It's fascinating that Chopin wrote such a piece in his era.. which is truly years (maybe a whole century) ahead of its time - the repeating left hand chords, the complex chord voicing and harmonic changes he reaches with his right, the modern dreamy mood, the clear structure - while still making it come off like an "on-the-spot" improvisation.. Pieces like Gymnopédie No. 1 by Satie and Bill Evans' Peace Piece are basically just a continuation of what Chopin did here. His ability to predict such future "trends" is what makes him a giant among all composers, a true authentic genius, and a huge influence over the next centuries of music.

@angieboop9713

7y↑140

Absolutely exquisite pianist. She is a master at breathing life from a repetitive left-hand as I believe was Chopin's intention. This is no sleep aid for insomniacs! It's a tonic to quiet a restless soul.

@erzsebethlisi9281

3y↑3

Totally agree.
👏

@ryuzakil1751

3y↑1

She’s bad at playing

@renascitur7051

3y↑1

@Ryuzaki L Says somebody with an anime pfp

@ryuzakil1751

Bruh I play the piano and what does my profile pic have to do with piano lmao moron

@bobdobbs69

2y↑2

It's brilliance in bloom, fingers in fluorescence!

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@fauxvier8519

7y↑78

This woman has such agile fingers and seeing her get immersed in the notes is simply a treat to watch.

@dannytaylor6170

8y↑245

I read that Chopin said something like "after playing so many notes for so long that simplicity is where beautiful music lies or something to that effect. After I read I thought, Wow! Chopin, whose music could be so technically challenging and complex, would say that, but i can see and hear that concept in some of his work. I think some pieces are so choked with all the technique and embellishments that the main idea, melody, is crying out to be heard.

@e.hutchence-composer8203

5y↑46

danny taylor the quote you’re looking for is ‘Simplicity if the highest goal, achievable only when you have overcome all difficulties. It is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art’

@dincerekin

4y↑24

chopin is always as simple as possible in the way he conveys any given emotion. Pure confidence with no arrogance in sight. He simply doesnt care if you think he is a good composer, he'll fill your ears and mind with childlike wonder regardless. thats my take atleast!

@theblindwatchmaker1102

4y↑3

@Eddie Hutchence Thank you for the inspritaion and muse brother, fro another mother..

@tomaszczapiewski3359

4y↑5

@E Din This is fuckin' fantastic comment. Right to the point. Pianist writing from here. And proud polish citizen - Chopin was a Pole, not French. We had many great warriors and battles during all these years, we had 123 years without been on a map - still our people defend and reclaimend this land. The same during world war 2.

But still, at a musician at heart, chopin is the perfect one, and Kopernik for heliocentric theory ;) But we had many more.

@michaelegan3774

3y↑3

@Tomasz Czapiewski His father was French, but Frederic considered himself Polish.

10 More Replies...

@pavnazwisko9196

2y↑33

2:03 This part which starts in here sounds like played on two pianos. Such a beautiful composition and performance.

@BernhardRottweiler

9y↑31

This is just wonderful - I love this performance.
It is like opening a window and suddenly you realize that spring has come, the light has changed, everything is fresh and wonderful, crystal clear.

@greyari222

This is a good description.

@artdeko1759

Very apt description.

@nickoicool

12y↑13

PEOPLE read the description she had less than 5 minutes! Incredible lyricism, control, touch, tone! You are truly an inspiration!

@jacquelinehariharan93

3y↑47

i’m a 17 year old aspiring pianist, you inspire me so much! i love chopin’s pieces more than anything, i’m currently trying to learnt this one. you’re an amazing and beautiful performer :)

@lovinSpoonful

10y↑14

My absolute favourite piece of music. I think Chopin wrote dances for fingers and watching this performer confirms exactly that. I simply melt when I hear this piece of music - especially played as beautifully as this. Bravo!

@dannytaylor6170

8y↑29

The gates of Heaven have been opened and it will be with difficulty that i return to earth after hearing this beautiful piece.

