I'd love you to share your thoughts about my video about Alexandra below. (If your comment has disappeared, I apologise. I'm figuring out why some legitimate comments got filtered.) CHAPTERS 00:00 Alexandra Dovgan 00:41 Robert Hughes on art 01:26 What are musical values? 02:28 Will Jordan Peterson be famous in 50 years time? 03:07 Alexandra Dovgan vs Gilels and Richter 04:40 The myth of the 'child prodigy' 05:21 Accordionist Viviane Chassot 05:45 Alexandra Dovgan & Kit Armstrong 07:04 Violinist Lisa Batiashvili 07:13 Kit Armstrong's strengths and weaknesses 07:57 What Alexandra Dovgan shares with Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert: musical concentration. 10:33 Alexandra Dovgan's rhythmical strength 10:44 Pianist Till Fellner 11:02 Alexandra Dovgan is rhythmically stronger than Sokolov, Gilels, Richter, Horowitz, Rubinstein 12:30 Wilhelm Furtwangler - master of transitions 13:35 Kit Armstrong's capacity for characterisation. 14:20 Vlad's advice for Alexandra Dovgan's future. 16:25 What advice did Carlo Maria Giulini give Simon Rattle?
I was blown away by Alexandra's performance of Rachmaninov preludes in December 2019 ua-cam.com/video/fQSJdDEmzpA/v-deo.html (published in 2020). From more recent, her interpretation of Beethoven 17th Sonata ua-cam.com/video/D9EDOs2_vCE/v-deo.html is absolutely breath taking.
Hello Vlad. As I stated on another one of your videos, I've just recently found you, so I'm going back and watching your older videos and found this gem. I wish we were neighbors! How I would love to share coffee (or tea if you prefer), and talk with you about so many things! Add classical music to the list! I was waiting to see if you mentioned Horowitz, and sure enough you did. Wow! I will have to seek out this young lady's recordings. No mention of Rachmaninoff. Curious to hear your thoughts. I am a devote of composers like Mahler, Chopin, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Barber, Rimsky-Korsakov, Khachaturian, etc. Thank you again for your insights. Keep well my friend! More love from California.
I am surprised you rate her above Richter, Horowitz and Rubenstein. I have attended Richter's concerts and Horowitz stayed at our house aand played on the family piano. We used to billet member of the Vienna Boy's Choir also.
I appreciate a proper video on this pianist, I've always been shocked at how good she is and I strongly regard her as one of the very best pianists in the world already, at just 16
You made several good points, among them the need to allow Ms. Dovgan to develop in other aspects of her life as normally as possible. Her genius and abilities aside, she is a young woman whose musical/intellectual potential must not be pushed, rushed or forced beyond her emotional age. Yes, protect and nourish, support and give her the space to grow. I also MUCH appreciate seeing she is not over produced, gaudily staged, decorated or dressed. This is rare, so good guidance by parents and teachers! Everything seems appropriate and leveled for her age. She is quite naturally beautiful, and will be stunning as she grows into womanhood, her talent matching her elegant and graceful stature.
She got my full attention the first time I heard her and her playing still gets my full attention. The composers would be Alexandra's enthralled listeners. I can imagine the composers saying to each other, "I didn't know my compositions were that good!"
What a wonderful find - I have never read or heard musical insight of this type before and it is extremely interesting to hear. I am no musician but love to listen and have done so all my life. When I first encountered Alexandra in the 2018 competition, the sensation I had, from the very first bars, was of complete calm and contentment that I was hearing someone who knew exactly what she was doing and that she could embed you in the performance to your complete satisfaction - when it had only just started! It is hard for me to explain but I don't ever recall feeling that way before and certainly not so quickly. It was different to simply enjoying a given performance.
That's a lovely comment Keith. It's important that musical process, inc for a listener, is a deeply physical thing, and a deeply psychological thing. And we never want to detach analysis from visceral experience: to coexist together. I wonder if you would be interested in some of the recordings by the great pianist I picked out in this video - Alfred Cortot's 1933/4 recording of Chopin's preludes - here is a no 4 as a sample, listen for rhythmical strength and the stunning characterisation, how quickly he moves from an uncontrolled, feverish state and back . . . ua-cam.com/video/OkxKCW8nq0Y/v-deo.html Here is Kempff playing Liszt's two legends - all the musical values are and it is extraordinary how he delivers the spiritual atmosphere without a hint of sentimentality ua-cam.com/video/jbVcjxW2fX0/v-deo.html Here is Edwin Fischer playing Bach 853, there is a video on this channel which explains this piece. Fischer's capacity for expression without filters was perhaps unmatched in music making - ua-cam.com/video/j_s8IiRB-pM/v-deo.html This is Alfred Brendel playing the G flat Schubert impromptu on his very last solo perfomance before retiring ua-cam.com/video/sfnzh-_X8hg/v-deo.html Of course the sound quality on UA-cam will be limited . ..
I probably judge 7 to 10 piano competitions per year. And even after doing this for more then three decades, I am still blown away at the level of playing and the talent that is “out there.” I recently judged a contest in Vienna in which I heard a 5 year old Taiwanese student do an amazingly job of…Bach’s Italian Concerto. The level of playing was just crazy. The comment I find myself making to folks is, I understand …almost…how that kind of technical facility is possible. But where the hell does that kind of maturity come from? These children have no “life experience!” (Does that even matter? Do a show about that, please) And the second comment I often find myself making is, why haven’t more people heard of this prodigy? And I make this comment…A LOT. Which brings me to Donvan. She is from a connected teacher. She has resource not many students have. I mean, Gillock Preludes and his Valse Etude? Go watch and listen to that recording (I think she was 12?). I hear that performance 5 times a year, but not in such a space or with such engineering (but yes, that talent). In an international contest last year, I heard a blind fellow from Mongolia…on an upright... in a closet. Stunning. Such talent is everywhere, and I continue to believe it is way more common than we think… IF children are given a chance. Don’t get me wrong, Dovgan is an exciting talent. With a little luck, she can avoid the competition circuit (The majors for young artist caliber talents…Cliburn, Naumberg, Chopin, etc) and have a career (I picture her following a path not unlike that of Hélène Grimaud, though not a pianist I would consider of such historical significance). But if she can’t, you are likely… but not surely…going to be disappointed with the results. To the point, comparisons with Giles or Richter, or whoever, at this stage of her career are getting a little ahead of yourself. And this comment after probably the only thing I have heard you say on any of your videos that hasn’t had me jumping out of my chair for the fresh insights, whether I agreed or not (If you lived in my neighborhood I would be buying you lots of beer). I can only imagine that this is partly due to your experience, or lack of it…true of myself only a couple of decades ago. A doctorate in my pocket in piano performance…and yet I still had no idea. The Cliburn contest is coming up. Stream it and think of Dovgan in 5 to 10 years as you listen (and read the repertoire lists). You *might* be surprised. In the meantime, I am pulling for Dovgan as much as anyone. Regards for all you do. B
I find that she makes everything seem so easy, which naturally translates into pleasant/impressive musicality - everything she does comes so naturally, and any time she wants to bring out a particular theme or draw out part of the music or emphasise a certain few notes, she just does it effortlessly and it really translates into her playing
Vlad, I’m so glad I’m subscribed to your channel - it’s these deeper things like your videos that are rare in the internet. Anyway, I’ll see Aleksandra in a concert playing Mozart’s 23rd, in a week from now - can’t wait
Wonderful you are going to hear her live! Consider listening to the extraordinary recording of Mozart 23 by Wilhelm Kempff. It is the most beautiful reading of this concerto we have! Here is the middle movt - ua-cam.com/video/Pl9DbppqoUM/v-deo.html
She has been my favorite pianist for several years. The progress she made in the Grand Polonaise of Chopin during the month for other pianists takes several years (performed with an orchestra on May 1, 2021, and at a recital in Stockholm on 06.2021).
Thanks so much for sharing. I can hear a huge evolution in her playing but I can also hear musical values she already had 3 or 4 years ago. It's so important that people don't expect her to be a complete musician for many years to come. I must say that if this was a big channel I would have second thoughts about talking about Alexandra at all. The last thing in the world she needs is to be compared to great pianists in public. What's your sense of the next few years for her?
I was fascinated by Mendelssohn's concert in the GPC final. The same goes for Jesu bleibt ..., Impromptu-Fsntasia, 3rd movement of the Tchaikovsky concerto, mazurkas and the Ballade in F minor. In each of them it shows the features of a mature pianist, although sometimes emotions prevail a bit, but to such a small extent that it is only a plus. At such a young age, it is unusual to play like this. If you do not follow the playing of other pianists, but play the way you feel, you will always find the musical truth, because, I think, today's pianists, especially pop, rock and jazz, have the biggest problem with that.
@@oliwertwardy593 Except for the example of Kit Armstrong (video on Kit coming up, his extraordinary talent and what he struggles with), we don't have recordings of children playing this well. I attach below a snippet of Kit at 17. It is in many ways not ideal to display such extraordinary qualities so early - it's very taxing on the body and on the mind to play like Alexandra does. I said a little bit about it in another comment here*. So fingers crossed she has the possibility to develop without an excess of pressure from the world. *It seems effortless with Alexandra, but it isn't. When she plays, she is being pulled in opposite directions. Her rhythmical strength means that as she moves from one note to the next she is being both pulled forward and pulled back. That would be an embodied, tense, experience. She is planning and being spontaneously. She is consciously listening to herself and having the feeling that the playing is just happening. I call all this the pain of interpretation. What she does is much much more stressful and demanding on the body than what Lang Lang does. Kit - ua-cam.com/video/swkO6sNaNoA/v-deo.html
She's the best in the world let alone comparing her to current or ex Russian masters. There is no man or woman present that could hold a candle to her. Her talent is God given.
I agree with you. This is the first time in my life, a musician makes me understand music, as if I were myself the music or the composer. And this makes me addict to Alexandra.
Splendid, Vlad! Grigori Sokolov speaking about Sasha, made the point that her prodigiousness lies in the fact that she has the approach of a fully adult performer, evident in how she speaks of music and how she plays. Most of those called prodigies -- magic fingers -- do not have this gift. In Josef Hofmann, in Solomon, in Sasha we are struck by this extraordinary genius. The points you make sorely need to be conveyed to those who work in classical music. It is just one way in which we have gone astray, damaging the very thing we are supposed to care for.
