Before Liberace plays this piece double-time he says to the audience, "Ripley mentioned this piece because there were 6,000 notes in it. I thought you might like to count them." I enjoy his sense of humor. The practice he put in and the number of performances he gave - how did he physically do it? Wow!
I smell Ivory smoke...... When I see how effortlessly he plays even with all the embellishments it just floors me. I regret the years I ignored him as a flash act, but the old adage is true, you cant judge by the cover - especially not Liberace, he is a true grand master of his craft. I have a much overdue respect.
This video is such a wonderful example of "the bounciness of Liberace" ... What he does with his whole body is amazing; his shoulders seem to dance and his left leg is always moving to rhythm. Amazing.
EACH TIME I WATCH A VIDEO OF LIBERACE PLAYING, I AM AMAZED AT HIS TALENT. HE HAS SUCH A WONDERFUL SMILE AND REAL FLAIR FOR LOVING WHAT HE DOES. I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN HIM IN CONCERT. LUCKILY, WE HAVE THE VIDEOS FOR THAT. WONDERFUL CARING AND LOVING MAN.
as a child drove my mom and friends crazy cause when his show came on I stopped everything to watch him. He was the master pianist and showman, none could nor have topped him.
Peter Chabanowich Liberace was born in 1919 - so he was only 10 in 1929. He started his playing career in 1936. Any player piano rolls by him date to the 1960s and '70s..
Wow, that’s what I got to say! No trick photography or trickery of any sort. Just an amazing mastery of talent earned throughout many, many years of practice, practice, practice. I for one appreciate ‘Milwaukee’s favorite brew’ Liberace! A true showman, don’t ya think?
Entertainers do not come any better than Liberace, who happily entertained the whole wide world with an outstanding personality and his skill second to none when it came to playing piano. Liberace made people happy, and that is what he was all about. ..HAPPY!!!
My wife and I saw Liberace live in Melbourne in 1985. What a fantastic evening we had. Little did we know his life was to be cut short a few years later
Saw him about 36 years ago at the Flamingo in Vegas. My wife was pregnant with my son about 8 months. We were in the lobby waiting in line for the doors to open. Every 5 minutes or so my wife would go over and sit down as she was very pregnant. Soon a man came over to her and asked how many were in her party. She pointed to us and said "four". Subsequently she and the man walked over to us. It was the old days and he looked like a mobster and had a very low tone voice but I can tell you he was the perfect gentleman. He said to the four of us, "come with me" and we thinking we had done something wrong followed obediently and without question. The show was going to start shortly. He open the door to the auditorium and took us to a semicircular booth at the very front of the stage and said "sit here". In a few minutes a waiter came over and brought a bottle of champagne on ice to our table. The gentleman that sat us disappeared and we never saw him again and in a couple of minutes Liberace came out on stage. He pranced around the stage with a mink coat that had a train that was 20 feet long. Soon after a volkswagen with a Rolls Royce radiator grill drove onto the stage and he said "that one is for the fir" and he through in the fir and the little car drove off stage. Then a full size Rolls Royce came out and he smiled and said "this one's for me" and he was driven off stage. We were there within 20 feet of him. It was like a dream. That was the real Vegas. I will never forget that night. It was surreal. Liberace played while water fountains danced to his playing. The mob had more class and treated the common people better than your government ever will. They respected the family. Now this is not to say that they did not kill people. If you were a mobster well then you were dealing with them on the terms of their organization. We on the other hand were just some young people that had a front row seat to one of the greatest showman of all time. God Bless Liberace I will never forget that night. And thank you Las Vegas.
What a great story! I loved Liberace since I was a child. I loved watching him on tv with the fountain working in synch with piano notes and his fabulous taste
I know all about the "ORGANISATION", they really are kind and gentle, just do not get in the way of their business!!!!!, they know how to handle obstructions.