@defundthepolicejohnson6929

9y↑344

My cat loves this song. I turn it on and I can hear him sprinting upstairs to hear it! 😸

@MelissaLynn

8y↑15

+Lily Adams that's so cute omg

@raymondgautier7887

7y↑18

I love your cat.

@juliepurpleskater1736

7y↑8

I used to have a dog that reacted the same way to songs by Gordon Lightfoot! :^)

@markswanson549

7y↑1

It's a lullaby!

@benjaminrivas9932

7y↑1

PurrrrrMeow!!!

53 More Replies...

@jgramage

5y↑23

She makes this look easy and I know it's absolutely not. One of my three favorite pieces, along with Nocturne in E flat and Raindrop.

@sheatzu6020

Raindrop - drop top - smoking on cookie in the hot box ?

@Deniz69567

she has a fantastic technique! very professional

@minemalki5413

12y↑5

She has got incredible intonation and pure softness under her fingers. Her music is totally mesmerizing!

@Jonathan_Price

21w

Chopin is the single greatest composer of piano music.. its staggeringly beautiful and complex and brings so much detailed story telling to his music.. its just splendid and I am a huge fan of yours Valentina. May you continue sharing the gift with the world and inspiring us so very much!

@angelicaaguilar534

7y↑50

Taehyung love this piece. So beautiful I'm mesmerized 😍

@natalyarusskaya

4y↑2

I've just started learning piano as a self study a month ago, so I am playing this simplified piece in G Minor and was proud of myself that I put two hands together with the relatively good speed, and then I saw Valentina playing it in original D-flat Major!!! So inspiriting and unreachable at the same time! She is just amazing!

@joestrummer1962

31w↑1

I think this is about how the mind starts to wander as you're falling asleep. Wonderful pianist. God bless Chopin.

@BeatDemon08

13y↑2

The fluidity of her playing really attracts me. She makes the piano keys look like their made of a silky cloud or something. Quite nice

@sadieals

10y↑1

I can't ever imagine getting bored by this, its the most beautiful piece of music and Valentina plays it so well.....it sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear it (which I make sure is quite often)

@Mahlerweber

11y↑2

Excellent performance. This is one of the most gorgeous compositions Chopin ever wrote.

@muttley9520

8y↑69

She just glides over the keys, you have to be super-talented to do that.

@jgrab1

7y↑1

How do you know?

@randykern1842

5y↑1

It’s technique

@lynnseanyoung

5y↑2

ling ling

@blubbblubb9741

Well, I am 15 and i also play this song :)

@lynnseanyoung

5y↑16

@Blubb Blubb dude holy crap you're that old? i played this song coming out of my mother's womb

@Lemrabish

4y↑2

I know I might sound ridiculous, but this piece is a misnomer. It isn't a lullaby. It should be played at this speed. Simply exquisite at this speed. I can't sum up its magic but I don't think I'll ever understand a person's capacity to be able to fall asleep (wtf) to this piece. It makes you want to dream more but live to fulfil them at the same time.

@bas182341

1y↑2

Increrible!! What a performance. This piece makes me feel ways i cant describe. So much elegance and emotion

@josedolcefarniente5635

3y↑2

After searching for some other performances of this wonderful masterpiece I was surprised that most of them last about 4’45 minutes or more, what is much slower than this version. At first I thought Valentina takes it too fast, but after a couple of concentrated hearings I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a very appropriate timing, she discloses all the hues and nuances of the work with great deepness and intensity. After all, a berceuse needs to evoke clearly the movement of the cradle, that soft swing that transport us to a reverie atmosphere.
I’d dare to say some other players induce the slumber through monotony and boredom, while this superb artist brings it to us through a pure sense of tender pleasure and satisfaction. Bravo, Valentina!

@josedolcefarniente5635

@ValentinaLisitsa Thank you for your answer. I've listened Hofmann's version and I'm glad you didn't go so far in speed. He has personality and command, but I think that his playing lacks the tenderness we expect in a cradle song.

@Egag642

10y↑1

I'm just so glad that there are people who can play like this.

