Is it possible to draw lessons from the careful observation of a great performer playing in a video? I think it is possible in part, though obviously only the person playing knows the sensations they feel, and that is something a video cannot convey.
However, I would like to have your opinion on Argerich's technique in this beautiful concert.
To me, it seems that her fingers in the fast passages bounce as if they were little hammers (it is true that she is playing Mozart).
Observing is useful and respectful, especially when it comes to Great performers. However, it is difficult to extrapolate principles through the "visual" because then every pianist finds the right "gesture" that makes them feel comfortable. Behind it lies a profound assimilation of principles that ultimately translates into a "distillate." Almost as if everything has been surpassed and sublimated. Even in the case of the great pianist whom I have heard and seen play many times, I must say that she currently uses different gestures than those of her youth. Our hand also changes with age, and with it, the musculature. Cartilage wears down and even distances change slightly. Obviously, the ultimate goal is always to overcome and express certain passages. In Argerich's case, although from the beginning, observation showed her playing with great ease and naturalness, she now assumes a finger position that is certainly not orthodox, as if she wanted to transcend the rules. A flattened position, for example, is something that would negate everything said during the technical "foundation" phase. And yet, the result is excellent. Verdi used to say "Learn the rules so as to then forget them"... yes... but learn them! Therefore, I believe that trying to understand what a great Performer does visually can be useful, but one must not deny or jump headlong over the rules and the path of study and assimilation. Once we have made the principles our own, we will be able to realize them with a massive visual "style" that will belong to us and to our way of expressing something that has become our "nature."
