He did the entire Godowsky/Chopin Etudes in Miami years ago. More than 300 pages, more than 4 hours of recital all by memory and played as it was this one. This is a legend.
Actually, that's kinda the real reason there's songs for LH. Soldiers (most of them were right handed) came back the war without the right hand so they still could play the piano.
Bravo!! If I was in the audience I would inmediately give a standing ovation. Such great control over dynamics and accuracy, and a great display of professional technique.
Holy mother of god. I looked up Revolutionary left hand only so I could see how to play that part...and this guy plays the whole song with the left hand!
To be fair, this is an arrangement that makes it more practically possible to play the entire thing in one hand. The original would be basically impossible to make it sound nice if you only had one hand, due to the sheer distance between the hands in some places.
This (and medici in general) is the best camera editing for classical music I have ever seen; love stuff like 0:09 and 2:52!!!! And, of course, the performance is amazing.
I got a cramp in my left hand watching this. Incredible poise and control to keep the shoulder, arm and wrist relaxed and flexible. You'd almost need a physiotherapist on hand while practicing this.
Wikipedia: "Among Godowsky's admirers were such distinguished pianists as Vladimir de Pachmann and Sergei Rachmaninoff, who, according to Godowsky's daughter Dagmar, idolized her father's music and performances."
Marquis De Sade Such an obviously better way of looking at pianism and musicianship in general. It does sadden me to know that there are plenty of people that waste a lot of time playing music they dislike / have no feeling towards purely for the sake of building “technique”. Of course there are efficient and safe ways of playing the piano, but realistically technique counts for very little if you aren’t achieving what you want from the music.
Oh my freaking god! I fractured my right hand index finger last year in an accident and tried a lot of one handed pieces, its amazing to see such beautiful pieces have been arranged for one hand as well, what a fabulous arrangement and performance!
his and the berezowsky performance are the best ones!! here is all about making it sound like the hands used are two! technique, musical taste and pedalling! it is great also to have an italian virtuoso of such talent!
Cristo!!! E io sono amico di un Musicista di questo livello? Dovevate avvertirmi! Francesco Libetta è uno dei più raffinati intelllettuali del nostro tempo. Ho avuto la fortuna di trascorrere una settimana in sua compagnia, un arricchimento intellettuale senza confronti.
these etudes. The only people who were mad at Godowsky were hard nosed critics who thought that touching these sacred pieces was a travesty. They almost managed to erase Godowsky from history, but the music eventually spoke for itself. It is a shame that a man who taught so many great pianists, and created an output that rivals Rachmaninoff in technique and beauty is tossed aside so easily. But, of course, it is okay for Rachmaninoff to rewrite Flight of the Bumblebee and Chopin pieces. yes?
Great rendition. I'm somewhat amazed at people who are making comments that this is nothing compared to Chopin's original. Its a Left Hand study, etude. It's meant to be a study in technique, dexterity, and agility of the left hand, the fact that this pianist is able to add something to the study is downright amazing. Hats off to anyone who can make it through the godowsky left hand studies.
And consider this is actually pretty much the way Godowsky writes for both hands for most of his music. Much of his music looks like it was actually written for two pianos, then some madman merged them into one. lol
To those who say this is "pointless" "vandalism" or "Chopin's original is better" I say - take a pill. For God's sake the original is still there, supreme and unsullied, for anyone who wants to play it. Chopin's IS better music - that's not the point. The point of Godowsky's studies is to go BEYOND - in some cases WAY beyond, the technical skills of Chopin's day. This is a stunt, and a pretty good one. Should we stop trying to advance piano technique?
PIANO STUDENT: I’m SO exhausted!!! I just spent all summer learning the Revolutionary étude!! FRANCESCO LIBETTA: Humph! THAT thing?? I can play it with one hand tied behind my back.
@RelapseGuitarer I am playing this etude, so just got curious about it. never thought of playing it by just a single left hand with melody on it. It would be more difficult to play it on right hand, that I promised you. The arrangement is built for left hand to play.