@JDTNYC32

12y↑3

I was hesitant when I saw the comments regarding the speed...but it's Valentina...she never disappoints. Incredible technical mastery. I love this rendition. It's fresh, it's vital. I love its fadings to slow nothingness. Mastery. Wow.

@Platewarp

3y↑17

“Chopin is the greatest.” That’s what I say every time I hear his music.

@NellieKAdaba

One of the best and greatest, that’s why I love learning to play his work and same with his contemporaries.

@marcychristoff219

3y↑3

That was so beautiful! Glad you were able to include it. 👏🎹

@nikkyforrest9908

4y↑2

I just started learning to play this song. Being able to play this would bring me more joy then I could put into words.

@johndoe-ep7qk

4y↑1

This has got to be one of the all time greatest pieces of music every written

@geatorella

2y↑1

This piece is a miracle - not just for its time. And so is her playing of it.

@Fragarach7

12y↑1

One of my favorite Chopin pieces and she does it justice. Amazing pianist.

@MICKEYISLOWD

Her hands slither and slide over the keys like they are not there and the sound is flawless. What a phenomenally gifted pianist!

@kizukv4476

3y↑11

This song gives me a weird deja vu feeling. I'll try to explain it in the best way I can. The beginning of the song feels so sad yet happy, it's like reassuring you that even the saddest times will end. And then as the song progresses, the tune starts getting drowned by the rapid notes, trying to make your worries swivel away... At the end of the song, it starts becoming more and more soothing, retaining the first tune in the beginning of the song. Overall, it's a really calm and nostalgic song.

@hitomiholmes7648

1y↑2

Idk why the camera ever left her hands - it was mesmerizing and beautiful. Why show us the piano and profile? 😮 Anyway- super talented and incredible to watch!!

@wheres_wolfie

I listen to this every single night. I have PTSD and it is always hard to sleep, but this calms me. and I will only listen to Valentina's version. thank you for playing me to sleep and making the passage into my dreams feel safe <3

@OneisneO

14y

@ValentinaLisitsa Having your idols answering all your questions and giving you feedback on your life decision is such a privilege, thank you so much for being this audience friendly!

@davemeredith3060

17w

I feel the left hand is rocking the cradle and the right hand represents the contented dreams of the infant child. Exquisite,

@chrisgoodwin9422

Quite simply the most beautiful piece of music ever written and wonderfully played

@brianhealey5286

2y↑1

So profoundly enchanting and played by a lovely enchantress.

@lequinntessential

3y↑1

Just when I thought Erik Satie's works would be great for setting my nights up for bedtime, I chanced upon this piece and it had overturned my expectations for the perfect bedtime accompaniment. Erik's music has this subtly unsettling, restless and almost dark vibe to his sparse compositions, but this lullaby composed by Chopin just disarms you completely and compels you to float away and along with its gliding notes.

@josephmooneyiii

13y

Thank you, Valentina. Your performance of this piece is at once serene and stirring. Absolutely captivating and impossible to stop watching. I find new things I love about it each time I listen to it.

@LuisGonzalez22

11y

hello Valentina Lisitsa. thanks for shaking off my veil of ignorance, and showing me a bit of the immense beauty that is possible in this world. bravo!

@blyzo5098

5y↑2

Intense melancholy inducing piece played with great skill and sensitivity.

@charlesnicholls8602

10y↑2

To those who say much too fast, I would point to Rosenthal's recording which comes in at 3:56 or so. Rosenthal studied with Mikuli, who was a pupil of Chopin's, and also with Liszt (who knew Chopin's playing style intimately as the two had been friends at one point). Koczalski, another Mikuli pupil, also comes in at around the same tempo, at 4:12. One has to believe that, given the similarity in their speeds, this must be in the right ballpark and is almost certainly handed down from Chopin himself. Too often Chopin is played too slowly, which may enhance the audibility of the felicities in his scoring, but is probably not the way the composer himself played.

@MartinetPhilippe

14y

You remember me this wonderful young cat I meet today. It was so playful and tender always looking for more caress and more game. A wonderful time, a musical time very much like a berceuse. Thanks!

