Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No.1 in G Minor, Op.25 (Thibaudet)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- A superb performance of Mendessohn’s incredible (read: all-round awesome, stupidly earwormish) first piano concerto. Mendelssohn has a (not incorrect) reputation as a classicist among the romantics, but this work demonstrates why that really should count as high praise. This piano concerto pulses with heady vigour and energy, and has that very rare Mozartean trait of having complete expressive ease. The first movement throbs with tension, with a beautifully lyrical second theme; the second movement, if it were written by Beethoven, would probably be called profound, moving, even spiritual; and the third movement is a breathlessly high-spirited, completely unpretentious expression of virtuoso exuberance that picks you up and never lets you off till the very end. And despite Mendelssohn not really having a reputation as a great innovator, this concerto’s engagement with form is surprisingly sophisticated: the exposition, development, and recapitulation in the first movement are modified for utmost conciseness (even people who find sonata form repetitive will find nothing repetitive in this movement); the second movement’s middle section is cunningly disguised as an ending-cadence of the first; and the ABABA rondo of the finale not only incorporates material from earlier movements with total naturalness (there is no sense of Mendelssohn doing structure for its own sake) or but develops both main themes cleverly at each return.
Thibaudet’s hyper-intense playing is a welcome change from the many (admittedly very good) recordings where this concerto is played brilliantly, but also treated as a bit of light entertainment: the con fuoco of the first movement has a white-hot intensity yet remains crystal clear, with real bite and drama; the second movement is melting; and the third is wonderfully fleet-footed and vivacious, with impressively delicate pianissimos (I find it hard to listen to it once without wanting to listen to it again). Neither is there anything timid about the accompaniment from the Gwendhausorchester Leipzig: their sound is uncompromising, full-bodied, and very detailed: listen to the opening of the rondo, for instance.
00:00 - Mvt 1, Molto allegro con fuoco
06:50 - Mvt 2, Andante
13:33 - Mvt 3, Presto*
MVT 1
EXPOSITION
00:00 - After a surprisingly short tutti, Theme (Group) 1 enters
01:45 - Theme 2, which is surprisingly free-ranging in key. At 2:46 Theme 1 interrupts, before Theme 2 returns at 2:57 with flowing semiquaver accompaniment
03:22 - Transition
DEVELOPMENT
03:47 - T.1 by orchestra, with piano accompaniment
04:05 - T.2
04:11 - T.2 diverted and compressed, with T.1 passingly in orchestra
RECAPITULATION
04:20 - Tutti, (T.1) now extended
04:44 - T.2
04:56 - T.2, in minor, with semiquaver accompaniment
05:02 - This sounds like it should lead to the ending, but…
05:27 - Extended pianistic pyrotechnics (based on T.1’s rhythm) lead into a statement of T.1 in LH, and then to the
CODA
05:40 - T.1 and then T.2 (minor, at 5:52) stated forcefully by the orchestra
06:03 - What appears to be the closing cadence is suddenly interrupted by a G maj chord, which wanders (with B as pivot note) into E min
06:20 - A brief cadenza leads directly into
MVT II
06:50 - Brief introduction
07:03 - A Section, with long cadential theme at 9:30 which slips almost imperceptibly into the
09:46 - B Section. Note its harmonically exploratory nature. The passage beginning at 10:00 is one of the most beautiful in the concerto repertoire
11:29 - A Section. The melody returns, now with more elaborate pianistic accompaniment. At the melody’s repeat the piano states it simply.
12:49 - Cadential theme and close
MVT III
13:33 - Introduction. Note how this recalls the false closing cadence of the opening movement, as well as the opening tutti
14:23 - Theme
15:00 - Episode 1 (very ear-wormish, this material!)
16:12 - Theme
16:36 - Episode 2
16:49 - Theme (with some development at 17:00)
17:13 - Episode 3, in sparkling dialogue between piano and orchestra (with developmental elements, such as minor section at 17:31)
17:40 - Theme. At 17:49, interruption from orchestra with T.1 from first movement
18:03 - Quotation of T.2 from first movement
18:16 - CODA. At 18:42 quotation from Episodic Theme, at 19:09 from T.1 of first movement, and at 19:23 from the head of the rondo’s theme. - เพลง
This is one of the concertos Liszt played at first sight perfectly!
