one of the best playings of scherzo 3 ever...theres only a handful of pianists that can play this song right---it requires speed, technical perfection, and interpretive passion...and pogorelich nails it...

Every time I read a comment stating that music should be played "properly" I start laughing. You can call me an ignorant, I am not a musicologist , but I'll tell you something: when I hear somebody playing I don't focus on so-called correctness, I search for the ability to put life in music, to make it intriguing and lively. Passion is what makes Chopin's works beautiful - and I haven't seen more passionate performance than this one.

Those of you complaining that this isn't Chopin, or that he's not following the score, clearly didn't see the big bold text at the top of the first page that says "Presto con fuoco".

I was privileged to see Pogorelich five times at the height of his powers and to this day there's never been another pianist who comes close to his electrifying style and intensity on stage. I still can't watch this without bursting into applause at the end.

This is a great example of how incredible the different roles are of both composer and virtuoso. Ivo has a fantastically unique interpretation, that compliments Chopin's intentions with interpretation. In the same way that Shakespeare didn't mean his lines to be read, but acted. He should have won this competition. Perhaps this is why the judge walked out of the competition after hearing he didn't win. Probably the finest Chopin virtuoso of all time. We need more Ivo.

No risk, no gain. Maybe the greatest performance of Chopin on KZfaq. Pogorelich is a genius.He takes it to the limit and beyond, and he understands this music better than anyone, including Kissin and Zimerman. The legerity and the power are both stunning. I was lucky enough to see him several times, but this competition performance really shows what he's built of. Ivo. Always.

This guy taught me piano in the last century, wonder what he is up to these days... It's amazing to see comments on youtube, some 30 years later some people think this is the best Chopin they have ever heard. I recall that the performance at the competition caused quite a ripple. Shame in my teenage wisdom I didn't appreciate the amazing talent to learn from.

I personally believe Pogorelich to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. He is a composer's pianist - by that I mean he plays music from the inside out with an innate understanding of the inner voice and measured workings of music. This is extraordinary playing from one whose musical mind is so powerful and expansive. He is the Nureyev of the piano!

I love his playing. As a formerly injured pianist I recognize motions that caused my injury. I hope he never has to suffer from this and is one of the lucky ones.

Ivo tamed the Scherzo 3 , very few can handle this piece, let alone play it to perfection as Ivo does

Genius.. His interpretation was flawless. Also, his performance is really touching and impressive.

Truly amazing and inspired. What a joy to hear this played in such an imaginative and passionate manner ... technically unbelieveable.

Boy, he really pushes the outer boundaries of the pace at which he can play these pieces.

I love this Scherzo with its "like water" pearls!

Damn! those octaves at the beggining, he plays them so fast, precisely, and with ease...

A very dark and powerful performance from this amazing musician.

This man's love of music really shows in the way he lingers over every note, invoking the singing qualities of the piano. Even the faster passages have so much nuance! This is how Chopin should be played - sensual passion tempered by intellectually probing objectivity.

I admire him for making this on a competition - guarding vigorously his conception in front of the cliché-liking jury playing with no pedal as a technique to increase the effect of the really deep moments,... great!

OMG Argerich was right -- he was a genius.

A little late to the party here, but ... love Ivo. This is the exact frenzy I imagine was in the head of Chopin. Ivo's tone on the soft parts is superb too. He rattles off arpeggios at a whisper. That isn't just a good shift pedal and hammer voicing there... it's control. Amazing.

Ivo portrayed the most important essence in music, the soul, the heart of the composer, and he became IT. I think that one should see beyond what’s written in the score. I don’t want to be disrespectful to composers. But again, what’s more disrespectful? Playing safe with a mediocre interpretation and audience forget about the performance as they leave the concert hall? or taking a risk while standing tall in what you believe in? I believe in the latter. I remember watching a documentary where Ivo said he’s interested in knowing what inspired composers to write their works, what was before the creation of work? What provoked them to write this music? For sure, he sees more than crescendo and decrescendo. He’s a true artist!

Every few months I'm coming back to this performance.. and 5:53 - 6:32 after so many years still matchless in creativity and interpretation.