I'm thinking the classic drama situation, musician loses hand in accident, that makes us feel so awwwbawwwsad. This arrangement and performance is breathtakingly defies all fate.
@EripmavRaye The "some other guy" you refer to was David Saperton, Godowsky's son-in-law who taught at the Curtis Institute in the 1920s and 30s and the teacher of Jorge Bolet, Abbey Simon, Shura Cherkassky and many others. He was an amazingly perfect pianist but a rather disagreeable character - perhaps why he never became really well known. He recorded these transcriptions in the 1950s - a few of them are posted on TH-cam.
@lidcrish how is this disgraceful? There are plenty of variations of pieces. Plus, props to Libetta. marc andre Hamelin and some other guy were the only two to even record Godowsky's studies on chopin's etudes. And Libetta is the only guy to play the whole set memorized. Definitely not disgraceful. Instead, I would like to call this "biwinning". By playing this, first off, AMAZINGLY & as a performance. And two, by being the first to even do this. Show some respect my friend. Libetta is awesome.
People who think this is vandalism don't understand piano or music history in the slightest. Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Hoffman, and just about every pianist during his day thought that Godowsky was a god. Does Hoffman get crap for modifying Chopin's 1st concerto? I doubt it, but if you have the music in front of you, you would see how Hoffman adds and takes away notes at liberty. Godowsky was the master of Legato touch, and even Hoffman himself, in his book on piano playing, suggests learning...
@leopianotuner Godowsky did a good bit of writing and arranging for the left hand alone. Solving technical problems was something of a fetish for him. He may have been steered in this direction by Paul Wittgenstein, but I am not sure. Wittgenstein to my knowledge did not commission any left hand works from Godowsky, but perhaps G. had written so many already, he didn't have to.
@gtimny I agree. I don't think what you say is true of all arrangements though. Godowsky's are very interesting. And playing a piece for the left hand alone is ALWAYS a good stunt.
@gtimny And besides, there are actual musicians out there with only one arm. More power to them! And to think that I was like "I'll never be a good pianist because my hands are too small."
Leopold Godowsky arranged 54 etudes based on Chopin's, some for both hands, and some for just the left, with the purpose of creating pieces that challenge and further expand the left hand's technique. I also read somewhere that a friend of his lost his right hand, so he created these etudes for him, but I don't know how much of truth is present in that statement.
One should listen to Richter playing the original étude to understand what kind of anger and rage is missing in this interpretation. This a protest from Chopin, just imagine something you would protest for, and then let go of the music. Liszt: “Power grows from intensity of feeling - all other is the appearance of art, empty bravura!” and Liszt's cardinal point: “It is from the inward movement that the outer originates.”
@gtimny Yes that's very well said. God I wish there was a good piano educator here in Nebraska so I can advance to this level (or even half this level).
In my opinion, those pieces I mentioned, except perhaps for Ravel, are harder. Especially Ligeti, of course. And there is quite more than polyphony on the fly in Petrushka. You can't possibly suggest that Stravinsky did not create a unique piece both in its character and its virtuosity, nor that it is not a masterwork. Saying that he inherited it from Godowsky is excessive. There could have been some influence, but as to the extent of it, I have doubts. By the way, Petrushka was composed in 1921
He did the entire Godowsky/Chopin Etudes in Miami years ago. More than 300 pages, more than 4 hours of recital all by memory and played as it was this one. This is a legend.
Imagine playing this at a pub with the second hand holding beer
So Epic
At this level.... Not sure if the person has time to "go to outside" or busy practicing 25 hours per day 😭😭
Hahaha LOL.. left hand to right hand: Hold my Beer..
someone-"hey can you play the piano?"
Libetta- "yes but only with one hand"
someone- " it's alright with practi..."
*plays*
"NVM"
Josh's music OMG SO TRUE 😂😂😂😂😂
This comment is under-rated.
one of the best comments..
