Thursday, January 12, 2017

Battle of the Bands: Early Edition Chopin nylon or electric?

I know the Battles of the Band is supposed to be on the 1st and the 15th. Since I will be out of town on the 15th I am going to post it early. Plus this was one of the few "rules" I haven't broken on the Battle of the Bands.




The piece..

Frédéric Chopin - Prelude in E-Minor (op.28 no. 4)



The above is just for reference.

Contestant One: József Eötvös



Contestant Two: Jimmy Page



Should Chopin be played on guitar? Is the classical piece better suited for the classical guitar? Do you like what Jimmy does with the piece? Who gets your vote? Vote in the comments and we will have a winner soon! Please check out the other contestants links should be up here.

9 comments:

Cathy Kennedy said...

Mike, Oh you rule breaker! Nah, just teasin'! We all have to bend meme rules on occasion to suit our schedules. I've done this more than my share of times. Okay, Prelude in E-Minor (op.28 no. 4) on the piano is beautifully relaxing but I enjoyed it played on the guitar, especially the acoustic guitar of contestant one. The electric guitar version while it was a nice rendition, it lost its peaceful quality and because that's what I like about Chopin's message (or that's my interpretation) I'm giving my vote to József Eötvös. My mid-month BoTB goes live at midnight the 15th and if you get a chance to hop over then feel free to do so but if time restricts you then no sweat. Have a good weekend!

Mary B said...

What are rules for, except to break?

I thought that I would be leaning toward the acoustic guitar, as that is what I think of when I think of classical guitar. However, I was quite impressed with Jimmy Page's electric guitar work on this masterpiece. He seemed to give it life and body. Jimmy Page gets my vote.

My battle goes live 12am PST on Monday the 16th (unless I get antsy again and release the post earlier on Sunday)

~Mary

Robin said...

I confess that I prefer the piano. However, these were both better than I expected. I prefer the first one. Give my vote to Jozsef.

Stephen T. McCarthy said...

MIKE ~
I very nearly didn't see this post. Glad I did.

This was a tough Battle for me and I had to listen to both of them twice. This is truly one time when I can very honestly say that I could vote for either one of these on different days, depending upon my mood.

I really didn't expect to like the Jimmy Page version, but to my surprise, I did. I think I'll vote for him today. But this truly is a toss-up for me, as I said. Tough, tough decision.

~ D-FensDogG
Check out my new blog @
(Link:] Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

Debbie D. said...

So glad I found your battle, Mike and what a fabulous one it is! The Jimmy page version practically made me swoon, I love it that much! Jimmy all the way! I'm adding it to my music collection as well. Thank you. Made my night.

Arlee Bird said...

This is a tough choice because I really enjoy the straight forward classical arrangement. However Jimmy Page does a lovely arrangement of the tune. Sure, anything well played is fine by me. Electric Chopin? No problemo.

I vote for Jimmy Page.

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

Sheboyganboy VI said...

This is fun. Just today I listened to a full CD of Chopin Waltzes and Impromptus by Artur Rubenstein, so more Chopin is a treat. This piece works well on guitar as on piano.

I like Jimmy Page almost all the time. Page does a great job playing this as a modern take on the melody. But as a fan of classical music, it just sounds kind of wrong. I like classical to be classical, rock to be rock. So, in this case my vote is for Joszef.

John Holton said...

I'll go with Joszef. Page's slide guitar version sounded like he was screwing around in the studio.

Michele at Angels Bark said...

I got bored with Jozsef's version.I did really like what Jimmy Page did with this classical piece. I'm not particularly fond of classical music and I liked the electric guitar treatment. So Jimmy Page gets my vote.

Michele at Angels Bark