Meet... Cyprien Katsaris

Cyprien Katsaris has taught me that you can admire a person and laugh at (with?) him at the same time - positively speaking, of course. I truly admire his genius, and yet am more often than not unable to watch him with a straight face. Gotta love the hair :-)

Now, seriously: He's my favourite pianist of today, at least as far as Chopin is concerned. Trying to be objective, he's certainly "one of" the finest pianists. (And, seriously, don't you ever cut your hair short!)

Thanks to a friend of mine, I discovered this video. Few videos on YouTube make you fall off your chair in laughter just to make your jaw drop a few seconds after. And then make you laugh, and then make your jaw drop, and again, and again... Just amazing.

I don't know what he had smoked before this, but I want it too! :-D Bach's Toccata & Fuga faster than ever...

So that we don't just show the curiosities: Cyprien Katsaris playing The Flight of the BumbleBee by Rimsky-Korsakoff / Cziffra - in Cziffra's presence, in 1975.

Last, but not least: Mr. Katsaris is a magician when playing Chopin, here's one of my little favourites:

I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for uploading to Sissco, dafuckinmart, jaimeleclassique, and tosa1gou, respectively. I love you, Cyprien, please come to the Czech Republic sometime! ♥

Chopin's Death Mask in Prague

The Czech Republic is the first and, so far, the last country to welcome Frédéric Chopin's death mask. The year 2010 is to be named The Year of Chopin by UNESCO. At the gala concert, the Chopin Symphony Orchestra and Choir, conducted by the best Polish conductor Lukasz Borowicz, will play Mozart's Requiem - the composition that the Polish composer himself asked to be played at his funeral. Prague's St.Vitus Cathedral's bells and Warsaw's St.John's Cathedral's bells will sound at the same time.

It is actually Chopin's second death mask. The first one, taken right after the composer's passing, was regarded too troubled and weary by the mortal illness. Therefore the sculptor, Jean-Baptiste Clésinger, smoothed out its features. As a miracle, the bronze cast survived the World War II and the bombing of the Royal Palace in Warsaw.

Why Mozart's Requiem? Mozart influenced Chopin a lot. He died 19 year before Chopin, who often returned to Mozart's compositions, which he loved very much - especially his Don Giovanni and Requiem. When Chopin felt that his illness was fighting him, he had sent for its score. His last wish was "play Mozart's Requiem at my funeral, as a farewell."