I was fortunate to have heard Byron Janis years ago in of all places Anchorage Alaska. Here was a musician who could perform anywhere and was of course in high demand. And yet he chose to perform there. I’ve never heard an artist perform like this since. And I’ve never heard Rachmaninoff the same since. Truly fortunate.
One of classical music's most overlooked - and forgotten- concert pianists. His playing of Rachmaninoff's concerti are astounding. His playing Rachmaninoff concerto #2 is without rival.
Music reviewer for Boston Globe, possessed of 40+ recordings of the Rach III, put Janis' collaboration with Munch & Boston Sym O at the top of the list, with Horowitz 2nd. It's glorious, hair rasiing, goose pimple raising. Getting to see the Great One here, those legendary fingers ... what a treat ... thanx so much.
Thank you so much for sharing the clip. Please keep this forever.. I don't know how many times I visited here and was always touched and healed.. His is such a precious soul with amazing techniques and his version of Rachmaninoff is a milestone for me like photos by Alfred Stieglitz.. I wish I could pay a visit to meet Byron Janis himself ..
The part where the piu mosso starts at 1:25 is really amazing, i've never seen someone play it so well accented. No rushing or bluffing, but this man shows real dedication here! 0:37 - This is how you Glissando :)
This is something from our past. Today, it is rarre to see this level of dedication to the art of performing and recording music. Today, most music is "manufactured" with emphasis on efficiency and sales. The music as displayed on this video is forever. Long may it live!
i came across this wonderfully talented man many years ago and have seen many different pianist play these beautiful concertos ,but this man has rachmaninoff blood running through his veins and should have had greater recognition
Possibly the greatest American pianist of the 20th century caught in one of his finest performances on video tape. Thrilling! Thank you for sharing this!
Byron was so great, what a pity he's not able to play works such as this one any more. Lucky for us we can enjoy the videos. Thank you for sharing, pianist 1430!
He is actually the only pianist to have played 3 full major concertos in one night, at a big event. That was in the Tchaikovsky conservatory, in Moscow, I think in 1973, where the audience cheered him for 40 minutes, and he also played the 3rd part of the 1st concerto by Tchaikovsky as an encore (without having rehearsed it with the orchestra beforehand), and the audience still didn't want to leave afterwards. He was the state's guest for this concert, too.
El fragmento entre 2:00 y 2:40 es excelente. Nadie toca hoy este fragmento de forma tan dulce, sensible y bella. Un Byron janis en un estado de forma magnífico. Gracias por subir este vídeo.
SUBLIME....Rachmaninoff at its very best...BRILLIANTLY PLAYED😊Mr.Janis had recently transitioned...we are indeed blessed to have such Videos of his amazing Inspirational Performances....
This stunning performance is available on the DVD series entitled 'Bell Telephone Hour'. Byron Janis will never be surpassed and is very rarely equalled in this repertoire.
Byron Janis is alive today and in his 80's. He suffers from psoriatic arthritis which put a damper on his career. I wish there were more video recordings on u-tube of his performances.
I AM SURPRISED NOBODY MENTIONED THE JANIS VERSION WITH DORATI. I ACCIDENTALLY BUMPED INTO IT AT MY HALL OF RESIDENCE MUSIC LIBRARY BACK IN 1978 : I COULD NOT TOP PLAYING IT!!!
Thanks for sharing! His Rachmaninov is excellent, beautiful performance! Unfortunately it's a "modification" of the score, but it's great anyway!.. And nobody seems to know the conductor and the orchestra... So many good people behind the soloist, and nobody knows them... It's so unfair...
The conductor is Charles Munch, so I assume the orchestra is the Boston Symphony. Munch was a much-loved, dynamic conductor. They recorded this concerto together, in stereo, for RCA in the mid 1950s - a great performance! My first hearing of this concerto in concert (when the Rachmaninoff Third was much more rarely performed) was, luckily, these two incredible musicians, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, at their summer concerts venue, The Robin Hood Dell. I have heard dozens of the finest pianists perform it since. None have outshone Byron Janis.