I am hoping that Sokolov was praising Sasha without really meaning to imply that she is fully adult, or fully complete. She of course isn't. No keyboard player is at this age. So it's about her getting that space to develop. And getting the chance to overcome the obstacles she will run into in her own way and on her time. I do think she is very lucky to be underestimated at the moment. It's not good to be underestimated when you are 50, but at this age it might prove a blessing!
I had wondered if she wouldn't be able to write music as well. Phenomenal talent as she is. I had hoped to see her here in the United States. I don't know if she has performed here but if she did I would go. I agree that she is a rare and great talent.
Hi Vlad, I've been following Sasha's career avidly for quite some time, and enjoyed this video a lot. Your analysis of her talent is far more nuanced and technical than even the many respected professional musicians who have commented. Could you please let us know about your own background in music, so that we might better appreciate where your understanding comes from? Thank you.
Hello George. I hope you are safe at this time. Thank you for your comment. A little about my background. I'm a moral philosopher, my phd work was in this area, and currently I'm working on a book on political freedom in the 21st century. I'm deeply involved with the musical world and with musicology. I'm concerned with musical aesthetics and the gap in performance between conception and realisation. My last conference paper before the pandemic was on humour and laughter in Var 25 of Beethoven's opus 120. I do a small amount of boutique consulting in the arts world, mostly with professional visual and literary artists. I work on their artistic and stylistic development. Historically, my preference has been to not work with classical musicians as I might be too close to their work. Currently, all this is done part time as I am living with a disability. For years I used to be unable to walk, talk or read due a neurological condition. I'm better, but health still considerably slows and changes the time scale of my contribution. On this channel I look forward to sharing much more commentary on classical music; my content always assumes some familiarity with the high arts. Warm wishes!
@@VladVexler Thank you for this, Vlad. I wonder whether you have seen the Piotr Anderszewski documentary, Voyageur Intranquille? I believe that you would love it, and of course I would be very interested in your opinion. Thanks again and be well!
@@VladVexler so glad you're better. If you can comfortably share that story some time please do, since it may benefit others. Do keep well & thank you for your upload. Blessings.
So he is not even out of his teens yet. He is a very thoughtful boy. He can also assemble together musical thought. He can play metronimically when things go well - that's not the primary kind of rhythmical strenght which I talk about in the video, but it's important. A lot of passages just happen for him and he doesn't yet control them. Expression and technique are rather de linked for him at this stage. We are looking at a talented musician who needs protection and the benefit of developing at his own tempo. But we are not looking at the level of music making Alexandra is showing, not even remotely.
I think it was Valery Gergiev who said one musn't make the mistake of viewing Alexandra as a child playing extraordinary well for her age,but as a fully fledged musician comparable with people three times her age. So she should be looked at as a mature artist,not as a child prodigy.
I think he did and I can only say that I hope this is momentary praise. It's the very opposite to what Alexandra needs to hear and the opposite of how her audience needs to set their expectation. It's quite criminal to regard a 14 year old as a complete musician, no matter how extraordinary her talent. Her chance to develop herself in good time can't be stolen from her! Precisely because she is so rare.
@@VladVexler I'm with you on this one.Children like Alexandra should be treasured,almost treated with kidgloves,not overexposed and over marketed.Many highly gifted sadly fell by the wayside because of this.And it is a loss to the world to lose these treasures.....
I watched her on you tube performing Ludwig van BEETHOVEN, Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 19. I cried. First time ever. I am nearly 70. Surely she can only get better?
I think it's not so much about getting better, but using her talent properly across a lifetime. Merely getting better, for someone of her talent, might be a waste and a tragedy.
Vlad, since the war started I've seen posted in some quarters that Sasha is ethnically Ukrainian. None of her official biographies mention this. To your knowledge, is it true? She must be in a very difficult position with this horrible situation. I'm very happy that she's in western Europe concertizing until at least July, and that the war doesn't seem to be affecting her bookings. Any insight you can offer is greatly appreciated.
Sorry I can't - I made this purely musical review and I didn't get in touch with any of Sasha's people. I think it's very important we allow Russian artists, academics, and even entertainers to perform freely, unless they have links with the regime. That too should be properly defined. I know of cases where courageous anti-regime Russian academics have been deplatformed.
@@VladVexler I agree with you wholeheartedly, Vlad. On the other hand, when Russians (or anyone else, for that matter) openly support the slaughter of innocents in Ukraine, we can hardly blame promoters of cultural or sporting events for banning those people, if only to preserve their own business interests.
I believe she was somewhat under the wings of Denis Matsuev, and ardent Putinist. But as far as I know, she is now based in Spain, living there with her father, and touring Europe constantly.
Hello! He is very young - he must be around 30, which is ancient compared with Alexandra but a baby in pianistic terms. I think of pianists as maturing at 60 or 70. He has got many wonderful and rare gifts and deserves his success. We need to give him time. I may do a video on him. He doesn't possess the rhythmical strength of Alexandra, Kit Armstrong or Till Fellner.
Vlad what do you think about Glenn Gould? He's not considered one of the best of all time by you? I'm not a pro pianist so just wanted to hear an expert opinion. Thank you very much for all of your videos, love your channel!
Thanks very luch fir your vidéo and comments. You mention in one of your comments, a gap between Fischer, Kempff, Cortot and the rest. I'd like to know what you think about Jorge Bolet, who is for me, one of the best pianist and most underrated pianist of 20th century at least for the répertoire of great romantiques. And I think there is something of Bolet in Alexandra Dovgan (the technique put at the service of interpretation rather than of pyrotechnic virtuosity, freedom of interpretation, clarity of the game, mastery of the pedal, ability to make the piano sing, sense of rubato and overview of the works ...)
Thanks so much for your question. Well I'm fond of anybody who has a love for Bechstains, as Bolet did 😉. There is no doubt that if he were alive today people would flock to hear him play. I do think more people would enjoy his playing if they knew about him. As you might have gathered, I believe very few of the pianists who are mythologised were actually great musicians. The qualities you list Bolet as having are excellent and accurate. But Bolet didn't possess what I call core musical values on the highest level. Just compare these two. The difference in music making here is not close. Bolet is universes behind Cortot and Kempff in quality. The gap is so vast it's as though they are engaged in a different activity. Kempff and Cortot are superior in their capacity to characterise, lead the long line, distribute voices, control transitions and their rhythmical strength is not comparable to Bolet. *qualification - I don't know every single recording by Bolet, and I am not suggesting these are Bolet's best recordings. But as a rough measure of the gap in quality the comparison is informative. COMPARISON ONE Bolet Liszt Gondoliera ua-cam.com/video/anLNMHNz20o/v-deo.html vs Wilhelm Kempff Gondoliera ua-cam.com/video/saHgjXtQYcs/v-deo.html COMPARISON TWO Bolet Liszt Verdi Paraphrase Rigoletto ua-cam.com/video/sQ0i4z-z06Q/v-deo.html vs Alfred Cortot Liszt Verdi Paraphrase Rigoletto ua-cam.com/video/8sAeoqaMbKI/v-deo.html
Thanks very much for your answer. Well, in both exemples you give, I agree with you. But I think Bolet was not at his best in the last period of his life. I think his best period is around 1960-1980. But Cortot is one of my favorite too. His fabulous interpretations largely compensate for his few wrong notes. Bolet had a very impressive technique. You have to listen to him in his legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in October 1974. I was lucky to hear him in Paris in 4 concerts between 1984 and 1987. And I would have liked to hear Cortot so much...
@@vincentmichard9925 the 1930s were extraordinarily with Edwin Fischer and Cortot at their peak. Kempff hadn’t peaked yet. I shall hear the 1974 recital.
Transitions: I wonder whether this is the thing that makes me scream at the radio most often (in addition to tempi that aren't really right for the chosen interpretation)? Many people will have their own favourite 'master transitioners', but one of my great influences was the conductor and pedagog George Hurst who taught me the art of transitions - often using his beloved Brahms, which can be so crudely done. I guess that's what made Furtwangler a great Wagnerian - because his music is basically transition after transition until you reach the last chord, and is why no "Wagner extract" is really terribly successful!!!
Thank you Chris, I am not very connected to the music scene in Moscow so I don't know what kind of hands Alexandra is in. I'm always concerned in a situation like this - we don't want her chance to develop properly stolen from her. She is Alfred like in the sense of core musical values. To be continued!
This video of a recital Alexandra gave when she was 4 throws some light on the "rhythmic strengths" she has now and on the methods by which they were inculcated by her teacher Mira Marchenko. ua-cam.com/video/AtUyvaukaCU/v-deo.html I was a bit surprised by your suggestions that violinists are doing better than pianists and that Batiashvili is absolutely outstanding among them. She is excellent of course, but is she really head and shoulders above others of her generation such as e.g. Hahn and Hadelich? On the other hand I think Chloe Chua, who is about 6 months older than Alexandra and displays the same strengths, is in the following sense even more extraordinary. In the past year she has performed some staples of the repertoire as well if not better than anyone _ever_ . Can the same be said of Alexandra? This (studio) "recital" - and in particular the Ballade (Ysaye) with which it begins and the Poeme (Chausson) with which it ends - illustrates the point. ua-cam.com/video/FWbew7YvfyU/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for your thoughts. Alfred Brendel shares with me the view that the currently piano playing is a in a slum period. I just think that's true. If there is an exception, it is Bach playing. 3 or 4 people play Bach well today. (I do follow up to 10 pianists with love and admiration, I just don't think they are great pianists - will be listing them in a future video). I do think Batiashvili is that much superior to other violinists. Nobody matches her rhythmical strength. Chloe Chua is extraordinary and you rightly point to the Ysaye Ballade. Let's watch her evolution. But again rhythmically she is not as strong as Dovgan or Batiashvili. Thank you so much for the fascinating video of 4 year old Dovgan - I hadn't seen it! The rhythmical values are already there, and you can hear that they have absolutely nothing to do with how she is taught. Great rhythmical strength is always a self generated thing. Of course it's the playing of a small child, brain and body are not connected, it sounds desolate and expressionless, a per normal for a human that age, but the rhythmical potential is terrifyingly in place. Back to the analogy about how some great musicians walk into the world with certain virtues. One of the next videos on this channel will be about Kit Armstrong - who is at a key point of evolution now. Here are rhythmical values from him at age 11. ua-cam.com/video/clHevF_A7nI/v-deo.html
Only loosely related to the topic of the video, but have you heard Scriabin's piano roll recordings? I always found it interesting how composers' approach to playing their own pieces can be different compared to that of other pianists.
