Valentina Lisitsa QOR Records Official channel (Medienpräsenz)

4:41

This is one of complete takes from analog recording session back in December 2011.  The sound is NOT what is recorded on that towering set of microphones on a background, it is from a lowly Korg recorder backing up video....
I don't know if this particular take will make it on vinyl LP , we decided on "no edits allowed" policy for analog - but unlike a performance at  a concert , I get another chance :-) And yes, we had a few people in audience - they were all well behaved :-) lol
Sheet music here: http://tinyurl.com/7sln8xh 
This is  a "hard core" score :-) There is an "Erlkonig lite" version by Liszt ( as played by Yuja Wang ), I have it as "ossia" in my old Russian edition it was also published by Kranz in Lepzig. Can't find it on IMSLP though...

Erlkönig  Schubert ,  Liszt , von Goethe

Who rides, so late, through night and wind?
It is the father with his child.
He has the boy well in his arm
He holds him safely, he keeps him warm.

"My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?"
"Father, do you not see the Erl king?
The Erl king with crown and tail?"
"My son, it's a wisp of fog."

"You dear child, come, go with me!
Very lovely games I'll play with you;
Many colourful flowers are on the shore,
My mother has many golden robes."

"My father, my father, and don't you hear
What Erl king quietly promises me?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child;
The wind is rustling through withered leaves."

"Do you want to come with me, pretty boy?
My daughters shall wait on you finely;
My daughters will lead the nightly dance,
And rock and dance and sing you to sleep."

"My father, my father, and don't you see there
Erl king's daughters in the gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it clearly:
There shimmer the old willows so grey."

"I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
And if you're not willing, then I will use force."
"My father, my father, he's grabbing me now!
Erl king has done me some harm!"

It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on,
He holds the moaning child in his arms,
Reaches the farm with trouble and hardship;
In his arms, the child was dead.

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?" —
"Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?" —
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif."

"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;
Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand." —

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?" —
"Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind." —

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehen?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein." —

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" —
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. —"

"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt." —
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!" —

Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

3:15

15 Inventions, Chaconne, Partita No2, Toccata e minor and other works are now available on disc Valentina plays J.S.Bach
 / valentina-lisitsa-plays-j-s-bach  
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085271T59/...
Recorded in 2017. Schaubuhne Lindenfelz Leipzig Hall. Boesendorfer 280VC

Johann Sebastian Bach Feruccio Busoni  from 10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27 BWV 639 (BV B 27/5)
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (I call to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ)
Sheet music free download here at IMSLP  library:
http://tinyurl.com/c6nkwoe

11:11

Aus Liszts eigenen Programmnotizen: „In der Dorfkneipe findet gerade ein Hochzeitsfest statt, mit Musik, Tanz und Gelage. Mephistopheles und Faust kommen vorbei, und Mephistopheles überredet Faust, hineinzugehen und an den Feierlichkeiten teilzunehmen. Mephistopheles entreißt einem trägen Geiger die Geige und entlockt ihr unbeschreiblich verführerische und berauschende Klänge. Der verliebte Faust wirbelt mit einer temperamentvollen Dorfschönheit in einem wilden Tanz umher; in rasender Hingabe walzen sie aus dem Raum hinaus ins Freie, fort in den Wald. Die Klänge der Geige werden immer leiser, und die Nachtigall trällert ihr liebesvolles Lied.“

Original-Version: Englisch
From Liszt's own program notes : "There is a wedding feast in progress in the village inn, with music, dancing, carousing. Mephistopheles and Faust pass by, and Mephistopheles induces Faust to enter and take part in the festivities. Mephistopheles snatches the fiddle from the hands of a lethargic fiddler and draws from it indescribably seductive and intoxicating strains. The amorous Faust whirls about with a full-blooded village beauty in a wild dance; they waltz in mad abandon out of the room, into the open, away into the woods. The sounds of the fiddle grow softer and softer, and the nightingale warbles his love-laden song."

1:03:54

These are the very last songs that Schubert wrote before his death at age of 31. 

Few other pieces exist that would match the depth of despair, depression and hopelessness in this music. It is futile to describe what's happening in this music , what is the story... The subtitled lyrics are eloquent enough.

12:56

Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. 

In this video you can see and hear the predecessors of our "mystery" piano. 

Concert Grand by Schroeder Muhlbach 

Upright piano Alexander Meybom Royalino (aka small piano) 

Ronish straight strung piano 

Mulbach 160cm piano 

Hagspiel 170cm piano 

 

Kindest thanks to Museum "Family of Pianos" Tremendous variety of sound of different pianos is something we lost today completely. All pianos sound the same and there is hardly any difference in sound remaining.