Source?
@@kofiLjunggren Alan Walker’s biography of Liszt.
@@patricknyman727 I wish I could disbelief it… but this is Liszt we’re talking about. That’s absolutely incredible, especially with such a quick tempo for the first movement
As well as the grieg
Notice how no one asked
Mendelsohhn is so underrated. He deserves more attention and respect
One of those most respected and appreciated composers of all time, what do you mean underrated?
00:00 - Movement 1: Molto Allegro Con Fuoco
6:50 - Movement 2: Andante
13:33 - Movement 3: Presto
Hero
THANK YOU ILY
13:33 You know shit's about to get real upon hearing this part.
It kinda sounds like Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
Well, it is Presto though.
And the transition at 18:10
@Shostacovid LMAO. I love your name. 💀💀💀💀
The great unappreciated concerto.
It fits pianist hands like gloves.
Yet it contrasts the minor tragic themes with those of romance, then with a wit that wins out.
It is a great concerto full of charisma, and ready to go from minor to major in ways Mozart, Beethoven would not explore in such few measures.
Mendelssohn, master of tragi- comedy. Given here a magnificent performance.
mozart 25 is exactly that exploration of which you speak
Are you referring to his 25th Symphony in G Minor, @@sgwinenoob2115? If so, then I concur.
@@Tesana He is referring to his piano concerto 25 K.503. The first mov. indeed slips in and out of major and minor many times.
He accomplished so much for a man who didn't even live to see his 40th birthday. This piece, along with his string quartets and 2nd violin concerto are masterpieces of their respective genres. This particular piece was written when he was only 22 years old, but you wouldn't think its author was so young upon hearing it. The fact he had the courage and ambition to even attempt a string quartet after Beethoven had so firmly left his mark on the genre is admirable. Schubert said it best when upon hearing a performance of Beethoven's Op. 131. declared "After this, what is left for us to write?". I think I actually prefer Mendelssohn's quartets over Beethoven's to a large extent, though.
Blasphemy!
Agreed 👍
That's how I feel after listening to Rachmaninoff concertos like "man, I don't know how to write music."
he died tht young yet composed this?! damn
2nd violin concerto 🤔
@@confuoco5283 yes the famous violin concerto is the 2nd 1st was not published in his lifetime
9:13 incredible
Mendelssohn surely deserves more appreciation. He is one of my favorite composers. Thank you so much for giving him a chance to shine in the spotlight!
You are correct. His piano music and in particular his concerti are simply stupendous!
You're right! I also love Mendelssohn, I play Rondo Capriccioso by him and I absolutely adore it!
His "Variations Sérieuses" are so great, his "Romances sans paroles" also known as "Songs without words" are pure musical poetry.
He’s one of the most famous composers of the Romantic era. How much more appreciation can he receive? Okay he’s not quite as highly regarded as Chopin, but Chopin revolutionized piano music.
I see your point, but I think people are reflecting on the fact that Mendelssohn's reputation was marred by Nazi defamation and suppression, Wagner's own statements, etc., such that Mendelssohn's rep had to be restored in the late 20th century. Viewed objectively, Mendelssohn's work is superb. Not only did he write idiomaticlly and brilliantly for the piano, but his orchestral work is top notch. Therefore statements such as those by other commenters bare being repeated.
An underplayed gem. The Presto (13:33) reminds me a bit of Beethoven 5.
Some of my favorites
0:24 -> When the left hand octaves kick in, so fiery!
0:42 -> Orchestra's entry is so gorgeous
3:46 -> Another awesome orchestra moment
5:12 -> Such a nice virtuosic passage to the end of the 1st mov
16:26 -> Drums!
17:29 -> Gotta love those upcoming octaves
18:15 -> Very fun ending for a very fine masterpiece
Second movement deserves some love too!
One of the best piano concertos ever written, so much underrated. It’s a shame that concerto is not more known
Its nice reading all these overwhelmingly positive comments. It shows that the old prejudice against Mendelssohn, that was so powerful in the 20th century, is now dead, and the new generations can enjoy his genius for what it was.