It appears I must correct myself in my statement above. A fan farther down states that this clip comes from a Bell Telephone Hour, and that the conductor is Donald Voorhees, who always conducted its own orchestra. Amazingly, Voorhees here, from behind, looks very much like the Charles Munch I saw conduct so long ago - the hair and big black glasses. That it was on the Bell Telephone Hour explains the cut in this Finale, for TV time, as well as the small orchestra, about half the size of the Boston Symphony. Apologies. But do grab the Janis/Munch/BSO, or the Dorati/Janis/LSO records. Better yet, get both. They were recorded at least five years apart, and are two of the greatest performances on record.
One of the best interpretations of Rachmaninoff. Janis remains in that cadre of greats, along with Horowitz and Bronfman. Only Trifonov surpasses Janis. Bur I still think Janis was at his best when playing the Rachmaninoff #2 . I still listen to his playing this most manic and soul searching concerto. Bravo Byron Janis.
Trifonov is an amazing pianist, but in no way does he surpass Janis! On what grounds do you make such a judgement? It's only your own, may I say, not so humble opinion.
Yeah, there are some 'odd' cuts here and there but there are also cuts in the 1958 recording he made with Charles Munch. His technique seems undiminished, though and the way he plays the fast descending passage at 9:28 is interesting. I think the soloist and the orchestra almost come apart near the end but many conductors find this difficult.......I think Chailly and Argerich get it best, even though Hough keeps the NHK (Hauschild) together by executing massive rallentandos near the end
Myrto, Other pianists have performed 3 or more concerti in one night. At his 1900 Berlin debut concert Godowsky performed the Emperor, the Tchaikovsky 1st, and the Brahms 2nd! And Jeanne Marie Darre perfomed all 5 Saint-Saens conecerti in a single concert! Dmitri Bashkirov has also performed 3 piano concerti several times in his career, and quite a few pianists who performed complete Beethoven PC cycles split them 1,2,3 during the first night, and 4,5 during the second.
Is that how this wonderful pianist's hands were crippled, by playing three concerti a night? A powerful stunt, but the hands can only take so much after a few years.
Rudolf Buchbinder played all five Beethovenˇs Concertos in one day (morning 1,2,3 and afternoon 4,5) on June 19, 2003 with Wiener Symphoniker and conducting them himself. Excellent performance!
Not a pianist myself, but lucky enough to have purchased his Rachmaninov #1 and Prokofiev Concerto 3 with Kondrashin and the Moscow Phil. One of my first recordings, and one of the best of all time. Only Rachmininov himself plays it better, and only Richter comes a close 3rd. Recorded in June 1962, in Moscow. Great recoding on Mercury records.
The conductor is Donald Voorhees and it's the Bell Telephone Hour orchestra. Voorhees was a marvelous conductor and a superb accompanist. It's a shame that his "crossover" radio and TV career has tended to obscure recognition of his outstanding musicianship. No wonder Horowitz liked him: for my taste Byron Janis, even with rheumatoid arthritis, is the greatest living Chopinist. Here his Rach 3 is, incomparably, both lyrical and demonic. He doesn't try to wow, and by not, wows in superplus.
The piece was most likely abbreviated for television. Also, recordings were abbreviated because you were very limited on space with a phonograph record (~30 minutes on an EP).
If this was the 60s, he would not have had arthritis yet, but--- at the age of 10, he severely cut the little finger of his left hand, and it went, and stayed, completely numb.
It looked as though he's trying to accommodate his playing to the orchestra as he's looking frequently at the conductor who barely looked in his direction in return. Shouldn't this be the other way around?
He had to shift a few times in his seat...I take it that it's a little difficult. It's a flashypiece but doesn't have the exquisite beauty of the 2nd concerto. Of course, I'll take it along with a Bentley 300 S Sports Coupe - red, white, or black, would be better than the beige - but I'll settle for the beige. I'm easy to please.
interesting.... he doesn't play it that way on the Janis-Dorati recording with the LSO. That was from 1961, I wonder when this clip is from? It feels rushed done this way.