Hugely educational if you allow for the limitations of the reproducing pianos he used - they are not to be thought of as actual performances by Scriabin. We can then look at reports of Scriabin's playing. He clearly took many liberties in tempo, dynamics, rhythm and even changed notes. The broader question you ask is so important and I am looking forward to doing an episode on it. There is much to say. I'll just say one thing - the time a great composer spends thinking about their composition is often less than 5% of the time a great performer spends thinking about it. Musical writing is different to literature in this respect - it's terrifying how quickly Mozart or Schubert could write. More than 10X the speed of the greatest novelists.
@@VladVexler True, or Bach for that matter. A pianist can spend years going in depth of possibilities of interpretation and performance, whereas composers would get on with a new piece once they're done with the old one. Plus, we have to take into account how many parametres were given at the time (baroque, classical period), compared to more experimental approach of the 20th and 21st century. Composing a fugue for Bach was a banality, just as a minuet for Mozart, since they already had the given technique and form (and a lot of experience with it). For the pieces they cared about more (say, Art of Fugue or Don Giovanni), they would obviously invest more time and focus. In Mozart's "lesser" pieces, one even finds typos, which either testify the speed of writing or (the lack of) personal engagement. That being said, I'd give both of my testicles away to hear Liszt performing his own sonata, or to see Beethoven live at the concert in his late 20s.
Vlad, At the risk of sounding like a musical ignoramus ( who loves Alfred Brendel ) I'd be interested in knowing what you think of Helene Grimaud. I enjoyed this video on Alexandra, and have listened intently to her playing ( what precious little of it I can find ). I agree - to the extent that I understand these things - that she is a remarkable talent. She unifies an entire piano selection with uncanny maturity and grace, almost effortlessly, as if it is simply a part of who she is. And, of course , it is.
I don’t have anything negative to say about Helene. One of her heroes is Richter, who I am critical of. Helene has also gone through significant health issues. And she is still young as far as the development of a pianist goes. Does she have the the musical values of the very rarest musicians? No. But we need to support her development and evolution.
Good morning Christopher. I’m a London based philosopher. I’m working on a book on Isaiah Berlin, at the same time, some of my projects are in musical aesthetics. This is my UA-cam channel. This is NOT an authorised biography by Sasha Dovgan or anybody representing her. I regularly make critical videos on musical performers - last one on the channel was on the pianist Alfred Brendel. Wishing you a healthful weekend!
I recommend that you don't refer to her as a "Piano Player" my Goodman. She is a Piano virtuoso, a Pianist. A "piano player" is one that performs in an English Pirate ship. Music is not a horserace to determine who is the best, it is "Art expressed from the heart" . We can not put a price or judge what comes from the soul, with standards. The important thing is, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Austria and Spain, have produced the greatest European Art in history. Without their contribution, we'd be consuming the usual "Fish and Chips and Yorkshire pudding". Cheereo from Imperial New Spain, Álvaro Guevara Vázquez, Composer
Formidable, my good man! I agree with much of what you said - especially the morbid proclivity this commentator Vlad has for trying to attach "better than" and "greatest" to musicians. However I like "piano player" - a step away from the tendency of the classical world to "lofty exceptionalism" - and I will stand by the Fish n Chips of my Anglo-saxon ancestors (while also adoring the Mompous, Albeniz and Victorias of yours!).
@@VladVexler Well, you are not saying he won't be around, you are simply saying "don't take it for granted". Either way, I suspect Peterson is definitely unlikely to be remembered as an author, since nothing he says or writes is very original. He might be remembered as an important conservative figure, sure.
@@LouigiVerona oh he definitely won’t be around, unless he loves to 110! I agree with your assessment. Although I always like to give people the benefit of evolution! Peterson could evolve intellectually over the next 30 years…but not by himself. I would need to train him!
Thank you for your exciting video and comments. I am not a musician but I love to listen to piano and organ music. I discovered Alexandra Dovgan by chance on youtube 3 years ago while listening to her interpretation of the Egyptian by Rameau and after a study by Moszkowski. ua-cam.com/video/2uey1oHqIAE/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/lA5UTkivXZg/v-deo.html From the very first notes I told myself that this pianist who was only 11 years old was exceptional. It is not only her technical mastery, in particular the rhythm (rubato), the pedal, the clarity of the playing, the overall vision of the work, but it is also her attitude at the piano that fascinated me. Despite the physical effort and the necessary concentration, her face was certainly focused, but at the same time peaceful serene almost mystical, and looking only at her face one would have thought that she was quietly drawing. I felt as if the music came from somewhere else and went through her mind and body to her fingers. She seems to be at the same time actor and spectator. And what finished disturbing me was her little smile, both shy and satisfied at the moment of the applause, testifying undoubtedly a mixture of pride and satisfaction to have brought happiness to her audience...but maybe other feelings that I can't define...
Wonderful you found her and thank you for sharing the clips, I remember both of them. I think your description of being both an actor and a spectator is absolutely accurate. A lot of world class musicians privately talking about moments when 'it' is playing. At the same time of course, when you play as well as Alexandra, it is very demanding. Here are a couple of lines on how that works I penned under another comment.* *It seems effortless with Alexandra, but it isn't. When she plays, she is being pulled in opposite directions. Her rhythmical strength means that as she moves from one note to the next she is being both pulled forward and pulled back. That would be an embodied, tense, experience. She is planning and being spontaneously. She is consciously listening to herself and having the feeling that the playing is just happening. I call all this the pain of interpretation. What she does is much much more stressful and demanding on the body than what Lang Lang does.
What will it take to proof to be better than Richter or Gilels? Richter had more than 830 works plus 600 songs played on stage. Whats with Gilels Beethoven sonatas or Richters Schumann and Schubert? She even did not play the works I think about, how is it possible to predict a better understanding of the music?
Your opinions are really out there. Brendel is better than Gilels? In what universe is a piano player that plays Beethoven like Schubert is better than the best interpreter of the Beethoven Concerti? Batiashvilli is a great talent of violin? You serious? Having said this, Dovgan IS great, and that's about the only thing I agree with you with.
@@VladVexler Right now on my first vacation in more than a year. Hanging out at Como Lake! Gonna be working on a couple of videos of my own when I come back.... By the way, would you in theory be interested to talk about electronic music?
@@LouigiVerona Wonderful you are on vacation. Good luck with your videos - I shall have a look. Love to learn about electronic music, but I would be a relative neophyte. Except in the sense that music is music is music!
It sure says a lot about Alexandra Dovgan when she is the cause for this gathering and culmination of your previous valuable music opinions and preferences, spread across many of your previous videos, into this single captivating description of her accomplishments. One of the thoughts that crossed my mind out of the blue, while experiencing her performances, is whether, whenever one comes across an extraordinary female pianist, there seems to be less impediments to heavenly performances than one finds with the best male performers. The channel of execution seems to be more effortlessly open to pure expression for a female. You mention a handful of your favourite pianists who all happen to be male. I would be interested to hear who your two or three favourite female pianists are and whether my somewhat random impression about female expression with less "impediments"/"interference" has some ring of recognition for you too or may it only be for the case of Dovgan?
Wonderful question. The pianist I admire the most today, on her good days, is Imogen Cooper. I think that when she is at her best, nobody plays Schubert with more understanding. But funnily Imogen is someone who has improved enormously in her 60s. But I do think the WAY she has evolved is distinctly feminine. I was once describing to her an idea of visualising one's artistic career in blocks of 10, 20, 30 years and she interrupted me and said - 'that's a bit masculine'. And I immediately agreed, and accepted that what I was describing was a masculine picture of aesthetic development that would have feminine counterparts. And Imogen herself is a great example of that. Later in her career she the most wonderful, pliant facility for openness and growth without systematically looking far ahead on the road she is walking on. If we look at the great male pianists - the ones I consider great, Brendel certainly took a long time to develop. But for instance I am confident Fischer didn't, even though we can't check. Alfred Brendel's tragic essay about his dear friend Katja Andy remains a testament to how far great women musicians struggled in the 20th century. Now it's different. If Alexandra's health and nerves hold she has a shot of being a great pianist. And there will be others. So I think this century will pass a solid judgment over your theory! We should discuss this further. In a nutshell, I do feel sympathetic toward your intuition as it may apply to great pianists. Perhaps there is a difference here between evolution, which must take time for pianists, and particular psychic obstacles. It's possible that evolution is long for men and women, but that women do better with the obstacles. But we need great pianists to test this theory!
@@VladVexler Thank you for your interesting response. I now realise my "impediment" impression (I hesitate to call it a theory) can be interpreted in more than one way. Your interpretation of my use of "impediment" seems to be as "impediment" in the evolution/development of a pianist's playing whereas I meant "impediment" of expression at the actual moment of great performance. Nonetheless, it was interesting following your line of thought resulting from your seemingly alternative interpretation. In my interpretation of "impediment" at the moment of performance, I am vaguely conscious of a more deliberate effort in great male performances when compared to the apparently more "effortless" great female performances especially apparent in the case of Dovgan. It is as if there are suggestions of male ego interference (or at least male ego consciousness) even at moments of great pianistic expression while female pianists do not suffer such "hangups"/"obstacles" and enjoy a more wholesome natural flow. Maybe this is just a figment of my association with the male gender while there is less chance/inclination for such associations across the gender divide, which starts raising yet another topic, namely that of the role of gender not just in the performer but even in the listener.
