Islamey

Balakirev's Islamey (arr Zhyltsov)

..on an acccordion (h/t Kip W on rmcr). Apart from the hair-raisingly fast parts I thought the arrangement was especially effective in the slow atmospheric parts of the work.

Argerich is 70!

Yesterday marked the Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich's 70th birthday. Here she is at a rather younger age with Chailly playing part of the Rachmaninov 3rd concerto.
This is the slow movement (technically though the speed that the pianist has to go through notes makes it far from a rest for the soloist!). Then watch (at around 7:10) the speed and ferocity with which she attacks the last movement. Alas she has tended to stay away from the virtuosic parts of the repertory for many years - except for a small number of exceptions.
You'll find the other parts of the concerto in the associated items on youtube though getting them in hte right order is tricky - start here!

Arabesques

.. on "An der schönen blaune Donau" Here's a closeup version of the impossibilities of this fun transcription of J Strauss' Blue Danube played by Sim Keng Boon.

There are versions of this played by Lhevinne, Bolet and Wild on youtube but they don't have the video! There's also an even more close up version here played in a sitting room on an upright! That one comes in two parts but you get a very good idea of the difficulties it's a slow performance though and make it look easy - the one above is 9 minutes as against 16 - well it is just slightly difficult, make sure you stay for all of the above video!
Was this the piano transcription that Tom (of Tom and Jerry) played after 4 lessons? There doesn't appear to be a Yuja Wang performance of this around - she'd probably eat it for breakfast!

Scarlatti

Here's something summery (well it feels Summer here!) - Mie Miki playing he Scarlatti Sonata K427 on the accordion.

Yvonne Loriod

The death of Yvonne Loriod was announced on Tuesday(here's a link to Roger Nichols' obituary - the widow of Olivier Messiaen and a wonderful pianist, here she is playing a movement from Messiaen's Catalogue d'Oiseaux a huge work - difficult - yes just a bit! - this is Le Traquet rieur - the Black Wheatear.

Mois de Mai. Belle matinée ensoleillée. Le Cap Béar, au-dessus de Port-Vendres (Roussillon). Falaise rocheuse, garrigues, mer bleu saphir et bleu Nattier, argentée de soleil. Joie de la mer bleue. Chant du Traquet rieur.

WInter Wind

As Spring seems to be here, let's hark back to the cold with Samson François playing 2 Chopin Studies - Op 25 no 5 and 11 (the second being popularly called Winter Wind)

Hat tip to 'SG' on rec.music.classical.recordings.
I think 'Paul Procopolis' was a Barrington Coupe invention which the you tube poster is gently recalling.

Night Ride

Yuja Wang again, making the impossible look easy, with the Liszt transcription of Schubert's ErlKönig.

The original piano part is difficult enough without what Liszt does to it!

Tritsch - Tratsch

Yuja Wang plays a Cziffra transcription again, this time of Strauss.

Good exercise for cold winter evenings - thanks to 'Rugby' on news:rec.music.classical.recordings for flagging this up.

Faster than...

Just to remind you of Summer:

Yuja Wang attacking Cziffra's arrangement the Flight of the Bumble-Bee by Rimsky-Korskakov - as if the Rachmaninov version wasn't difficult enough!
There's some more clips on her website.

Precipitato

The last movement of the Prokofiev 7th piano sonata in a rather different arrangement

if it's as difficult on marimbas as it is on the piano...
Thanks to 'Rugby' on rec.music.classical.recordings for finding this!
The performing group is funcussion