Ohh...I saw him live preforming in Croatia(Country of his birth) in capital city Zagreb. On 12.3.2011.He is still awesome, after 30 years, there is still something in him. With his talent, he excite everyone else, and give us an opportunity to enjoy in MUSIC. Pogorelić we love you, and your AWESOME playing!!!

Watching these early clips of Pogorelich, you can see how competition judges might be unnerved by him ..... and why Martha Argerich would call him a genius. The young Pogorelich was an absolute gem.

Just brilliant. His hand positioning strongly lends itself to a flawless result. Bravo!

1:33 such beautiful velvety tone & the soft glistening runs, astonishing sound artist, so very moving

What an electrifying performance, absolutely on fire at the coda! Thanks for posting this historic footage.

I saw him play this piece in Los Angeles -- wearing blue suede shoes! Breath-taking performance.

素晴らしい！ この演奏はコンクールの審査員に向けた演奏ではなく、 すべての、音楽を愛する人に向けた演奏だ！ 最後の一音の前に拍手が鳴り出しているのが、その証拠です。

i always loved the contrast in this piece between the fast and slow sections. Bravo Pogorelic.

If someone like Martha Argerich consider Pogorelich to have a place among the finalists of that competition, I think nobody cares about the opinion of those haters who like to think themselves as critics. Pogorelich has passion. I think Chopin prime intention (not only that, of course) of all his work is exactly that: PASSION.

Many years ago I went to the RFH in London with 2 friends to hear Ivo Pogorelich, He was astounding.

Ivo Pogorelich was born in Belgrade in 1958 as son of a musician. He received his first piano lessons at the age of seven and went to Moscow at the age of twelve to study at the Central Special Music School and then at the Tchaikowsky Conservatory. In 1976 he began intensive studies with the renowned pianist and teacher Aliza Kezeradze, with whom he was married from 1980 until her untimely death in 1996. Mme. Kezeradze was able to transmit the spirit and matter of the school of Beethoven and Liszt, the tradition of the Liszt-Siloti school, originated in Vienna and than carried through to the Conservatory of St. Petersburg, flourishing towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th. Century. Pogorelich´s sound, concerts and recordings pay homage to this exceptionally refined, visionary, and truly revolutionary woman, who so lovingly made Pogorelich a unique artist of genius. Ivo Pogorelich won the first prize at the Alessandro Casagrande Competition at Terni (Italy) in 1978 and the first price at the Montreal International Music Competition in 1980. In October of the same year he entered the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw where, when prevented from participating in the final contest as a soloist with the orchestra, a fierce controversy resulted in the renowned argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, a member of the jury, protesting and leaving the competition, joined by other members of the jury panel, with the words “He is a genius”. The New York Times once wrote “He played each note exactly, with such a feeling, such expression, he was an entire orchestra- it was as if he played 200 years ahead of our time”. In this spirit Ivo Pogorelich is known today as a poet of the instrument. Ivo Pogorelich is not only an artist of the highest caliber, discipline and musicianship, but the archetype of the modern artist, the isolated and courageous master, who finds his own way to new heights of expression, no matter the prejudices or the barriers of misunderstanding raised against him. He stands alone at the beginning of a new epoch like a prophet, mapping the routes that art would take. Pogorelich´s cathartic and mystical sound, is concerned with the ultimate mysteries that transcend this world. His grandiose, colossal and majestic art, symbolizes the struggle of the human soul to find release from the bonds of its material body. His exquisite and overwhelming music continues to echo throughout the entire performance and beyond, so the action is at once momentary, eternal and complete. Pogorelich´s interpretations are indescribably beautiful and irresistible. His sound is pure poetry and extremely emotional, yet entirely unsentimental. We are hypnotized by his new and radical naturalness, by his nobility, dignity, severity and sobriety; transporting us to states of wonder, ecstasy, meditation, love and compassion. -- Sound and Silence, Life and Death, Time and Space; collapse into the Eternal moment of Infinity. -- ----------------------- "you have to get into the phycological frame of mind in which composers wrote their works in order to discover its secrets. virtuosity comes from the greek origin virtue. original is finding the origin Gaudi said. rachmaninov had arthritis at the end of his life, he was so weak that his sound was very short, that is the reason he played fast, to fill the vacuum. if you have long sound you are in command to achieve clarity and the hypnotic sound between the notes. the problem was always the conflict and the difference between the absolute and the relative quality. beauty in music is like in diamonds, the purest diamond in the world is the Koh-i-Noor, it is the absolute beauty to which others with relative beauty are compared. work as hard as a galley slave. one should always try as much as possible to rediscover music as though one is hearing it for the first time, searching everywhere for new meanings and new depths. the highest function of the artist is to release the spirituality and the emotional immediacy that lie within the score. sound becomes metaphysical only when you have completely explored all physical possibilities. you should explore until reaching the absurd. music takes you to another universe of eternity that remains with you after the concert is finished." Ivo Pogorelich. ------------------------------------

