I find it fascinating how camera men/editors for classical piano concerts have this special talent to focus on the pianists faces in the most chalenging moments of a piece when one actually would love to see the hands.
I've never heard Ondine played so "smoothly" before, there's something almost "glassine" about that performance; and it was most gorgeous. Indeed, it seems to me that this whole performance is simply superlative. I've heard these pieces many times over by a great many pianists, and it must be said that this one seems to me the most persuasive. Congratulations to Mr. Debargue.
I don't know what it is...but I agree with you. I'm really attracted to his playing of this. Other performances don't to capture it the same way for me. Guess that's what's cool about having so many different performers out there.
Thanks for passing along Ben’s performance. I’d never heard of him. Fell down a happy little UA-cam rabbit hole. I think I’d also have a hard time choosing between the two. Today I like Ben’s Ondine a bit more. Maybe just the mood I’m in. What a world. So many great performers sharing gifts.
I had Gaspard de la Nuit on repeat in my car when my father had a stroke and three days later passed away. The song and his death will forever be linked in my mind but in a beautiful way. I love this interpretation, and I love the emotion Lucas plays it with.
Ricardo Doblezeta: The River keeps moving into the Sea, and our life cannot resist the constant(?) wave of time. Pack your emotions and memories up, and keep walking through the dark tunnel, to the light.
You mean absurdly fast! Ravel never meant this piece to be played at such a frenzied (almost comical!) tempo. This sounds as though he had lessons with the one-and-only Khatia Buniatishvili.
@@richardvolpe7664 ravel also meant this as satire of romanticism. I guess from that POV I agree with you it could be played a bit slower actually to be more obnoxious. if you asked a non pianist to mimic playing something difficult on the piano and just start playing - it's structure and form would somewhat resemble this, it's a bit uncanny almost how disordered it is without being disordered. the point is, I don't think ravel would have cared - the point is, indeed it is comical, and as satire it should be farcical.
Never heard the entire Gaspard de La Nuit of such a whole. Always wanted to. Never imagined it would be played with such scandalous magicianship and that we would be alive to hear this! A truly creative, incessantly shocking and tasteful pianist, this is one hell of a musician. Don’t ever miss a chance to witness this unbridled talent!
I don't know if there is such a thing as "unbridled talent", but I'll tell you what IS unbridled here: His perverse choice of tempo in Scarbo. After magnificent interpretations of Ondine and le Gibet, he then wreaks total destruction on hapless Scarbo. The latter's atmosphere of terror and frightful agitation is is ruined by excessive speed to the point of rendering the music incomprehensible, even a bit silly-sounding. Contrary to what many performers believe, greatly increasing the tempo of certain works doesn't guarantee increased excitement. All the extra physical effort, but resulting only in chaos. Somehow, though, this speedy madness 'clicks' with lots of listeners who are galvanized by observing the wild, blurry keyboard 'activity'. It can be said, then, that this pianist's Gaspard is superb. (The first and second movements, that is).
The best interpretation I've ever seen. I love Gaspard de la Nuit so much, and this version is incredible. I can't imagine how difficult it is to understand these pieces and to interprate them with so emotions... Lucas is an amazing pianist.
@@szamashups2476 Alexander's performance of "Ondine" and "Scarbo" were very good indeed. Alas, me messed up rather badly on "Le Gibet," which many pianists believe is by far the simplest of the three pieces. He's a great pianist nonetheless.
Technically it would be called the third piece because it is a suite:) if it was a sonata or a symphony or something of that nature then they would be called movements. But yes I agree. This truly is an incredible feat of humanity!
@@tylerneilson7771 They are called movements, the language isn't that strict. Movement essentially just means a self contained 'part' of a wider musical composition.
@@edlyness4891 I would have to disagree. I have been chastised by professors and colleagues enough times to feel pretty confident about it haha! I believe Grove makes this distinction as well. It is quite a small detail to get caught up on though and most people probably don't care too much haha!
I follow Debargue since the Tchaikovsky Competition (when I saw him for the first time). His interpretations, mainly in french works, are remarkably out of common. His playing, with passion in every note, fantastic coordination, and absolutely control about each atmosphere in a single piece. I'm a brazilian cellist, but I like so much listening pieces from other instruments, to see the pure music, not only the technique features of my instrument. Nowadays, Debargue is on my top 10 of "young" musicians. Bravo!
I can only imagine the ecstasy felt when you create such a beautiful and ethereal sound... just hearing it causes my heart to ride on the waves of emotion, it's almost hard to breathe it's so exciting. This performance is absolutely golden.
@@richardvolpe7664 someone else might put up technical razzle dazzle and completely miss the point of storytelling. Debargue simply gets that aspect right. expressive does not equal "let me shove in all the technique possible." I believe a person can hear technical stuff and be into just that and think of that as expressive or they prefer a story being told in pictures, it's subjective debargue is the type of pianist that tells stories, not the story of technique for its own sake.
