Only Liszt & Lisitsa (OK & a few others) could play this! El Contrabandista, St. Pancras

. 12 March 2013 - The day a very chilly St Pancras Station was warmed by the music of Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven and Rachmaninov, provided by Valentina Lisitsa while she waited for a train! We were so lucky to be able to enjoy this informal and unusual concert. Thank you Valentina!

Note - some viewers have been angered by the title and posted abusive comments. Pianists other than Liszt and Lisitsa have played El Contrabandista, but as the piece is extremely hard and, some would say, does not warrant the effort required to master it, they are few and far between. Also as some have mentioned, Liszt is dead. So although the title is strictly speaking not totally accurate, and is a little tongue-in-cheek, it is not so far from the truth so please refrain from posting nasty comments. Thank you.

[aaaaaaaaaaaa]

That old piano was like "oh crap, gonna work hard today".

[Asmobia]

Piano A: "I am a Steinway Concert Grand and I worth one million dollars".
Piano B: "I am crystal Heintzman and you need to pay multi-millions for me".
Piano in St Pancras Station: "Well, I am crappy but I played El Contrabandista".

[rhapsody]

A great concertist playing in a crappy piano, that's what i call love for music.

[bobkonradi]

This piece is played so seldom, and by so few pianists (hardly any) that if she made a mistake nobody would ever pick up on it. And not many listeners in the railroad station realize that they're getting a free concerto by perhaps the world's greatest pianist.

[woswasdenni]

i bet 9 out of ten there didnt ever knew who is playing there

[HJBP]

I've gained a whole new admiration for Valentina.
She is not only one of the greatest pianist in the world,
she is an amazing human being.
She should her soul by sharing her talent in this circumstance,
not having everything perfect for her performance, but such playing
for the joy of it, just playing and sharing !
BRAVO, VALENTINA !!!

[FOOFOOKITTY]

While she waited for a train??? Amazing!!!

[annacorey]

Challenge accepted.


Edit: never mind.

[PendenqueJohn]

The worst thing is most of these people don't know what of a true blessing they have had to see Valentina this close and perform. Only true piano lovers actually do but I wish somebody would actually tell them - for doesn't who know because she's truly the one and only - unique.

[catkeys]

Such a lucky person! She so clearly just enjoys performing; doesn't matter that the piano is not a Steinway grand, and that this upright is giving a slightly saloon-like sound to this piece. But Lisitsa's just having a good time giving people some great music.

[Leemarie]

Insanely fast in parts.. wish I had long fingers like this. I am always amazed how the concert pianists memorize such long pieces.  How much time and dedication is put in to master this piece. All of this on an old piano... how it must sound on a Bosendorfer or the like. Just incredible talent!

[Alidwee]

This makes my heart pound the way no amount of pop or rap ever could. Played on a subpar piano at the train station yet absolutely breathtaking.

[altuspienaar]

1.5 million views of this vid on the most horrid sounding piano when on Valentina's chanel her most popular and superbly recorded pieces played on the finest instruments barely has more than 100 thousand views🤔
Please go support her on her channel and be prepared to be absolutely amazed by her spectacular talent playing some of the best and most challenging pieces ever composed.

[archibalddalupang]

Legend has it that a bunch of music majors were late for their class when they passed by here

[karli]

It's truly a pleasure to see someone who has mastered something as completely as Valentina has the piano. It is something few of us will ever experience ourselves...

[ravingcyclist]

Over One Million views and still going strong 4 years later! Perhaps inadvertently her most successful worldwide concert. :-)

[littleteishy]

I LOVE this!! She plays TO the piano's capabilities, not in spite of it, incredible virtuosity..

[coolenmike]

Such joy and pleasure at playing piano.

[abhisarma]

I can't even play the Revolutionary etude when my hands are cold, this is just amazing

[ericnk]

We are so fortunate that virtuosi of her caliber can make recorded performances. So many such as Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Anton Rubinstein and many others, lived and died before any means existed to record. Lisitsa is fantastic.