Oh, I know - big yawn. We've all heard it before, and she's been playing it forever. But there are some good reasons to watch this - for one, the production values of the video are quite high. The performance took place just last fall, so it is fairly new. And her technique is still a wonder to behold after all these years (which is encouraging to this old geezer). And, for whatever reason, she seems fresher and more engaged in this than in some previous performances of it I've heard. There are some egregious Martha-isms, sure, but I still like it, overall.

But what may be the main reason for posting is this - the first encore is something I've never ever seen a pianist do after a piano concerto performance. I won't tell what happens, because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I thought it was delightful!!

https://youtu.be/vlvWfP-iFmY

I came upon this by accident, when I was checking to see if there were any new performances of Boris Blacher's orchestral "Variations on a Theme of Paganini" (which is a piece I'd been reminded of by a thread here about the Brahms Paganini Variations). Turns out the Ravel was on this concert together with a performance of that piece. Anyway, the Blacher is a fun, jazzy, and interesting modern take on that famous Paganini theme, which I think many of you might enjoy (even if there is no piano solo involved). It's fairly virtuosic, sort of like a miniature concerto for orchestra.

https://youtu.be/K0mvuHJIZGg

Amazing! Thank you for sharing this!

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

Outstanding!

Very enjoyable.

Thanks! She's still got it.