я нашла в интернете этого прекрасного пианиста два года тому назад и с тех пор это мой самый лучший друг послушала все что можно было найти с восторгом и теперь слушаю каждый день я не могу уже жить без его музыки и без его улыбкиfanrs for posting
I JUST GOT DONE LISTENING TO HIS RECORDING ON MY LP WITH THIS SONG (and others) AND HE WAS A SO MARVELOUS PIANIST! I wondered if anyone has posted one of his many Masterpieces! Yes, You did! KEN
he could play a classical piece and make it sound like rock and roll. he didnt just play piano. he was an entertainer to the fullest sense of the word....who is this entertaining these days?
A True Icon of 1960s TV... he was a Dandy LOL... I actually remember this! It was an inspiration.. although I play keyboards, and my fingers flit across the ivories at great neck speed... they are nothing like his/hers! I often wonder if the likes of Liberace actually experience what I experience... I sit at a piano and it is like some one else is inside of me playing?
That's SICK! My new favorite piano version of one of my all time favorite tunes... freakin amazing. Lawrence Welk and Myron Floren did a version at this tempo as part of an accordian quartet on the Lawrence Welk show one time - it's on UA-cam . that's the only other version I've heard that's near this fast.
I think Liberace was the greatest pianist in the world. I used to watch his TV show when I was younger. His version of As Time Goes By is my very favorite song. I recently discovered another pianist who is truly great. His name is AllenDale1962. I recommend his videos highly.
+Liane Layman - Yes, that was the icing on the cake. But, when this clip was recorded back in the early 1950's from his television show, he always wore standard concert attire, usually with long tails and black or white bow tie, without all the glitz and glamour. He first proved that he had the real goods with regards to his amazing piano artistry and musicianship. When I was six years old I remember hearing Liberace for the first time from my bedroom, my parents were watching his tv show in the living room. I got out of bed and went to hear and watch him because the music was so compelling. It was my inspiration to becoming a pianist. I like the old clips the best when it was just him and the piano.
Genial. Absolutamente el mejor que jamas ha existido; no solo por su talento, sino por su indiscutible gozo al ejecutar y su constante comunicacion con el publico. Jamas ha habido y dudo que lo haya, otro Liberace. Grande Maestro!!!
Liberace represents a time in America where entertainers really perfected their craft. The countless hours and hours of practice they went into his playing will never be known. It takes years to develop the technique necessary to play like this. I doubt we will ever see the likes of him again. What passes itself off as talent today is such a joke.
No there are still great pianists, but what put's Liberace as number ONE among the others, is that he never uses sheet music. He sometimes doesn't even look down. He could have gone on into old age, had it not been for Aides. Why was he that way? I will never understand. He had it all. Nice looking, very friendly.
For all the flamboyance and over-the-top glitter of his latter years, you can see here how truly incredible he was. Brilliant.
You could argue the over-the-top-glitter is still less than his talent.
And maybe a bit if insanity.
But definitely brilliant!
2:29 actual representation of typing a college paper last minute.
FACTS
hahaha, that's awesome.
Yes but inetsad of music its. Tuc, tuc, tuc, tuc, pling!
Before Liberace plays this piece double-time he says to the audience, "Ripley mentioned this piece because there were 6,000 notes in it. I thought you might like to count them." I enjoy his sense of humor. The practice he put in and the number of performances he gave - how did he physically do it? Wow!
A real showman and awesome pianist.
Definitely. :)
The joy Liberace exudes when he plays is so infectious. Absolutely brilliant
Virtuosity on display. Wonderful.
oh lee, you had such a quiet, spontaneous and decent sense of humour. what a gentleman in music this world has lost.
These old ones are the best!
Consummate showman and a virtuoso pianist. Give the man his due. He was unique. He had the chops to play anything he wanted.
Who couldn't love him? He was beyond belief. So full of energy and love for his audience.
He was the greatest pianist to ever grace this earth.
Dunno seems kinda gay to me
Saw his show twice. He was a great entertainer.
I smell Ivory smoke...... When I see how effortlessly he plays even with all the embellishments it just floors me. I regret the years I ignored him as a flash act, but the old adage is true, you cant judge by the cover - especially not Liberace, he is a true grand master of his craft. I have a much overdue respect.
I can't do that... give me my beer back.
😂😂😂😂😂
Best 7 year old comment
The greatest ever, period. Nobody else even comes close.