The best interpretation I'VE ever heard also, of Ondine, that is. It's played here with alluring, beatifully nuanced expressivity, but then, as most pianists do, he ruins Scarbo by trampling it into ashes with the usual chaotic whirlwind aggressiveness. Substantially increasing the speed of this phantasmagorical piece does nothing to enhance its excitement or its comprehensibility. This COULD'VE been a magical performance, given this pianist's technical and musical skills, but this go-for-the-kill approach simply doesn't serve the music. There's even a [gasp] FASTER and more unconvincing version of Scarbo out there - - his name is Malofeev. whose performance is so toxic in its awfulness that one shouldn't waste words in trying to describe it. Poor Ravel! He would've been wise to indicate a metronome marking for Scarbo. Perhaps he never anticipated that virtuoso-minded pianists would be so tempted to "show their stuff" with this work.
I love the way it was filmed up close to show his fingers and also whole body shots. He puts his entire being into it. It was a captivating performance. It brought things to mind. Personal thoughts. I’m feeling it in my own body. So satisfying.
Ravel has such a specific sound, a lot of his compositions have some similar techniques and sounds which I love. He is one of my most favourite composers
This is an exceptionally wonderful performance and my introduction to this young man. Will definitely be looking for more work by him. I do want to point out that whoever the piano technician is deserves some praise as I do believe this is the best tuned and regulated piano I've heard
I think that Le Gibet is slightly underrated. You have to balance the emotion (and on a simpler lever, the rhythm) of the music which goes from quietly mournful to a climax of heart wrenching emotion with the consistency of and unwavering, unfeeling nature of the bell. Superbly executed for the entire suite!!
Merveilleuse interprétation d’un chef-d’œuvre qui , pour moi, le temps passant, s’impose comme le chef-d’œuvre des chef-d’œuvre. Ravel c’est l’éternel esprit d’enfance.
Excellent. Yeahhhhhhh. and... Wowwwwww. the gods are pleased. Thank you Lucas. You'll be working on this piece for years to come. Can you see it? So,,,,,,,,, make it yours. M.R. moi
These are based on some fantastic poems: Ondine . . . . . . . . Je croyais entendre Une vague harmonie enchanter mon sommeil, Et près de moi s'épandre un murmure pareil Aux chants entrecoupés d'une voix triste et tendre. Ch. Brugnot. - Les deux Génies . . . . . . . . I thought I heard A faint harmony that enchants my sleep. And close to me radiates an identical murmur Of songs interrupted by a sad and tender voice. Ch. Brugnot - The Two Spirits » Écoute ! - Écoute ! - C'est moi, c'est Ondine qui frôle de ces gouttes d'eau les losanges sonores de ta fenêtre illuminée par les mornes rayons de la lune; et voici, en robe de moire, la dame châtelaine qui contemple à son balcon la belle nuit étoilée et le beau lac endormi. "Listen! - Listen! - It is I, it is Ondine who brushes drops of water on the resonant panes of your windows lit by the gloomy rays of the moon; and here in gown of watered silk, the mistress of the chateau gazes from her balcony on the beautiful starry night and the beautiful sleeping lake. » Chaque flot est un ondin qui nage dans le courant, chaque courant est un sentier qui serpente vers mon palais, et mon palais est bâti fluide, au fond du lac, dans le triangle du feu, de la terre et de l'air. "Each wave is a water sprite who swims in the stream, each stream is a footpath that winds towards my palace, and my palace is a fluid structure, at the bottom of the lake, in a triangle of fire, of earth and of air. » Écoute ! - Écoute ! - Mon père bat l'eau coassante d'une branche d'aulne verte, et mes sœurs caressent de leurs bras d'écume les fraîches îles d'herbes, de nénuphars et de glaîeuls, ou se moquent du saule caduc et barbu qui pêche à la ligne. » "Listen! - Listen! - My father whips the croaking water with a branch of a green alder tree, and my sisters caress with their arms of foam the cool islands of herbs, of water lilies, and of corn flowers, or laugh at the decrepit and bearded willow who fishes at the line." Sa chanson murmurée, elle me supplia de recevoir son anneau à mon doigt, pour être l'époux d'une Ondine, et de visiter avec elle son palais, pour être le roi des lacs. Her song murmured, she beseeched me to accept her ring on my finger, to be the husband of an Ondine, and to visit her in her palace and be king of the lakes. Et comme je lui répondais que j'aimais une mortelle, boudeuse et dépitée, elle pleura quelques larmes, poussa un éclat de rire, et s'évanouit en giboulées qui ruisselèrent blanches le long de mes vitraux bleus. And as I was replying to her that I loved a mortal, sullen and spiteful, she wept some tears, uttered a burst of laughter, and vanished in a shower that streamed white down the length of my blue stained glass windows. Le Gibet Que vois-je remuer autour de ce Gibet? - Faust. What do I see stirring around that gibbet? - Faust. Ah! ce que j'entends, serait-ce la bise nocturne qui glapit, ou le pendu qui pousse un soupir sur la fourche patibulaire? Ah! that which I hear, was it the north wind that screeches in the night, or the hanged one who utters a sigh on the fork of the gibbet? Serait-ce quelque grillon qui chante tapi dans la mousse et le lierre stérile dont par pitié se chausse le bois? Was it some cricket who sings lurking in the moss and the sterile ivy, which out of pity covers the floor of the forest? Serait-ce quelque mouche en chasse sonnant du cor autour de ces oreilles sourdes à la fanfare des hallali? Was it some fly in chase sounding the horn around those ears deaf to the fanfare of the halloos? Serait-ce quelque