@DATSMY

13y

You know your music history! I love it how knowledgeable you are of the pieces you play, how you take the time to explain it's history to us, and what they were called before it was changed to something else. I think it's funny how pple wine and cry about how fast you play and little do they know that is exactly how you ought to do it.....I enjoy watching how fast but smooth your hands "go". haha...thank you!

@thiagolichfett3911

5y↑2

My eyes became full of tears watching this awesome Chopin interpretation. What a feeling, what a technique... Get this "like" for you and this "subscribe". You're an inspiration.

@andrewstackj

13y

in my eyes with every song shez plays wether beethoven on chopin she brings so much emotion out with in every piece she piece, valentina you brought a tear to my eye, you are the best xxx thank you for sharing ur talent with the world

@HMatthews80

11y

Oh my gosh...how to make Chopin look easy. 25 years and I will never play like you. Utterly inspiring, Thank you. Hannah, x

@aivarsspilde1682

3y↑1

The ending of this piece is indescribably beautiful... but I’ll try anyways - the music gently winds down, until the last two chords are nothing more than a whisper. The long pause before the very last note makes me catch my breath, but also makes the last chord all the more beautiful. It brings tears to my eyes and a pit in my stomach.

@kittywhm

14y

i read a really sad story..your music makes me alive...thanks Valentina!!!!!!

@ernonehorvath9868

24w↑1

Thank you só much!❤

@23ninety

11y

Absolutely breathtaking... I will never get tired of listening to her play this Berceuse. It is so delicate, so light, and yet so technically demanding... (at least, for us mere mortals!).

@whyaminoob

14y

i find it wonderful that you reply to comments and give people advice

@cola123

5y↑1

this song is the breath of fresh air you take in at dusk.

@JuanChavez-lc6xr

I love you because of this. I personally believe this piece sounds ten times better when played at the speed in which you play it here. You are truly an inspiration to me. <3

@FadiHamoud1980

10y↑1

Wow! I'm hooked to this pianist.
I loved her.

@777Derk

14y

I simply dream off, floating on these waves of fluid music, played with so much attention and care.

@ENOFJA

13y

It is beautiful to see her fingers in the black of the piano. Lovely!

@martinthomas07

12y

This is just one of the most beautiful peices of music played absolutely beautifully, thankyou for sharing it with us

@VomitingBlood

13y↑13

Are you serious? Today was my FIRST time ever watching a You Tube video with classical music which i occasionally listen to, and I am just recently learning to play piano. I am completely IN LOVE with your videos, your playing style, and your renditions of these songs!!! I am seriously a huge fan!!!

@GourouxPete

14y

Totally sublime! Three and a half minutes of sheer bliss....Thanks Valentina!

@runrunrun6777

13y

You've surpassed technique and theory, and create beauty each time you sit down at the piano. Please come back to NYC and play Chopin for us!

@chopinlover49

12y

I am always mesmerized watching your beautiful hands on the keyboard! So much like dancing ballerinas.

@alejandroespinosacambra2802

A beautiful piece played by a big titan of the piano, thank you so much☺

@AndreCampanaMeretika

8y↑33

That's one of those pieces i cry listening to.

@HRDeck

4y↑2

Me as well

@sandroh7573

4y↑1

I played this at his grave when I was lucky enough to have the chance to go there❤️

@joseluizengelke5128

4y↑2

Miss Valentina Lisitsa!
A Queen.
A DIVA.
MAGNIFICENT.

@Desireyso58

9y↑1

Parece que los que se quejan de too fast, no leyeron tu explicación del mínimo tiempo restante. Gracias Valentina!!! Sigues siendo LO MÁXIMO!

@BETHRJACOBS

12y

i don't know it is still nice to have a female pianist in this mans world today I am jealous may be I will sit down again and try playing again

@anupaum

14y

I've never heard this piece before. It's graceful, lilting, and played with great tenderness!

@jacquelinetippett6732

10y

One of my favourite pieces and beautifully played

@alangeary2123

2y↑2

This is beautiful. It brings me out in goosebumps :)

@dearprudence2260

My very favorite piece of Chopin's.
It's absolutely ethereal.

