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I was looking for a good encore piece, when I discovered this... thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWvYtfOOjhM

It almost sounds like sorabji. not a single clean octave, I think he deliberately smashed his hand across the keyboard, not even attempting to play clean sounding octaves. The piano probably had to be tuned after this, and the floor repaired.

Highlights: 0:17-0:20; 1:31; 2:11; 2:46-2:50; 4:20-4:25(finishing off the poor piano.)

please tell me this is staged... otherwise, I never want to listen to Liszt ever again.

Tt must be because I laughed waaay too much. When he started HITTING the piano I couldn't hold it in. God... I wonder what the poor piano did to deserve this. I would've given it so much love and taken care of it. Ridiculously funny and sad at the same time :P

There's an old saying--when the devil goes to church, he sits in the choir.

Obviously, he plays the piano, as well!

When I watched it first time around, I just sat behind my computer screen completely shocked...

But I gotta admit, I bursted out laughing when I revisited a few of the "Highlights".

As Gordon Ramsay would say: "Damn".

Liszt was similarly dramatic, but had a much more engaging personality. A lot of that guy's moves were probably copied from Liszt caricatures:











Liszt looked up as if he were gazing into heaven, and was so divinely serene was his expression, it was as if the light from heaven was flowing down on him. (The only pianist I've ever seen manage that expression was Mari Kodama in the Appassionata sonata).

Expressions are one thing, but, I Dare to believe that clarity of sound matters as well. The guy in the video had none of it... I assume Liszt did.

Here's the same dude playing the 1st movement of a sonata by Balakirev. Quite a difference.

https://youtu.be/KdXTyzcvkCw

BUT - when he plays another Liszt piece, he just can't seem to help himself......

https://youtu.be/Oj9GzX-7Hy4

and then there's his Ravel.....

https://youtu.be/P6jFHwsunww

Unlike Gerard Depardieu, the guy here can really play the piano.

For those not familiar with the movie "Green Card": Depardieu's piano performance starts at ca. 1:50.