escarbot qui cueille en son vol inégal un cheveu sanglant à son crâne chauve? Was it some scarab beetle who gathers in his uneven flight a bloody hair from his bald skull? Ou bien serait-ce quelque araignée qui brode une demi-aune de mousseline pour cravate à ce col étranglé? Or then, was it some spider who embroiders a half-measure of muslin for a tie on this strangled neck? C'est la cloche qui tinte aux murs d'une ville sous l'horizon, et la carcasse d'un pendu que rougit le soleil couchant. It is the bell that tolls from the walls of a city, under the horizon, and the corpse of the hanged one that is reddened by the setting sun. Scarbo Il regarda sous le lit, dans la cheminée, dans le bahut; - personne. Il ne put comprendre par où il s'était introduit, par où il s'était évadé. Hoffmann. - Contes nocturnes He looked under the bed, in the chimney, in the cupboard; - nobody. He could not understand how he got in, or how he escaped. Hoffmann. - Nocturnal Tales Oh! que de fois je l'ai entendu et vu, Scarbo, lorsqu'à minuit la lune brille dans le ciel comme un écu d'argent sur une bannière d'azur semée d'abeilles d'or! Oh! how often have I heard and seen him, Scarbo, when at midnight the moon glitters in the sky like a silver shield on an azure banner strewn with golden bees. Que de fois j'ai entendu bourdonner son rire dans l'ombre de mon alcôve, et grincer son ongle sur la soie des courtines de mon lit! How often have I heard his laughter buzz in the shadow of my alcove, and his fingernail grate on the silk of the curtains of my bed! Que de fois je l'ai vu descendre du plancher, pirouetter sur un pied et rouler par la chambre comme le fuseau tombé de la quenouille d'une sorcière! How often have I seen him alight on the floor, pirouette on one foot and roll through the room like the spindle fallen from the wand of a sorceress! Le croyais-je alors évanoui? le nain grandissait entre la lune et moi comme le clocher d'une cathédrale gothique, un grelot d'or en branle à son bonnet pointu! Did I think him vanished then? the dwarf appeared to stretch between the moon and myself like the steeple of a gothic cathedral, a golden bell wobbling on his pointed cap! Mais bientôt son corps bleuissait, diaphane comme la cire d'une bougie, son visage blêmissait comme la cire d'un lumignon, - et soudain il s'éteignait. But soon his body developed a bluish tint, translucent like the wax of a candle, his face blanched like melting wax - and suddenly his light went out.
Obviously, someone has reached out with their soul... to the genius of Maurice Ravel. You've dared to walk the streets at night. The truth is self-evident. You have the IN - Sight... now. Congratulations.
Felicitaciones! Al extraordinario pianista Lucas Debargue por su magnífica interpretación de esta maravillosa y compleja obra maestra de Maurice Ravel. El pianista ejecuta a Gaspar de la Noche con una excelente y depurada técnica. Bendiciones! Desde México.
Not only is the ability to play amazingly there, but to me it’s equally impressive to be able to play a piece that’s this long and this intricate without any sheet music at all. I simply wouldn’t be able to remember it all!
Pieces, especially advanced, commit themselves to memory just from the sheer number of hours the pianist spends practicing it. This has always been the case in my 23 years of playing, and I know I speak for many if not most pianists
I really enjoyed your performance your performance and your expressions are exactly fits to the piece I have seen many pianists performing with showoff techniques but you actually maintained your expressions to control the dynamics too... 👏👏👏👏
the point is not to know whether you prefer Debargue or Pogorelich; it is to know whether what you hear is taking you and moving you, or not. When you listen to this, you cannot listen to Pogorelich's interpretation at the same time, therefore that comparison is pointless, isn't it ?
Pogorelich's is a little heavy-handed to my taste, like a gothic church that stands in the dense water. Debargue's is like some fleeting vapors above water that's unpredictable and evasive.
The point is that something moving you is not a binary. It's not that something moves you or not ; there are different levels of being "moved", and you can be moved more by one interpretation than the other. I don't really see any problem with that.
What? WHAT?? Fresh phrasing? You don't realize, apparently, that first of all, the tempo is ludicrously 'off', and secondly, that the famous passage in 2nd's is horrendously DESTROYED here. Of the dozens of 'Scarbos' I've heard through the years, this has to rank as perhaps the most unrepresentative of what Ravel intended.
@@richardvolpe7664 Yes! YES!!!! - Feel free to have your opinion! But don't be offensive! Great that you know many recordings. But have you played it? Did you try to find your own interpretation exactly because of the many recordings that exist? Give me a link to your very own recording!
Of course I"ve performed it, and having heard 'dozens of Scarbos doesn't mean they all were recordings; many were 'live' performances. And I wasm't being offensive; merely observant, for heaven's sake! Vlado Permulter, who studied with Ravel, said that the composer wanted Scarbo to be played at the tempo of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream overture (maybe you've heard of it?). and believe me, Lucas' tempo, besides being miles away from that of the overture, is so frenzied as to render many sections downright ugly. The part with consecutive 'seconds', for example is practically unrecognizable, utterly devoid of any sense of mystery or 'scary' effect. I'm sorry not to have an official recording of my performances, but if I did, I dare say that my interpretations would be closer to what Ravel had in mind.
