Friday 7 May 2010

Beirut I love you...

Just a few more days to go to our trip... :)
Just in case the guys from the Institute wanted to know...



If anything, the music is just beautiful.

19 comments:

Emiratesque said...

Never been to Lebanon, but whenever I listen to Fairouz is like a trip to Lebanon :)

Amira said...

I'm glad you liked the video so much my friend :)

BuJ said...

Hala el shahlab. Glad u liked it
Fairuz is a classic!
I used to play her tunes on piano
Al rahbani bros

Sisi. Hold on. Is this ur video?
Are u the yasmine girl? Very cool video
Actually I got to hear about the video from a friend in z uk

Wanna see more!

Rationality said...

Hi BuJ
Really splendid I’m in love with Beirut as well.
Wish you safe and enjoyable trek.
Oh Buj you have the talent of playing on piano that's really cool! Same here btw:)

P.S... Are you in love with Beirut or the pretty gals there? :)
Just kidding don't take whatever I say seriously
All the best

BuJ said...

Rationality, I have some beautiful memories in beirut especially involving a loved one
However this was a decade ago!!! Lots has changed since then!

At the moment I'm just going for a change and for fun. No females in mind :)
Yet!

Wow u play z piano? If u live outside the uae I can give u a link and u can download all the mp3s I made
Its hosted on a site that's now blocked www.secretdubai.com

So what is ur fav composer? For me its always been chopin
Ever since I learned to play op 64 n 2
Which if ur a big fan will know its
The most excellent waltz in C# minor

:)

Rationality said...

BuJ
Excuse me if I cross the line in joking :)
Indeed nice memories always live on...
I dwell in UAE so the site you post is blocked as you said I am eager to hear the music you played. It will be my pleasure to have the chance to listen to your music.

Yep I do, actually it’s a talent, somehow I can play whatever I heard, I got some lessons but not a completed course, I’m planning to take more courses later on, My fav composer is Chopin as well I ‘m good in op.9 no.2. Waiting to hear from you
Enjoy yourself in Beirut
All the best

rosh said...

Beirut is beautiful BuJ. Enjoy, the food, and the landscape and its people.

BuJ said...

salam Rationality.. how ru doing?

don't worry about crossing any lines.. along with mr Rosh here, ur one of the politest visitors of my humble blog.. so it's all good :)

i never completed any single piano course. in fact i hated courses.. at uni i did engineering, but just coz i thought i'd make a better engineer than pianist! pure logic not aspiration.
i did get a few piano lessons here and there, and did grades 2,4 and 8 in piano :)


i'd be glad to e-mail u some of my compositions.. just drop me a line on:
bujalarab (at) gmail (dot) com

fortunately there are over 200 to choose from, but the very best improvisations are just about 10 or so.

chopin op 9 n2 is the famous nocturn if i am not mistaken? it's in a major key and sounds lovely. unfortunately i don't have the patience to learn it because of the devilish left hand chords that go all over the place!!! i hate chords. however i am practising chopin's etude in c-minor op 10 n12 also called the "revolutionary" coz it was penned down by chopin when his native poland was captured by the russians.

here's a video of it, but not by me:

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

This is Richter.. he almost taught himself piano and rejected teachers! he also started piano as an adult not child.. a bit like me. but he's probably the most technically able pianist to live.. along with people like liszt and horowitz.. but he's FAST.. this piece was done in 2.09 min/sec

the average for this piece is 2.30min

i can do it in about 4min.. but then again, the etudes are arguably the hardest set of solo-piano music repertoire by chopin.

the only other etude i can play is etude op 10 n 3.. which i played for my piano exam exactly 10 yrs ago. long gone are the days of my golden era!

here is n 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-idMTyc0AY

by Rubinstein.. whom i dedicated a post about here:

http://bujassem.blogspot.com/2009/12/arthur-rubinstein-aristocrat.html

btw, here is something a bit mad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scmcUj06giA

it's by Jorge Bolet, a legend on the piano and he's also an ex-diplomat. he starts the piece with "wish me luck, these things are horrendous!"

if you're more interested, i can tell u more about Godowski/Godowsky later, as this comment is getting super-long!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2nMUwdh1Wk&feature=related

(this was done JUST in the left hand, watch the whole video, it's in two parts. btw, i have an autographed album of the etudes signed by boris berezovsky himself in a recital in oxford hehe)

finally, for all those that wanna hear a true master.. here is the father of piano: Vladimir Horowitz!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3qlQCzYGmM

thanks for "enduring" the comment to the end!

Unknown said...

finally,...Vladimir Horowitz!

BuJ,

I actually looked around in my collection to debunk you but gave up after seeing his rendition of Schumann's 'Traumerei'. I still have the recording you sent us.

I don't know if you listen to Ravel but follow the link when you have the time.

http://wwwbachbrahms.blogspot.com/2010/04/ravel-adagio-movement.html

Rationality said...

hi Buj
Doing great thanks
Thanks for praising me :)

Yeah chopin op 9 n2 is famous nocturn…
Playing on piano needs patience and free time indeed but still enjoyable.

