Monti's Csárdás on video — a high-speed performance

I performed Monti's Csárdás in “Da Capo”, the second stream of the Jusankai music society.

Jusankai is a society for music lovers founded in 1957 by my grandfather. The great pianist Hiroko Nakamura, who passed away the year before last, was once a member.

https://youtu.be/FH6xKUIoV4k

Csárdás, composed by Vittorio Monti

Cimbalom: Junko Sakimura
Piano: Junko Shimizu

Recorded live at the third Jusankai Da Capo concert.

Italian composer Monti originally wrote this work for mandolin, but it has been arranged and performed on many instruments. Csárdás is a musical form of Hungarian origin. Drawing on dances used by soldiers to recruit men in taverns—csárda in Hungarian—it was formalised in the nineteenth century by composer Márk Rózsavölgyi. It became so popular in Vienna and across Europe that the Viennese court even issued a temporary legal ban on csárdás.

Thinking of nineteenth-century Hungary inevitably brings to mind the cimbalom, which emerged as a symbol of the national movement. In this performance, the cimbalom—often used for accompaniment—takes the melody.

I also had the opportunity to perform with my teacher Tomoko Kusakari, known as the “Queen of the Marimba”. It may have been a very long time since I last shared a marimba performance. Here I accompany Tico-Tico with five mallets. Please enjoy this video too.

https://youtu.be/BUQ2kU1inp0