@@richardvolpe7664 Writing "you don't realise, apparently..." is indeed offensive. And your tone in general is rather absurd. Have your opinion, discuss it in a civilised manner, leave others their opinion, and only then I will take you seriously.
If the phrase "You don't realize, apparently" is offensive, I would think this is only mildly so, compared to many other things I could've said with my 'absurd' tone.@@RobertWildling Incidentally, in contrast to my negative remarks regarding Lucas' traversal of Scarbo, I must say that his Ondine is ravishingly beautiful, quite possibly the best I've ever heard. Pity, then, that Lucas, like so many pianists, succumbed to the temptation of torpedoing his way through all of Scarbo, thereby losing the fantastical effects that the piece offers. This COULD have been an unforgettable performance, but as a result of such a heavy-handed, battle-strewn approach, this interpretation is best erased from memory.
It's cool how he came out dressed as casually as he was. What'd be really cool is if he'd come out in a wife beater, cut-offs and flip flops, and rest his cold beer on top of the Steinway. Now that'd be a performance everyone would take home with them!
Fascinating watch. Debargue's Scarlatti is already a modern classic. This recording is a very good one (considering the incredible difficulty of this opus); most interesting to see hands on the glissandi within Ondine (most of which can be accomplished with a single finger, with pedal) - I did not realise this before. But there are no tricks for Scarbo!
Actually, the repeated notes in the beginning of Scarbo are incredibly difficult, especially with one finger like DeBaruge does. All the pianists I see do it with 2.
Having performed Gaspard several times, I never felt the need to use only one finger for the repeated notes. What would be the point, when "changing" fingers (1-2-1-2-etc. as one possibility) renders it effortless, and with no difference in 'effect'. @@ThePainist
![Ravel-Gaspard de la Nuit-[Seong-jin Cho]✨](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/F61Zb9zIP-4/mqdefault.jpg)
0:17 - Ondine
6:17 - Le Gibet
12:45 - Scarbo
I find it fascinating how camera men/editors for classical piano concerts have this special talent to focus on the pianists faces in the most chalenging moments of a piece when one actually would love to see the hands.
Exactly! 🤣🤣🤣
Agreed. A fixed camera is the best way to film a pianist.
the fact that this man used to be a casual cashier at a random supermarket just warmed me
I've never heard Ondine played so "smoothly" before, there's something almost "glassine" about that performance; and it was most gorgeous. Indeed, it seems to me that this whole performance is simply superlative. I've heard these pieces many times over by a great many pianists, and it must be said that this one seems to me the most persuasive. Congratulations to Mr. Debargue.
The performance by Benjamin Grosvenor is also superb, don't no which one I like best.
I meant "don't know"😀
sur le plan émotionnel, la prestation de Kate Liu adolescente est également exceptionnelle
I don't know what it is...but I agree with you. I'm really attracted to his playing of this. Other performances don't to capture it the same way for me. Guess that's what's cool about having so many different performers out there.
Thanks for passing along Ben’s performance. I’d never heard of him. Fell down a happy little UA-cam rabbit hole.
I think I’d also have a hard time choosing between the two. Today I like Ben’s Ondine a bit more. Maybe just the mood I’m in.
What a world. So many great performers sharing gifts.
He was only awarded the 4th Prize in the Tchaikovsky but he's now miles ahead of all the competitors in terms of his achievements.
I had Gaspard de la Nuit on repeat in my car when my father had a stroke and three days later passed away. The song and his death will forever be linked in my mind but in a beautiful way. I love this interpretation, and I love the emotion Lucas plays it with.
I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry for death.
k
Ricardo Doblezeta: The River keeps moving into the Sea, and our life cannot resist the constant(?) wave of time. Pack your emotions and memories up, and keep walking through the dark tunnel, to the light.
@@yingsha5758 just a missing droplet that went back home to surf again the crest of the waves of the ever eternal ocean!
@@cucuca7281 this is honestly the coolest thing i have ever seen written
Unbelievable virtuosity and sound shaping imagination ! 😍🤩
That Scarbo is absurdly good
You mean absurdly fast! Ravel never meant this piece to be played at such a frenzied (almost comical!) tempo. This sounds as though he had lessons with the one-and-only Khatia Buniatishvili.
@@richardvolpe7664Absolutely agree. Why do people play this at a breakneck pace?
@@richardvolpe7664 ravel also meant this as satire of romanticism. I guess from that POV I agree with you it could be played a bit slower actually to be more obnoxious. if you asked a non pianist to mimic playing something difficult on the piano and just start playing - it's structure and form would somewhat resemble this, it's a bit uncanny almost how disordered it is without being disordered. the point is, I don't think ravel would have cared - the point is, indeed it is comical, and as satire it should be farcical.
Definitive performance of this work. Unparalleled understanding of melody, texture, and narrative. Just astounding.
Never heard the entire Gaspard de La Nuit of such a whole. Always wanted to. Never imagined it would be played with such scandalous magicianship and that we would be alive to hear this!
A truly creative, incessantly shocking and tasteful pianist, this is one hell of a musician. Don’t ever miss a chance to witness this unbridled talent!
