Discussion:
Martha Argerich’s Audience-less Performance
(too old to reply)
JohnGavin
2020-06-26 14:42:15 UTC
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Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.


Bozo
2020-06-26 15:51:37 UTC
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Many thanks ! Indeed. I enjoyed more than her "legendary 1965 " recording of same work.
y***@gmail.com
2020-06-28 06:23:23 UTC
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Post by Bozo
Many thanks ! Indeed. I enjoyed more than her "legendary 1965 " recording of same work.
I also enjoyed it more than her earlier recording, despite the poor sound.
Andy Evans
2020-06-28 07:16:18 UTC
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I watched this after hearing the same sonata played by Anna Fedorova, and I have to say I preferred Fedorova. But I'm a fan of Martha in her old age, and she's recorded better than this.
Ricardo Jimenez
2020-06-26 16:24:49 UTC
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On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
AB
2020-06-26 19:05:39 UTC
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Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
again you are confusing the sound quality of the recording with the sound quality of the piano. Inferior piano, some real bad unisons in the higher
treble.
I must admit that i was never impressed by her musicality, though at times her playing was very exciting. Heard her live a number of times, never did her playing exhibit 'beauty. Her awesome technique is what made her playing unique.Take that away and she was just an ordinary concert pianist.

AB
Ricardo Jimenez
2020-06-26 19:38:01 UTC
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Post by AB
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
again you are confusing the sound quality of the recording with the sound quality of the piano. Inferior piano, some real bad unisons in the higher
treble.
I must admit that i was never impressed by her musicality, though at times her playing was very exciting. Heard her live a number of times, never did her playing exhibit 'beauty. Her awesome technique is what made her playing unique.Take that away and she was just an ordinary concert pianist.
AB
The best quality you can get for this video is 360p which refers to
the video rather than the audio quality for which no number is given.
If there is audio loss in transmission, couldn't that lead to the
fuzzy sounding octaves you mention? Standard CDs are 16 bit at 44.1
KHz.
AB
2020-06-27 01:07:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
Post by AB
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
again you are confusing the sound quality of the recording with the sound quality of the piano. Inferior piano, some real bad unisons in the higher
treble.
I must admit that i was never impressed by her musicality, though at times her playing was very exciting. Heard her live a number of times, never did her playing exhibit 'beauty. Her awesome technique is what made her playing unique.Take that away and she was just an ordinary concert pianist.
AB
The best quality you can get for this video is 360p which refers to
the video rather than the audio quality for which no number is given.
If there is audio loss in transmission, couldn't that lead to the
fuzzy sounding octaves you mention? Standard CDs are 16 bit at 44.1
KHz.
unless this recording was flawed by youtube, audio loss would not cause 'fuzzy sounding octaves', no such problem was apparent to my ears. Unisons means the 2 or 3 strings of an individual note are not accurately tuned and that is why they sounded 'fuzzy' to you......... the notes were just out of tune.

AB
Tatonik
2020-06-26 19:46:26 UTC
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Post by AB
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
again you are confusing the sound quality of the recording with the
sound quality of the piano. Inferior piano, some real bad unisons in
the higher treble. I must admit that i was never impressed by her
musicality, though at times her playing was very exciting. Heard her
live a number of times, never did her playing exhibit 'beauty. Her
awesome technique is what made her playing unique.Take that away and
she was just an ordinary concert pianist.
AB
That reminds me of something my father overheard a tourist saying at
Banff National Park in Canada: "Take away that lake and those mountains,
and what have you got?"
MiNe109
2020-06-27 00:01:26 UTC
Permalink
On Friday, June 26, 2020 at 12:24:56 PM UTC-4, Ricardo Jimenez
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
You weren't bothered by the electronic noises or the abrupt switch to
stereo at the third movement?

The performance might be better heard on Facebook.
Ricardo Jimenez
2020-06-27 01:13:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by MiNe109
Post by AB
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
You weren't bothered by the electronic noises or the abrupt switch to
stereo at the third movement?
The performance might be better heard on Facebook.
I assume you mean this.
https://www.facebook.com/julio.elizalde/videos/805225520230
MiNe109
2020-06-27 14:58:14 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
Post by MiNe109
Post by AB
Post by Ricardo Jimenez
On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:42:15 -0700 (PDT), JohnGavin
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
The sound was bad for a 2020 performance, even by the low youtube
standards. A shame.
there is nothing wrong with the quality of the youtube recording
You weren't bothered by the electronic noises or the abrupt switch to
stereo at the third movement?
The performance might be better heard on Facebook.
I assume you mean this.
https://www.facebook.com/julio.elizalde/videos/805225520230
Yes, among many other shares. I don't know if it makes any difference
but here's the original post:

https://www.facebook.com/altenburgarts/videos/267754931199286/UzpfSTEwMDAwMjAxODg0ODk4MzpWSzoxMDE1NzA3OTc5NjU1Njk5Mw/
Tatonik
2020-06-26 18:23:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by JohnGavin
Chopin Sonata in B Minor - quite amazing. Age has not slowed her down.
http://youtu.be/j4JNdXeFaUc
That is pretty incredible. Playing the piano is as natural to her as
breathing. In some ways she's better than she used to be. She seems
less impatient.

In interviews, if I recall, she has said that playing with other people
is what interests her now, in chamber music, or two pianos or one piano
four hands, or in concertos. Has she given any solo recitals in the
past couple of decades? If so, they must have been rare. That would
make this an extra special occasion.

If this is a return to playing alone, it's funny to think that not only
does she not have other musicians to interact with, she has no audience,
either. When she stood up at the end, I liked the way she cocked an
insouciant eye at the camera.
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