Mendelssohn is vastly underrated and practically ignored concerning air/play -time
did it to himself though...…..
Mendelssohn is the one who discovered Bach
How did he do it to himself?
@@arnee13 Bro.
Hell yeah.
most kids my age learn this piece...
Mendelssohn did not discover Bach. Czerny was transcribing Bach pieces and publishing them way before him. Mozart knew Bach as well. The episode of the St Matthew Passion is only the climax which brought Bach's popularity to the top.
What I love about this concerto is that it never loses it's meaning. Constantly shifting between techniques and minor to major, keeping the audience invested through it all. There is always something happening in the music
As a lifelong fan of the pianistic genius of Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Godowsky, I say don't sleep on Mendelssohn!
Totally agree!
Man do I love to someone who likes godowsky
The 1st movement is probably one of my favourites out of all piano concertos
draven player listening to mendelssohn never thought i would see the day
xd@@me-iu1qc
@@me-iu1qc lol yeah W draven players
Mendelssohn's musical contrast is unmatched. An awesome, thrilling 1st and 3rd movement in between the sweet and sensual 2nd which literally made me cry.
The eighth note rest at 7:38 is the most beautiful thing I've heard all week.
I've listened to this maybe 100 times since you posted it.
Same! I fell in love with Mendelssohn since I played venetianisches gondellied for the first time. Are you a pianist too?
@@ArianaAbedini I am, but just a hobbyist.
cziffra performance of this particular piece is clearly inferior to this one i don't know what you're talking about unless it's a different recording on yt
Download it:)
Alexandra Dovgan
This music is beautiful, am enjoying listening to it while eating a piece of blueberry pie I baked this afternoon
First piano concerto I studied and performed in public. I fell in love with his works!
This concerto makes me cry, makes me happy, put me in sad moud, makes me laugh, makes me feel victorious .... All feelings are in all peices of Mendelssohn ! Original soundtracks of feelings in my all life !
Ps : sorry for my poor english
Zai Phyr , you said it perfectly. Thank you. I feel like you do.
A great concerto - all 3 parts is great. Master Mendelssohn at his best.
mendelssohn is low-key one of my favorites. By my lights, he doesn't have as many hits as schubert or chopin, but some of the songs without words I'll take over almost anything, and op 117 is just pure rock and roll. And then there are works like this. never heard it before; already love it.
Mendelssohn ‘s music flies above you without wings.. Yet so sweet melodious and in this heavy tempo on his 1$t piano concerto of a great composer.
His 2nd movement is heavenly soothing!
Mendelssohn has a mad penchant for the catchiest, and I mean catchy in every sense of the word. Catchy, earwormish, whichever word you choose. Take for example this piano concerto, the violin concertos, i don’t know how many songs without words, and of course midsummer night’s dream. Oh, and in the spirit of the festive season right now, Mendelssohn wrote the original cantata whose melody someone else put the words of Hark The Herald Angels Sing to 😄.
@@ShaunakDesaiPiano did he really write that melody? Do you have a link? You're right though. He seems to go back and forth between dense bach-type music where it's all runs and chord progressions... and pop music. I just love it.
@@tomswiftyphilo2504 th-cam.com/video/DfKAdJ7o0hw/w-d-xo.html the original Mendelssohn cantata
edit: remember, Mendelssohn was one of the composes instrumental, pun intended, in the 19th century Bach revival, so that definitely explains Mendelssohn’s Bachian (?) influences.
I always forget how epic Mendelssohn is. Always forget.
One of the greatest piano concertos ever written
Love the way he starts off big right away.
It’s a nice concerto with some very nice sections. Nice thing is: it’s learnable. Virtuosi need not only apply! Wish he would have lived 15-20 years longer. Schumann wouldn’t have entered into a drastic state of depression after his death and he could have worked a bit more with him and Brahms in late romanticism. Could have been any even more exciting era of music. Oh yeah, Chopin could have lived another 10-15 as well to have added to this juicy nugget dream I’m having.
msurocks1973 I really want to learn this but I have so many other pieces I’m learning rn
Yes, Chopin lived 39 years... Omg, what he could accomplish if he could live 70 years..