@@jeanjoubert3074 I may express a bit of scepticism about the effortlessness! It seems effortless with Alexandra, but it isn't. When she plays, she is being pulled in opposite direction. Her rhythmical strength means that as she moves from one not to the next she is being both pulled forward and pulled back. That would be a an embodied, tense, experience. She is planning and being spontaneously. She is consciously listening to herself and having the feeling that the playing is just happening. I call all this the pain of interpretation. What she does is much much more stressful and demanding on the body than what Lang Lang does. There is another sense of organicity - and that's when expression in the moment comes more easily. I actually was thinking of the moment in my comment, because that's all that matters in music. So the long distance evolution I was talking about is an evolution into being able to do particular things in the moment. I do realise I''m again slipping away from your question. Here is an example of playing with the highest quality in terms of rhythmical strength, that yet still is a bit emotionally blocked; it leaves a slight empty space in place of where characterisation should be. It's 28 year old Kit Armstrong, and he is riding on his superior rhythmic control and long line. ua-cam.com/video/GmxCQ527Oqg/v-deo.html Here is 28 year old Alfred Brendel in the late 1950s with the same musical values, but no emotional block (in this instance the expression is humorous) ua-cam.com/video/xRicxE5DI9E/v-deo.html pushback and clarification welcome!
There is no need for push back. When one is in the presence of great performances, one tends to go down rabbit holes struggling to express the ineffable in words. Nonetheless, such analysis attempts remain worthwhile as they draw attention to the multifacetedness of great performances especially when shared between listeners contributing their respective perspectives. The many insights you share serves as testimony to the role, not only of performer and listener, but also of commentator/critic in stimulating and enriching musical experience. Even though expressions of the more esoteric impressions/associations may be fleeting in their "figmentness", they remain worthwhile in illuminating some aspects, which might otherwise elude one. Some listeners find some Pogorelic interpretations controversial although I find most of them groundbreaking. What do you make of this one in which Pogorelic seems to distort one of your pillars, namely "strong rhythmical structure", to his heart content, all the while transporting this listener to piano heaven?: ua-cam.com/video/x6H3eSfnBJQ/v-deo.html
@@jeanjoubert3074 I shall listen and get back to you! I will likely have a critical perspective, which is my common response to Pogorelich. But that's never about rhythm; it's about characterisation. I just think he regularly violates what composers ask in the score, and then goes on to do what he chooses to do instead very well. Look forward to listening later today and getting back! I hope you have a a positive rest of the weekend.
You mentioned child prodigies. I am probably not too aware of those, but I remember watching several documentaries about musical savants. And I remember feeling that they are dexterous, but not necessarily musical. Derek Paravicini comes to mind. Brilliant dexterity. I don't get the musical side of his performances.
In my view nearly all so called child prodigies don't show what I refer to as core musical values - rhythmical, long line, transitions, characterisation. Typically, they play fast and accurately. So the fuss over them has no musical justification.
@@VladVexler So, after mentioning Derek, I found his channel on UA-cam and listened to his latest video, rendition of Prince Ali. And to me it's a mess. Like, he's playing it, but I don't get it
well she isnt better than any russian pianist because there is a level in pianism which is the highest and on that level there is no better or worse just different, that is the beauty of art, ashkenazy trifonov but also alexandra dovgan are examples of it! a wonderful video, different from everything ive seen p.s. I agree she is beter than gilels and richter
I hate not giving individual detailed replies, but much of what I would tell you I penned in response to a previous comment. I turned it into a social media post, here is that text - "This is the biggest misconception in the classical music world. It is shared by critics & amateurs alike. It also pervades the high art world. Here is a UA-cam viewer making this error, followed by an attempt by me to explain the error. Comment from viewer: 'Happy to have found your channel, Vlad. My one constructive note is to be careful with statements like: Kit Armstrong is the best pianist in the world, or, Wilhelm Kempff was the best Liszt player. Could it ever be as clear as that? And how do you know? You risk presenting subjective opinions as objective facts, which of course can be very problematic.' My reply: Really grateful for you comment and your attention, but I completely disagree. But you are expressing a view so popular that I would love to share a lengthy answer. In the end, what decides this is not what any critic says but what the performer actually does on the stage. I would love to repeat this sentence 10 times! Sometimes the gap in quality between what two performers do will be marginal. Sometimes it will be vast. The very same thing applies to pieces themselves and even to masterpieces: some Beethoven sonatas are far superior to others, but others are close in quality. When I say I completely disagree with you, I don't mean that I see this differently, I mean that your view is fundamentally flawed. It makes an error not of degree but of kind: it substitutes a self congratulatory egalitarian disposition for actual aesthetic judgement. Potentially, your view may even be incompatible with causal explanation of how art traditions persist historically. In so far as fine discrimination in quality is a factor in their persistence. That's to say, if you view were true, painting or musical composition may cease to exist as a high art. We can't EVER apply a standard ahead of looking at the aesthetic evidence. We can't assume what the gulf between the best and the next best can be known advance. The artistic universe is neutral in this sense - there is no predetermination to how egalitarian or inegalitarian what it gives us will be. The gap between one thing and another could be murky, or it could be an abyss. It's worth noting that this isn't a competition. We are not comparing pianists to one another, but to the demands of the masterpieces they perform. It could have turned out that we had no great pianists in the history of recorded sound. It could have turned out that we had 50. There is no place from which to argue that a certain number is too high, or too low. When I talk about Kempff, Cortot, Brendel and Edwin Fischer, I am educating my viewer that in the history of piano playing the gap from 4th to 5th is an abyss. And this point, absolutely, questions arise. How curious! Why is this so? Is it really so? Is the gap really that big? But to rule the possibility that it is so out of sight, as you do in your comment, is to deprive yourself. To deprive yourself of what? To deprive yourself of the possibility to engage in the central aesthetic emotion: the emotion expressed in the realisation that one thing is better than another. Ps As a matter of biographical fact, Alfred Brendel agrees with me that the gulf between Fischer, Kempff and Cortot and the rest is enormous. Most people don't agree with this. I think they are wrong. And that is part of why I am motivated to share musical commentary with the world. Warm wishes. Sorry for brutal but detailed response."
@@VladVexler thank you for the answer! It would be really interesting to hear your commentary on Chopin competition, I'm sure you're following it, if time allows and if it is something you would like, it would be amazing to hear your thoughts about it or the contestants or anything related!
dude, you could and should button your shirt! imho unrelated, which are the Core Music Values of hers that exceed Gilels or Richter.?..That's a bold statement....She certainly exceeds any pianist living under the age of 40, (the only exception i can think of is Beatrice Berrut, who probably does not have the same level of technique), she certainly far exceeds a Yuja Wang, but i would argue its quite meaningless to compare her to Gilels and Richter who are such different beasts, and also have a lifetime of work.....would also disagree specifically strongly about Richter, i have heard not a soul play Schubert as he does, and i adore Herr Kempff, even if he had been some kind of Nazi...
Rhythmical strength and the long line are the musical values I have in mind. Transitions, another central value, aren’t fully there for her yet. Rhythmically, she’s stronger than Richter or Gilels but not as strong as Kempff. I’m comparing musical values only - cumulatively she needs another decade or two before she can carry conviction with her interpretations as a whole. BB is very healthy with lovely musical intelligence, but she doesn’t possess the core musical values on the highest level.
"Better than RIchter & Gilels in terms of her core musical values" - what a bizarre and pathologically subjective thing to say - as is much of this analysis. "Core musical values"....???? And from a 14 year old? I think you mean, YOU prefer her (quite a different thing, my man). What is this "better than" and "greater than" that people in the Classical world are so hung up about? Why would you limit and try to put people in such boxes? Do they do this in the jazz or rock or other worlds? (well, sometimes maybe - but not as a telos). Is this not somehow childish - treating art almost as a sport? And does it help this poor girl if she hears it? She's a great piano player, for sure, but why try to compare her with Richter. And does your hatred of Putin also mean you deny the greatness of Richter, Gilels & Horowitz too? How about Trifinov? Brendel is a master indeed - but is not Pogorelich "great" or a "genius" too? (this could be problematic perhaps in his recent incarnations, but still perhaps he is our era's Gould, no?). Is Kempff really the "greatest" Liszt player - how can anyone be the "greatest" Liszt player? Surely Brendel could be called this too? (ie. you mean YOU prefer Kempff). Kit Armstrong is the "best pianist in the world"? What does that make Keith Jarrett? Who knows Vlad? But your whole approach here makes my soul cringe and want to purify myself. Leave "the best" to the Olympic Games.
OK, gustibus non disputandum est. Granting that, I listened to the clips of Alexandra you referenced and was decidedly unimpressed, especially with the Bach, which I found rather saccharine. She is a pretty girl (vaguely reminiscent of a profile photograph I once saw of the young Kschessinska) who can I am sure play difficult music with at least competence, but to compare her favorably to Richter? You must be joking.
I find it utterly amazing that such a highly talented young pianist with a God given gift could come from the same evil country run by a murdering war criminal dictator who commits genocide on an industrial scale killing women children and babies and bombing cities……Ref:- 24/02/2022
I'd love you to share your thoughts about my video about Alexandra below. (If your comment has disappeared, I apologise. I'm figuring out why some legitimate comments got filtered.)
CHAPTERS
00:00 Alexandra Dovgan
00:41 Robert Hughes on art
01:26 What are musical values?
02:28 Will Jordan Peterson be famous in 50 years time?
03:07 Alexandra Dovgan vs Gilels and Richter
04:40 The myth of the 'child prodigy'
05:21 Accordionist Viviane Chassot
05:45 Alexandra Dovgan & Kit Armstrong
07:04 Violinist Lisa Batiashvili
07:13 Kit Armstrong's strengths and weaknesses
07:57 What Alexandra Dovgan shares with Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert: musical concentration.
10:33 Alexandra Dovgan's rhythmical strength
10:44 Pianist Till Fellner
11:02 Alexandra Dovgan is rhythmically stronger than Sokolov, Gilels, Richter, Horowitz, Rubinstein
12:30 Wilhelm Furtwangler - master of transitions
13:35 Kit Armstrong's capacity for characterisation.
14:20 Vlad's advice for Alexandra Dovgan's future.
16:25 What advice did Carlo Maria Giulini give Simon Rattle?
I was blown away by Alexandra's performance of Rachmaninov preludes in December 2019 ua-cam.com/video/fQSJdDEmzpA/v-deo.html (published in 2020).
From more recent, her interpretation of Beethoven 17th Sonata ua-cam.com/video/D9EDOs2_vCE/v-deo.html is absolutely breath taking.