If I want to hear something truly unique but at the same time honest I always go back to either to Kissin or Pogorelich. Young Pogo and Kissin never disappoint.

Amazing performance, amazing..

Phenomenal performance, with an original approach and 100% controlled, for such a young pianist! He was eliminated after this, the jury saying "this is not Chopin".

6:30 so incredibly powerful, I think the LH depth of Ivo's playing in the lower piano registers always so rich

Amazing! My favourite player of Chopin.

The strangest hands I've seen on a pianist. And yet what an absolutely phenomenal performance. It just goes to show the there is no 'absolute' technique.

Fantastica interpretaçao, Martha Argerich tinha razao, nos tempo de hoje Ivo Pogolerich e considerado um dos maiores pianista do planeta, eu adoro a maioria das performance que vejo no KZfaq, seus videos e otimo de ver e ouvir, obrigado por postar, estou so agora comentando pois nao sabia mexer no KZfaq.

Imagine somebody showing up at a competition and playing like this -- and then not winning! It must have been politics...

FYI, in 1980 Dang Thai Son was a participant (and Gold medal winner) - NOT a juror. Son played brilliantly (and "traditionally"). Ivo played *against* "common traditions"... In his interview he said that he arrived to Warsaw to teach Polls to play Chopin (Ivo likes scandals as a marketing tool...) Actually Ivo gained much more because of the scandal than the winner himself. Of course Ivo deserved to be in the finals, but Son was simply unbeatable in 1980.

OK aamidjay. I think it's a blessing to have this interpretation, to enjoy his "milking the interesting technical stuff for all it's worth". I didn't find any incoherence though. He definitely has MEANINGFUL ideas. This is not my favorite interpretation of this Scherzo, but it doesn't have to be to give me much enjoyment hearing it and appreciating his personal ideas. This is, after all, why we have multiple interpreters and not carbon copies of one "standard" version.

Incredible... I have watched this video about 10 times. Amazing performance in all aspects.

Another masterful performance by Pogorelich

What a perfect... I look this 400 times and get impressed all times... like as I saw for the first time...

Love it - this keeps the music alive

I've had this version on a cd that was removed from the market. I've always dreamt to see this on video, so thank you! This is the ultimate scherzo N.3 in my opinion.

Pogorelich is a reminder that, to be a genius in musical performance, you need to interpret the works anew - and so, inevitably, set aside convention. He has so much imagination - this Scherzo is a perfect example; but listen also to his interpretation of Beethoven's opus 110 sonata; or his way of playing Haydn; or Schumann. He really knows how to get 'inside' a work, and bring out the complexity of what is hidden in the score. His remarkable technique is simply a tool to do this - necessary, but not an end in itself. He is indeed a genius. And another bold and original genius of performance, Martha Argerich, recognised this in him immediately.

GREAT performance, you can really feel the intention of this piece, and that is not easy to do folks

I can't stand people who say ignorant comments like "this is the only true master of Chopin." Sure this man here is remarkably good and his interpretation and feel of the music must be repsected, but that doesn't mean you have the right to disrespect all the other masters of the Piano and Chopin's music. The only true master of Chopin is Chopin himself. Which we are all too unfortunate to hear.

"Pogorelich es un genio" Martha Argerich

what a stunning performance ......period

5:50 -- never has that buildup given me chills like this before (and it definitely does give me chills every other time)...but wow...

What a furious and excellent way of playing this piece!

