I'm playing this piece right now and even though I'm not really interested in how he added extra parts to the piece, I love his interpretation of the piece
Mr. Katsaris would be just the man to play the solo piano version of Gottschalk's Grand Tarantelle. There are a couple of different versions (both arranged/reconstructed by Espadero). The one I prefer is 19 pages long, and it's in the complete Gottschalk edition that's five volumes… I think.
Maybe it is just because I listen to Thelonious Monk, but this to me is an interesting and well worthwhile interpretation of a composition that also has intriguing connections to ragtime.
I don't understand what's the hurry. There's so much delicious detail which in this performance passes by without the time to relish or even notice it. And then there is the sonority of the grand piano, especially the rich and resonant bass notes that Gottschalk uses to satisfying musical effect. There has to be some limit somewhere to how fast you can play a composition and still have an experience that is musical. With sufficient technical training the human hand can move well past that limit--Katzaris offers the living proof of this. But what's the point? To me it feels like driving through a majestic landscape at a speed that prizes the performance of the car over the marvels of the sights.
Katsaris certainly succeeds in making this a "Grotesque Fantasy". He also adds some 'A' naturals in the bass line - in effect, anachronologically altering Gottschalk's music and truly proffering an arrangement of "The Banjo". This is not a criticism, simply an observation -
Although I am staggered by this pianist's abilities, this performance needs a steadier pulse and a slower tempo. It's nervous and frantic. Nice arrangement though. I applaud Katsaris for choosing this music!
Very much enjoyed his virtuosic rendition of this classic, but to me he plays it a bit too fast, too rushed, even though he does not miss a lick. Just a shade slower would help the listener appreciate everything that is going on with the composition. However, not to criticize, he is a magnificent player.....
half the piano repertoire is neglected because pianists play everything so fast - it takes up all their energy or perhaps it is like that saying in the bible: it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven. in other words it is harder for the virtuoso to give up what he has trained all his life to be to satisfy the public....
ismarythere its a form of elitism. It can be compared to people accepting friends based on how much money that person has. They think the richness of wealth makes the friendship worthwhile. Its the same with music. The difficulty of a piece or the construction of a piece must be magnificent before they commit to it. But i do not believe music was created for that purpose of alienation. Like love. Love means you love not just your friends but your enemies. Thats the power of it. The power of music is to unite people and not segregate them intentionally.
@@gjeacocke Thanks for your reply. I decided to delete my comment before I knew you'd replied. My apologies. But, we're on exactly the same page. It is definitely a type of elitism. And I wonder, when it comes to the piano, if the emphasis on impossible leaps and arpeggios is partly a result of the piano's historically lesser status? It's why, for a long time, Chopin's pieces were considered something less than the works of genius they are. Mere parlor works. Of course, Chopin's Etudes are still the test of/for any concert pianist, but I was shocked to read that many highly-regarded pianists thought of his music as... sissy stuff. Pianists may still be fighting for respect, and one way to earn it is to do what this performer is doing. Most depressing of all, to me, are all the ragtime pianists on UA-cam who senselessly race through rags, missing at least 30 percent of the notes as their arms leap rapidly back and forth in an almost comical fashion. Maybe one or two of every fifty renditions of "Maple Leaf Rag" DON'T contain constant flubs, but so long as things are going at locomotive speed, who cares? I mention ragtime because, of course, "The Banjo" is almost an early run-through of that form. It's typically argued that Gottschalk wasn't using certified African/African-American rhythms, and so it couldn't have been ragtime, but who exactly established that requirement? And when? In the 1850s? The most amusing thing about ragtime scholarship is the way 1896 has somehow been established as The Year Ragtime Began. (No one ever thinks to qualify such claims with a simple phrase like "The first KNOWN example..." thus leaving the door open for new discoveries.) Meanwhile, music scholars regard 1886's "Patrol Comique" as meeting the requirements for ragtime. 1886, far as I know, preceded 1896. By a time unit commonly referred to as a decade.
ismarythere i’m no expert but the thing with some types of rhythm, a minimum speed is consistently required for it to bring about its desired result. That could be my misunderstanding. I do remember watching a film about Arthur Rubinstein. And how he used his hands in a up and downward motion exaggerated it appears to the listener but the reply he gave. Rhythm requires a certain a amount of time. Like a delay effect. The motion provided his time. I think thats what he meant. Though i admit some pianists can play on top of this minimum speed and this is what you are criticising and i do at times.
