When I was 16 (45 years ago, lol) and living in Chicago, I had a crush on a girl who liked to play classical music. I heard a "big pianist" was coming to town so bought two "stage" tickets since the rest were sold out, asked her out, but was rejected, so went with my dad. Turns out the "stage" tickets were for seats on the actual stage, and the "big pianist" was none other than Vladimir Horowitz. In the first half he played Clementi and Schumann and for the second half, ended it with his rendition of the Mephisto Waltz. I will never forget it...the last notes, he just ran his hands down the piano in opposite directions and ended up in a crucifix-type position before looking up. The crowd went nuts...we were all on our feet--except for this elderly lady who was sitting next to me, didn't stand, and was kind of scowling. I then asked her what was "wrong" or if she needed a hand to stand up. She replied "No, I'll sit. He plays it much better at home." When Horowitz turned to acknowledge the group of us on stage, he saw me whispering with his wife and sort of threw me a little smile...like "Yeah, I know"...he then went on to play 6 or 7 encores. Anyway, that was my very first taste of "real" classical piano, and though I never learned to play, became a huge classical piano addict ever since that day (and eventually all classical in general). I really don't need to see the whole slew of others playing the Mephisto Waltz to know my absolute favorite (though it is cool to hear different interpretations)...that first time with Horowitz driving the keys was IMO absolutely definitive, and can still hear every note in my mind today (and yes, it was much better than the recording he released of it afterward).

@duartevader2709

6 ай бұрын

Im so jealous, wish i was there, going to a horowitz concert where he plays this, man, i have more than one kidney, its worth it selling

@charliegold3227

5 ай бұрын

Im honest: that’s one of the best stories I’ve ever heard.

@yazuky3453

2 ай бұрын

bro this story was so fun to read, im so jealous but at the same time im happy you got to experience that!

@user-jz4fl1hh1u

5 күн бұрын

Wow

Lim makes it sound so easy it's just unfair for the rest of the world.

the contrast of Sultanov's playing is just amazing WOW genius

@Neo_867

6 ай бұрын

Yes, I think the piece should be played exactly like that, but unfortunately, apart from Sultanov, there are not many people who adjust the contrast like that

Lugansky, Sultanov, and Lim 👌

Horowitz jumpscare

@Pianoman_B

2 ай бұрын

😅

Only Nicolas Economou nails that piece in every detail.

@Pianoman_B

2 ай бұрын

Was looking for this comment.

Yunchan Lim... wow! The speed, accuracy, and articulation!! I also vote, Stephen Hough. (Though not sure there is a Live video. His early recording... and seeing him live playing a 'Halloween' concert. (In the late 90s)

When Alexis Sultanov won the Cliburn Competition in 1989, he played this piece and broke a string! he was so powerful!! Like a shooting star he fizzed out because of his terrible Neurological condition!.

@marksmith3947

Жыл бұрын

He had familial hypertension. His diastolic pressure was insanely high. He knew he would die young

@mariapap8962

Жыл бұрын

His untimely death was such a huge loss for the pianistic world.

@mariapap8962

Жыл бұрын

​@@marksmith3947😢

I'm honestly quite disappointed that Cyprien Katsaris' recording of Mephisto Waltz isn't on this list. I'd heard most of these recordings of the piece, and when I heard Cyprien's... I was dumbfounded. He makes this part of the piece sound like it's a warmup. It's flawless, more speed than anyone on this list, has an incredibly clean tone, etc. Cyprien is sadly very underrated in my opinion. He takes what many of these pianists tried to do, and did it with little to no effort.

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think he has a live recording. There is a live video of him performing an arrangement with orchestra and then there his phenomenal studio recording which is what I assume you are talking about. I don’t include studio recordings on these lists for obvious reasons but I’m sure with his abilities he could reproduce it in a live setting

@mariapap8962

Жыл бұрын

I agree that Katsaris is well underrated, but so in the late Nicholas Economou, also a Cypriot pianist, who has a phenomenal performance of the Mephisto on Loft music.Dmitry Shishkin's version is amongst the very top ones, as well.

it suddenly struck me as extremely amusing - humans love to play the same pieces for piano, millions and millions of times over, but we (succeed or not) mostly all have fun trying to do it, obsessing over it, losing sleep and hair over it, drive ourselves half crazy over it, but we love it.

Horowitz scared the shit out of me 😭

For me, Horowitz, Pogorelich and Sultanov. No wonder, three nuts.

