Liszt – Rondeau Fantastique sur un Thème Espagnol 'El Contrabandista', S252 (Belyavsky)

Manuel García (1775–1832) was a very successful composer of zarzuelas and the fifth number of his one-act piece El poeta calculista of 1804 is entitled ‘Yo que soy contrabandista’. Liszt settled for ‘El contrabandista’ (‘The smuggler’) in his hair-raising paraphrase of it—the Rondeau fantastique—and so may we. Liszt’s piece was published in 1837, with a dedication to George Sand, as his Opus 5 No 3—the companion pieces being the Clochette-Fantaisie and the Fantaisie romantique sur deux mélodies suisses. It remains one of the most impressive works of his early maturity, and its current neglect—difficulties notwithstanding—is a testimony to the want of a spirit of enquiry in many of today’s pianists. (Leslie Howard)

Pf: Sergey Belyavsky

[lisztomanic]

Spectacular performance. Although the mistakes, this is ardent and Lisztian.. Certainly more interesting than Lisitsa’s studio recording. I saw your comment in one of my videos and this really may make me re-download everything and work on Synthesia videos. I anticipate this recording wouldn’t create any copyright problems?

[marcalexandrefontenay]

Liszt était un passionné d’Espagne . Il a abordé plusieurs fois son folklore : rapsodie espagnole version piano seule et avec orchestre. Le thème el contrebandista est une découverte personnelle enlevée et comment par le virtuose russe !

[liampitcher]

“The supreme harmony of the cosmos is selected in the harmony of the spirit.”
-- Franz Liszt

[ezranixon]

When I hear pieces like this it makes me so happy to be alive. The recording is equally mind blowing. I can only imagine what it must feel like to ooze this masterpiece out of your fingers. This is how I imagine cziffra would perform it if he ever did a recording of it. God rest his soul and God bless yours for bringing this to life. Love from UK.

[Felix_Li_En]

Liszt was just a crazy guy !! That's why I love him so much ! ❤️❤️

[collinm.]

His double note trills are actually not human wtf

[matthewparis]

If one writes music like this one can't expect anyone to play it note for note perfectly unless they drop their lives for three years. Belyavsky certainly delivers the temperament, sense and vision of this piece. Thanks. What has Liszt got that nobody else has? Aside from the theatrics he makes use of augmented chords in a way nobody else does.

[SeigneurReefShark]

INCREDIBLE! Litteraly wow, what a performance! Bravo !

[pentaxel]

I bet this is the tempo Liszt played it at, anyways, this is a spectacular performance, even with the mistakes it's very impressive!

[guii]

that's how i like a Liszt interpretation, i don't care about the mistakes you guys are pointing; for me, personally, the biggest mistake is playing notes without ideas, not notes without precision.

[theangel]

9:42 "ffff" because ff is not loud enough! 😂

[CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

It's not a 10 minute piece. It's a 30 page piece!

[stefanolencina]

whatsapp audio x1 0:25
whatsapp audio x2 0:28

[DavidRansbottom]

I prefer this version over Leslie Howards...

[tackontitan]

People who say Lisitsa plays this too fast haven't heard this performance

[classicalmusiccanchangethe]

A very beautifull piece... The pianist didn' t respect the origins of this work. I mean, it' s beautifull when you hear, but it' s hard to seize the original theme, in all these musical ornaments

[dunkleosteus]

I can't see how some people think this piece isn't very "musical."

[mantictac]

Rare that I say Lisitsa's performance is less inane. It is a bit more interesting of an interpretation though.
The piece itself doesn't exactly lend well to serious performances.

[Haley_Jensen]

Can you play Liszt Rondo Fantastique- El Contrabandista?

[Medtner]

Although I highly appreciate the bravura and wide dynamic range this performance has, I have to say the tempi are somewhat inconsistent and Val does a better job there. This performance is indeed faster and more agressive, but I don't know if that is what I like