All that you have said here in this thread including your initial comment mister Graham, is truly one of thee most thought provoking I have ever read here on UA-cam. I will sincerely ponder this! Thank you for your insights....I seek the Lord in all my ways and have been asking the deepest questions myself lately as to what music truly is, and what is the true meaning and lasting purpose the music has on the receiving medium of the audience, nevermind the medium of the relayer of course!
@@CziffraTheThird music is like a drug. but musicians sometimes give out the wrong drug to listeners. so while the music is being relayed to the individual they are not receiving the benefit of the music. as you know cures are illness-specific mostly.
You guys do know that the peice was intended to be playsd as fast as possible, and there is a long tradition of adding "incorrect" notes to add to the offputting nature of the music. it goes back to the 1870s.
超絶技巧と遊び心。そしてお約束の顔芸。amazing!!
3:19 You classy bastard. >:)
A living legend, the continuator of mr Cziffra
I'm playing this piece right now and even though I'm not really interested in how he added extra parts to the piece, I love his interpretation of the piece
I heard him play 'The Banjo' in an 18th C. German concert hall, called 'Il Bagno'. :-)
FANTASTIC!!!
Mr. Katsaris would be just the man to play the solo piano version of Gottschalk's Grand Tarantelle. There are a couple of different versions (both arranged/reconstructed by Espadero). The one I prefer is 19 pages long, and it's in the complete Gottschalk edition that's five volumes… I think.
Maybe it is just because I listen to Thelonious Monk, but this to me is an interesting and well worthwhile interpretation of a composition that also has intriguing connections to ragtime.
There's only one aesthetic argument for this: why does Mr Katsaris play this with so much virtuosity? Because he can!
Well put! He has so fun playing so!
Terrific, but he should channel Victor Borge on his own time. I'd have gotten up and left.
I don't understand what's the hurry. There's so much delicious detail which in this performance passes by without the time to relish or even notice it. And then there is the sonority of the grand piano, especially the rich and resonant bass notes that Gottschalk uses to satisfying musical effect. There has to be some limit somewhere to how fast you can play a composition and still have an experience that is musical. With sufficient technical training the human hand can move well past that limit--Katzaris offers the living proof of this. But what's the point? To me it feels like driving through a majestic landscape at a speed that prizes the performance of the car over the marvels of the sights.
Katsaris certainly succeeds in making this a "Grotesque Fantasy".
He also adds some 'A' naturals in the bass line - in effect, anachronologically altering Gottschalk's music and truly proffering an arrangement of "The Banjo". This is not a criticism, simply an observation -
You mean the "blue" notes? Totally out of place. So are the chromatic glides--a Gershwin cliche.
Esta versi'on también es fenomenal!
Geert Dehoux, pianista.
Bélgica.
❤👏BRAVO!!!
Quite a faith of leaps!
Although I am staggered by this pianist's abilities, this performance needs a steadier pulse and a slower tempo. It's nervous and frantic. Nice arrangement though. I applaud Katsaris for choosing this music!
I like it nervous and frantic; it speaks to my entire being.
Anyway it’s a good and unique rendition, interesting to listen to
Very much enjoyed his virtuosic rendition of this classic, but to me he plays it a bit too fast, too rushed, even though he does not miss a lick. Just a shade slower would help the listener appreciate everything that is going on with the composition. However, not to criticize, he is a magnificent player.....
what?
Is there sheet music for this?
Now that raucous cheering is the appropriate reaction to such a performance.