Liszt has been real quiet since this dropped.
Ha ha! Very funny. For your information, Liszt has been dead for more than fifteen years now.
@@silverstrike6048 Ha Ha very funny! For your information this was a joke.
Also this is a bait.
@@MalikaTrue sick burn hahahahahaha
Liszten hear.
@@silverstrike6048 r/woosh
This video is such a wonderful example of "the bounciness of Liberace" ... What he does with his whole body is amazing; his shoulders seem to dance and his left leg is always moving to rhythm. Amazing.
After years of watching this, that left hand still absolutely amazes me... just incredible
Amazing !!! Literally dancing off his chair!!
WOW such speed and clarity. and no mistakes, truly amazing
I've never seen a piano player play so fast before or since. Absolutely amazing.
You can see, he’s enjoying the song himself as well.😉 A wonderful man and such a great talent!
EACH TIME I WATCH A VIDEO OF LIBERACE PLAYING, I AM AMAZED AT HIS TALENT. HE HAS SUCH A WONDERFUL SMILE AND REAL FLAIR FOR LOVING WHAT HE DOES. I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN HIM IN CONCERT. LUCKILY, WE HAVE THE VIDEOS FOR THAT. WONDERFUL CARING AND LOVING MAN.
sucks he is dead
WHY ARE YOU TALKING IN CAPS LOCK
BECAUSE I LIKE TO; IT'S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN.
i love how people freak out about caps XD
Well, it is rather annoying... and it makes a person look like they're too stupid to figure out how to turn the caps lock off..
How can he keep such a big smile while hes sustaining that speed of music
Rhapsody by candle light Rhapsody by candlelight
Lots and lots of practice.
And looking at the camera.
Quite spectacular.
as a child drove my mom and friends crazy cause when his show came on I stopped everything to watch him. He was the master pianist and showman, none could nor have topped him.
Except Scott Thorson.
@@uiscepreston Hey-o
Tom Brier was really good as well
Elton John tried. But the only one I've seen and heard to could come close to Lee's brilliance here, is Billy Joel and his Root Beer Rag.
Brilliant. Unbelievable. The Master.
Yes a true master. We are in need of such natural showmanship.
Just unbelievable what a talented guy he even has the audacity to look at the camera smiling while still playing, now that is talent.
His piano rolls from the late 20s were peerless. His was a lavish and joyous talent.
Peter Chabanowich
Liberace was born in 1919 - so he was only 10 in 1929. He started his playing career in 1936. Any player piano rolls by him date to the 1960s and '70s..
Lord have mercy.... this man was unique... one of a kind for sure. Yessssss.♥♥♥♥♥♥
The best pianist in the World ever
Wow, that’s what I got to say! No trick photography or trickery of any sort. Just an amazing mastery of talent earned throughout many, many years of practice, practice, practice. I for one appreciate ‘Milwaukee’s favorite brew’ Liberace!
A true showman, don’t ya think?
Yes. Well-said. In fact, his nickname was Mr. Showmanship.
Entertainers do not come any better than Liberace, who happily entertained the whole wide world with an outstanding personality and his skill second to none when it came to playing piano. Liberace made people happy, and that is what he was all about. ..HAPPY!!!
Just love his playing and his personality shows so much fun and love for life.A brilliant man.Thanks.
fantastic fingers,,,ive recently become overwhelmed by this marvellous musicians talent,,,Liberace,,,mesmerisinly brilliant,,,love it..x
My wife and I saw Liberace live in Melbourne in 1985. What a fantastic evening we had. Little did we know his life was to be cut short a few years later
Saw him about 36 years ago at the Flamingo in Vegas. My wife was pregnant with my son about 8 months. We were in the lobby waiting in line for the doors to open. Every 5 minutes or so my wife would go over and sit down as she was very pregnant. Soon a man came over to her and asked how many were in her party. She pointed to us and said "four". Subsequently she and the man walked over to us. It was the old days and he looked like a mobster and had a very low tone voice but I can tell you he was the perfect gentleman. He said to the four of us, "come with me" and we thinking we had done something wrong followed obediently and without question.
