Have you seen someone who amazingly played a public piano? If yes, then youโre lucky. If not, then youโve probably watched some online.
To see such an astounding performance while strolling or relaxing in public is more than a treat.
This is what the people in a public square experienced one day.
They all had different businesses at that place. Most of them were enjoying the view with their loved ones. Little did they know that a woman namely Ariane Racicot would surprise them with an amazing performance.
As the lady approached the piano, she immediately sat down and played it showing off her astonishing talent.
She was playing one of Queenโs greatest hits โ Bohemian Rhapsody.
According to her Facebook page, Ariane is a jazz piano student at the University of Montreal. Iโm sure her school has her practicing complex scales and developing her own piano attitude, but for this song she will need all her lessons.
Freddie Mercury, the vocalist of the said band composed the song on the piano. Which is why the moment Ariane played it, it sounded so perfectly.
The late great Freddie Mercury and his band Queen solidified their place in Rock โn Roll history in large part due to the release of โBohemian Rhapsody.โ Universal Music Group recently noted the track as the most-streamed song of the 20th century.
The Guardian explains the songs complexity with โits huge variety of styles โ from intro, to ballad, to operatic excess, to hard-rock, to reflective coda.โ
Beautiful places with pianos
Picturesque weather always brings folks out to enjoy what the city has to offer. In Montreal the winters are severe, so people really come out and enjoy the sun when they can. According to Livingin-Canada.com, Montreal averages about 109 days with snow on the ground.
A group out of Montreal created a program called โPiano of the cities, piano of the fields.โ Pianos are set up in interesting places around the Canadian city and offered for anyone who wants to play. The idea has been a big hit with many major cities around the world setting up their own pianos to allow professionals or amateurs to step up to the old agony box.
Imagine, itโs just an ordinary day but musicians like Ariane would make it extra special with their talent.
This remarkable song Bohemian Rhapsody is considered Queens best song by Billboard Magazine. And we couldnโt agree more.
That article says that, โEven Queenโs quiet sounded big, and its big was designed to shake the Earth.โ
Other songs that top the list are โUnder Pressureโ featuring David Bowie, and the stadium favorite โWe Will Rock You.โ Maybe we can coax Ariane to try her hand, or hands at these songs next time.
The story behind the name Queen
The band formed in London, England, so was it a nod to the British Monarchy?
In the Mercury biography Somebody to Love, Freddie says,
โItโs just a name, but itโs very regal obviouslyโฆ Itโs a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations.โ
Ariane did not intend to steal the attention of the people but her piano performance did not go unnoticed.
Thereโs a moment in the video when a little girl dressed in a pink polka dot skirt, drops a few coins on the piano seat. A well-deserved expression of gratitude, and it looks like Ariane could earn some extra spending cash as a weekend Busker.
The editing of the video made it more fun to watch.
Queen created one of the worldโs first music videos for โBohemian Rhapsodyโ back in 1976. It included elaborate camera work and lighting to create some stunning eye candy. The promotional video, was such a hit, it changed the industry and led to MTV and music videos as a mainstay in a musicianโs creative arsenal.
Queen guitarist Brian May had this to say to Rolling Stone, โAnd suddenly you couldnโt possibly put out a record without having a video and the video locked in peopleโs minds in terms of how they visualized the song.โ
As Ariane, glides through the soft and melodic last bars of the song, the crowd is enthralled and they burst into applause and shout for more.
If you love Queen, you would surely enjoy this video. Ariane really showed what sheโs got and she played the song with passion. No wonder why the people around her were so delighted by it. The viewers online felt the same way, too.
โDoesnโt anyone notice she is playing a rather difficult piece of music WITHOUT sheet music? Magnificent,โ one commenter wrote.
Make sure to watch Arianeโs performance below!
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