To add: I find her performance of Chopin Nocturn op.posth. ua-cam.com/video/hP3WcpsYbBk/v-deo.html at age of 7 (!) pretty great, I return to it often.
Hello Vlad. As I stated on another one of your videos, I've just recently found you, so I'm going back and watching your older videos and found this gem.
I wish we were neighbors! How I would love to share coffee (or tea if you prefer), and talk with you about so many things! Add classical music to the list!
I was waiting to see if you mentioned Horowitz, and sure enough you did. Wow! I will have to seek out this young lady's recordings. No mention of Rachmaninoff. Curious to hear your thoughts.
I am a devote of composers like Mahler, Chopin, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Barber, Rimsky-Korsakov, Khachaturian, etc.
Thank you again for your insights.
Keep well my friend!
More love from California.
@@Alexagrigorieff Yes, that performance of Rachmaninov is stunning!
I am surprised you rate her above Richter, Horowitz and Rubenstein. I have attended Richter's concerts and Horowitz stayed at our house aand played on the family piano. We used to billet member of the Vienna Boy's Choir also.
I appreciate a proper video on this pianist, I've always been shocked at how good she is and I strongly regard her as one of the very best pianists in the world already, at just 16
Hopefully she won’t be rushed as she develops her talent. It’s a very very risky path.
You made several good points, among them the need to allow Ms. Dovgan to develop in other aspects of her life as normally as possible. Her genius and abilities aside, she is a young woman whose musical/intellectual potential must not be pushed, rushed or forced beyond her emotional age. Yes, protect and nourish, support and give her the space to grow. I also MUCH appreciate seeing she is not over produced, gaudily staged, decorated or dressed. This is rare, so good guidance by parents and teachers! Everything seems appropriate and leveled for her age. She is quite naturally beautiful, and will be stunning as she grows into womanhood, her talent matching her elegant and graceful stature.
Wonderful comment, thank you. I think it's even rarer to develop a great talent than to possess it. Therefore great care is needed!
She got my full attention the first time I heard her and her playing still gets my full attention. The composers would be Alexandra's enthralled listeners. I can imagine the composers saying to each other, "I didn't know my compositions were that good!"
What a wonderful find - I have never read or heard musical insight of this type before and it is extremely interesting to hear. I am no musician but love to listen and have done so all my life. When I first encountered Alexandra in the 2018 competition, the sensation I had, from the very first bars, was of complete calm and contentment that I was hearing someone who knew exactly what she was doing and that she could embed you in the performance to your complete satisfaction - when it had only just started! It is hard for me to explain but I don't ever recall feeling that way before and certainly not so quickly. It was different to simply enjoying a given performance.
That's a lovely comment Keith. It's important that musical process, inc for a listener, is a deeply physical thing, and a deeply psychological thing. And we never want to detach analysis from visceral experience: to coexist together. I wonder if you would be interested in some of the recordings by the great pianist I picked out in this video -
Alfred Cortot's 1933/4 recording of Chopin's preludes - here is a no 4 as a sample, listen for rhythmical strength and the stunning characterisation, how quickly he moves from an uncontrolled, feverish state and back . . . ua-cam.com/video/OkxKCW8nq0Y/v-deo.html
Here is Kempff playing Liszt's two legends - all the musical values are and it is extraordinary how he delivers the spiritual atmosphere without a hint of sentimentality
ua-cam.com/video/jbVcjxW2fX0/v-deo.html
Here is Edwin Fischer playing Bach 853, there is a video on this channel which explains this piece. Fischer's capacity for expression without filters was perhaps unmatched in music making -
ua-cam.com/video/j_s8IiRB-pM/v-deo.html
This is Alfred Brendel playing the G flat Schubert impromptu on his very last solo perfomance before retiring
ua-cam.com/video/sfnzh-_X8hg/v-deo.html
Of course the sound quality on UA-cam will be limited . ..
@@VladVexler Thank you I will follow up those links.
I probably judge 7 to 10 piano competitions per year. And even after doing this for more then three decades, I am still blown away at the level of playing and the talent that is “out there.” I recently judged a contest in Vienna in which I heard a 5 year old Taiwanese student do an amazingly job of…Bach’s Italian Concerto. The level of playing was just crazy. The comment I find myself making to folks is, I understand …almost…how that kind of technical facility is possible. But where the hell does that kind of maturity come from? These children have no “life experience!” (Does that even matter? Do a show about that, please) And the second comment I often find myself making is, why haven’t more people heard of this prodigy? And I make this comment…A LOT.
Which brings me to Donvan. She is from a connected teacher. She has resource not many students have. I mean, Gillock Preludes and his Valse Etude? Go watch and listen to that recording (I think she was 12?). I hear that performance 5 times a year, but not in such a space or with such engineering (but yes, that talent). In an international contest last year, I heard a blind fellow from Mongolia…on an upright... in a closet. Stunning. Such talent is everywhere, and I continue to believe it is way more common than we think… IF children are given a chance.
Don’t get me wrong, Dovgan is an exciting talent. With a little luck, she can avoid the competition circuit (The majors for young artist caliber talents…Cliburn, Naumberg, Chopin, etc) and have a career (I picture her following a path not unlike that of Hélène Grimaud, though not a pianist I would consider of such historical significance). But if she can’t, you are likely… but not surely…going to be disappointed with the results. To the point, comparisons with Giles or Richter, or whoever, at this stage of her career are getting a little ahead of yourself. And this comment after probably the only thing I have heard you say on any of your videos that hasn’t had me jumping out of my chair for the fresh insights, whether I agreed or not (If you lived in my neighborhood I would be buying you lots of beer). I can only imagine that this is partly due to your experience, or lack of it…true of myself only a couple of decades ago. A doctorate in my pocket in piano performance…and yet I still had no idea.
The Cliburn contest is coming up. Stream it and think of Dovgan in 5 to 10 years as you listen (and read the repertoire lists). You *might* be surprised. In the meantime, I am pulling for Dovgan as much as anyone.
Regards for all you do.
B
I find that she makes everything seem so easy, which naturally translates into pleasant/impressive musicality - everything she does comes so naturally, and any time she wants to bring out a particular theme or draw out part of the music or emphasise a certain few notes, she just does it effortlessly and it really translates into her playing
Vlad, I’m so glad I’m subscribed to your channel - it’s these deeper things like your videos that are rare in the internet. Anyway, I’ll see Aleksandra in a concert playing Mozart’s 23rd, in a week from now - can’t wait
Wonderful you are going to hear her live! Consider listening to the extraordinary recording of Mozart 23 by Wilhelm Kempff. It is the most beautiful reading of this concerto we have! Here is the middle movt - ua-cam.com/video/Pl9DbppqoUM/v-deo.html
@@VladVexler Appreciate the recommendation! Спасибо! : ) Greetings from St Petersburg where I am temporarily back at the moment!
She has been my favorite pianist for several years. The progress she made in the Grand Polonaise of Chopin during the month for other pianists takes several years (performed with an orchestra on May 1, 2021, and at a recital in Stockholm on 06.2021).
Thanks so much for sharing. I can hear a huge evolution in her playing but I can also hear musical values she already had 3 or 4 years ago. It's so important that people don't expect her to be a complete musician for many years to come. I must say that if this was a big channel I would have second thoughts about talking about Alexandra at all. The last thing in the world she needs is to be compared to great pianists in public. What's your sense of the next few years for her?
I was fascinated by Mendelssohn's concert in the GPC final. The same goes for Jesu bleibt ..., Impromptu-Fsntasia, 3rd movement of the Tchaikovsky concerto, mazurkas and the Ballade in F minor. In each of them it shows the features of a mature pianist, although sometimes emotions prevail a bit, but to such a small extent that it is only a plus. At such a young age, it is unusual to play like this. If you do not follow the playing of other pianists, but play the way you feel, you will always find the musical truth, because, I think, today's pianists, especially pop, rock and jazz, have the biggest problem with that.
@@oliwertwardy593 Except for the example of Kit Armstrong (video on Kit coming up, his extraordinary talent and what he struggles with), we don't have recordings of children playing this well. I attach below a snippet of Kit at 17. It is in many ways not ideal to display such extraordinary qualities so early - it's very taxing on the body and on the mind to play like Alexandra does. I said a little bit about it in another comment here*. So fingers crossed she has the possibility to develop without an excess of pressure from the world.
*It seems effortless with Alexandra, but it isn't. When she plays, she is being pulled in opposite directions. Her rhythmical strength means that as she moves from one note to the next she is being both pulled forward and pulled back. That would be an embodied, tense, experience. She is planning and being spontaneously. She is consciously listening to herself and having the feeling that the playing is just happening. I call all this the pain of interpretation. What she does is much much more stressful and demanding on the body than what Lang Lang does.
Kit - ua-cam.com/video/swkO6sNaNoA/v-deo.html
She's the best in the world let alone comparing her to current or ex Russian masters. There is no man or woman present that could hold a candle to her. Her talent is God given.
I agree with you. This is the first time in my life, a musician makes me understand music, as if I were myself the music or the composer. And this makes me addict to Alexandra.
Splendid, Vlad! Grigori Sokolov speaking about Sasha, made the point that her prodigiousness lies in the fact that she has the approach of a fully adult performer, evident in how she speaks of music and how she plays. Most of those called prodigies -- magic fingers -- do not have this gift. In Josef Hofmann, in Solomon, in Sasha we are struck by this extraordinary genius. The points you make sorely need to be conveyed to those who work in classical music. It is just one way in which we have gone astray, damaging the very thing we are supposed to care for.
I am hoping that Sokolov was praising Sasha without really meaning to imply that she is fully adult, or fully complete. She of course isn't. No keyboard player is at this age. So it's about her getting that space to develop. And getting the chance to overcome the obstacles she will run into in her own way and on her time. I do think she is very lucky to be underestimated at the moment. It's not good to be underestimated when you are 50, but at this age it might prove a blessing!
When I was 14 I was playing RuneScape, she truly is gifted ! I’m still playing RuneScape and I’m not even good at it
🤣
I had wondered if she wouldn't be able to write music as well. Phenomenal talent as she is. I had hoped to see her here in the United States. I don't know if she has performed here but if she did I would go. I agree that she is a rare and great talent.
