Liberace International Concert Pianist
Listen While You Read
A Concert Pianist To The End
Most people who remember Liberace probably have the perception that once he went to Las Vegas to perform, he became a crowd-pleasing entertainer who played Bert Bacharach tunes for the older ladies.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The video that you are watching is the first 10 minutes of his concert performance with The London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986 - just one year before he died.
He was, and remained, one of the most talented classical pianists of the 20th century.
In this section of the concert, he plays a selection of classical music pieces and we realize what an extraordinary talent he was. He also scripted the entire orchestral accompaniment for this show.
It would be well worth your time to watch the entire 90 minute concert on YouTube here to see what a wonderful experience he delivered to the British audience.
“Notice no music on the piano. He KNOWS his music. A quintessential professional and an expert showman. Big enough artist to carry a Philharmonic Orchestra !”
A Franz Liszt-Type Concert Performance
Franz Liszt was the first to perform on the stage as a solo concert pianist in the 1830’s, sometimes alone and at other times along with an orchestra. This is what we are seeing here - a piano concert.
At that time, in Paris, pianists were revered for their ability to demonstrate new techniques such as the “three-hand effect” (a way of playing with only two hands, but producing the impression that three hands are being used). This level of expertise raised the level of performance to unimagined new heights.
As you watch Liberace’s fingers fly across the key board, and see the flourish with which he plays, you can almost experience what the audience felt back in the 1830’s when they attended a Franz Liszt concert.
In another Liberace blog, earlier in his career, he actually plays Franz Liszt’s 14th Hungarian Rhapsody which you can listen to here.
His Favorite Composer- Chopin
Throughout his life, Liberace, a descendant of a Polish family, always admired and emulated Chopin. In the London concert, he tells the audience that when he watched the movie “A Song to Remember” about Chopin’s life, he was inspired by the candelabra on his piano and decided to use it as his trademark.
Listen as he plays his own arrangement of Chopin compositions, including an incredibly original variation on Chopin’s Waltz Op. 64 No. 2 at the end of the video.
“The man who breathed life and soul into the music. Truly one of a kind, most likely we will not see the likes of this level of entertainer pass this way again.”
