Rachmaninoff Prelude G Major Valentina Lisitsa

F. Liszt Rondo Fantastique "El Contrabandista" Valentina Lisitsa

La Campanella On Steroids ? :-)This is perhaps the MOST unplayable piece of music I ever encountered! La Campanella , or Feux Follets ( both are clearly hinted here) are walk in a park in comparison....Early Liszt, from the period when he honestly thought that piano being a percussive instrument there is no point of making any attempt at legato,and one might as well enjoy frolicking in most head-spinning skips and repeated notes :-)

The piece (which is based on Manuel Garcia's popular song) was titled in the first edition as "Op.5 #2". Funny , I think that was the last piece Liszt gave an opus number, anticipating how many works he is going to write :) Liszt intended this piece as a bravura finale for his recitals - but according to many reports , he failed utterly .

Too difficult???? LOL A friend of mine who used to present great Soviet artists on their tours in Italy told me that the only person who played it LIVE was Pletnev. But even then Pletnev told him that he quit on this piece , calling it "unplayable". You can check for yourself - the music is available freely here:

Liszt Rhapsody #12 Bonn Beethoven-Haus Lisitsa

Live from Bonn Beethoven-Haus recital September 9th , kindly sponsored by Willi GellerGmbH www.geller-immobilien.de . Warmest thanks to Andre and everybody involved!!!! This is another "take" on this delightful Rhapsody, getting ready for recording Liszt porject . I am on a way to another batch of concerts , right now :-) So , please forgive me for not being chatty :-) My plane is leaving in an hour....More vids after I come back. And , don't forget to drop by in London : all-Liszt program next week - October 5th!

Valentina Lisitsa plays Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Valentina Lisitsa plays Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.

Recorded live on May 22th, 2010 in Leiden,

Holland by von Aichberger & Roenneke GmbH Michael von Aichberger Dominik Roenneke Florian Breuer Michael Hohnstock Thanks to Alexei Kuznetsoff and Cum Laude Concerten, Leiden Michiel van Westering

Gluck-Sgambati Melody from Orpheus Глюк Мелодия из "Орфея" Valentina Lisitsa

IF ONLY... If only the music could bring back the dead. Orpheus, a legendary musician in ancient Greek myth, almost succeeded to bring back his beloved wife, Eurydice, from the netherworld, by sheer power of his music, which left no living creature - or even a stone, unmoved. He died at the hands of those who could not hear his divine music.

IF ONLY... If only the music could fight the terror and hatred. It can't. But it can offer us consolation and solace. And it can remind us that we are all human, we are all mortal, - and it's only through our CIVILIZATION, CULTURE, MUSIC - we can live on after we are gone from the face of this Earth. I dedicate this piece to the innocent victims of terror, to their families - be it in Nice or Paris, Iraq or Syria, Donbass or Orlando, Egypt, Turkey or Israel, without distinction whether they "earned" world's collective "#JeSuis..."and a flag on avatars, or suffered and died in anonymity as the world turned its collective blind eye away. Listen and spare a moment of a thought or a prayer for those souls.

Если бы....Если бы музыка могла воскресить погибших. Орфей, герой мифов древней Греции, почти что сумел вернуть свою любимую, Эвридику, из подземного царства волшебной силой своей музыки, которая могла расстрогать и бездушный камень. А погиб Орфей от рук тех, кто были глухи к чарам музыки.... Если бы....Если бы музыка могла побороть террор и ненависть. Увы, нет. Единственное, что она может подарить страдающей душе - это утешение и покой. А также напомнить, что все мы - люди, все мы - смертны, и только через цивилизацию, культуру, музыку мы можем оставить след на этой земле, когда нас уже давно не будет. Хочу посвятить это исполнение всем невинным жертвам террора, их близким. Неважно где - в Ницце или Париже, Ираке, Сирии, Донбассе, Орландо,Египте,Турции, Израиле ...., неважно "заработали" ли это жертвы выражение скорби флагами на аватарках или хэштэгами #ЖёСюи..., или так называемый "цивилизованный" мир безразлично, пожав плечами, отвернулся от неудобного зрелища, дабы не портить настроение... Всё это не важно. Просто послушайте вечную музыку, и хоть на секунду подумайте или помолитесь о душах безвинно погибших.

Bach Busoni Chaconne D Minor BWV 1004 Valentina Lisitsa

Recorded during pre-concert rehearsal at Torroella de Montgri April 17 2014 .

Your next best chance to hear it live : Paris, May 21, 2014 , Salle Gaveau http://www.sallegaveau.com/la-saison/... Special thanks to http://www.jorquerapianos.com/ for one of the best pianos I ever encountered

Bach Air on the G String Piano (arr. Siloti) Valentina Lisitsa

Heavenly music as a solace for our troubled times.

I would like to dedicate this video to the innocent victims of the terror attacks.

In 1977 when the Voyager spacecraft was about to be launched, prominent scientists were asked to what would be the most appropriate to send into outer space as a manifesto of human civilization. The eminent biologist Dr. Lewis Thomas answered, “I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.” After a pause, he added, “But that would be boasting”