Learnable by whom? I think its difficult.
Surely the composer who should have lived longer is first and foremost Schubert. I think had he lived 10 more years he’d be top dog among pre-modern classical composers, out-ranking Beethoven and Mozart.
Honestly speaking, it's fairly idiomatic in terms of piano writing - spend enough time with the keyboard and it will come along in a matter of days.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this and for the time-stamps, analysis, and information.
16:11 I don't know why, but I love this part ✨❤️✨
Got the passage that starts at 10:00 brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to this.
Lovely. I'd play this concerto almost exactly like this.
Excellent post, thanks highlighting this prodigious gem off the beaten path!!
First time I've heard this, and I listen to a lot of Classical music. Thanks for posting this!
I wish every classical music video would have a description like this one, amazing
Great recording as always you just find absolute treasures! Definitely going to buy this one. Thanks and keep up your work on your precious channel. You are a blessing for the classical music community :)
I listened to this for the first time and almost had to stop it and take a step back it was so good.
The first time listening I was a mere 8 bars in and loved it.
Such wonderful music.
This has got to be my favourite recording of this piece, miles ahead of all others!
A breathless first movement, sensitively performed here. The whole was so entertaining, I love Mendelssohn's music. Thanks for this.
Brilliant performance
I cannot tell you how much I love this piece. It's truly one of my favorite piano concertos ever.
Stunning ! Perfectly played too 👏 ❤
Love this so much! Your channels is one of the best things that’s happened to me! That way I can study the score while listening to the sound💜💕
Quite superb. Dazzling playing by Thibaudet.
Thank you for posting this fine, exciting performance of this great concerto. Mendelssohn was simply one of the great composers- and left us such a magnificent legacy. He is one of the Immortals!
Such a beautiful piece and absolutely fantastic performance 😍❤
Mendelssohn composed this concerto in his early 20's but he already had the technical demand for such work as early as age 7 !
Third movement is beauty
One of my favourites :)
Such a beautiful piece.It passes an amazing energy.👌🏻👌🏻
wow, such an underplayed concerto!
That third movement is so flowery and happy. I love it. 😊
I’m fixing to do serious harm to the music critic of the Dallas News who had the nerve to diss this wonderful concerto. I heard it performed live for the first time tonight and I’m still in awe. Love ❤️
This performance is nothing short of brilliant.
Such a delightful piece!
It makes me feel dyspnea. I cannot even breathe while listening to it. Perfect concerto I've ever heard.
素晴らしい演奏に、スコアを付けてくれて、感謝しています。曲に対する見方、感じ方が随分違う。
I appreciate it for giving a score to the wonderful performance. Viewing and feeling for songs are quite different.
Listening to the Presto, (third movement) I said to myself, "Sounds like Rossini got something from here" . Love this work , and, Thank You !!!
My favorite piece ...❤️
Underrated concerto. I love the last movement!
We're going to play the Presto in our youth orchestra next week... we're going to have 5 days to practice this piece as well as 6 others that most of us have never played before and then we'll have a concert, wish us luck!
How'd it go?
I would love to wish you luck, but it's a bit too late now! I have only played solo, never in an orchestra! How did it go?
Wait... how old are you ?
What a satisfying piece! Thanks for the information in the description)
Magnificent!
YEEEES AN UPLOAD, YOUR ANALYSIS GIVES ME LIFE
Love that final movement!!!!!
Thank you for sharing your work
I think Yuja Wang plays this concerto the best still, her explosiveness is unmatched
this was before piano concertos became 10 hours long. I appreciate that
What an amazing pianist!!!
Nice to see defenders of the Mendelssohn concerti. It's amazing how quickly they're dismissed.
I think there is a sort of reverse snobbery connected with Mendelssohn. He is well liked by the general run of listeners, shows up frequently at pops concerts,, and (worst of all) gets played a lot more then the more DAUNTING composers, such as ......(fill in favourite daunting composers you have not heard for some time. :) It is NOT OK to be too popular with the general public, which is why Tchaikovsky has a bad reputation in some circles.
