for experts: practice and requirements for obtaining the piano diploma

Marta23 liked my comment, but I would also like to know what she thinks... Let's hear another woman's opinion

I agree that the entirety of Chopin's studies is not for everyone, or rather, it should be for everyone ... the professionals. But we know well that it is not always so.

Every étude presents you with constantly different technical and expressive difficulties; doing justice to all that music is an important undertaking.

@Lory

Oh my god, fortunately I don't have the small hand problem, so I can't answer you because I wouldn't know if I would actually encounter those problems with a small hand, but above all, I cannot provide a serious counterargument; you should talk to those who have encountered the same problems as you in the study of this work. Logic suggests to me, however, that Chopin's studies, for someone with a small hand, can be used as technical support (which is not insignificant) even if they are not intended for an audience or a competition.

@Marta

Let's not exaggerate; I agree that Chopin's Studies must pass through the hands of professionals, but it is a long step from here to actually performing a complete cycle. Mozart's sonatas are also very important, but there are many professional pianists who have gone through Mozart by studying the most significant sonatas, or simply those that most tickled their inspiration, without doing the complete cycle, which few have done. Similarly, there are many very talented pianists who have played some Chopin studies without going through a complete cycle; these are also not many. In the case of the Chopin studies, unlike Mozart's, I believe it is appropriate for every pianist to know them one by one, to have given them even a quick read, just to have a little light in their brain to help them intuit the technique underlying a particular study.

Summarizing then, I believe that a pianist who considers themselves a musician before being a pianist, and a professional, must necessarily know Chopin's studies and study at least the most significant ones. However, I don't think the opposite is true—that is, that one cannot be considered a professional pianist without going through Chopin's studies—precisely because, as I stated, there may be cases where it is anatomically impossible to complete studies of this kind. But this means nothing; there will be other "closer" genres in which that pianist can give their best. This is just to bring back a reasoning I had made in another post and which, for consistency, I repeat in this one.

Marta, have you done any studies of Chopin?