I should have said compose her own music.
This was the most pleasant talk I've heard in a while.
Hi Vlad, I've been following Sasha's career avidly for quite some time, and enjoyed this video a lot. Your analysis of her talent is far more nuanced and technical than even the many respected professional musicians who have commented. Could you please let us know about your own background in music, so that we might better appreciate where your understanding comes from? Thank you.
Hello George. I hope you are safe at this time. Thank you for your comment. A little about my background.
I'm a moral philosopher, my phd work was in this area, and currently I'm working on a book on political freedom in the 21st century.
I'm deeply involved with the musical world and with musicology. I'm concerned with musical aesthetics and the gap in performance between conception and realisation. My last conference paper before the pandemic was on humour and laughter in Var 25 of Beethoven's opus 120.
I do a small amount of boutique consulting in the arts world, mostly with professional visual and literary artists. I work on their artistic and stylistic development. Historically, my preference has been to not work with classical musicians as I might be too close to their work.
Currently, all this is done part time as I am living with a disability. For years I used to be unable to walk, talk or read due a neurological condition. I'm better, but health still considerably slows and changes the time scale of my contribution.
On this channel I look forward to sharing much more commentary on classical music; my content always assumes some familiarity with the high arts.
Warm wishes!
@@VladVexler Thank you for this, Vlad. I wonder whether you have seen the Piotr Anderszewski documentary, Voyageur Intranquille? I believe that you would love it, and of course I would be very interested in your opinion. Thanks again and be well!
@@VladVexler so glad you're better. If you can comfortably share that story some time please do, since it may benefit others.
Do keep well & thank you for your upload.
Blessings.
What are your thoughts on Alexander Malofeev?
So he is not even out of his teens yet. He is a very thoughtful boy. He can also assemble together musical thought. He can play metronimically when things go well - that's not the primary kind of rhythmical strenght which I talk about in the video, but it's important. A lot of passages just happen for him and he doesn't yet control them. Expression and technique are rather de linked for him at this stage. We are looking at a talented musician who needs protection and the benefit of developing at his own tempo. But we are not looking at the level of music making Alexandra is showing, not even remotely.
@@VladVexler Thank you for the thorough response and food for thought.
@@sunlioness1 Pleasure!
I think it was Valery Gergiev who said one musn't make the mistake of viewing Alexandra as a child playing extraordinary well for her age,but as a fully fledged musician comparable with people three times her age. So she should be looked at as a mature artist,not as a child prodigy.
I think he did and I can only say that I hope this is momentary praise. It's the very opposite to what Alexandra needs to hear and the opposite of how her audience needs to set their expectation. It's quite criminal to regard a 14 year old as a complete musician, no matter how extraordinary her talent. Her chance to develop herself in good time can't be stolen from her! Precisely because she is so rare.
@@VladVexler I'm with you on this one.Children like Alexandra should be treasured,almost treated with kidgloves,not overexposed and over marketed.Many highly gifted sadly fell by the wayside because of this.And it is a loss to the world to lose these treasures.....
I am clinging to your words. You made my day! Now... back to reality...
I watched her on you tube performing Ludwig van BEETHOVEN, Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 19. I cried. First time ever. I am nearly 70. Surely she can only get better?
I think it's not so much about getting better, but using her talent properly across a lifetime. Merely getting better, for someone of her talent, might be a waste and a tragedy.
Absolutely prodigy. I absolutely love her
I like how you also have the text in original Russian aswell as the english translation.
Vlad, since the war started I've seen posted in some quarters that Sasha is ethnically Ukrainian. None of her official biographies mention this. To your knowledge, is it true? She must be in a very difficult position with this horrible situation. I'm very happy that she's in western Europe concertizing until at least July, and that the war doesn't seem to be affecting her bookings. Any insight you can offer is greatly appreciated.
Sorry I can't - I made this purely musical review and I didn't get in touch with any of Sasha's people. I think it's very important we allow Russian artists, academics, and even entertainers to perform freely, unless they have links with the regime. That too should be properly defined. I know of cases where courageous anti-regime Russian academics have been deplatformed.
@@VladVexler I agree with you wholeheartedly, Vlad. On the other hand, when Russians (or anyone else, for that matter) openly support the slaughter of innocents in Ukraine, we can hardly blame promoters of cultural or sporting events for banning those people, if only to preserve their own business interests.
I believe she was somewhat under the wings of Denis Matsuev, and ardent Putinist. But as far as I know, she is now based in Spain, living there with her father, and touring Europe constantly.
Hello Vlad!
What do you think about Trifonov?
Hello! He is very young - he must be around 30, which is ancient compared with Alexandra but a baby in pianistic terms. I think of pianists as maturing at 60 or 70. He has got many wonderful and rare gifts and deserves his success. We need to give him time. I may do a video on him. He doesn't possess the rhythmical strength of Alexandra, Kit Armstrong or Till Fellner.
@@VladVexler thanks for your answer
Keep up with the channel and good luck for it.
Wish you the best
@@thepianosarea795 Thanks so much, you keep safe!
Vlad what do you think about Glenn Gould? He's not considered one of the best of all time by you? I'm not a pro pianist so just wanted to hear an expert opinion. Thank you very much for all of your videos, love your channel!
Thanks very luch fir your vidéo and comments. You mention in one of your comments, a gap between Fischer, Kempff, Cortot and the rest. I'd like to know what you think about Jorge Bolet, who is for me, one of the best pianist and most underrated pianist of 20th century at least for the répertoire of great romantiques. And I think there is something of Bolet in Alexandra Dovgan (the technique put at the service of interpretation rather than of pyrotechnic virtuosity, freedom of interpretation, clarity of the game, mastery of the pedal, ability to make the piano sing, sense of rubato and overview of the works ...)
Thanks so much for your question. Well I'm fond of anybody who has a love for Bechstains, as Bolet did 😉. There is no doubt that if he were alive today people would flock to hear him play. I do think more people would enjoy his playing if they knew about him. As you might have gathered, I believe very few of the pianists who are mythologised were actually great musicians.
The qualities you list Bolet as having are excellent and accurate. But Bolet didn't possess what I call core musical values on the highest level. Just compare these two. The difference in music making here is not close. Bolet is universes behind Cortot and Kempff in quality. The gap is so vast it's as though they are engaged in a different activity. Kempff and Cortot are superior in their capacity to characterise, lead the long line, distribute voices, control transitions and their rhythmical strength is not comparable to Bolet.
*qualification - I don't know every single recording by Bolet, and I am not suggesting these are Bolet's best recordings. But as a rough measure of the gap in quality the comparison is informative.
COMPARISON ONE
Bolet Liszt Gondoliera
ua-cam.com/video/anLNMHNz20o/v-deo.html
vs Wilhelm Kempff Gondoliera
ua-cam.com/video/saHgjXtQYcs/v-deo.html
COMPARISON TWO
Bolet Liszt Verdi Paraphrase Rigoletto
ua-cam.com/video/sQ0i4z-z06Q/v-deo.html
vs Alfred Cortot Liszt Verdi Paraphrase Rigoletto
ua-cam.com/video/8sAeoqaMbKI/v-deo.html
Thanks very much for your answer. Well, in both exemples you give, I agree with you. But I think Bolet was not at his best in the last period of his life. I think his best period is around 1960-1980. But Cortot is one of my favorite too. His fabulous interpretations largely compensate for his few wrong notes. Bolet had a very impressive technique. You have to listen to him in his legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in October 1974. I was lucky to hear him in Paris in 4 concerts between 1984 and 1987. And I would have liked to hear Cortot so much...
@@vincentmichard9925 the 1930s were extraordinarily with Edwin Fischer and Cortot at their peak. Kempff hadn’t peaked yet. I shall hear the 1974 recital.
Thanks. Here the link to Bolet Carnegy Hall concert: ua-cam.com/play/OLAK5uy_kNDWDd3u1UgzU9XObnl95ffg0r3nlUOww.html
Transitions: I wonder whether this is the thing that makes me scream at the radio most often (in addition to tempi that aren't really right for the chosen interpretation)? Many people will have their own favourite 'master transitioners', but one of my great influences was the conductor and pedagog George Hurst who taught me the art of transitions - often using his beloved Brahms, which can be so crudely done. I guess that's what made Furtwangler a great Wagnerian - because his music is basically transition after transition until you reach the last chord, and is why no "Wagner extract" is really terribly successful!!!
Dear Vlad, what do you think about Alma Deutscher?
I agree with all the points in this presentation . She is Brendel-like at times.
Thank you Chris, I am not very connected to the music scene in Moscow so I don't know what kind of hands Alexandra is in. I'm always concerned in a situation like this - we don't want her chance to develop properly stolen from her. She is Alfred like in the sense of core musical values. To be continued!
When are we gonna get the Vivienne video and Kit Armstrong video?
I totally agree
This video of a recital Alexandra gave when she was 4 throws some light on the "rhythmic strengths" she has now and on the methods by which they were inculcated by her teacher Mira Marchenko.
ua-cam.com/video/AtUyvaukaCU/v-deo.html
I was a bit surprised by your suggestions that violinists are doing better than pianists and that Batiashvili is absolutely outstanding among them. She is excellent of course, but is she really head and shoulders above others of her generation such as e.g. Hahn and Hadelich?
On the other hand I think Chloe Chua, who is about 6 months older than Alexandra and displays the same strengths, is in the following sense even more extraordinary. In the past year she has performed some staples of the repertoire as well if not better than anyone _ever_ . Can the same be said of Alexandra?
This (studio) "recital" - and in particular the Ballade (Ysaye) with which it begins and the Poeme (Chausson) with which it ends - illustrates the point.
ua-cam.com/video/FWbew7YvfyU/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for your thoughts. Alfred Brendel shares with me the view that the currently piano playing is a in a slum period. I just think that's true. If there is an exception, it is Bach playing. 3 or 4 people play Bach well today. (I do follow up to 10 pianists with love and admiration, I just don't think they are great pianists - will be listing them in a future video).
I do think Batiashvili is that much superior to other violinists. Nobody matches her rhythmical strength. Chloe Chua is extraordinary and you rightly point to the Ysaye Ballade. Let's watch her evolution. But again rhythmically she is not as strong as Dovgan or Batiashvili.