I don't know if there is such a thing as "unbridled talent", but I'll tell you what IS unbridled here: His perverse choice of tempo in Scarbo. After magnificent interpretations of Ondine and le Gibet, he then wreaks total destruction on hapless Scarbo. The latter's atmosphere of terror and frightful agitation is is ruined by excessive speed to the point of rendering the music incomprehensible, even a bit silly-sounding. Contrary to what many performers believe, greatly increasing the tempo of certain works doesn't guarantee increased excitement. All the extra physical effort, but resulting only in chaos. Somehow, though, this speedy madness 'clicks' with lots of listeners who are galvanized by observing the wild, blurry keyboard 'activity'.
It can be said, then, that this pianist's Gaspard is superb. (The first and second movements, that is).
That was absurdly good
Sir..at 81 years of age ....You perform it better than anyone I've ever heard in all my years. It defies competition ! Merci mil fois!
He is 81??!
One of the best Scarbos I've ever heard. Bravo
Scarbo???
@@jobraus I mean the rest is also very good
@@kaspianocz6330 I think this person was asking what is scarbo
@@jobraus The last movement
He literally misses the third note.
The best interpretation I've ever seen. I love Gaspard de la Nuit so much, and this version is incredible. I can't imagine how difficult it is to understand these pieces and to interprate them with so emotions... Lucas is an amazing pianist.
Simon my thoughts exactly he’s insane!
Have you seen Alexander Malofeev play this at China international music competition? Just a recommendation for you if you haven’t
@@szamashups2476 Alexander's performance of "Ondine" and "Scarbo" were very good indeed. Alas, me messed up rather badly on "Le Gibet," which many pianists believe is by far the simplest of the three pieces. He's a great pianist nonetheless.
@@szamashups2476 Just listened to it, it was great! I think I still prefer Lucas' sarbo though.
He's chosen the Path of the Master. Yeah, Lucas! Yeah, Gaspar! Wow! We shall see what tomorrow brings. My highest praise. moi.
The third "part" (song?) melted my brain. I didn't know the human brain could reach this level of coordination and emotional interpretation...
they’re called movements :)
It is called a movement for the record, also that third movement is called scarbo
Technically it would be called the third piece because it is a suite:) if it was a sonata or a symphony or something of that nature then they would be called movements. But yes I agree. This truly is an incredible feat of humanity!
@@tylerneilson7771 They are called movements, the language isn't that strict. Movement essentially just means a self contained 'part' of a wider musical composition.
@@edlyness4891 I would have to disagree. I have been chastised by professors and colleagues enough times to feel pretty confident about it haha! I believe Grove makes this distinction as well. It is quite a small detail to get caught up on though and most people probably don't care too much haha!
I follow Debargue since the Tchaikovsky Competition (when I saw him for the first time). His interpretations, mainly in french works, are remarkably out of common. His playing, with passion in every note, fantastic coordination, and absolutely control about each atmosphere in a single piece. I'm a brazilian cellist, but I like so much listening pieces from other instruments, to see the pure music, not only the technique features of my instrument. Nowadays, Debargue is on my top 10 of "young" musicians. Bravo!
Bruno Lima who else is in your top ten of young musicians? I would love to know more of such musical geniusses, to be able to lissen to them! :)
Bruno Lima m
P
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I've noticed his Liszt as being quite good as well
I do not think i am ready to be this attached to this piece its beautiful the more i hear it...
I can only imagine the ecstasy felt when you create such a beautiful and ethereal sound... just hearing it causes my heart to ride on the waves of emotion, it's almost hard to breathe it's so exciting. This performance is absolutely golden.
3:50 my favourite part
Mine too
yep. that's the bit that hooked me also. all of Ondine is indescribably beautiful.
broo that scarbo is soo good! he did it soo well!
one of the most ambitious, expressive, and well-realised scarbos.
Absolutely not
My god - - did you say EXPRESSIVE? You can't possibly be serious!
@@richardvolpe7664 bit of a dramatic response
@@richardvolpe7664 someone else might put up technical razzle dazzle and completely miss the point of storytelling. Debargue simply gets that aspect right. expressive does not equal "let me shove in all the technique possible." I believe a person can hear technical stuff and be into just that and think of that as expressive or they prefer a story being told in pictures, it's subjective debargue is the type of pianist that tells stories, not the story of technique for its own sake.
puting a commercial in le gibet is like throwing up in the middle of a 3* chef menu and then go on eating...
the playing is beautiful
Im REALLY likeing the second movement.. (Le Giblet)very Ravel..can really grow on you!
The overtone harmony at the end of Ondine is perfect.
THE best interpretation I have ever heard!! Even better than Pogorelich!!!
The best interpretation I'VE ever heard also, of Ondine, that is. It's played here with alluring, beatifully nuanced expressivity, but then, as most pianists do, he ruins Scarbo by trampling it into ashes with the usual chaotic whirlwind aggressiveness. Substantially increasing the speed of this phantasmagorical piece does nothing to enhance its excitement or its comprehensibility. This COULD'VE been a magical performance, given this pianist's technical and musical skills, but this go-for-the-kill approach simply doesn't serve the music. There's even a [gasp] FASTER and more unconvincing version of Scarbo out there - - his name is Malofeev. whose performance is so toxic in its awfulness that one shouldn't waste words in trying to describe it.
Poor Ravel! He would've been wise to indicate a metronome marking for Scarbo. Perhaps he never anticipated that virtuoso-minded pianists would be so tempted to "show their stuff" with this work.
he's one of the few ppl who cause standing ovations with this
I love the way it was filmed up close to show his fingers and also whole body shots. He puts his entire being into it. It was a captivating performance. It brought things to mind. Personal thoughts. I’m feeling it in my own body. So satisfying.
