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  • How Chopin SHOULD NOT BE PLAYED!

    From Dan Koren@21:1/5 to All on Wed Nov 2 15:10:32 2022
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAVVMjLWjks

    This selection of Chopin Etudes by pianists born in
    the 19th century proves beyond any shade of doubt
    how far the art of the piano has advanced over the
    past century. None of these supposedly supreme
    performances would hold in a modern day piano
    competition. Many are stiff, metronomic, heavy
    handed, and mechanical beyond imagination.

    Almost any Chopin, Cliburn, QE or Tchaikovsky
    competitor blows away any of the supposedly
    "great" performances

    Enjoy! (or NOT).

    dk

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  • From Tatonik@21:1/5 to Dan Koren on Thu Nov 3 08:48:24 2022
    On 11/2/22 5:10 PM, Dan Koren wrote:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAVVMjLWjks

    This selection of Chopin Etudes by pianists born in
    the 19th century proves beyond any shade of doubt
    how far the art of the piano has advanced over the
    past century. None of these supposedly supreme
    performances would hold in a modern day piano
    competition. Many are stiff, metronomic, heavy
    handed, and mechanical beyond imagination.

    Almost any Chopin, Cliburn, QE or Tchaikovsky
    competitor blows away any of the supposedly
    "great" performances

    Enjoy! (or NOT).

    dk

    I listened to the Op. 10 selection and enjoyed it. I would say they all
    played like gentleman, with care, attention, clarity, and thought to characterization. If you want wild abandon, perhaps look elsewhere. In general I didn't find them metronomic, or when one could be described
    that way, that was part of the point, and there was varied touch and articulation. Certainly metronomic is the last adjective that would
    spring to mind for Cortot.

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  • From HT@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 3 08:06:07 2022
    I listened to the Op. 10 selection and enjoyed it. I would say they all played like gentleman, with care, attention, clarity, and thought to characterization. If you want wild abandon, perhaps look elsewhere. In general I didn't find them metronomic, or when one could be described
    that way, that was part of the point, and there was varied touch and articulation. Certainly metronomic is the last adjective that would
    spring to mind for Cortot.

    Did the same with Op. 25 and enjoyed them as much as you enjoyed Op. 10. They are easy to listen to, unlike many 21st century versions - especially when played at competitions or as complete sets for an audience.

    I agree with Dan that these pianists probably would not have made it to the second round in a competition - they all sound fundamentally different from each other. Apparently, there was no standard version back then.

    The Nouvelles études, on the other hand, are among the worst I have heard. From Neuhaus and Kempff I expected no better, but Sirota is really a big disappointment.

    Henk

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