentucky again. Merry Christmas and much love to you. Thomas Crawford.
Thank you for this video - it is emotional for me, a return to my childhood, remembering my father playing this album and my mum telling me stories she invented about each of the music pieces :o) I hear your playing often on the Classic Praha radio, all kinds of repertoire including soundtracks, thank you for your art!
Валентина, хотел бы вас поздравить с днём вашего рождения. Увы, не сделал этого 11 декабря. Пусть талант, которым наградил вас Господь, никогда не иссякнет в вашей творческой жизни. Пусть ваше сердце и ваши руки, которые порхают над клавишами рояля, рождают самые лучшие звуки в этом мире.
Want to share this with Twitter. Hope it's O.K. because they will appreciate it so much. This is so beautiful and mentally soothing as well as energising. I don't know how that works, but it does. My heart is just about to burst!
Valentina, I used to absolutely abhor classical music and even more hate when my parents forced me to sit down and practice. So, my mother took me and she made me listen to you playing Rachmaninoff in g minor, and I felt inspired to play again. Now, I come back many years later onto your channel to thank you for being such an inspiration to the younger, foolish me.
My favorite is Morning Prayer (Утренняя молитва), I've even managed to learn it... some work to do on it though before playing it correctly... I love learning these pieces because they contain all the basics needed on the piano... Thanks again for your master recording :)
Light Knows Itself. Love Divine Herself Ordinates Wisdom in Attenuation of All That Be. We Know Each Other Well. For we are One Truth. One Eternal Spirit. One Union of Sacred Mind. The Peace of The Lord Be Always with You. And Your Treasure(s).
I love how you keep playing repetoire that I'm either already working on or teaching to my students. I just aspire to have coffee with you and just talk music.
+ValentinaLisitsa: thanks a lot for playing and publishing this great compilation! Would be wonderful if you could do this for also other composers! I don't care at all if this are "children pieces" Music isn't a sport and whoever correlates the beauty of music only to the complexity fools him/her self completely. Hear pop (ular) music: like this its all about the melody, mood and perhaps the message an nothing else. Besides of geeks, I also never heard some one saying oh this pop music is great because of complexity.. - Get with the feet on the ground folks -
