Longtime Friend & Reader JC_in_PA suggested that I give this one a listen. I did, and so should you. The intro (i.e. the part before Khatia Buniatishvili gets going on the piano) is one of the best live interpretations I’ve ever heard.
Some pics of Khatia:
Lovely.
Paraphrasing The Kildar, Georgians rock.
.
Especially if you’re the Kildar.
Not too many on the list of those I (to my Catholic school boy shame) leer at and love listening to — she is on the list with Norah Jones and Diana Krall in that category
I have her albums. Her interpretation of Pictures at an Exhibition is exquisite. For a lovely peek behind the scenes, see this home video snippet, from when France won the Rugby World Cup.
https://youtu.be/nifspyswb-8
Glad you liked it, Kim! I love that piece, but her iterpretation of it … This comment from the YouTube sums it up perfectly.
1 month ago
I am 88 years old. I have heard this composition many many times. I have never heard it performed this well by a performer who seems to totally enjoy it. I am sure if George were listening to this particular performance, he would say “Ah. This is what I heard when I composed it.”
I’m going to have to look up that Pictures piece, thanks for the recommend!
Wow! Her Pictures at an Exhibition was wonderful, too! And she’s only 35! Hers is a career to watch. I’ve seen her before (maybe Kim has posted her before, she is in the x-ring on his concept of feminine beauty), but that Gershwin really made me stand up and take notice of how talented she is.
Just Wow!
Easy on the eyes and ears.
she’s lots of fun to watch, but I prefer Oscar Levants’ original interpretation recording of this particular number.