Title says it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gebNzfdbbrg

Give me Lang Lang every time

I think I'm going to be sick.....

Maybe butchers is more like it...

Has anyone taken a look at Grieg's original?

Sure have. This is a bit more slapdash, to put it kindly. I always though Matsuev a bit of a basher, and this really does not help

That's the Ginzburg arrangement. It's not even especially difficult - just written to make it sound much harder than it is. Ginzburg was a great performer of Liszt paraphrases (amongst others) but I'm not especially convinced by his Rossini transcription either. It's saying something when I find an arrangement crude and vulgar..

Alternatively, Chris, I'm sure you'll just looove this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHRBk8FtvAs

A bit spooky, but very odd.

Arghh.... Cziffra Does this have anything to do with music at all ?

Good question. Did the Matsuev?

He seems smug - I wonder if he knows he's getting bashed from people all around the world.

Not at all, of course.
It's just that people so dote on Cziffra and I never quite understood why - except for the outlandish virtuosity and insane improvisation skills.

Two fairly good reasons there. Also, there are many virtuosi with a prediliction for fast, loud and little else. In many Cziffra recordings the fast bits are very fast, but the slow parts really are slow - he likes to maximise contrast. He's also capable of considerable delicacy when required. Of course his playing is a bit of an acquired taste and my repertoire preferences partly explain why I like him so much.

In defence of Matsuev here (which is asking a lot!) it looks like he's playing at some sort of showbiz event, which probably explains the choice of something short, familiar and flashy. It's still pretty crude playing.

Yes I know, Cziffra could play beautifully on occasion. But by and large I consider him a circus artist of dubious taste. He just could not help himself exploding in six different directions at every opportunity.

As for Matsuev, I bet the audience loved every note of it. We probably need to remember that people like Brahms and Albeniz were not beyond playing in bars to start with, and surely played to the gallery a bit.

You must remember that Grieg himself thought nothing of the Dance in the Hall of the Mountain King.