Never heard a better interpretation. Absolutely stunning performance
Ravel has such a specific sound, a lot of his compositions have some similar techniques and sounds which I love. He is one of my most favourite composers
This is an exceptionally wonderful performance and my introduction to this young man. Will definitely be looking for more work by him. I do want to point out that whoever the piano technician is deserves some praise as I do believe this is the best tuned and regulated piano I've heard
Mike Toia is a wizard of a piano tech! We love having him be apart of our concerts and recordings.
I always think of this piece as the embodiment of the wonders of our universes, big and small.
The most amazing thing is to play without any mistakes.
I think that Le Gibet is slightly underrated. You have to balance the emotion (and on a simpler lever, the rhythm) of the music which goes from quietly mournful to a climax of heart wrenching emotion with the consistency of and unwavering, unfeeling nature of the bell. Superbly executed for the entire suite!!
Merveilleuse interprétation d’un chef-d’œuvre qui , pour moi, le temps passant, s’impose comme le chef-d’œuvre des chef-d’œuvre. Ravel c’est l’éternel esprit d’enfance.
My favorite Gaspard de la Nuit
i bathe in your subtle sounds! I salute your sensitivity to the genius of Ravel! You are a truly a master! Merci mil foi maestro!
Ah Mr Debargue, comme vous ètes exceptionnel ! Comme vous magnifiez,comme vous sublimez,comme vous rendez justice a la musique de Ravel !
World-class
This is the best rendition! I’m speechless
I'm so glad debargue has found a career. He was absolutely the most interesting player in the Tchaikovsky that year by far.
Monsieur...us perform this composition better than any I know! You are a grande maitre!
Absolutely stunning. The amount of dedication it takes to play a piece like this can't be overstated. This man lives to achieve excellence. Bravo.
Amazing performance, my favorite of this piece.
Simply one of, say, five greatest pianists alive
Astonishing!!!!!
5:53 so satisfying to watch his hands dance on the keyboard
I'd say 5:15 is several times more entertaining
Excellent. Yeahhhhhhh. and... Wowwwwww. the gods are pleased. Thank you Lucas. You'll be working on this piece for years to come. Can you see it? So,,,,,,,,, make it yours. M.R. moi
Why haven't of heard of this chap before - Fantastic Performance
These are based on some fantastic poems:
Ondine
. . . . . . . . Je croyais entendre
Une vague harmonie enchanter mon sommeil,
Et près de moi s'épandre un murmure pareil
Aux chants entrecoupés d'une voix triste et tendre.
Ch. Brugnot. - Les deux Génies
. . . . . . . . I thought I heard
A faint harmony that enchants my sleep.
And close to me radiates an identical murmur
Of songs interrupted by a sad and tender voice.
Ch. Brugnot - The Two Spirits
» Écoute ! - Écoute ! - C'est moi, c'est Ondine qui frôle de ces gouttes d'eau les losanges sonores de ta fenêtre illuminée par les mornes rayons de la lune; et voici, en robe de moire, la dame châtelaine qui contemple à son balcon la belle nuit étoilée et le beau lac endormi. "Listen! - Listen! - It is I, it is Ondine who brushes drops of water on the resonant panes of your windows lit by the gloomy rays of the moon; and here in gown of watered silk, the mistress of the chateau gazes from her balcony on the beautiful starry night and the beautiful sleeping lake.
» Chaque flot est un ondin qui nage dans le courant, chaque courant est un sentier qui serpente vers mon palais, et mon palais est bâti fluide, au fond du lac, dans le triangle du feu, de la terre et de l'air. "Each wave is a water sprite who swims in the stream, each stream is a footpath that winds towards my palace, and my palace is a fluid structure, at the bottom of the lake, in a triangle of fire, of earth and of air.
» Écoute ! - Écoute ! - Mon père bat l'eau coassante d'une branche d'aulne verte, et mes sœurs caressent de leurs bras d'écume les fraîches îles d'herbes, de nénuphars et de glaîeuls, ou se moquent du saule caduc et barbu qui pêche à la ligne. » "Listen! - Listen! - My father whips the croaking water with a branch of a green alder tree, and my sisters caress with their arms of foam the cool islands of herbs, of water lilies, and of corn flowers, or laugh at the decrepit and bearded willow who fishes at the line."
Sa chanson murmurée, elle me supplia de recevoir son anneau à mon doigt, pour être l'époux d'une Ondine, et de visiter avec elle son palais, pour être le roi des lacs. Her song murmured, she beseeched me to accept her ring on my finger, to be the husband of an Ondine, and to visit her in her palace and be king of the lakes.
Et comme je lui répondais que j'aimais une mortelle, boudeuse et dépitée, elle pleura quelques larmes, poussa un éclat de rire, et s'évanouit en giboulées qui ruisselèrent blanches le long de mes vitraux bleus. And as I was replying to her that I loved a mortal, sullen and spiteful, she wept some tears, uttered a burst of laughter, and vanished in a shower that streamed white down the length of my blue stained glass windows.
Le Gibet
Que vois-je remuer autour de ce Gibet?
- Faust.
