Barenboim brings Chopin: "Popular but not pop"

He has half a dozen prestigious engagements, in addition to the Orchestra. How many hours a day does he work?

"I don't work. I have never considered music a profession. For me, it is life. If it weren't so, I would have been retired for a long time."

... I still consider it a profession, though.

Just this Saturday I watched the recording of his recital on the Sky Classic channel, featuring music by Chopin, held in Warsaw on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth.

Truly very beautiful; he performed:

Fantasia op.49

Barcarole op.60

Nocturne op.27 no.2

Sonata op.35

Waltzes op.34 no.3 and 2

Polonaise op.53

Mazurka op.7 no.3

Waltzes op.64 no.2

All played with great skill and immense heart.

Let us also consider that he no longer performs as a full-time concert artist as he once did, and he is quite an age!!!

I have always greatly admired Barenboim, both as a musician and as a man.

His complete recording of the Nocturnes remains my favorite.

I cannot deny that I have different tastes regarding Chopin....

ivanricciardi wrote:

Just this Saturday, I watched the recording of his recital on the Sky classical channel, featuring music by Chopin, held in Warsaw on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth.

Truly very beautiful; he performed:

Fantasia op.49

Barcarolle op.60

Nocturne op.27 n°2

Sonata op.35

Waltzes op.34 n°3 and 2

Polonaise op.53

Mazurka op.7 n°3

Waltz op.64 n°2

Everything played with great skill and immense heart.

Let us also consider that he no longer performs as a full-time concert artist like he used to, and he is quite an age!!!

I have always greatly admired Barenboim, both as a musician and as a man.

His recording of the complete Nocturnes remains my favorite.

antares86 wrote:

i cannot deny that I have different tastes regarding Chopin....

Right ... tastes are tastes!!!

But don't misunderstand me: I didn't say he is the best Chopin interpreter; for me the best are Pollini, Rubinstein, Horowitz, for some things Ashkenazy, Gornostaeva and many others. I was talking about the nocturnes, even if Rubinstein's complete set of nocturnes is equally magnificent

ivanricciardi wrote:

Right ... tastes are tastes!!!

But don't misunderstand me: I didn't say he is the best Chopin interpreter; for me the best are Pollini, Rubinstein, Horowitz, for some things Ashkenazy, Gornostaeva and many others. I was talking about the nocturnes, even though Rubinstein's complete nocturnes are equally magnificent

don't forget Cortot...

I have the complete collection of Cortot's studies... If I had to describe those recordings, I would say... Authentic. Once in a while, in a world full of perfection thanks to digital systems, it truly pleases me every now and then to put on Cortot and listen to some healthy wrong notes. In the studies, there are many... What beauty!

PS. It is not a provocation at all, I am serious. There, you can truly hear a person as they play.

TheSimon wrote:

I have the complete integral of Cortot's studies... If I had to describe those recordings, I would say... Authentic. Once in a while, in a world full of perfection thanks to digital systems, it truly pleases me every now and then to put on Cortot and listen to some healthy wrong notes. In the studies, there are many... What beauty!

PS. It is not a provocation at all, I am serious. There, you can truly hear how a person plays.

the wrong notes themselves don't count for much in the end

TheSimon wrote:

I have the complete integral of Cortot's studies... If I had to describe those recordings, I would say... Authentic. Once in a while, in a world full of perfection thanks to digital systems, it truly pleases me every now and then to put on Cortot and listen to some healthy wrong notes. In the studies, there are many... What beauty!

PS. It is not a provocation at all, I am serious. There, you can truly hear how a person sounds.

I quote, although I realize, nowadays, that I do not know how to appreciate these "period" recordings because I am distracted by the almost unreal perfection of modern recordings. You have given me an excellent prompt to overcome this serious shortcoming of mine

Believe me, it's not almost unreal, it is perfectly unreal. I work on it every day. There is a cutting and sewing job that you cannot imagine, such that before the advent of digital it was practically impossible. It could be done even before, but only in certain parts of the piece that allowed it. Now, practically anything can be done. A piece is the result of at least a dozen takes. That's why we are in the unreal. The real treasure is the recordings of the past which were not manipulated, of terrible audio quality and with all the usual dirtiness.

TheSimon wrote:

Believe me, it's not almost unreal, it is perfectly unreal. I work on it every day. There is a cutting and sewing job that you cannot imagine, such that before the advent of digital it was practically impossible. It could be done even before, but only in some parts of the piece that allowed it. Now, practically anything can be done. A piece is the result of at least a dozen takes. That's why we are in the unreal. The true treasure is the recordings of the past which were not manipulated, of terrible audio quality and with all the usual dirt.

I will see to it that I inform myself better

TheSimon wrote:

Believe me, it's not almost unreal, it is perfectly unreal. I work on it every day. There is a cutting and sewing job that you cannot imagine, such that before the advent of digital it was practically impossible. It could be done even before, but only in certain parts of the piece that allowed it. Now, practically anything can be done. A piece is the result of at least a dozen takes. That's why we are in the unreal. The true treasure is the recordings of old which were not manipulated, of terrible audio quality and with all the usual dirt.

ahhhh how much I agree..... let's take Cortot Moisewitzh Kockzalsky Sauer and company..... Schnabel too

Regarding the Preludes, I also like Arrau very much.