The show was going to start shortly. He open the door to the auditorium and took us to a semicircular booth at the very front of the stage and said "sit here". In a few minutes a waiter came over and brought a bottle of champagne on ice to our table. The gentleman that sat us disappeared and we never saw him again and in a couple of minutes Liberace came out on stage. He pranced around the stage with a mink coat that had a train that was 20 feet long. Soon after a volkswagen with a Rolls Royce radiator grill drove onto the stage and he said "that one is for the fir" and he through in the fir and the little car drove off stage. Then a full size Rolls Royce came out and he smiled and said "this one's for me" and he was driven off stage.
We were there within 20 feet of him. It was like a dream. That was the real Vegas. I will never forget that night. It was surreal.
Liberace played while water fountains danced to his playing. The mob had more class and treated the common people better than your government ever will. They respected the family. Now this is not to say that they did not kill people. If you were a mobster well then you were dealing with them on the terms of their organization. We on the other hand were just some young people that had a front row seat to one of the greatest showman of all time. God Bless Liberace I will never forget that night. And thank you Las Vegas.
Thank you for sharing your memory.
What a great story! I loved Liberace since I was a child. I loved watching him on tv with the fountain working in synch with piano notes and his fabulous taste
Marvelous story. Thank you!
Better than any jackpot vegas offers. My respect
I know all about the "ORGANISATION", they really are kind and gentle, just do not get in the way of their business!!!!!, they know how to handle obstructions.
Always a gentlemen and great and talented entertainer
He was simply the best !
I remember seeing him as a kid, and I would have to say that he was the greatest piano showman of his time.
absolutely amazingly talented man
Wow! He plays the piano so fast I've never seen anyone play like that before.
I dont think ive ever seen someone's hands just....flat out explode like his did. Just....wow.
He was AWESOME!
he was the best pianist there ever was
я нашла в интернете этого прекрасного пианиста два года тому назад и с тех пор это мой самый лучший друг послушала все что можно было найти с восторгом и теперь слушаю каждый день я не могу уже жить без его музыки и без его улыбкиfanrs for posting
Brilliant! He will always be the king of the keyboard, such skill
... More like The Queen of the Keyboard. (This is high compliment coming from me, and I think 'Lee' would approve of it... 😊)
No one can ever tell me he wasnt the GREATEST pianist and ALL AROUND SHOWMAN !!
I don't play piano but I can watch him all night - amazing
+rodsreel Me too, best thing I like about him.
AWESOME! Piano Shredding in The '50's!
Truly gifted! Simply amazing.
Saw him in Vegas,back when,one of the best live shows,I have ever seen,just sayin'
A simply amazing performance, he was a true showman in every sense of the term. To see him play the piano like that is truly amazing.
I JUST GOT DONE LISTENING TO HIS RECORDING ON MY LP WITH THIS SONG (and others) AND HE WAS A SO MARVELOUS PIANIST!
I wondered if anyone has posted one of his many Masterpieces! Yes, You did!
KEN
Man he is talented. I've never seen anyone play like that before. It almost doesn't seem real. Mr Magic hands, keep playing in the sky.
INCREDIBLE!!!
Always looked like he was having more fun than the audience collectively!
Good grief this guy was amazing!
At the hardest part he looks at the camera and winks, he is having more fun than we are
pure genius!!!!!!!!!
He was magnificent!
2:29 dat left hand
The accuracy is unreal!!
unbelievable
Ben Irwin how is that even possible
It's called practice, you too can get a fast walking bass with it.
Ben Irwin beyond Art Tatum...
he could play a classical piece and make it sound like rock and roll. he didnt just play piano. he was an entertainer to the fullest sense of the word....who is this entertaining these days?
The best!
I love how he finished it off with those few notes from the Three Stooges. Not sure if it was some other piece before or not tho
What an Amazing Pianist !
This man was a genius. Such an entertainer.
Just finished watching Roy Clark absolutely shred the same song on a guitar and now I'm watching Liberace burn the keys on the piano.
There will never be talent like him ever again. It was my blessing to see and listen to this man three times.