When you lose your right hand during revolution
Underrated comment
Actually, that's kinda the real reason there's songs for LH. Soldiers (most of them were right handed) came back the war without the right hand so they still could play the piano.
That was happened
Ravel composed a whole piano concerto for left hand. Because his friend
I applaud your comment
I can play the right hand!
xD
Such a Revolutionary way to Revolutionize Revolutionary Etude!
Rasdan i see what you did there
Bravo!! If I was in the audience I would inmediately give a standing ovation. Such great control over dynamics and accuracy, and a great display of professional technique.
+artyzach true!
dynamics were shit
Because playing the "Revolutionary" etude with two hands is simply over-rated.
Holy mother of god. I looked up Revolutionary left hand only so I could see how to play that part...and this guy plays the whole song with the left hand!
To be fair, this is an arrangement that makes it more practically possible to play the entire thing in one hand. The original would be basically impossible to make it sound nice if you only had one hand, due to the sheer distance between the hands in some places.
@@GlennMagusHarvey Is this harder or easier than the original ?
@@pianopiano3566 I haven't studied this version yet but I'd presume that it'd be more difficult.
@@pianopiano3566 this is much, much, much harder
@@pianopiano3566 yes harder but not impossible
This (and medici in general) is the best camera editing for classical music I have ever seen; love stuff like 0:09 and 2:52!!!! And, of course, the performance is amazing.
I got a cramp in my left hand watching this.
Incredible poise and control to keep the shoulder, arm and wrist relaxed and flexible. You'd almost need a physiotherapist on hand while practicing this.
Seeing the black keys being pressed is satisfying.
@Schoenberg is my daddy who said that?
FYI: Rachmaninoff thought Godowsky was a god of the piano. High praise indeed.
+PointyTailofSatan Is there a source of him saying that? I'd love to look more into what Rachmaninoff had to say
Wikipedia: "Among Godowsky's admirers were such distinguished pianists as Vladimir de Pachmann and Sergei Rachmaninoff, who, according to Godowsky's daughter Dagmar, idolized her father's music and performances."
He was referred to as the "Buddha of the piano", partially because he reached "enlightenment" with hardly any instruction whatsoever.
Marquis De Sade Such an obviously better way of looking at pianism and musicianship in general. It does sadden me to know that there are plenty of people that waste a lot of time playing music they dislike / have no feeling towards purely for the sake of building “technique”. Of course there are efficient and safe ways of playing the piano, but realistically technique counts for very little if you aren’t achieving what you want from the music.
@@calebhu6383 Buddha of the piano? That's funny cos he composed the Asian Java suite lol. I guess it makes sense now.
Oh my freaking god! I fractured my right hand index finger last year in an accident and tried a lot of one handed pieces, its amazing to see such beautiful pieces have been arranged for one hand as well, what a fabulous arrangement and performance!
his and the berezowsky performance are the best ones!! here is all about making it sound like the hands used are two! technique, musical taste and pedalling! it is great also to have an italian virtuoso of such talent!
Cristo!!!
E io sono amico di un Musicista di questo livello?
Dovevate avvertirmi!
Francesco Libetta è uno dei più raffinati intelllettuali del nostro tempo.
Ho avuto la fortuna di trascorrere una settimana in sua compagnia, un arricchimento intellettuale senza confronti.
Magnífico!
these etudes.
The only people who were mad at Godowsky were hard nosed critics who thought that touching these sacred pieces was a travesty. They almost managed to erase Godowsky from history, but the music eventually spoke for itself. It is a shame that a man who taught so many great pianists, and created an output that rivals Rachmaninoff in technique and beauty is tossed aside so easily.
But, of course, it is okay for Rachmaninoff to rewrite Flight of the Bumblebee and Chopin pieces. yes?
I’m in love with the sadness this version can portray
His hands' articulations are probably really sad
Great rendition.