A bit too fast to enjoy.
sorry you are too literal-minded to catch the drift... yikes
half the piano repertoire is neglected because pianists play everything so fast - it takes up all their energy or perhaps it is like that saying in the bible: it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven. in other words it is harder for the virtuoso to give up what he has trained all his life to be to satisfy the public....
ismarythere its a form of elitism. It can be compared to people accepting friends based on how much money that person has. They think the richness of wealth makes the friendship worthwhile. Its the same with music. The difficulty of a piece or the construction of a piece must be magnificent before they commit to it. But i do not believe music was created for that purpose of alienation. Like love.
Love means you love not just your friends but your enemies. Thats the power of it.
The power of music is to unite people and not segregate them intentionally.
@@gjeacocke Thanks for your reply. I decided to delete my comment before I knew you'd replied. My apologies. But, we're on exactly the same page. It is definitely a type of elitism. And I wonder, when it comes to the piano, if the emphasis on impossible leaps and arpeggios is partly a result of the piano's historically lesser status? It's why, for a long time, Chopin's pieces were considered something less than the works of genius they are. Mere parlor works. Of course, Chopin's Etudes are still the test of/for any concert pianist, but I was shocked to read that many highly-regarded pianists thought of his music as... sissy stuff. Pianists may still be fighting for respect, and one way to earn it is to do what this performer is doing. Most depressing of all, to me, are all the ragtime pianists on UA-cam who senselessly race through rags, missing at least 30 percent of the notes as their arms leap rapidly back and forth in an almost comical fashion. Maybe one or two of every fifty renditions of "Maple Leaf Rag" DON'T contain constant flubs, but so long as things are going at locomotive speed, who cares? I mention ragtime because, of course, "The Banjo" is almost an early run-through of that form. It's typically argued that Gottschalk wasn't using certified African/African-American rhythms, and so it couldn't have been ragtime, but who exactly established that requirement? And when? In the 1850s? The most amusing thing about ragtime scholarship is the way 1896 has somehow been established as The Year Ragtime Began. (No one ever thinks to qualify such claims with a simple phrase like "The first KNOWN example..." thus leaving the door open for new discoveries.) Meanwhile, music scholars regard 1886's "Patrol Comique" as meeting the requirements for ragtime. 1886, far as I know, preceded 1896. By a time unit commonly referred to as a decade.
ismarythere i’m no expert but the thing with some types of rhythm, a minimum speed is consistently required for it to bring about its desired result. That could be my misunderstanding.
I do remember watching a film about Arthur Rubinstein. And how he used his hands in a up and downward motion exaggerated it appears to the listener but the reply he gave. Rhythm requires a certain a amount of time. Like a delay effect. The motion provided his time. I think thats what he meant.
Though i admit some pianists can play on top of this minimum speed and this is what you are criticising and i do at times.
All that you have said here in this thread including your initial comment mister Graham, is truly one of thee most thought provoking I have ever read here on UA-cam. I will sincerely ponder this! Thank you for your insights....I seek the Lord in all my ways and have been asking the deepest questions myself lately as to what music truly is, and what is the true meaning and lasting purpose the music has on the receiving medium of the audience, nevermind the medium of the relayer of course!
@@CziffraTheThird music is like a drug. but musicians sometimes give out the wrong drug to listeners. so while the music is being relayed to the individual they are not receiving the benefit of the music. as you know cures are illness-specific mostly.
Too fast, too rushed, too frantic, too heavy, and too bombastic.
Absolutely. Plus, too many tasteless alterations. Gottschalk's amazing piece isn't good enough by itself, minus all the shenanigans?
that's why it is termed a "grotesque"
I like that way tho
You guys do know that the peice was intended to be playsd as fast as possible, and there is a long tradition of adding "incorrect" notes to add to the offputting nature of the music. it goes back to the 1870s.
Will you judge liszt with these words?
Maybe he's making a comment on the essential evil that lurks in the hearts of Americans.