![Yuja Wang: Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Op. 18 [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NsqXCO0ADwM/mqdefault.jpg)
RIP to one of the greats
To this day I've never heard any pianist who seems to say more with this piece than Byron Janis could.
I was fortunate to have heard Byron Janis years ago in of all places Anchorage Alaska. Here was a musician who could perform anywhere and was of course in high demand. And yet he chose to perform there.
I’ve never heard an artist perform like this since. And I’ve never heard Rachmaninoff the same since.
Truly fortunate.
One of classical music's most overlooked - and forgotten- concert pianists. His playing of Rachmaninoff's concerti are astounding. His playing Rachmaninoff concerto #2 is without rival.
Brilliant artist--one of the finest of the 20th century.
Didn't you use to give music lectures followed by a recital in the Chicago area?
@@tiktok_refugee_420 you are thinking of Jeffrey Siegel
RIP Maestro
Sadly, I just heard of him after his death. RIP
Why didn't we hear more of his career? This performance is as good as it gets.
We did
Music reviewer for Boston Globe, possessed of 40+ recordings of the Rach III, put Janis' collaboration with Munch & Boston Sym O at the top of the list, with Horowitz 2nd. It's glorious, hair rasiing, goose pimple raising. Getting to see the Great One here, those legendary fingers ... what a treat ... thanx so much.
Propably he didn’t hear Lugansky, Bronfman or Kissin.
Byron Janis with Dorati that tops all others
Thank you so much for sharing the clip. Please keep this forever.. I don't know how many times I visited here and was always touched and healed.. His is such a precious soul with amazing techniques and his version of Rachmaninoff is a milestone for me like photos by Alfred Stieglitz.. I wish I could pay a visit to meet Byron Janis himself ..
The part where the piu mosso starts at 1:25 is really amazing, i've never seen someone play it so well accented. No rushing or bluffing, but this man shows real dedication here!
0:37 - This is how you Glissando :)
Emiel Blom m
Thank you for the comments that explain things in, well, an unsnobby way 🤗
This is something from our past. Today, it is rarre to see this level of dedication to the art of performing and recording music. Today, most music is "manufactured" with emphasis on efficiency and sales. The music as displayed on this video is forever. Long may it live!
I don't know much about music, but l know what I like, and this brings tears to my eyes.
❤
i came across this wonderfully talented man many years ago and have seen many different pianist play these beautiful concertos ,but this man has rachmaninoff blood running through his veins and should have had greater recognition
Possibly the greatest American pianist of the 20th century caught in one of his finest performances on video tape. Thrilling! Thank you for sharing this!
Byron was so great, what a pity he's not able to play works such as this one any more.
Lucky for us we can enjoy the videos.
Thank you for sharing, pianist 1430!
He is actually the only pianist to have played 3 full major concertos in one night, at a big event. That was in the Tchaikovsky conservatory, in Moscow, I think in 1973, where the audience cheered him for 40 minutes, and he also played the 3rd part of the 1st concerto by Tchaikovsky as an encore (without having rehearsed it with the orchestra beforehand), and the audience still didn't want to leave afterwards. He was the state's guest for this concert, too.
no, Rubinstein,,also G.Sebok played aall 3 Bartoks
Now also Yuna Wang did that.
那是 1962 年
El fragmento entre 2:00 y 2:40 es excelente. Nadie toca hoy este fragmento de forma tan dulce, sensible y bella. Un Byron janis en un estado de forma magnífico. Gracias por subir este vídeo.
SUBLIME....Rachmaninoff at its very best...BRILLIANTLY PLAYED😊Mr.Janis had recently transitioned...we are indeed blessed to have such Videos of his amazing Inspirational Performances....
@ 9:28 I've never heard anyone play this passage like that. I love it!
wonderful....
never saw him filmed before only discs. tahnks for sharing!!!
This stunning performance is available on the DVD series entitled 'Bell Telephone Hour'. Byron Janis will never be surpassed and is very rarely equalled in this repertoire.
