Cziffra's Flight of the Bumblebee

Here is an arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's "flight of the Bumble Bee" by Hungarian pianist Cziffra, performed live. It sounds more like the Flight of the Pterodactyl to me.

I have stumbled across many great performances, in this miraculous realm we call youtube, that are accompanied with the sheet music. This is a great tool for everyone as they listen to new music. Try to find some more of these and share them with me if you wish. I am always curious to know what interests you.

Gould's Goldberg variations

This week's clip is of Glenn Gould performing the first portion of Bach's Goldberg Variations. He recorded these twice, once in the 1950's and again in the 80's. Each version is quite different from one another. There is so much emotion, beauty, and genius in this work. The aria, or the opening theme, is the subject for 32 variations. You should listen to them all, even by different artists. Glenn Gould sitting at the piano has become an iconic image of Bach in the 20th century. With his unique approach, both physically and musically, it is quite obvious the music completely consumes him.

Enjoy,