A True Icon of 1960s TV... he was a Dandy LOL... I actually remember this! It was an inspiration.. although I play keyboards, and my fingers flit across the ivories at great neck speed... they are nothing like his/hers! I often wonder if the likes of Liberace actually experience what I experience... I sit at a piano and it is like some one else is inside of me playing?
There has never been an entertainer since Liberace, Chico Marx and even Mrs Mills/Winney Atwell. This guy is an absolute genius at the keyboard.
Charisma. don't know what it is but he had it in spades.
the king in his natural habitat
It doesn't get any better than Liberace!
+Marcy Benicaso You got that right.
Fats Waller is even better
They don't have entertainers like him anymore!
Liberace's lots of fun to watch. Awesome showmanship.
Perfection!
Inspirational 😍
In the 1950s he had a weekly half-hour TV show...loved it!
I'm speechless at his speed....
That's SICK! My new favorite piano version of one of my all time favorite tunes... freakin amazing. Lawrence Welk and Myron Floren did a version at this tempo as part of an accordian quartet on the Lawrence Welk show one time - it's on UA-cam . that's the only other version I've heard that's near this fast.
how the hell...?! was this man a machine? amazing.
He was brilliant. My wife and I saw him perform in Melbourne Australia in 1984. An evening we will never forget
He was great.
Fantastic arrangement and superb playing. Thank you for posting this.
I think Liberace was the greatest pianist in the world. I used to watch his TV show when I was younger. His version of As Time Goes By is my very favorite song.
I recently discovered another pianist who is truly great. His name is AllenDale1962. I recommend his videos highly.
Look at that man having fun! Showing off & getting paid for it, too. Some people have all the luck.
Not all of them
If spongebob was made in the 1950’s
It was piano playing like this that made him famous.
+Gregg Anderson What really made him famous was his showmanship like the costumes and stuff.
+Liane Layman - Yes, that was the icing on the cake. But, when this clip was recorded back in the early 1950's from his television show, he always wore standard concert attire, usually with long tails and black or white bow tie, without all the glitz and glamour. He first proved that he had the real goods with regards to his amazing piano artistry and musicianship. When I was six years old I remember hearing Liberace for the first time from my bedroom, my parents were watching his tv show in the living room. I got out of bed and went to hear and watch him because the music was so compelling. It was my inspiration to becoming a pianist. I like the old clips the best when it was just him and the piano.
This guy was awesome
+Noah Voegtly I'll say!
"Thank you for your wonderful welcome"
Nobody talks like this anymore
Genial. Absolutamente el mejor que jamas ha existido; no solo por su talento, sino por su indiscutible gozo al ejecutar y su constante comunicacion con el publico. Jamas ha habido y dudo que lo haya, otro Liberace.
Grande Maestro!!!
Haha!....made me laugh out loud with joy...wonderful fun. X
THE BEST OF THE BEST, MUSICAL GENIUS, LEE YOU WE RE GREAT.
He sure could move those keys, great talent
Liberace represents a time in America where entertainers really perfected their craft. The countless hours and hours of practice they went into his playing will never be known. It takes years to develop the technique necessary to play like this. I doubt we will ever see the likes of him again. What passes itself off as talent today is such a joke.
No there are still great pianists, but what put's Liberace as number ONE among the others, is that he never uses sheet music. He sometimes doesn't even look down.
He could have gone on into old age, had it not been for Aides. Why was he that way? I will never understand. He had it all. Nice looking, very friendly.
Beth Miletti Liberace not only had prodigy skills, he was a flamboyant showman!
No. But it killed him didn't it?
I doubt you made it through the 4th grade.
Why was he that way? You may not like this, but more aids has been transmitted from way more heterosexual people than gay people, a lot more.
What a talent...I just love his happiness...
He’s always smiling when he’s talking
I love him , always have an stil do,
Love this. Marlain
I'm so jealous! What an entertainer. I saw him in Las Vegas when I was little!!!
This is so clean! Liberace tore this apart!
Many others simply play the piano. Liberace owns the piano.
Actually Debbie Gibson owns the piano. She bought Professor Liberace's piano at his estate sale. And she's done that instrument justice.