What do I see stirring around that gibbet?
- Faust.
Ah! ce que j'entends, serait-ce la bise nocturne qui glapit, ou le pendu qui pousse un soupir sur la fourche patibulaire? Ah! that which I hear, was it the north wind that screeches in the night, or the hanged one who utters a sigh on the fork of the gibbet?
Serait-ce quelque grillon qui chante tapi dans la mousse et le lierre stérile dont par pitié se chausse le bois? Was it some cricket who sings lurking in the moss and the sterile ivy, which out of pity covers the floor of the forest?
Serait-ce quelque mouche en chasse sonnant du cor autour de ces oreilles sourdes à la fanfare des hallali? Was it some fly in chase sounding the horn around those ears deaf to the fanfare of the halloos?
Serait-ce quelque escarbot qui cueille en son vol inégal un cheveu sanglant à son crâne chauve? Was it some scarab beetle who gathers in his uneven flight a bloody hair from his bald skull?
Ou bien serait-ce quelque araignée qui brode une demi-aune de mousseline pour cravate à ce col étranglé? Or then, was it some spider who embroiders a half-measure of muslin for a tie on this strangled neck?
C'est la cloche qui tinte aux murs d'une ville sous l'horizon, et la carcasse d'un pendu que rougit le soleil couchant. It is the bell that tolls from the walls of a city, under the horizon, and the corpse of the hanged one that is reddened by the setting sun.
Scarbo
Il regarda sous le lit, dans la cheminée, dans le bahut;
- personne. Il ne put comprendre par où il s'était
introduit, par où il s'était évadé.
Hoffmann. - Contes nocturnes
He looked under the bed, in the chimney,
in the cupboard; - nobody. He could not
understand how he got in, or how he escaped.
Hoffmann. - Nocturnal Tales
Oh! que de fois je l'ai entendu et vu, Scarbo, lorsqu'à minuit la lune brille dans le ciel comme un écu d'argent sur une bannière d'azur semée d'abeilles d'or! Oh! how often have I heard and seen him, Scarbo, when at midnight the moon glitters in the sky like a silver shield on an azure banner strewn with golden bees.
Que de fois j'ai entendu bourdonner son rire dans l'ombre de mon alcôve, et grincer son ongle sur la soie des courtines de mon lit! How often have I heard his laughter buzz in the shadow of my alcove, and his fingernail grate on the silk of the curtains of my bed!
Que de fois je l'ai vu descendre du plancher, pirouetter sur un pied et rouler par la chambre comme le fuseau tombé de la quenouille d'une sorcière! How often have I seen him alight on the floor, pirouette on one foot and roll through the room like the spindle fallen from the wand of a sorceress!
Le croyais-je alors évanoui? le nain grandissait entre la lune et moi comme le clocher d'une cathédrale gothique, un grelot d'or en branle à son bonnet pointu! Did I think him vanished then? the dwarf appeared to stretch between the moon and myself like the steeple of a gothic cathedral, a golden bell wobbling on his pointed cap!
Mais bientôt son corps bleuissait, diaphane comme la cire d'une bougie, son visage blêmissait comme la cire d'un lumignon, - et soudain il s'éteignait. But soon his body developed a bluish tint, translucent like the wax of a candle, his face blanched like melting wax - and suddenly his light went out.
Wonderful
This is fantastic playing...absolutely ravishing!
je suis choqué, comment peut on jouer aussi bien?!
Why does the Chat Noir come to mind? And the absinth minded. Absinth.... Excellent divine Lucas. And thank you. Well done. moi
Obviously, someone has reached out with their soul... to the genius of Maurice Ravel. You've dared to walk the streets at night. The truth is self-evident. You have the IN - Sight... now. Congratulations.
Come again?
Bravissimo!
Amazing! Such tones! Such finesses!
truly beautifuly played
Просто блестяще!!
interprétation remarquable; quelle sensibilité ! Mr Debargue est un vrai artiste ; et Ravel, que peut-on dire.....que des "choses"magnifiques.
Excellent work ❤
Mind. Blown.
¡Maravilloso , impactante !!!!!
Fantasic! Fantabulous! I'm so happy to enjoy this excellent performance!
Excellent performance!
Felicitaciones! Al extraordinario pianista Lucas Debargue por su magnífica interpretación de esta maravillosa y compleja obra maestra de Maurice Ravel. El pianista ejecuta a Gaspar de la Noche con una excelente y depurada técnica. Bendiciones! Desde México.
와 음색이며 표현력이며..진짜 잘친다ㅋㅋㅋ
Astonishing!
Not only is the ability to play amazingly there, but to me it’s equally impressive to be able to play a piece that’s this long and this intricate without any sheet music at all. I simply wouldn’t be able to remember it all!
@Lucas that's true, but it doesn't make this performance any less impressive :))
For me, this one is equally as good as Pogorelich's
@Lucas for me, listening to a piece helps a lot too haha
@Lucas me neither! And it's such a shame because who doesn't want to play a difficult piece perfectly?
Pieces, especially advanced, commit themselves to memory just from the sheer number of hours the pianist spends practicing it. This has always been the case in my 23 years of playing, and I know I speak for many if not most pianists
Wonderful performance of this demanding work.
Brilliant!
J'ai les avant bras qui saignent de compassion!