@jonk9455

3y↑23

For those of you wondering, you pronounce "Berceuse" like "Bear Seuss." just looked it up haha

@debrucey

3y↑4

more like Bear Sirs

@zibe6855

\bɛʁ.søz\

@nathane7914

Oh dang I thought it was “ver Seuss”

@juanemilioramirezdesuza6606

Ber like the e of red and Ceuse like Sseuze

@TheHypersonic55

12y↑1

that was beautiful and so well-executed, if i could play the piano like you i would be so happy.

@thetugisthedrugfishing3434

Sooooooo good! She makes it look so easy, her hands float across the keys. Master level stuff.

@smpryde1

13y

you're derivation of elegance from complexity is positively stunning. ...thank you sharing this most beautiful gift of yours.

@smshdchrb

46w↑2

This is exquisite. Thank you 🎶 🇵🇱

@Susileedean

3y↑2

Wow, you play this so beautifully. It was the song my music teacher analyzed and taught us in college at Swarthmore.

@TanYan-ef6ed

47w↑1

Great piano technique! Valentina, you are sooooooo talented!

@poplarboydavid

13y

I find you an inspiration...such a delight to watch is your beautiful technique and sensitive playing! Thank you. David - London

@videos618

11y

this is really beautiful playing, with both power and grace

@DentroUnPianoforte

14y

Valentina... you're fantastic... I'm an italian piano student in Rome Conservatory, I'm 15 and I'm your bigger italian fan!!! :-) I love your hands...your musical thoughts...your golden hair :) Thank you so much for all your video and I hope to see you soon in Rome :( ... A hug from Rome, Antonio :)

@pescenisus

14y

My daughter is 7yo and currently doing grd 8, and she can't have enough of watching this and the rest of your works! Just would like to say thank you for such an inspiration to her (also to me:). Awesome!!

@williambunter3311

3y↑1

Look how raised her wonderful fingers are, and how she caresses the keys like nobody else!

@TonicMike

14y

You always manage to capture the truly sublime and this glowing portrayal is no exception.

@MrCavitysChessCorner

12y

Insurmountably beautiful. This was truly an amazing rendition and I thank you so much for sharing.

@Shtuhtefup

9y↑2

Even if it is played faster than usual, it still sounds super calm and relaxed! Excellent playing!

@mntervuren3753

4y↑1

She plays it the same tempo as Sapellnikov, a student of Sophie Menter, who was a student of Liszt. Very similar to Michelangeli and Rubenstein also. I like her tempo.

@bewbala

so so so beautiful, what a rendition wow

@dfranklin70

13y

I don't have a favorite Chopin piece, but for me this is at the top of any list I could imagine. To me it is a very under appreciated piece.

@robsutherland5744

3y↑2

The power this woman possesses is staggering.

@brandonscherrer

14y↑1

You play with such finesse and tempo is spot on, your interpretations are the best of all pianist I have heard and this is not exception. I would love to see you play more Beethoven sonatas since you are just brilliant at them. :)

@davelee8961

4y↑1

To me, Lisitsa is the Itzhak Perlman of pianists -- which is to say that she is the best combination of getting the notes right and also playing with feeling. Almost like a feather floating across the keys. A joy to listen to.

@Egag642

11y↑4

My god Chopin was incredible.

@alltranedout

10y

Majestic and seemingly effortless performance

@Inlandings

13y

Absolutely sublime playing and music. You play this so lightly, just as a lullaby should sound. Your piano is exquisite, so very musical. Must be a joy to play, as well. Thank you!!

@OceanbornSWT

13y

@ValentinaLisitsa Keeping with the theame of the trainning to be a virtuoso, how many hours do you dedicate, each day, to practice repertory and techinque? Sorry my bad english... My respects and admiration from Mexico.

@lindacross4726

12y

hauntingly beautiful

@Lemrabish

Mind-blowingly beautiful. I really like this fast version, it is so different to the equal beautiful slower version could almost be a different piece. I could be gliding over the French countryside on a spring day with this version.

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