Is this taking the concept of covering rock songs to a whole new level?   

"Turkish pianist Aysedeniz Gokcin has become an unlikely sensation after her recording of legendary prog rock band Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall' was picked up by various online media across Europe, turning her rendition into a surprise hit.

Gokcin, who completed a Master's degree at the Royal Academy of Music last year, has released an EP of Pink Floyd covers entitled Pink Floyd Lisztified, inspired in part by the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth and by his legendary rockstar lifestyle."

The album has taken off like a shot, apparently.  

The pianist was inspired by Liszt's legacy, which includes his showmanship and the fact that he toured back in his day, to audiences as large as 3,000 attendees.   And she loves the music of Pink Floyd.  So there you go.  

I listened to the track online, and the jury is still out as to how I feel (luke warm at the moment); certainly innovative.  Nothing predictable about these cover versions.  :)

Her version of "Another Brick in the Wall" is at the bottom of this link, if you're interested.

http://www.classicfm.com/music-news/latest-news/pianists-classical-pink-floyd-unlikely-hit/

Floyd translates well into classical structures.  But I'll be interested in hearing which songs she covers, because some of the more minimal pieces aren't very "liszt-like", to me.

 

Interesting interpretation..  One of the reasons why this works so well imo, is that both Floyd and Liszt used similar notes in their music. I agree with Matty that some of the harder minor pieces would sound a bit weird,  but Liszt, did use Bm a lot as well as the majors that make up the majority of the Wall. Litszt's famous Hungarian Raphsody is pretty much made up of the same notes. The trick is to interpret the playing style of Franz Listz, into Floyd, which is no easy task. It is a style that she could use for many similar prog rock outfits, but it would be fun to her version of Dark Side of the Moon.

Christopher O'Riley, host of NPR's "From the Top", used to feature his own piano solo transcriptions of Radiohead during breaks in the show.  "Lisztified" would have been an apt description for those as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1hGxHSDkTw

 

The recording is an EP, so there are only three songs on it:  Hey You ; Wish You Were Here ; and Another Brick in the Wall.   

I know she's not the first to do this, but it was pretty funny to read about this EP on a classic rock website, not a classical music website.   :)

It's nice to see that it's garnered a favorable response.  

More on the artist's reasoning:

"By way of explaining the parallels she sees between Liszt and the Floyd, Gokcin told Intropia, “I felt that their concepts and philosophies are very similar, based around romantic heroes who isolate themselves from the world, creating various ‘walls’ – political, social and emotional.” The pianist went on to state that her interpretation of ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ was inspired by Liszt’s ‘Dante Sonata,’ which references Dante’s ‘Inferno.’ “I wanted to paint that image of Hell in my rendition,” she explained."

In response to gerbs' comment:

gerbs, I have heard of this album by O'Riley; that is brilliant.   thanks.   

BTW, I haven't listened to "From the Top" in ... over a year, ever since the programming times changed.  :(    I just looked it up online to see when it's broadcast in our local area (or I should try to find time to listen to back editions).  Used to love listening to it.   Also, they're taping a show in Boston at the NEC in February (amazingly enough, since they taped a show here just a few months ago).     

"Rock music and Classical music seem like they would be completely opposed to each other..."

Really???

Whoever wrote this stupid line on the website apparently is unaware of  some of the newer groups out there...like Emerson , Lake and Palmer, Deep Purple and Electric Light Orchestra. Perhaps they never heard of the Beatles , either...an album of their's that got a little attention 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and the song 'She's Leaving Home?'

I love Classical piano, I love Pink Floyd....why would I not like this?....it is terrific.

Maybe Gokzin, ( I would not want to fracture my tonsils trying to pronunce her first name!)could do a rendition of Ten Minutes To Midnight by Iron Maiden?...who says it wouldn't sound good?

In response to ZILLAGOD's comment:

 

 

Clueless comment for sure, Zilla.   Excellent feedback.  :)

Wanted to mention that I attended a concert yesterday; the entire concert was comprised of works by English composer,  Henry Purcell.   

Purcell died in 1695, BTW, at age 36.   That's how old his music is, and it's still going strong.   And he composed most of his most "popular" works in the early 1690's, shortly before his death (at such a young age, which back then, wasn't considered young).   

A true fun fact I learned is that Peter Townshend was very interested in baroque music; Townshend was deeply influenced by Henry Purcell.   I got the biggest thrill out of learning about that.   :)

Writing his rock opera masterpiece, "Tommy" didn't come out of nowhere, but I never knew the extent of Townshend's influence.