The Derb, in his September Diary, quotes James Huneker's famous remark concerning Chopin's "Winter Wind" Etude, Op. 25 No. 11: "Small-souled men, no matter how agile their fingers, should not attempt it." He follows up, at The Corner, by linking to a perfectly competent performance by some Asian babe.
What he doesn't know is that Sviatoslav Richter owned this piece:
That said, I do like Yeol Eum Son's (i.e., the Asian babe's) moving gesture at the very end of her video (explained by Derbyshire), and her highest rated comment:
"Was Chopin even HUMAN?!"
Comments (6)
Yes! Richter is the man!!! Thanks for posting this.
Posted by Fr. Gray Bean | October 9, 2010 8:37 PM
Clips like that remind me why I don't call myself a pianist.
Posted by Tim | October 9, 2010 8:54 PM
"Was Chopin even HUMAN?!"
Superhuman. Seriously, goosebumps.
Posted by Step2 | October 9, 2010 9:44 PM
That's some impressive prestidigitation, there...
Posted by The Sanity Inspector | October 9, 2010 11:11 PM
After watching both performances, I'm wondering if the pianists are human too.
Posted by william luse | October 10, 2010 4:59 AM
Thanks for the link. Wonderful.
The great artists did write some music not meant for ordinary mortals.
Posted by johnt | October 10, 2010 10:43 AM