I'm somewhat amazed at people who are making comments that this is nothing compared to Chopin's original. Its a Left Hand study, etude. It's meant to be a study in technique, dexterity, and agility of the left hand, the fact that this pianist is able to add something to the study is downright amazing. Hats off to anyone who can make it through the godowsky left hand studies.
What an amazing performance!!!!
And consider this is actually pretty much the way Godowsky writes for both hands for most of his music. Much of his music looks like it was actually written for two pianos, then some madman merged them into one. lol
Bravissimo MAESTRO!!!
Awesome stuff. Great pianist
Incredible!
Godowsky has made Chopin's Etudes playable while doing a hand job.
lovely performance!!!! 12 stars!!!
You can find the sheet music for this and the rest of the Godowsky versions of Chopin's études on IMSLP (search google for it, first choice).
BRILLIANT!
Impressionante virtuosismo!
Incredibile!
Incredibile e sublime
Wahnsinn!!!!!!!🎶🎶🎶🎶😊
OMG!!!!!!!!! This is awesome
incredible.... and a great tempo... how can anybody do this
Beautiful!
Bravissimo.
Ditto.
To those who say this is "pointless" "vandalism" or "Chopin's original is better" I say - take a pill. For God's sake the original is still there, supreme and unsullied, for anyone who wants to play it. Chopin's IS better music - that's not the point. The point of Godowsky's studies is to go BEYOND - in some cases WAY beyond, the technical skills of Chopin's day. This is a stunt, and a pretty good one. Should we stop trying to advance piano technique?
Two hands in one hand !!!!!
PIANO STUDENT: I’m SO exhausted!!! I just spent all summer learning the Revolutionary étude!!
FRANCESCO LIBETTA: Humph! THAT thing?? I can play it with one hand tied behind my back.
Just wonderful! great, GREAT, great!!!!
i saw him live playing this as a bis, amazing.....
eccezionale!
Gotta love that view.
this is freakiin amazing!
Because it's Godowsky's arrangement of Chopin's Etude Op. 10 No. 12
@RelapseGuitarer I am playing this etude, so just got curious about it. never thought of playing it by just a single left hand with melody on it. It would be more difficult to play it on right hand, that I promised you. The arrangement is built for left hand to play.
This is fire
Wow...break boundaries
BELLO DAVVERO MOLTO BELLO
Bravo!
I'm thinking the classic drama situation, musician loses hand in accident, that makes us feel so awwwbawwwsad. This arrangement and performance is breathtakingly defies all fate.
Makes sense... I still can't believe that someone is actually capable of playing this & so well... :D
he's playing it all with one hand! now that's skill:)
btw where can I got this score? I love this song especially this version. it would be a big challange for me to study. I seems impossible..haha
Mostruoso !!!
awesome
Wow
Next level: Play it with one finger
LOL yes I completely agree, that happens so many times, when the hard part happens to be when they decide to go to a different angle.
Stupendo!!
nice! one hand! even left! beautifully played...^^
2:05 where did they put the camera??
After 10years I still cannot answear ur question
@@user-io2rd8xi7x they say that those parts were filmed later, removing the front cover of the piano to get the space for the camera.
@EripmavRaye The "some other guy" you refer to was David Saperton, Godowsky's son-in-law who taught at the Curtis Institute in the 1920s and 30s and the teacher of Jorge Bolet, Abbey Simon, Shura Cherkassky and many others. He was an amazingly perfect pianist but a rather disagreeable character - perhaps why he never became really well known. He recorded these transcriptions in the 1950s - a few of them are posted on TH-cam.
Can't believe the genius of Godowsky while listening to this
i like it!
@lidcrish how is this disgraceful? There are plenty of variations of pieces. Plus, props to Libetta. marc andre Hamelin and some other guy were the only two to even record Godowsky's studies on chopin's etudes. And Libetta is the only guy to play the whole set memorized. Definitely not disgraceful. Instead, I would like to call this "biwinning". By playing this, first off, AMAZINGLY & as a performance. And two, by being the first to even do this. Show some respect my friend. Libetta is awesome.