Thank you for the information! I purchased it!
Byron Janis is alive today and in his 80's. He suffers from psoriatic arthritis which put a damper on his career. I wish there were more video recordings on u-tube of his performances.
Sheer magic , drama and excitement, unparralleled!!!
I AM SURPRISED NOBODY MENTIONED THE JANIS VERSION WITH DORATI.
I ACCIDENTALLY BUMPED INTO IT AT MY HALL OF RESIDENCE MUSIC LIBRARY BACK IN 1978 : I COULD NOT TOP PLAYING IT!!!
Admirable, inspirant, magnifique artiste et pianiste. Une ode à la joie et à la vie malgré la maladie. Bravissimo.
Phenomenal technique. Amazing.
impeccable talented
Vraiment incroyable. Merci. merci, merci 🤩
Superb!
Adele Marcus was his primary teacher. What wonderful pianist he was!!
I did not except that at all at 9:27 interesting way of playing that measure(s)
Thanks for sharing! His Rachmaninov is excellent, beautiful performance! Unfortunately it's a "modification" of the score, but it's great anyway!.. And nobody seems to know the conductor and the orchestra... So many good people behind the soloist, and nobody knows them... It's so unfair...
The conductor is Charles Munch, so I assume the orchestra is the Boston Symphony. Munch was a much-loved, dynamic conductor. They recorded this concerto together, in stereo, for RCA in the mid 1950s - a great performance! My first hearing of this concerto in concert (when the Rachmaninoff Third was much more rarely performed) was, luckily, these two incredible musicians, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, at their summer concerts venue, The Robin Hood Dell. I have heard dozens of the finest pianists perform it since. None have outshone Byron Janis.
It appears I must correct myself in my statement above. A fan farther down states that this clip comes from a Bell Telephone Hour, and that the conductor is Donald Voorhees, who always conducted its own orchestra. Amazingly, Voorhees here, from behind, looks very much like the Charles Munch I saw conduct so long ago - the hair and big black glasses. That it was on the Bell Telephone Hour explains the cut in this Finale, for TV time, as well as the small orchestra, about half the size of the Boston Symphony. Apologies.
But do grab the Janis/Munch/BSO, or the Dorati/Janis/LSO records. Better yet, get both. They were recorded at least five years apart, and are two of the greatest performances on record.
Please read my self-correction, above.
Benditas. Manos. Catalina. Desde . Madrid. Besos
One of the best interpretations of Rachmaninoff. Janis remains in that cadre of greats, along with Horowitz and Bronfman. Only Trifonov surpasses Janis. Bur I still think Janis was at his best when playing the Rachmaninoff #2 . I still listen to his playing this most manic and soul searching concerto. Bravo Byron Janis.
Trifonov does not surpass Janis
@@byronjanisloverI agree. Trifonov is not even within bowing distance of Byron Janis.
Trifonov is an amazing pianist, but in no way does he surpass Janis!
On what grounds do you make such a judgement? It's only your own, may I say, not so humble opinion.
Yeah, there are some 'odd' cuts here and there but there are also cuts in the 1958 recording he made with Charles Munch. His technique seems undiminished, though and the way he plays the fast descending passage at 9:28 is interesting. I think the soloist and the orchestra almost come apart near the end but many conductors find this difficult.......I think Chailly and Argerich get it best, even though Hough keeps the NHK (Hauschild) together by executing massive rallentandos near the end
Myrto,
Other pianists have performed 3 or more concerti in one night.
At his 1900 Berlin debut concert Godowsky performed the
Emperor, the Tchaikovsky 1st, and the Brahms 2nd! And
Jeanne Marie Darre perfomed all 5 Saint-Saens conecerti
in a single concert! Dmitri Bashkirov has also performed 3
piano concerti several times in his career, and quite a few
pianists who performed complete Beethoven PC cycles
split them 1,2,3 during the first night, and 4,5 during the
second.
Is that how this wonderful pianist's hands were crippled, by playing three concerti a night? A powerful stunt, but the hands can only take so much after a few years.
