What he says is almost as beautiful as the music itself

This is my favorite video on youtube

you can tell from his eyes that he's actually visualising the music as he plays, that's rêverie indeed

This is sublime! The man sits to show how it can be beautifully done and what we hear is simply SUBLIME MUSIC! And the sweetness of his voice, the precision of his diction, the choicest words of descriptive poetry coming effortlessly out of his mind tempered by the lighflames burning in his eyes! Thank you so much for sharing this piece of a treasure!

I dont have words to describe how i feel after seeing cortot play this piece . His commentary and understanding of this piece is extraordinarily deep and sensible.

Cortot to me is the most profound interpreter on the piano.

The understanding and the love that Cortot shows in this piece is really touching. THIS IS MUSIC.

A fascinating peak into the profound genius of one of the most transcendent artists of all time. Hauntingly beautiful, chills all over.

The single fact that Cortot takes his glasses *off* for playing the piano is his whole genius in a nutshell.

If Cortot had not been an outstanding pianist he could have been an outstanding orator.

What a wonderful human being. It is an honor to be in the same field of study as this man. The art of the piano continues to astound me.

Very moving!!!....in our time, when music like very much else is turned very superficial and anonymous....this is a very good reminder of what music really is about....thanks for posting!

What a gift it is to capture a well-poised spiritual moment in music. This is so moving!

I love that the only filmed cortot masterclass is about the short sequence that is my favourite composition of all compositions.

I love it how he gives his own twist to it.. I think I haven't heard a better version yet. Even the bad sound quality, along with him explaining (which is also amazing, he talks and plays blindly at the same time), adds to this. I wonder what it had to sound like when you'd be standing in that room.

This is beautiful. After listening to all of the other pieces in kinderszenen. The poet speaks is the last piece. that’s the piece that the poet is telling you his final thoughts about his childhood memories that you have just experienced with him. Nostalgic but not completely sad. Bittersweet. “Damn, I remember when everythig was so easy when i was a child. I miss those days” type of vibe. that’s how i take this last piece

Absolutely breathtaking! The filming itself is art.

A brilliant explanation and sense of emotion. A lot of emotion and ideas can be extracted from such a small and tender piece.

beautiful voice too !

I love Cortot. This video is touched my heart.. It's an honor to be able to see the video...

"This" is comparable to any masterclass by any youtuber of today... Same level. In terms of musical depth and thinking, above all.

I love how deep Arthur Cortot goes with this piece of music. It reminds me of what we have lost in music throughout the years. Also is that Theirry de Brunhoff? I remember he was a student of Cortot. It makes since of course because Brunhoff has the most elegant interpretation of Chopins Nocturne that I have ever heard.

Thank you for posting this remarkable video. It combines examples of both effective teaching and inspired (as well as inspiring) musicianship. I have referred readers of my blog to this page as an ideal video to illustrate one of my blog entries. Cortot takes us right into the inner world of a true interpretive musician, if we will just listen to the music, watch his face, and follow his words.

Haunting and aiming at eternity--A. Cortot immortalized this piece and this moment! Favorite pianist of all times.

Speechless.

thanks for this beautiful masterclass..."dreaming" during play piano....

What’s most astonishing is his ability to perform this while turning his head 90 degree.Imagine when he’s playing this in a concert with his eyes looking at the audience.It is as if saying”Look,it’s Schumann.It’s easy”.

This girl is İdil Biret by the way =)

Cortot’s playing makes the true romantic style of performance worth it.

I love Alfred Cortot, he may have some imperfections in his technique in the most challenging works. But who cares, he add the most powerful sense of music I ever heard, his Chopin and Schumann are beyond any comparison. He had to be a great great teacher as well, his pupils all inherited an absolutely magnificent approach of music, where the melodic line and sense of recreating the piece as it's played, was perefectly conveyed. Samson François, Jacqueline Blancard, Éric Heidsieck, Dinu Lipatti and many others... They all received a teaching from Alfred Cortot and it is always incredible

Part of this was used in a great contemporary Danish film -- Dark Horse by Dagur Kari. Totally recommend it

une grande leçon d'émotion

El poeta del piano.

THANK YOU FOR THE ENGLISH SUB- TITLE!!

That's what you call a masterclass

新海昭二が、最初に師事したのは、ロシア系・ユダヤ人のレオ・シロタです。Litanei は直ぐ見つかりますが、コルトーの演奏が行方不明になりました。わ～～と、コルトーの演奏が載っていて、捜す時間がありません。いずれにせよ、これから、全部（？）聴きます。感謝！　吉田阿吽旅人（征夫）

Hats off gentleman! A genius (Cortot)

Horowitz's live performance hits different after watching this 😥

Gotta hand it to the KZfaq team -love the segue!

Fascinant personnage... Merci pour le partage

This is so beautiful

wow. extraordinary.

Was it Thierry de Brunhoff in the audience? It looks like him.

love it

This video is extraordinary. Thanks for posting it! But... Are there any more Cortot videos like this? I have not been able to find them in my web search but would love to see them, if they exist.

et merci Avner !

Thanks for this wonderful video❤

Magistral este maestro es único es poeta

Tres bon!!!

The Poet speaks.

Wow

Mesmerizing

wowww!!!!!!!!!

Entre les élèves de Cortot, a 0'48, il me semble de reconnaitre le pianiste Eric Heidsieck (dernier à droite) :)

can anyone transcribe what he says in french please? i speak a bit myself but not enough to catch every little detail

cortot plays: y aqui... no ligar estas dos frases, estos son dos elementos diferentes de la misma condicion musical y aqui como un tipo de interrogacion..... y de nuevo el otro..... afectuosamente.... interroga el avenir.............. y a partir de aqui... todo esto se inscribe tan simplemente no en la musica sino a travez... de la inmortalidad y dejen desvanecerse las sonoridades.. que deben desaparecer se apagan... y ustedes se dejan simplemente en la presencia de un sueño que se posa

Like Duke Ellington said...music should be beyond categories...you need allwaýs to say something...like Cortot here is going through what's going on and in depth ...the art is in the "cooking", what you make out of it. For me pianotangents are buttons and you need to combine them in speaking phrases to make any sense, like I experience Cortot is doing.

me parece... que en el ultimo pedazo(parte) el poeta habla.. segun el titulo que schumann a el mismo a dado a esta pagina inmortal deberia transportarte sobre un plano de ensueño mas intimo..... no es asi? no unicamente la bella sonoridad, la relajacion expresiva de la frase sino un sentimiento mas soñador.... la verdad es que hay qeu soñar este ultimo pedazo(parte) no tocarlo me permite usted tomar su lugar?

0:48 that guy looks like Alban Berg

He must have had the number of Schumanns dealer.

0：48

We must see French people how to evaluate Alfred Cortot fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Cortot

0:49

Is that Pollini on the left at 0:49?

Cortot's late life was loneliness and depression.

who's the lady ?

Et son visage !!

what is he talking about, I have no frigging Idea, even with the sub titles

Poor student. Cortot seems to perform for the camera, utters a few hollow analogies and forgets to teach.