My favorites are Gryaznov, Lugansky, Sultanov, and Lim

Lugansky, Matsuev, Debarque, and Yunchan Lim: Jaw drop. Richter and Lewenthal: Bull in a china shop. Just kidding. I adore Richter. :) Trifonov: I'm not his fan, but despite a couple of slips, his leggierissimo was insane. "Leggiero" makes it more difficult. Ashkenazy: Jesus take the wheel. Pogorelich: Very good for his post-retirement era. Also... "I don't know what 'leggiero' means." Horowitz: He's a legend in every way, but this piece was far from ready.

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

Horowitz’s entire performance of Mephisto to me is pure camp hahaha

@remsan03

Жыл бұрын

@@ArgerichStan Haha. "Pure camp"? Now, I've got to check it out.

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

@@remsan03 yes it is the kind of performance that is, objectively, really not great but I cannot deny that if I was there in the hall, I absolutely would be entertained!

@remsan03

Жыл бұрын

@@ArgerichStan Interesting. A lot of people did say that watching Horowitz live was thrilling to say the least. In his prime up to his 60s, he pushed beyond what is seemingly the limit of himself. Case in point is his Carmen Variations, or Scriabin etude, or Prok's Toccata performance. It was full of pyrotechnics. It may not be as pristine and as clean as Kissin's, but boy, it took your breath away. He was so charismatic.

@danielwilkins6302

Жыл бұрын

So tired of boomers making apologies for Horowitz. Yes, at a time he was legendary. But people refuse to acknowledge that he went way downhill in the end.

I absolutely love this !!!!!!!!

Tiempo, Lugansky, Richter, Ashkenazy, Matsuez, Nojima & Yunchan’s performances are outstanding. Especially Ashkenazy makes my jar drop.

John Ogdon's 1976 Moscow recital is the best Mephisto 1 I've ever heard - it's online somewhere. There's also an amusing bit where his glasses are slipping off so he promptly pushes them back on before the double glissando.

Man, I love Trifonov's playing, but he is the reason why Couperin suggested that keyboard students look at their faces in a mirror while they play.

@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648

Жыл бұрын

It's not enough that they can tickle the ivories well, they have to project a personal presence to a camera today. Trifonov goes wild with passion in his face and WHO SHOULD CARE? And the overall passion doesn't just come out in a few tricky measures. He is the shark from Jaws, ready to devour the piano. In an earlier concert giving age without that merciless camera, he'd have gotten nothing but salutes. I wonder if Chopin sometimes looked like this? Or where Chopin would be if he had flourished in an age with film, if not video cameras? Lugansky is one of the crispest and cleanest, I believe. He is that way on many pieces. And he does it without a lot of muss or fuss.

@pianoredux7516

Жыл бұрын

For me Trifonov's clownish mugging, nervous tic, pianistic tourette's, whatever it is, unconscious or conscious, is a disgrace. It fatally detracts and distracts from whatever he plays good or bad. There's no excuse for a putative artist making those faces in public, certainly not the excuse of "divine madness". He belongs either in the circus or on a shrink's couch.

@timesfire

Жыл бұрын

😂😂😂

@DomFileoreum

7 ай бұрын

Did he say that in a book?

@mantictac

7 ай бұрын

@@DomFileoreum Yes I believe he said that in L'Art de toucher le clavecin

I have never heard of Gryaznov but his playing here was one of the best in my opinion, same goes for mr Nojima

@bloba6969

Жыл бұрын

he has a great italian polka arrangement

@mariapap8962

Жыл бұрын

He makes brilliant piano transcriptions,(apart from being an amazing pianist)

Lim = Legend ! Malofeev is ver elegant also

I believe Nicolas Economou has a live recording in video... and it is one hell of a recording, I dare to say.

Good ol’ Khatia. You can always count on her to blast her way through at maximum speed. Don’t understand why that always seems to be her focus. 😂

@TheRealChopin

6 ай бұрын

Has to be for the entertainment hm?

Nikolay Lugansky’s live in Japan 1991 is incredible

When I hear this I feel really good about my take on thèse leaps

Ashkenazy practically slowed down time to play those leaps that fast O_O

Best overall I feel was Yunchan Lim, followed by Lucas Debargue and Sergio Tiempo.

Everyone listens to the octave leaps in the right hand but ignores the left hand! Pianists (including me) tend to get paranoid about audible fluffs in the right hand, but then end up fluffing the left hand instead (or as well).

Gryaznov's devilish sound is my favorite

It’s Vladimir Horowitz.. you just don’t get it

Lazar Berman was probably my favorite out of all of these clips. I think most of the younger pianists just take it really fast and fake most of it... it doesn't hit quite the same.

6:05 its both interesting and enjoyable that cziffra "plays" with the rhythmic phrasing in this excrept

You should check out Valentina Lisista’s leaps! Among these you have here, my favorite is Sultanov.