Harry Andruschak , snobs abound. I just discovered this concerto and fell in love. But I do not feel the need to compare. Let’s just love what we love and enjoy, right?
Gabriele Presby
You are absolutely right!
Well, at least Wagner is no longer around. We don't need any of his bigotry these days. I think he was just jealous that he wasn't as versatile as Mendelssohn, even though he was pretty good at what he did compose. This piece is very high on my list. I'm just glad there are so many good versions of it on TH-cam.
Mendelssohn was certainly a musical genius! He was so gifted in composing as well as in drawing extraordinary canvases of art. I do though hear a lot of Beethoven's influence here. And the pianist 'nailed it'!
Great concerto! A little bit underappreciated in my opinion. Also, great performance. Thanks for sharing, as usual!
An inner struggle between two Dionysian forces, passionate love and youthful enthusiasm.
The "Pathos" is at the heart of his thoughts, as it will be for Tchaikovsky and Wagner. Destiny will always catch up with us, we are all equal face to death. The hole piece seems to be a fight between the "Pathos" and Mendelssohn himself (the piano)
Here the young Mendelssohn is seeking for a work out of time, "metaphysics". He tries to create an absolute and continuous unity throughout the musical discourse. It evokes a great nostalgia both classic and unknown, a "ruin of the future".
The conductor and orchestra is Herbert Blomstedt and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF VIRTUOSITY
15:26 HOW THE HELL did he just throw in this amazing melody only one time
16:37 🤩
What a brilliant piano concerto!
Whoever wrote this description has an amazing ability with the English language
I’ve always thought this was total 🔥
16:02 is so good
My favorite Classical song of all time. Bravo on the performance!
Este concierto es muy infravalorado es endiabladamente difícil lograr el touche. Trabaja muchas habilidades técnicas y parece infinito cuando se estudia 😂
Es una maravilla de alto valor. Escuchar y estudiar
I feel like I'm being tickled to death in the last movement. Ugh! Enough!
Bravo brilliance concerto
My fingers ache at the thought of playing this. But damn.... it sounds amazing.
And thank you for putting in the extra info and the well made analysis T.T that was very awesome
i feel like this what Beethoven would've composed if he was alive during the Romantic era
Excelente explicación! Como muy pocos videos de este mismo interés... muchísimas gracias por tu gran aporte!
Estudos incríveis, maravilhosos!
the pianism is astounding
Fabelhaft! Vielen Dank!
A very very good concerto by Mendelssohn
Presto indeed!
Este sin duda es mi concierto favorito.
I know nothing about music or playing it. But I do very much enjoy it's beauty. As displayed here...
Thibaudet is so well suited to this piece. Thank you as ever for this posting and for so concise and elegant an explanation; it matches Mendelssohn's achievement here. There is a particular reason that induced me to leave this comment, however: your deft use of punctuation. I admire anyone who can construct sentences that use both colons and semicolons correctly.
es ist eine unglaubliche Performance, der Pianist ist unglaublich schnell, intensiv, mitreißend, ohne Worte ....; das Gewandhausorchester ist der einzig passende Part, um dieses Konzert in dieser Perfektion vorzutragen. Ich kenne keine bessere Interpretation. Wer das noch nicht gehört hat, sollte es in einer ruhigen Stunde auf einer guten Musikanlage tun. Es ist einfach ein Genuss, den man mindestens zweifach erleben sollte. Wer es einmal hört, kann gar nicht anders, als dieses unglaubliche Ende mindestens noch einmal zu hören- und dann am Besten immer wieder.... Ich habe mir die CD dazu besorgt, auf langen Autofahrten ist es genial.
Vor einige Monate gab es dieses Konzert auch von Marc André Hamelin in TH-cam. Das war auch sehr schoen.
Bravo au pianiste !!!!
Thank you so much for this! The piece doesn't seem so unapproachable when the notes are there to follow along. It's always been mythical to me but with this score and perhaps a couple hundred views, I feel as though I might be able to tame it and understand how something like this, so profound for expressing such an inimitable depth of beauty and passion, could be created by a man who had to eat, sleep, and relieve himself like the rest of us.
Have you tamed it now?
Give me another decade.