Thank you so much for the fascinating video of 4 year old Dovgan - I hadn't seen it! The rhythmical values are already there, and you can hear that they have absolutely nothing to do with how she is taught. Great rhythmical strength is always a self generated thing. Of course it's the playing of a small child, brain and body are not connected, it sounds desolate and expressionless, a per normal for a human that age, but the rhythmical potential is terrifyingly in place. Back to the analogy about how some great musicians walk into the world with certain virtues.
One of the next videos on this channel will be about Kit Armstrong - who is at a key point of evolution now. Here are rhythmical values from him at age 11.
ua-cam.com/video/clHevF_A7nI/v-deo.html
Only loosely related to the topic of the video, but have you heard Scriabin's piano roll recordings? I always found it interesting how composers' approach to playing their own pieces can be different compared to that of other pianists.
Hugely educational if you allow for the limitations of the reproducing pianos he used - they are not to be thought of as actual performances by Scriabin. We can then look at reports of Scriabin's playing. He clearly took many liberties in tempo, dynamics, rhythm and even changed notes.
The broader question you ask is so important and I am looking forward to doing an episode on it. There is much to say. I'll just say one thing - the time a great composer spends thinking about their composition is often less than 5% of the time a great performer spends thinking about it. Musical writing is different to literature in this respect - it's terrifying how quickly Mozart or Schubert could write. More than 10X the speed of the greatest novelists.
@@VladVexler True, or Bach for that matter. A pianist can spend years going in depth of possibilities of interpretation and performance, whereas composers would get on with a new piece once they're done with the old one. Plus, we have to take into account how many parametres were given at the time (baroque, classical period), compared to more experimental approach of the 20th and 21st century. Composing a fugue for Bach was a banality, just as a minuet for Mozart, since they already had the given technique and form (and a lot of experience with it). For the pieces they cared about more (say, Art of Fugue or Don Giovanni), they would obviously invest more time and focus. In Mozart's "lesser" pieces, one even finds typos, which either testify the speed of writing or (the lack of) personal engagement.
That being said, I'd give both of my testicles away to hear Liszt performing his own sonata, or to see Beethoven live at the concert in his late 20s.
Vlad, At the risk of sounding like a musical ignoramus ( who loves Alfred Brendel ) I'd be interested in knowing what you think of Helene Grimaud. I enjoyed this video on Alexandra, and have listened intently to her playing ( what precious little of it I can find ). I agree - to the extent that I understand these things - that she is a remarkable talent. She unifies an entire piano selection with uncanny maturity and grace, almost effortlessly, as if it is simply a part of who she is. And, of course , it is.
I don’t have anything negative to say about Helene. One of her heroes is Richter, who I am critical of. Helene has also gone through significant health issues. And she is still young as far as the development of a pianist goes. Does she have the the musical values of the very rarest musicians? No. But we need to support her development and evolution.
Who is Vlad Vexler? Is this biography authorised?
Good morning Christopher. I’m a London based philosopher. I’m working on a book on Isaiah Berlin, at the same time, some of my projects are in musical aesthetics. This is my UA-cam channel. This is NOT an authorised biography by Sasha Dovgan or anybody representing her. I regularly make critical videos on musical performers - last one on the channel was on the pianist Alfred Brendel. Wishing you a healthful weekend!
Vlad, would love to hear your take on Jacob Collier sometime. Cheers!
My goodness, that was a mesmerizing Jesu Bleibet Meine Freude. Jacob Collier has nothing on that!
I recommend that you don't refer to her as a "Piano Player" my Goodman.
She is a Piano virtuoso, a Pianist.
A "piano player" is one that performs in an English Pirate ship.
Music is not a horserace to determine who is the best, it is "Art expressed from the heart" .
We can not put a price or judge what comes from the soul, with standards.
The important thing is, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Austria and Spain, have produced the greatest European Art in history.
Without their contribution, we'd be consuming the usual "Fish and Chips and Yorkshire pudding".
Cheereo from Imperial New Spain,
Álvaro Guevara Vázquez, Composer
Formidable, my good man! I agree with much of what you said - especially the morbid proclivity this commentator Vlad has for trying to attach "better than" and "greatest" to musicians. However I like "piano player" - a step away from the tendency of the classical world to "lofty exceptionalism" - and I will stand by the Fish n Chips of my Anglo-saxon ancestors (while also adoring the Mompous, Albeniz and Victorias of yours!).
I love the bit about Peterson 😂
What if I am wrong !!!!!!!!!!
@@VladVexler Well, you are not saying he won't be around, you are simply saying "don't take it for granted".
Either way, I suspect Peterson is definitely unlikely to be remembered as an author, since nothing he says or writes is very original. He might be remembered as an important conservative figure, sure.
@@LouigiVerona oh he definitely won’t be around, unless he loves to 110! I agree with your assessment. Although I always like to give people the benefit of evolution! Peterson could evolve intellectually over the next 30 years…but not by himself. I would need to train him!
I was wondering, who’s the most precious, Jesus, yes and Alexandra too.
Thank you for your exciting video and comments. I am not a musician but I love to listen to piano and organ music. I discovered Alexandra Dovgan by chance on youtube 3 years ago while listening to her interpretation of the Egyptian by Rameau and after a study by Moszkowski.
ua-cam.com/video/2uey1oHqIAE/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/lA5UTkivXZg/v-deo.html
From the very first notes I told myself that this pianist who was only 11 years old was exceptional. It is not only her technical mastery, in particular the rhythm (rubato), the pedal, the clarity of the playing, the overall vision of the work, but it is also her attitude at the piano that fascinated me. Despite the physical effort and the necessary concentration, her face was certainly focused, but at the same time peaceful serene almost mystical, and looking only at her face one would have thought that she was quietly drawing. I felt as if the music came from somewhere else and went through her mind and body to her fingers. She seems to be at the same time actor and spectator. And what finished disturbing me was her little smile, both shy and satisfied at the moment of the applause, testifying undoubtedly a mixture of pride and satisfaction to have brought happiness to her audience...but maybe other feelings that I can't define...
Wonderful you found her and thank you for sharing the clips, I remember both of them. I think your description of being both an actor and a spectator is absolutely accurate. A lot of world class musicians privately talking about moments when 'it' is playing. At the same time of course, when you play as well as Alexandra, it is very demanding. Here are a couple of lines on how that works I penned under another comment.*
*It seems effortless with Alexandra, but it isn't. When she plays, she is being pulled in opposite directions. Her rhythmical strength means that as she moves from one note to the next she is being both pulled forward and pulled back. That would be an embodied, tense, experience. She is planning and being spontaneously. She is consciously listening to herself and having the feeling that the playing is just happening. I call all this the pain of interpretation. What she does is much much more stressful and demanding on the body than what Lang Lang does.
What will it take to proof to be better than Richter or Gilels? Richter had more than 830 works plus 600 songs played on stage. Whats with Gilels Beethoven sonatas or Richters Schumann and Schubert? She even did not play the works I think about, how is it possible to predict a better understanding of the music?
Hurry slowly! :)🙏🏼
Hurry ches slowly……………………ches.
How about Danil Trifonov? In my estimation he is today’s best under the age of seventy.
Your opinions are really out there. Brendel is better than Gilels? In what universe is a piano player that plays Beethoven like Schubert is better than the best interpreter of the Beethoven Concerti? Batiashvilli is a great talent of violin? You serious? Having said this, Dovgan IS great, and that's about the only thing I agree with you with.
The Vlad Vexler Show!
Gift from a friend. Too silly?
@@VladVexler No, no, I love it! My comment is not ironic!
@@LouigiVerona How have you been?
@@VladVexler Right now on my first vacation in more than a year. Hanging out at Como Lake!
Gonna be working on a couple of videos of my own when I come back....
By the way, would you in theory be interested to talk about electronic music?
@@LouigiVerona Wonderful you are on vacation. Good luck with your videos - I shall have a look. Love to learn about electronic music, but I would be a relative neophyte. Except in the sense that music is music is music!
It sure says a lot about Alexandra Dovgan when she is the cause for this gathering and culmination of your previous valuable music opinions and preferences, spread across many of your previous videos, into this single captivating description of her accomplishments.
One of the thoughts that crossed my mind out of the blue, while experiencing her performances, is whether, whenever one comes across an extraordinary female pianist, there seems to be less impediments to heavenly performances than one finds with the best male performers. The channel of execution seems to be more effortlessly open to pure expression for a female.
You mention a handful of your favourite pianists who all happen to be male. I would be interested to hear who your two or three favourite female pianists are and whether my somewhat random impression about female expression with less "impediments"/"interference" has some ring of recognition for you too or may it only be for the case of Dovgan?
Wonderful question. The pianist I admire the most today, on her good days, is Imogen Cooper. I think that when she is at her best, nobody plays Schubert with more understanding. But funnily Imogen is someone who has improved enormously in her 60s. But I do think the WAY she has evolved is distinctly feminine. I was once describing to her an idea of visualising one's artistic career in blocks of 10, 20, 30 years and she interrupted me and said - 'that's a bit masculine'. And I immediately agreed, and accepted that what I was describing was a masculine picture of aesthetic development that would have feminine counterparts. And Imogen herself is a great example of that. Later in her career she the most wonderful, pliant facility for openness and growth without systematically looking far ahead on the road she is walking on.
If we look at the great male pianists - the ones I consider great, Brendel certainly took a long time to develop. But for instance I am confident Fischer didn't, even though we can't check.
Alfred Brendel's tragic essay about his dear friend Katja Andy remains a testament to how far great women musicians struggled in the 20th century. Now it's different. If Alexandra's health and nerves hold she has a shot of being a great pianist. And there will be others. So I think this century will pass a solid judgment over your theory!
We should discuss this further. In a nutshell, I do feel sympathetic toward your intuition as it may apply to great pianists. Perhaps there is a difference here between evolution, which must take time for pianists, and particular psychic obstacles. It's possible that evolution is long for men and women, but that women do better with the obstacles. But we need great pianists to test this theory!
@@VladVexler Thank you for your interesting response. I now realise my "impediment" impression (I hesitate to call it a theory) can be interpreted in more than one way. Your interpretation of my use of "impediment" seems to be as "impediment" in the evolution/development of a pianist's playing whereas I meant "impediment" of expression at the actual moment of great performance. Nonetheless, it was interesting following your line of thought resulting from your seemingly alternative interpretation.
