Valentina Lisitsa - I totally believe in her

Back on topic

You are absolutely right. I heard her last year with Hilary Hahn, and was astonished. My reactions to that concert are posted somewhere else in this forum. The best younger pianist I've heard in years. She was such a hit, they're bringing her back with her husband Alexi Kuznetsoff; check out this program, which I have the honor of giving the pre-concert lecture for! 8)



VALENTINA LISITSA
ALEXI KUZNETSOFF

Petite Suite Claude Debussy
Fantasy in F Minor Robert Schubert
Two Hungarian Dances Johannes Brahms
INTERMISSION
Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79 Johannes Brahms
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op 106 "Hammerklavier" Ludwig van Beethoven


Robert Schubert, we don't have a composer page for him yet; he must be important....


BTW what's with you people? This forum has become quite horny....

 

:shock: :shock: Darn it all to heck!!! There goes my three year plan ... *sigh* .... now, who'm I gonna stalk and then blackmail into marriage????? Mon, it looks like you and me are back on! :lol:

I'm reminded of a Scripture: "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." 1 Cor 15:33

 

forum? pshh, look at how sexualized the world has become, unless, that is, you live in Saudi Arabia.

 

To go back on topic for a moment - I saw Valentina perform at the Bosendorfer salon in New York last fall. I guess she's been touring with the same program for a while. She played:
3 or 4 Rachmaninoff Etudes and Preludes (including THE etude)
Beethoven Appassionata
Rossini-Thalberg Fantasy
Liszt Totentanz

To be honest, it wasn't that good. The Rachmaninoff pieces were well played but nothing exceptional (and she played the A minor Etude way more safely than in her crazy Youtube video). The Beethoven was filled with wrong notes and fragmentary playing. The Thalberg had moments of impressive virtuosity, but I could tell she was still playing it safe in a lot of places, at the expense of the structure of the piece. Likewise with the Liszt, plus numerous missed notes. The Liszt was still impressive, because it's a crazy piece, but still, I wasn't satisfied with it. I talked with her after the performance, and she said it was very challenging playing on the piano, because it was a concert-size Bosendorfer (without the extra keys) and was thus very loud, in a salon of about 40 people. It seemed like these pieces were all new to her, and maybe she hadn't REALLY learned them fully by the time she performed at the Bosendorfer salon. With such a small venue I can see how you wouldn't take it as seriously as Carnegie Hall.

I still put her on my extended list of favorite pianists on the merits of her performance of Rachmaninoff Op. 39 No. 6, which I consider the best performance of the piece I've ever heard (better than the composer himself), but I think Valentina still may need a little more seasoning before she reaches her true potential.

 

And isn't it wonderful?