Sultanov!!!!

I love Claudio Arrau's version! So stylish. Lazar Berman is my second choice.

My god Pogorelich makes it sound like ragtime

why is no one mentioning buniatishvili's playing

@mariapap8962

Жыл бұрын

Because it definitely isn't on the top of the list. There are pianists not even mentioned here that play this particular piece much better than Khatia.

@sneezy484

Ай бұрын

Because it’s awful

But don't forget the leaps in the LEFT HAND, some of which are greater than an octave!

I love how Lugansky makes it sound like Mendelssohn in seizure.

Lim!!!!

John Ogdon in Moscow is the best Mephisto ever captured live.

S Richter, D matzueve, G ohlsson, Y Lim. Stand out! I must admit Y c Lim has unbelievable clarity!!!

Some of these might have needed to reconsider having this in their repertoire?

Tiempo is my OG for this piece.

The only two I heard get all the notes correct were Ugansky and Malofeev.

You would never guess from some of these that this passage is marked p to begin with

Im really surprised that Dmitry Shishkin isn't on this list, imo he has the best Mephisto watlz, but other than him I'd have to say I like how clean Sultanov because of his more full sound.

I think Horowitz embodies the spirit of Mephistopheles the best

Great list, but I think it's a crime not to include Katsaris's and Grynyuk's interpretations. The way they both play the leaps is just wild!...

Gryaznov, Arrau, Cziffra and Sultanov made the Mephisto come to life. Now we are possessed.

Lubyantsev is missing!! He has the best performance of this part

Katsaris's version. Starts slower but the leaps (8'26) are super fast and clear. kzread.info/dash/bejne/gIh7lZOvhsTKZs4.html

BRUH- WHERE IS GIUSEPPE ANDALORO... HIS INTERPRETATION AND PERFORMANCE IS SO SATISFYING!

Yunchan Lim wins i guess🎉 But definitely there is amazing performance of Katsaris.

Richter ❤

My choice: Horowitz , Pogorelich, Sultanov, Cziffra. With 1 st prize for Vladimir Horowitz meaning it ain’t necessary to play faster to create urgency 😅

All of them are very impressive. To me, the ones that stand out are Trifonov, Lugansky, Nojima, Horowitz, and Sultanov. Trifonov, Lugansky, and Nojima because they play in such a dry way, which is refreshing after hearing lots of heavily pedaled versions. Horowitz is interesting because he plays so slowly, which completely changes the vibe from thrilling to menacing. And I’m a bit biased toward Sultanov, because he’s my teacher’s favorite pianist, but I still think his version is the most powerful and exciting of the lot-especially the rinforzandos!

@donna25871

Жыл бұрын

Teifonov has obvious incorrect notes all over the place.

@benharmonics

Жыл бұрын

@@donna25871 That's true. Lugansky is much cleaner.

I realized these 20th-century masters (ie. Horowitz, Rubinstein, Wild) didn't play them the cleanest or the fastest, probably like how the composers would have played them. These new pianists are just so good (technically speaking)

@imagod4796

10 ай бұрын

but they played it better than the "new" pianists

@snorefest1621

10 ай бұрын

better is subjective@@imagod4796

Can hear mistakes is quite a few of the recordings shown here, how ridiculously difficult to have to try to play it flawlessly though, especially if you were recording it in a studio for a new album or something, unless they can edit out mistakes of course, but live you’d expect some slips etc… yuja wang is very accurate with that speed though and I don’t hear any mistakes so she’s not human!

@mariapap8962

Жыл бұрын

Is there a recording of Yuja playing Mephisto?

I was really surprised at Horowitz's much slower and deliberate playing of this passage. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable to hear ALL the notes in the section. Too many of pianists overused the damper to cover their inability to play the correct notes at a much faster tempo.

I really like Pogorelich here

Should be said, that Yunchan was 16 in this recording. But also that it’s not a live recording of him.

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

It is a single camera take which for me counts as live.

For my money Sultanov, Gryaznov and Hough (not on this list) play this passage the best. The leaps themselves are not even the main difficulty, it's executing the intended effect of light/dark contrast within the leaps, and the aforementioned pianists did it best in my opinion.

I really like this piece, and was excited to find this video. But IMHO the audio track of this video has a problem, a kind of echo or some mixed up parts or something. Not during the full length, only at some parts, like at Horowtz. Or am I wrong?

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

Because it is only live recordings many of the original videos are very low quality to begin with!

There seems to be an arbitrary error in the selection of recordings. Matsuev is misspelled in the commentary.

waldstein third mvt. octave glissando different pianists next?