No, Byron Janis developed arthritis.
Rudolf Buchbinder played all five Beethovenˇs Concertos in one day (morning 1,2,3 and afternoon 4,5)
on June 19, 2003 with Wiener Symphoniker and conducting them himself. Excellent performance!
Excelente versión, interpretado a la forma antigua como lo harían los grandes artistas de la época
que en Paz descanse. tuvo artritis y lo superó y siguio tocando después de intervención quirúrgica.
My goodness, sounds JUST like Horowitz!! Wow, what a master pianist.
4:08
Why miss the next, certain part of the movement?
❤
Not a pianist myself, but lucky enough to have purchased his Rachmaninov #1 and Prokofiev Concerto 3 with Kondrashin and the Moscow Phil. One of my first recordings, and one of the best of all time. Only Rachmininov himself plays it better, and only Richter comes a close 3rd. Recorded in June 1962, in Moscow. Great recoding on Mercury records.
totaly agree
As a pianist I can confirm that the recording you have purchased with Kondrashin and Janis is just fantastic.
The conductor is Donald Voorhees and it's the Bell Telephone Hour orchestra. Voorhees was a marvelous conductor and a superb accompanist. It's a shame that his "crossover" radio and TV career has tended to obscure recognition of his outstanding musicianship.
No wonder Horowitz liked him: for my taste Byron Janis, even with rheumatoid arthritis, is the greatest living Chopinist. Here his Rach 3 is, incomparably, both lyrical and demonic. He doesn't try to wow, and by not, wows in superplus.
The greatest performance of this Concerto, along with the tremendous traversal by Berndt Glemser.
And......more lyrical ...unaffected than his mentor😊 and ...n o less😮 pianistically awesome...devilish 😊
Gorgeous...authentic...Horowitz' greatest protégé 😊
The piece was most likely abbreviated for television. Also, recordings were abbreviated because you were very limited on space with a phonograph record (~30 minutes on an EP).
Rach himself made cuts in his recording of this concerto.
Es el yerno de Gary cooper?
He was taught by Vladimir Horowitz. He can do anything. ;)
Phew ! I am not a big fan of this concerto but... still.... that was breathtaking playing to put it mildly.
9:28 cool.
....the Orchestra.. which?... who is conducting????😮
If this was the 60s, he would not have had arthritis yet, but--- at the age of 10, he severely cut the little finger of his left hand, and it went, and stayed, completely numb.
Tension I don't see. Intensity, yes, but you simply can't play this work so fast and so cleanly with tension.
So he played this with arthritis… wow!
Sorry, I meant to write that Mr. Janis has psoriatic, not rheumatoid, arthritis.
The best at Rach 3 in my opinion, with Van Cliburn and Martha Argerich.
+Sylvain Frere // True, Janis owns this, but Ashkenazy does a fantastic job, too
Have you heard Lang Lang - Dutoit or Earl Wild - Horenstein ?
It looked as though he's trying to accommodate his playing to the orchestra as he's looking frequently at the conductor who barely looked in his direction in return. Shouldn't this be the other way around?
Imagine, if the piano was never invented…
Where could I find the whole concerto please?
He had to shift a few times in his seat...I take it that it's a little difficult. It's a flashypiece but doesn't have the exquisite beauty of the 2nd concerto. Of course, I'll take it along with a Bentley 300 S Sports Coupe - red, white, or black, would be better than the beige - but I'll settle for the beige. I'm easy to please.
Richard Grayson I
9:30 is different from all other pianists. But not better.
Yeah I don't don't know why he'd rush it except to be different.
interesting.... he doesn't play it that way on the Janis-Dorati recording with the LSO. That was from 1961, I wonder when this clip is from? It feels rushed done this way.
I think he took liberties in improvising that passage.. If I remember right, it's a chordal passage... But he plays it like a run on two hands..
:(
Very good but I find the Studio version by Janis-Munch sounds much better.
how does somebody with arthritis play this?!
chutdigadut He did not have it at that time. His illness began 1973