Sounds ur good in op 10 n3
I enjoyed listening to the whole links you dropped but the one I really really liked is Horowitz when he plays Chopin - Etude op.10 n.12.
You have a good background about the pianists and the composers, keep it up erudite dude.
Your comment is not long at all as long I delight reading and listening attentively to lovely tunes.

Rationality said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BuJ said...

well thanks Rationality

u will surely enjoy these... all by mr Vladimir Horowitz (who i consider to be the pianist with the best touch!)

(schumann - a favorite of my friend Jazzical A.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7ncjhSqtk

(not Vladimir, but a chopin nocturn op 55, amazing with strings)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acl0w71SV1c&feature=fvw

(the very famous raindrop prelude, again one of my favs, and i wish i had more time to play it.. i love the changing of keys)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=825Ekk1u3mQ

(this is Liszt, Horowitzh shows us he can show off)

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

(this is a pre-gem.. the ending of Ballade 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atpzGmMGtIg&feature=related

(if you liked the above, this is the full one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWW6uOG1Wzw

(this is the proper Gem)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtbF78NApmQ

btw, when my university colleagues were getting drunk i used to spend days in the piano music shop and in the practice room perfecting my chopin on those cold english winters... so yes.. i have an interest in piano.. if i were any good i would have been a concert pianist, but my interest exceeds my talents.

Rationality said...

Good morning;
Thanks for nice rhythms BuJ
Well, to me Schumann and the raindrop are the best; their rhythms are smooth and touchable.
LOL! So you applied to use the piano whenever everyone was drunk!
Wow at “concert pianist” now you get your trust back by being so vain XD. Seriously I agree you have the talent, but logically the interest should be the one which tyrannizes eventually.

BuJ said...

salam Rationality,
seems you prefer the slow and mellow tunes rather than the faster tunes.

i played the schumann once for Jazzical and now i need to find the piece.. but i have to say it's so hard to play these slow pieces well.

i think i'll have to dig out some of my chopin nocturns.. i think u will love them.

as for the concert pianist stuff.. i am not vain at all, but i get stressed and get stage fright when i am performing and sometimes i have to restart a piece 3 times coz of nerves.. so my career on the stage with 88 keys is not very promising!

on the other hand i challenge any pianists out there to outsmart me on anything involving chopin.. and to a lesser extent beethoven, bach, mozart, and rachmaninoff.. i love these composers and as thus i read a lot about their music and the composers themselves.

my only fault (no one is perfect) is that i'm not so good on the stage, which is why i do better in recorded music.

DoTs... said...

OMG reading your comments is like reading another blogpost..


Well it is soon.. i hope you have your checklist ready .. i really hope you have fun .. loads and loads of it.

Rationality said...

W/S BuJ
Good morning
Oh I just realized that I did not reply! How come!! Sorry for that.
You know I came here to take a link from one of those nice tunes you post in here.

Anyway yeah I prefer the slow and mellow ones indeed. I find them much easier than fast tunes!
I will like them for sure you are talented ma sha allah.

About saying you are vain I did not really mean it sorry but man you are pensive I was just kidding!

That is normal the (stage fright) you can go through it with time like when you have presentations I think right?

You are challenging! Well what if I outsmart you! We have to figure out a bet first hehe

Yeah the audience presence has awe, once they bring a piano to the uni so my friends asked me to play sth, I dunno why I got nerves so I stopped playing. That needs practice I think!

Listen to this it’s one of my favorites wish you enjoy it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPsdBk9dykg&feature=fvw

All the best and sorry again BuJ

BuJ said...

wow wow.. thanks Rationality.. this is the finale of the Tempest sonata.. it's an old time classic :)

do u play this? i wish i could!

i guess with a bit of practice i could.. but beethoven for me has a high boring x challenging product.. meaning it's too high at both counts.

but a not-boring piece which is challenging is actually easier for me.. like chopin

however this is as a pianist.. but as a listener, i love almost all beethoven pieces and the one u posted is one of my favs!

glad we're not disagreeing on musical tastes as it can get messy!!!

today i had to speak in front of 100 people.. no stage fright.. actually i'm ok with that, but piano in front of 2 people is scary for me!!! haha

have a deliciously lovely day
buj

BuJ said...

hi JAzzical.. sorry for the delay.. i checked our Ravel.. and it's nice but i find the slow movements too slow for me.. still i prfer the schumann :)

anyway hope ur well and havinga good time.

Rationality said...

You are welcome BuJ
Glad you liked it :)
Yes I do. I am sure you can play it as well. Beethoven is one of the best composers to me and his tunes are like challenge as you said.
To me chopin is not easy at all that’s why I got amazed by your tunes.
It is a good thing to share someone your fav tunes and things you like.
“Today I had to speak in front of 100 people.. no stage fright.. actually i'm ok with that, but piano in front of 2 people is scary for me!!! Haha”
LOL can’t imagine a good pianist shivering in front of his audience that would make him really awful.
All the best :)