Video of privilege!
Truly unique!
Congrats 🎉👏
Excellent rendition.
Very nice. I like to see piano players like that. Excellent work.
Maravilloso!!!! Te felicito!!!
I really enjoyed your performance your performance and your expressions are exactly fits to the piece I have seen many pianists performing with showoff techniques but you actually maintained your expressions to control the dynamics too... 👏👏👏👏
Amazing performence
So sensitive and expressive. So much emphasis of the melody and downplaying of the technique. Thank you Lucas!
the point is not to know whether you prefer Debargue or Pogorelich; it is to know whether what you hear is taking you and moving you, or not. When you listen to this, you cannot listen to Pogorelich's interpretation at the same time, therefore that comparison is pointless, isn't it ?
Thanks!
Pogorelich's is a little heavy-handed to my taste, like a gothic church that stands in the dense water. Debargue's is like some fleeting vapors above water that's unpredictable and evasive.
The point is that something moving you is not a binary. It's not that something moves you or not ; there are different levels of being "moved", and you can be moved more by one interpretation than the other. I don't really see any problem with that.
Very remarkable
Beautiful!!
Some very impressive moments and interpretations! bravo
Wow......just Wow
Bravissimo
I get finger cramps just looking at the score!
Maravilhoso
His playing reminds me of a young Pogorelich. Wonderful artist.
the rubatos!!! freaking awesome interpretation '
Rubatos - - phrasings - - dynamics. Are these terms really understood by most commenters?
Wow! Fantastique!!! I like the different approach to the motives in Scarbo as well as the "fresh" phrasing (like in the passage with all the seconds)
What? WHAT?? Fresh phrasing? You don't realize, apparently, that first of all, the tempo is ludicrously 'off', and secondly, that the famous passage in 2nd's is horrendously DESTROYED here. Of the dozens of 'Scarbos' I've heard through the years, this has to rank as perhaps the most unrepresentative of what Ravel intended.
@@richardvolpe7664 Yes! YES!!!! - Feel free to have your opinion! But don't be offensive! Great that you know many recordings. But have you played it? Did you try to find your own interpretation exactly because of the many recordings that exist? Give me a link to your very own recording!
Of course I"ve performed it, and having heard 'dozens of Scarbos doesn't mean they all were recordings; many were 'live' performances. And I wasm't being offensive; merely observant, for heaven's sake! Vlado Permulter, who studied with Ravel, said that the composer wanted Scarbo to be played at the tempo of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream overture (maybe you've heard of it?). and believe me, Lucas' tempo, besides being miles away from that of the overture, is so frenzied as to render many sections downright ugly. The part with consecutive 'seconds', for example is practically unrecognizable, utterly devoid of any sense of mystery or 'scary' effect. I'm sorry not to have an official recording of my performances, but if I did, I dare say that my interpretations would be closer to what Ravel had in mind.
@@richardvolpe7664 Writing "you don't realise, apparently..." is indeed offensive. And your tone in general is rather absurd. Have your opinion, discuss it in a civilised manner, leave others their opinion, and only then I will take you seriously.
If the phrase "You don't realize, apparently" is offensive, I would think this is only mildly so, compared to many other things I could've said with my 'absurd' tone.@@RobertWildling
Incidentally, in contrast to my negative remarks regarding Lucas' traversal of Scarbo, I must say that his Ondine is ravishingly beautiful, quite possibly the best I've ever heard. Pity, then, that Lucas, like so many pianists, succumbed to the temptation of torpedoing his way through all of Scarbo, thereby losing the fantastical effects that the piece offers. This COULD have been an unforgettable performance, but as a result of such a heavy-handed, battle-strewn approach, this interpretation is best erased from memory.
Great! Technically and concering interpretation.
Bravo!
Dang... that voicing and technique
It's cool how he came out dressed as casually as he was. What'd be really cool is if he'd come out in a wife beater, cut-offs and flip flops, and rest his cold beer on top of the Steinway. Now that'd be a performance everyone would take home with them!
16:05 I wondered if his mouth vibrates faster or his hands lol
Muy bueno!!!!
8:49 is the best thing Ive ever Heart
This composition is actually "L'Ousieu Trieste" ....which is so fabulous!
*Oiseaux tristes
Fascinating watch. Debargue's Scarlatti is already a modern classic. This recording is a very good one (considering the incredible difficulty of this opus); most interesting to see hands on the glissandi within Ondine (most of which can be accomplished with a single finger, with pedal) - I did not realise this before. But there are no tricks for Scarbo!
Actually, the repeated notes in the beginning of Scarbo are incredibly difficult, especially with one finger like DeBaruge does. All the pianists I see do it with 2.
There's nothing "incredibly difficult" about those repeated notes. Nothing at all.@@ThePainist
@@richardvolpe7664 Send a video of you playing it with one finger at that speed and then I'll believe you
Having performed Gaspard several times, I never felt the need to use only one finger for the repeated notes. What would be the point, when "changing" fingers (1-2-1-2-etc. as one possibility) renders it effortless, and with no difference in 'effect'. @@ThePainist
@@richardvolpe7664 My point is that it is much harder to do it with one finger than with 2, even 2 isn't super easy but its pretty well manageable.
This should be
The hardest song to play in the world.
Terrible comment
20:05 oh my god!! That climax!?