Andrè Laplante is the finest out of all these and for the whole piece in general. Should have been included in my opinion

It's interesting to listen back to back like this. Sadly, I have to say my favourite is Horowitz, he's original, his version is the embodiment of Mephisto. Most people play at a speed at which you don't actually hear the leap anymore, it just sounds as appoggiaturas. I respect how much Horowitz doesn't give a f*uck and just plays the way he wants.

Speaking of leaps, I'm thinking of the coda of a certain Schumann piece.

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

I also have a video on this!!

@NN-rn1oz

Жыл бұрын

@@ArgerichStan Ok I'll watch it. Thanks!

Где Плетнёв?

3:05 --> Leslie Nielsen

How can Horowitz sound like he is practicing at slow speed?

You can't put together live with studio recording performances.

This comparison doesn't seem to show Horowitz in a good light. May I put it to you, gentlemen of the jury that, in that choice of tempo, Horowitz was the only one who remembered the piece is a waltz?

3:55, who tf was that? Why’s he thumping out the bass like that?? 😂

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

It’s bizarre af but I kind of love it

Cziffra 1958 is missing...

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

Is that recording live?

A la mayoría le falta claridad...la versión de Horowitz es la única que tiene claridad, velocidad y explosión tonal

Where is dmitriy shishkin? _Katsaris_?

It may be of historical interest to note that in the early 1960s the peerless and short-lived piano connoisseur Jan Holcman, who had heard absolutely every performance up till then, was awed by Ashkenazy's traversal of this passage. Since then many pianists have adopted Ashkenazy's prestissimo approach. Before him, though, few if any attempted it. However, this approach can be overdone, as is the case with the Olympic gymnast Ms. Khatia B, who here as usual plays presto possibile ma non con musicalita.

Ashkenazy hands down, truly DEVILISH

Not including Andre Laplante is a criminal offence

@randompianistis4670

Жыл бұрын

Laplante’s version is not live

John Ogdon ?!?!?

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

I forgot about him! He played it in that famous Moscow recital live. It's quite stunning.

Andre Laplante's recording of the Mephisto Waltz without doubt is the greatest rendition of this piece... Even the Leap section holds substance, it's fast but not extremely fast where you can hear pianists rush.

1 Ashkenazy 2 Lewenthal 3 Gryaznov

Junchan Lim wins. Flawless victory 😎

@joeyblogsy

Жыл бұрын

Was that the last guy? Yeah it was very clean and convincing

@epicaunleashed8764

Жыл бұрын

Sultanov beats him by a mile

@Algorox

Жыл бұрын

​@@epicaunleashed8764 Sultanov's clarity is unparalleled.

@joshsima97

Жыл бұрын

@@Algorox also a lot slower though

@nss4472

Жыл бұрын

Malofeev not bad, eh!

Rubinstein's was quite unique with its use of pedal

Lugansky was great, he sounds very precise, crisp and leggiero, slightly more impressive than Trifonov. Nojima sounds great too. And Yunchan is amazing as well.

evgeni kissin

Of this video I like ashkenazy the best, my favorite is Cziffra but the recording in the video is quite mediocre

Richter of course. Only one.

Katsaris+orchestra>>>>>>>

My vote goes to Gryaznov

Malofeev wins this one by a landslide for me

When you play something as difficult as Mephisto Valts at such a fast speed it usually ends up dirty. It is better to go a little slower and make what you are playing understandable.

The best is Nicolas Economou, here not present.

1,4,6,7,8,18,22,24🎉😂

@nss4472

Жыл бұрын

And the 1st priiiiize goes tooooo... Lucas Debargue! 🎉🎉🎉😂

Pletnev’s live performances is hands down the best I’ve heard

No, this is not the most difficult section of the piece! The most difficult, technically (in terms of sound and articulation) and musically, is the only climax of the entire work that comes right after this section. Comparing performances of this section by so many pianists is utterly pointless. Horowitz plays safe, wisely (because of his age) in this section, but clearly stands out at the climax, making it a real, staggering climax like no one else.

kissin???

say waht you will about musicality and interpretation but in terms of technique, speed, accuracy, and dynamic, I'd say yunchan lim beat them (I thnk he's 16 lol).

@JeffKwak221

Ай бұрын

I listened to horowitz again and I think I feel liszt's silly mephisto prank symphonic poem transcription vibe from him the most

wtf was horowitz on

@ArgerichStan

Жыл бұрын

I want what he’s having

@Dan1099ilo

5 ай бұрын

he used to allow himself much freedom when it comes to liszt. take for example the hungarian rhapsody n 2, he did a complete revision of it and also wrote it down. but, yes, he very likely used drugs :)