In my interpretation of "impediment" at the moment of performance, I am vaguely conscious of a more deliberate effort in great male performances when compared to the apparently more "effortless" great female performances especially apparent in the case of Dovgan. It is as if there are suggestions of male ego interference (or at least male ego consciousness) even at moments of great pianistic expression while female pianists do not suffer such "hangups"/"obstacles" and enjoy a more wholesome natural flow. Maybe this is just a figment of my association with the male gender while there is less chance/inclination for such associations across the gender divide, which starts raising yet another topic, namely that of the role of gender not just in the performer but even in the listener.
@@jeanjoubert3074 I may express a bit of scepticism about the effortlessness! It seems effortless with Alexandra, but it isn't. When she plays, she is being pulled in opposite direction. Her rhythmical strength means that as she moves from one not to the next she is being both pulled forward and pulled back. That would be a an embodied, tense, experience. She is planning and being spontaneously. She is consciously listening to herself and having the feeling that the playing is just happening. I call all this the pain of interpretation. What she does is much much more stressful and demanding on the body than what Lang Lang does.
There is another sense of organicity - and that's when expression in the moment comes more easily. I actually was thinking of the moment in my comment, because that's all that matters in music. So the long distance evolution I was talking about is an evolution into being able to do particular things in the moment. I do realise I''m again slipping away from your question.
Here is an example of playing with the highest quality in terms of rhythmical strength, that yet still is a bit emotionally blocked; it leaves a slight empty space in place of where characterisation should be. It's 28 year old Kit Armstrong, and he is riding on his superior rhythmic control and long line. ua-cam.com/video/GmxCQ527Oqg/v-deo.html
Here is 28 year old Alfred Brendel in the late 1950s with the same musical values, but no emotional block (in this instance the expression is humorous)
ua-cam.com/video/xRicxE5DI9E/v-deo.html
pushback and clarification welcome!
There is no need for push back. When one is in the presence of great performances, one tends to go down rabbit holes struggling to express the ineffable in words. Nonetheless, such analysis attempts remain worthwhile as they draw attention to the multifacetedness of great performances especially when shared between listeners contributing their respective perspectives.
The many insights you share serves as testimony to the role, not only of performer and listener, but also of commentator/critic in stimulating and enriching musical experience.
Even though expressions of the more esoteric impressions/associations may be fleeting in their "figmentness", they remain worthwhile in illuminating some aspects, which might otherwise elude one.
Some listeners find some Pogorelic interpretations controversial although I find most of them groundbreaking. What do you make of this one in which Pogorelic seems to distort one of your pillars, namely "strong rhythmical structure", to his heart content, all the while transporting this listener to piano heaven?:
ua-cam.com/video/x6H3eSfnBJQ/v-deo.html
@@jeanjoubert3074 I shall listen and get back to you! I will likely have a critical perspective, which is my common response to Pogorelich. But that's never about rhythm; it's about characterisation. I just think he regularly violates what composers ask in the score, and then goes on to do what he chooses to do instead very well. Look forward to listening later today and getting back! I hope you have a a positive rest of the weekend.
You mentioned child prodigies. I am probably not too aware of those, but I remember watching several documentaries about musical savants. And I remember feeling that they are dexterous, but not necessarily musical. Derek Paravicini comes to mind. Brilliant dexterity. I don't get the musical side of his performances.
In my view nearly all so called child prodigies don't show what I refer to as core musical values - rhythmical, long line, transitions, characterisation. Typically, they play fast and accurately. So the fuss over them has no musical justification.
@@VladVexler So, after mentioning Derek, I found his channel on UA-cam and listened to his latest video, rendition of Prince Ali. And to me it's a mess. Like, he's playing it, but I don't get it
well she isnt better than any russian pianist because there is a level in pianism which is the highest and on that level there is no better or worse just different, that is the beauty of art, ashkenazy trifonov but also alexandra dovgan are examples of it!
a wonderful video, different from everything ive seen
p.s. I agree she is beter than gilels and richter
I hate not giving individual detailed replies, but much of what I would tell you I penned in response to a previous comment. I turned it into a social media post, here is that text -
"This is the biggest misconception in the classical music world. It is shared by critics & amateurs alike. It also pervades the high art world.
Here is a UA-cam viewer making this error, followed by an attempt by me to explain the error.
Comment from viewer:
'Happy to have found your channel, Vlad. My one constructive note is to be careful with statements like: Kit Armstrong is the best pianist in the world, or, Wilhelm Kempff was the best Liszt player. Could it ever be as clear as that? And how do you know? You risk presenting subjective opinions as objective facts, which of course can be very problematic.'
My reply:
Really grateful for you comment and your attention, but I completely disagree. But you are expressing a view so popular that I would love to share a lengthy answer.
In the end, what decides this is not what any critic says but what the performer actually does on the stage. I would love to repeat this sentence 10 times!
Sometimes the gap in quality between what two performers do will be marginal. Sometimes it will be vast.
The very same thing applies to pieces themselves and even to masterpieces: some Beethoven sonatas are far superior to others, but others are close in quality.
When I say I completely disagree with you, I don't mean that I see this differently, I mean that your view is fundamentally flawed.
It makes an error not of degree but of kind: it substitutes a self congratulatory egalitarian disposition for actual aesthetic judgement.
Potentially, your view may even be incompatible with causal explanation of how art traditions persist historically.
In so far as fine discrimination in quality is a factor in their persistence. That's to say, if you view were true, painting or musical composition may cease to exist as a high art.
We can't EVER apply a standard ahead of looking at the aesthetic evidence.
We can't assume what the gulf between the best and the next best can be known advance. The artistic universe is neutral in this sense - there is no predetermination to how egalitarian or inegalitarian what it gives us will be. The gap between one thing and another could be murky, or it could be an abyss.
It's worth noting that this isn't a competition.
We are not comparing pianists to one another, but to the demands of the masterpieces they perform. It could have turned out that we had no great pianists in the history of recorded sound. It could have turned out that we had 50. There is no place from which to argue that a certain number is too high, or too low.
When I talk about Kempff, Cortot, Brendel and Edwin Fischer, I am educating my viewer that in the history of piano playing the gap from 4th to 5th is an abyss.
And this point, absolutely, questions arise. How curious! Why is this so? Is it really so? Is the gap really that big? But to rule the possibility that it is so out of sight, as you do in your comment, is to deprive yourself.
To deprive yourself of what? To deprive yourself of the possibility to engage in the central aesthetic emotion: the emotion expressed in the realisation that one thing is better than another.
Ps As a matter of biographical fact, Alfred Brendel agrees with me that the gulf between Fischer, Kempff and Cortot and the rest is enormous. Most people don't agree with this. I think they are wrong. And that is part of why I am motivated to share musical commentary with the world.
Warm wishes. Sorry for brutal but detailed response."
@@VladVexler thank you for the answer!
It would be really interesting to hear your commentary on Chopin competition, I'm sure you're following it, if time allows and if it is something you would like, it would be amazing to hear your thoughts about it or the contestants or anything related!
dude, you could and should button your shirt! imho
unrelated, which are the Core Music Values of hers that exceed Gilels or Richter.?..That's a bold statement....She certainly exceeds any pianist living under the age of 40, (the only exception i can think of is Beatrice Berrut, who probably does not have the same level of technique), she certainly far exceeds a Yuja Wang, but i would argue its quite meaningless to compare her to Gilels and Richter who are such different beasts, and also have a lifetime of work.....would also disagree specifically strongly about Richter, i have heard not a soul play Schubert as he does, and i adore Herr Kempff, even if he had been some kind of Nazi...
Rhythmical strength and the long line are the musical values I have in mind. Transitions, another central value, aren’t fully there for her yet. Rhythmically, she’s stronger than Richter or Gilels but not as strong as Kempff. I’m comparing musical values only - cumulatively she needs another decade or two before she can carry conviction with her interpretations as a whole. BB is very healthy with lovely musical intelligence, but she doesn’t possess the core musical values on the highest level.
…and Richter?
"Better than RIchter & Gilels in terms of her core musical values" - what a bizarre and pathologically subjective thing to say - as is much of this analysis. "Core musical values"....???? And from a 14 year old? I think you mean, YOU prefer her (quite a different thing, my man). What is this "better than" and "greater than" that people in the Classical world are so hung up about? Why would you limit and try to put people in such boxes? Do they do this in the jazz or rock or other worlds? (well, sometimes maybe - but not as a telos). Is this not somehow childish - treating art almost as a sport? And does it help this poor girl if she hears it? She's a great piano player, for sure, but why try to compare her with Richter. And does your hatred of Putin also mean you deny the greatness of Richter, Gilels & Horowitz too? How about Trifinov? Brendel is a master indeed - but is not Pogorelich "great" or a "genius" too? (this could be problematic perhaps in his recent incarnations, but still perhaps he is our era's Gould, no?). Is Kempff really the "greatest" Liszt player - how can anyone be the "greatest" Liszt player? Surely Brendel could be called this too? (ie. you mean YOU prefer Kempff). Kit Armstrong is the "best pianist in the world"? What does that make Keith Jarrett? Who knows Vlad? But your whole approach here makes my soul cringe and want to purify myself. Leave "the best" to the Olympic Games.
OK, gustibus non disputandum est. Granting that, I listened to the clips of Alexandra you referenced and was decidedly unimpressed, especially with the Bach, which I found rather saccharine. She is a pretty girl (vaguely reminiscent of a profile photograph I once saw of the young Kschessinska) who can I am sure play difficult music with at least competence, but to compare her favorably to Richter? You must be joking.
Festina lente
Better than Richter?? Come on.
Ik ben er een beetje vex van dat je haar tekort doet ten faveure van je eigen helden.
I find it utterly amazing that such a highly talented young pianist with a God given gift could come from the same evil country run by a murdering war criminal dictator who commits genocide on an industrial scale killing women children and babies and bombing cities……Ref:- 24/02/2022
You are confused. Biden is the President of the USA, not the Russian Federation.
Much Suspension Go Place enough advertising. 🤮
Sorry I don’t understand