How did they get some of those camera angles? It looks like there was a camera inside the piano!
People who think this is vandalism don't understand piano or music history in the slightest. Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Hoffman, and just about every pianist during his day thought that Godowsky was a god.
Does Hoffman get crap for modifying Chopin's 1st concerto? I doubt it, but if you have the music in front of you, you would see how Hoffman adds and takes away notes at liberty. Godowsky was the master of Legato touch, and even Hoffman himself, in his book on piano playing, suggests learning...
That's too easy!!! I can play it with just one han.....no wait
@leopianotuner Godowsky did a good bit of writing and arranging for the left hand alone. Solving technical problems was something of a fetish for him. He may have been steered in this direction by Paul Wittgenstein, but I am not sure. Wittgenstein to my knowledge did not commission any left hand works from Godowsky, but perhaps G. had written so many already, he didn't have to.
is the right hand broken?
@gtimny
I agree. I don't think what you say is true of all arrangements though. Godowsky's are very interesting. And playing a piece for the left hand alone is ALWAYS a good stunt.
with one hand!!!!!!!!! in my dreams I couldn't do that with two! like if you agree!
it would be great if his right hand is doing another thing, like juggling, by the way is he left handed?
It's C sharp minor!
This is sooooo unbelievably difficult, far more difficult than anyy other piece.
You'd be very wrong there. It's not even the most difficult piece for left-hand alone.
:| How can you play that with one hand? Great ;)
... a parte che hai delle mani bellissime (in tutti i sensi)...
@gtimny And besides, there are actual musicians out there with only one arm. More power to them! And to think that I was like "I'll never be a good pianist because my hands are too small."
why is he playing with one hand . love your playing
Leopold Godowsky arranged 54 etudes based on Chopin's, some for both hands, and some for just the left, with the purpose of creating pieces that challenge and further expand the left hand's technique. I also read somewhere that a friend of his lost his right hand, so he created these etudes for him, but I don't know how much of truth is present in that statement.
We make the wrong people famous.
?
@@Varooooooom Pop singers, rappers, and other modern artists is what he is talking about
which etude works better the 3rd 4th and pinky finger ? this or the original chopin etude?
th-cam.com/video/m7lHr0ar9pM/w-d-xo.html this one is the absolute most effective left hand etude for fingers 3, 4 and 5
@@morganmartinez8420 thank you
One should listen to Richter playing the original étude to understand what kind of anger and rage is missing in this interpretation. This a protest from Chopin, just imagine something you would protest for, and then let go of the music.
Liszt: “Power grows from intensity of feeling - all other is the appearance of art, empty bravura!”
and Liszt's cardinal point: “It is from the inward movement that the outer originates.”
jeje ni con 2 me la puedo, awesome
@gingervirtuoso if it is the reflection we see, it should look mirrored. I don't know, really...
@gtimny Yes that's very well said. God I wish there was a good piano educator here in Nebraska so I can advance to this level (or even half this level).
This man and Yuja Wang are top teir. Of course, Martha Argerich is the greatest living classical pianist.
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
😱😱😱😱😱
that is THE HAND from ADAM'S FAMILY!!!!!!!
😮😮
Comment ça peut sonner autant avec une seule main..?!
Daaamn! :)
anybody which have the score for this version?
I wonder why Godowsky made so many left -hand only versions of Chopin's etudes.
0:55
2:40
In my opinion, those pieces I mentioned, except perhaps for Ravel, are harder. Especially Ligeti, of course. And there is quite more than polyphony on the fly in Petrushka. You can't possibly suggest that Stravinsky did not create a unique piece both in its character and its virtuosity, nor that it is not a masterwork. Saying that he inherited it from Godowsky is excessive. There could have been some influence, but as to the extent of it, I have doubts. By the way, Petrushka was composed in 1921
In case you have to do something with you right hand, but don't want to stop practicing!
Eccezionale....
House of flying fingers.
mooi
All guys know. There is only one possibility to want to learn playing piano with your left hand only..