This interpretation could serve as a starting point of familiarization with Pogorelich's way of deconstructing Chopin (and vast amount of classical piano literature). There is no doubt that there are large number of beautiful interpretations (including Argerich's and Dang Thai Son's ones!) but what Pogorelich did was shining a new light to Chopin's music. This was an intellectual tour de force based on meticulous studies of each bar, not on the on-site inspiration during live performance.

GENIAL, una versión electrizante, bellísima. Un pianista enorme, tal como lo vió Martha Argerich

He is great! One of the best versions i've ever heard

i study music, piano to be precise, and I have heard heaps of people play this scherzo in the past 2 weeks . . . and they all sound the SAME. I come back to Pogorelich and his performance is mindblowing, nobody comes close

Absolutely breathtaking.

This piece is probably the most physically demanding composition by Chopin. He wrote and dedicated this piece to a very strong and passional pupil of his (Adolf Gutmann) who was reknown for his physical power. Arthur Rubinstein said: "this scherzo takes out from me more physical strength than any other work I know". When I finish this piece, I must stop for a minute to rest before playing anything else.

I will never understand why the professional critic class always rated Pogorelich poorly. The man just plays the music as he feels it, without excess and with unimpeachable technique. His delivery puts most others to shame... I won't name names but more than a few of the top performers deliver Chopin in an almost robotic fashion. Without measured, tasteful rubato, Chopin's music sounds farcical. With proper delivery, it is ethereal... unsurpassed, really.

This guy is a real genius. Probably the best version ever played of this piece to me.

Few pianists have the technical prowess to tackle this piece, but Ivo does (did).

He brings more excitement and beautiful nuances to this piece than anyone else. Awesome dynamic range as usual. It's interesting that he plays the beginning faster than most people,but the runs in the chorale bits slower than most.

so Pogorelich can't possible be human, because this is just too amazing.

his playing and the size of his hands always captivate me.

Best version that I heard of this piece.

6:16 The genius comes

Im speechless...

The best performance of this Scherzo ever! Pogorelić care!!!

Amazing, just amazing.

My favorite playing!

Note that the audience can't wait for him to finish before unleashing their applause.

This is what “Presto con fuoco” is all about! Pogorelich has my favorite interpretation of Scherzo No. III. (1998 Deutsche Grammophone recording is the best) Great emphasis on the “sempre staccato” where necessary and lyrical when needed.

He plays it more lyrical than others, that is what appeals to me !

What red blooded force, passion, and energy he has. So many pianists play Chopin like they are at a tea party eating finger sandwiches. Not this man!

Brilliant!

unglaublich schön...bravo

Magnificent.

Браво ! Очень интересный музыкант. Я его обожаю, его игра волшебная, она завораживает !

a very unique and authentic interpretation of this Scherzo. Increadible the ability of some artistis to recreate the music on the paper...

Simply a genius!

Outstanding!

I wonder, was this at the Warsaw Chopin Piano Competition when he was eliminated and Martha Argerich left the judicial committee in protest proclaiming him a "genius"?

My favorite thing are the trickles from high to low...they're beautiful and so precise

Nothing beats this interpretation. In the coda starting 5:57, it's the perfect crescendo I heard. Only he can do huge quick LH octave leaps such as those at 6:20

His performances induce awe in its truest sense.

the best. thanks very much.

This is amazing!!!

Perfectly good: the sounds are not only so tough but that he dont miss the notes

Caro Ivo: aveva proprio ragione Martha Argerich a dire che sei un genio!!!!!!!!!! Non avrei mai pensato di trovare questo video online...una bellissima sorpresa da parte di un'amica che saluto :-)

Hand size is EVERYTHING obviously

oddio ma bravo...wow...non ho parole!

wow every note is so clear!

A few clams at the end. But, who can draw out more beautiful and varied colors from a piano? Not the only way to play this piece, but what poetry.

Man, I think you can either agree or disagree with whatever he does... but there's no doubt that this guy is unique, he has a unique personality, artistry, musicianship... and I think it should be appreciated... I personally don't agree with many things but I really admire his performance... it's very authentic, very original and very romantic... a little out of what we consider a Chopin kind of sound, but anyways... unique

what can one wish more than this?

the magic of pogorelich!

1:07 those octaves were played just so crisp and with such good sound, wow