Valentina Lisitsa: the Bieber of Classical music goes minimal
May 8, 2014 8:57 AM   Subscribe

Valentina Lisitsa is a classical pianist who credits her current fame to YouTube, where she has uploaded more than 200 videos of her performances. Were it not for the popularity of these videos (Beethoven "Moonlight" Sonata op 27 # 2 Mov 3 - 7 million views; Beethoven "Für Elise" - 4 million; Liszt "La Campanella" - 3 million), she would be, in her own words, "totally dead" in "the age of child prodigies". Her newest work is not a thousand notes a minute as featured in some of her popular videos, but more minimal, as heard in "The Heart Asks Pleasure First," the first track from her album (Soundcloud snippet preview of all tracks) of music by minimalist composer Michael Nyman.

As mentioned in a recent NPR interview, she is putting her music, including longer shows like the raw video from a 3 hour recital in Cologne, on YouTube to reach a broader audience.
posted by filthy light thief (12 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thanks--thoroughly enjoyed the links, the music and articles. I found this hopeful and wish her and other classical musicians success as they experiment with new ways to deliver wonderful music.
posted by rmhsinc at 9:24 AM on May 8, 2014


She ain't bad if you don't mind the wrong notes and the typically Russian technique which in layman's terms could be described as "fast, loud and obnoxious." She's like Lang or Yuja, and with enough money, she can rent out ANY hall for a solo recital.

Here's to YouTube for making it possible for anyone with "enough" talent to build a recital/recording career. Hey, there are plenty of pretty gals (AND guys) who are just talented enough to do that, so good for them. However, a Nyman CD? What, is she targeting the post-minimalism, indie-classical bullshit demographic? His watered down musical tapestries couldn't hold the interest of a fruit fly. She should stick to Liszt, except it's WAY easier to nail Nyman, that is, play it with no wrong notes.
posted by ReeMonster at 9:27 AM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


ReeMonster: "ain't bad", "wrong notes", "fast, loud, obnoxious", "enough" "bull shit demographic" "watered down", "easier to nail". Trying to decide if you are having a bad day, if you are a professional critic, an amateur critic having a good day, or an exceptionally talented professional musician with exacting standards. I appreciated it and even if she is just "mediocre" which i do not see, I am still glad to see musicians making a living and having an audience
posted by rmhsinc at 9:58 AM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


She ain't bad if you don't mind the wrong notes.

How do you mean? I am genuinely confused - I played piano for many years unprofessionally, obviously below her level, and I don't even remember hitting the wrong notes (after several initial years of practice, of course). I mean, it's a piano - if it's tuned and your finger hit the right key, then it's the right note, is it not?

Are you saying that she is literally not hitting correct keys?
posted by rada at 10:27 AM on May 8, 2014


This is literally the only way ReeMonster comments in any music thread. Treat as noise and move on.
posted by at by at 10:28 AM on May 8, 2014 [7 favorites]


Ah, I see.

FWIW, I also thought it was strange to criticize Lisitsa for both too much drama ("fast, loud and obnoxious") and too little drama ("is she targeting post-minimalism?").

Speaking of minimalism, the actual Nyman's piece linked is quite the opposite of minimalist. It sounds rich and cinematic - I could easily imagine as the main score for, say, Titanic.
posted by rada at 10:42 AM on May 8, 2014


Speaking of minimalism, the actual Nyman's piece yt linked is quite the opposite of minimalist. It sounds rich and cinematic - I could easily imagine as the main score for, say, Titanic.

It was the theme music to Jane Campion's The Piano--and the soundtrack album went multi-platinum. But it is unquestionably an example of "minimalism" in music--lots of "minimalist" music "sounds rich and cinematic." The "minimalism" involved refers to structural aspects of the composition, not to the emotional effect of the music.
posted by yoink at 11:11 AM on May 8, 2014 [1 favorite]


Speaking of minimalism, the actual Nyman's piece yt linked is quite the opposite of minimalist. It sounds rich and cinematic - I could easily imagine as the main score for, say, Titanic.

Not quite Titanic, but it's from the soundtrack to The Piano. [On lack of preview/edit thanks, yoink!]
posted by The Bellman at 11:58 AM on May 8, 2014


She ain't bad if you don't mind the wrong notes and the typically Russian technique which in layman's terms could be described as "fast, loud and obnoxious." She's like Lang or Yuja, and with enough money, she can rent out ANY hall for a solo recital.

You're conveying a value judgment without giving enough info for people to understand your view. I feel there are ways to frame an aesthetic opinion about young, popular, globalized contemporary classical artists without the conflated rhetoric of a backhanded compliment.

Here's to YouTube for making it possible for anyone with "enough" talent to build a recital/recording career. Hey, there are plenty of pretty gals (AND guys) who are just talented enough to do that, so good for them. However, a Nyman CD? What, is she targeting the post-minimalism, indie-classical bullshit demographic? His watered down musical tapestries couldn't hold the interest of a fruit fly. She should stick to Liszt, except it's WAY easier to nail Nyman, that is, play it with no wrong notes.

A flawed analysis… She's playing what young people like these days. The positive implications of that should be self-evident. Further, for most people of intelligence and privilege there's no inconsistency in being able to appreciate both Liszt and something like Nyman.
posted by polymodus at 12:09 PM on May 8, 2014


Huh, I was just reading around a bit on the history of minimalism in music and it seems that several people make the claim that Nyman was actually the first to apply the term "minimal music" to the emerging style. Interesting. Like all such claims, though, there are competitors.
posted by yoink at 12:15 PM on May 8, 2014


Sorry folks. I have strong opinions/preferences when it comes to this kind of stuff especially the strange world of celebrity classical musicians which overlaps with the world of the true master musicians. They are not mutually exclusive (example, Lang Lang who is technically astonishing and is an ultimate star in the classical music world and for many audiences but most musicians look down on him as flashy, unmusical and showy) and I didn't mean to cause any kind of uproar. Just throwing my two cents in and my point of view is decidedly abrasive.

I consider Michael Nyman a kind of neo-romantic post-minimalist. His earlier music is more motor-driven a la Philip Glass but has a romantic sensibility much like John Adams. I'm not a total Nyman hater and he actually composed a wonderful chamber opera based on Oliver Sacks' "Man Who Mistook His Wife...", google it, it's really cool.

Anyway, I did say in my original comment, "good for them", and I truly mean that. I don't really give a shit if someone is making bank doing what they love. I just see videos like hers of these relentless self-promoting pianists and they're almost always just good enough.
posted by ReeMonster at 1:06 PM on May 8, 2014 [3 favorites]


So is she bad along the "Wagner" or the "Florence Foster Jenkins" axis?
posted by pseudocode at 3:02 AM on May 9, 2014


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