A Waltz?

Thank you very much Simone for the time you dedicated to us. In fact, such a short sixteenth note creates a stop in the phrasing and a too abrupt snap (not cantabile as you were saying) that I too would have re-recorded... so we are in agreement. I will perhaps try a new version with a more "directional" cantability, so to speak... a phrase that starts and concludes with a very precise direction.

Then you can tell me. Let me know as soon as you have time also for no. 9. For Chopin, advice is never enough.

If there were teachers of this caliber, we would certainly have more qualified pianists around.

Thanks Simo' !

Calate calate...

There would be nothing to add to Simone's beautiful video. Very interesting. I would like to add a few things, not regarding our friends' performances, but concerning Chopin's music in general and particularly regarding melody. Singing, yes, that's fine. Breathing, yes, that's fine. But how to distinguish good Chopinesque "diction". In reality, always according to me... don't forget, Chopin's music is governed by two fundamental elements: rubato and the classical vein. Said like this, it would seem to place two contrasting elements on the table... but it is not so. Rubato is not something that is "calculated". However, to learn how to understand it, one can practice with the world of mazurkas by this difficult and overplayed composer. In that world, it is impossible to escape rubato, otherwise resulting in an insignificant "diction". It is more refined and difficult to seek it in the scherzos and ballades, and even in the etudes. Chopin wants this rubato to always remind the listener of the pride of his Homeland in his Music and the importance of its heroic aspect. Even in the second ballade, for example—not naturally a note to Simone—the dotted figures of the initial melody would require support on the weak beat and almost the smoothing out of that "edge" contained within the figure. This can be found in the enunciation of the theme of the first concerto, which from the first three notes makes us understand the eloquence the theme assumes. Likewise in the sweet beginning of the prelude of the water drop. In short, a figure—dotted eighth—sixteenth, which can only be played this way in a Chopinesque reading. The fact is that this understanding is not enough. Everything must become natural and free of premeditation. Otherwise, the result is artificial. I would say that speaking favors rhythm and singing favors melody. Now, it is true that singing the melodies inside and outside of us leads us onto the right path, but, always according to me, one must understand its essence in order to then assimilate it and give it back to the Music naturally. As a boy, I listened to Rubinstein a lot on record and live, trying to understand what was so extraordinary about his performances. At times, they seemed so obvious and predictable to me that I could not circumscribe this extraordinariness compared to other performers who proposed new and interesting solutions. I heard him speak more than once, but never regarding "his" interpretations. Then, one day, I saw a posthumous documentary about his life and his son John said a sentence that was illuminating for me: "the extraordinariness of my father's music was simplicity". Exactly so. Simplicity "rediscovered" after an in-depth journey. A simplicity that encompasses everything. Now, when I listen to a Chopinesque interpretation, I grasp—if the performer possesses it—this simplicity, this freshness that the great Composer's music possesses. Thank you

Great Paolo. I would say we are on the same wavelength; for example, when you speak of Chopin's classicism. I don't know exactly what you meant, but I see a lot of Bach in Chopin, meaning "a lot of structure" so to speak, and I never approach him with languor or sentimental excess. I find that his works have a great construction and the rubatos must be in the nature of the performer as well as in the very nature of the piece. How right you are about Rubinstein... the phrase Picasso always used comes to mind: "At twelve years old I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a whole lifetime to learn to paint like a child," and there is nothing truer. It is a journey and you don't get there immediately; first, one must shake off all preconceptions and listen to the notes one by one, listen to what they have to tell us... I would say, not easy.

Thank you for these pearls.

TheSimon wrote:

Giovanni, you must learn to sing before playing... That's all.

If I had to sing what you played, in some parts I would be left breathless. This cannot be. Let us remember that Chopin is the prince of cantabile; no one like him has made singing such an important element in the piano.

Learn to sing Chopin's music even before laying hands on the piano. Imagine what you will be able to draw out of it. The notes are there, some points still need to be properly cleaned up, but these are trifles.

Raise the bar!!

I fully agree with what Simone says; the breaths and the phrasing are missing. A more careful analysis of the score is required; after all, everything is written by the composer. Then the touch, the dynamics, and the rubato will follow as a consequence.

A few words regarding Giovanni's performance. I like the Chopin-esque character, you have provided a good reading; however, if I may, specifically in relation to what was said about the cantabile, I would suggest re-performing the piece even a little slower to pay more attention to singing... and removing the pedal. The piece must be legato without pedal, also respecting the values of the left hand. By studying the left hand somewhat separately, one can try to achieve a light and soft portamento of the arm when the first note of the bass is far from the chord. Try to help yourself with an anticipatory movement of the shoulder. The piece sounds all a bit forte (but perhaps also due to the flattening of the recording). In any case, the bass, which must always be monitored to the utmost degree, should be played, as an exercise, very piano, and when combined with the right hand, it must be at a much lower dynamic level compared to it. Thus, even when playing the right hand a little forte (I recall it is not my sole conviction that to play legato one must play with a certain force, cf. Casella - "Il pianoforte"), the phrases will appear "not forte." It is precisely when both the right and left hands are marked that the effect of "forte" will be obtained. It seems strange, but it is so. Rubinstein himself used this "trick" and made the gravitation of his right hand felt in the shoulder: the weight was enormous. Pollini also mentions this in a video that you can easily find on YouTube. Such a "well-extracted" sound will not need pedaling to result in legato. The pedal must be used respecting Chopin's own indications. He always wrote it, and few pianists respect it... but there is a logic to it. The pedal must be changed, as indicated, strictly on the beat—that is, by depressing it on the first note of the bass (when marked). As can be observed, the pedal is released on the third beat and sometimes is placed in parentheses (at least in the edition of Chopin's copyist friend, Fontana). Some measures are even devoid of pedal (31-32; 63-64, etc.). Pay attention to the double notes in the right hand starting at bar 113. A lighter pressure will be necessary, bringing the weight of the hand to the outside to achieve greater clarity. Also pay attention to bar 117 where it seems, in your recording (I say it seems), that even the bass repeats the dotted figure... but perhaps it is just an acoustic sensation.

This is a waltz that many schools have beginners study because, being repetitive, one thinks of resolving the solutions once and for all. In my opinion, that is not the case. Precisely in repetitive Chopin passages, the rubato must not be "symmetrical," symmetries which Chopin certainly did not like: we can have confirmation of this in the second theme of the Third Ballade, where the pedal does not cater to the monotony of the right-hand figure (the ondine motif).

Well, Giovanni, you already have the piece, though. Try to reflect on and retrace this "affettuoso" waltz, experiment... and let us hear it again. Well done. Bye.

Thanks Paolo for analyzing my performance in depth. All that is left for me to do is get back to studying the piece, taking care to follow all of your advice.

Anyway, Giovanni, you have already done an excellent job that should not go to waste. I myself have resonated with certain compositions in my life by revisiting them and... always discovering something new. Without comparison, W. Bachaus recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas 3 times in his life, and it is the same for other distinguished pianists. So, keep up the good work. The things you will discover about legato and pedaling, phrasing, etc... in relation to legato will be useful for reading the next piece you study. Bye