Chopin & Liszt, Happy 2010!

Another year and a new decade, wow! The time seems to going by very vivace (actually prestissimo at my age!)

It’s times like these when we look back at our experiences of the past year, and all we’ve experienced throughout our entire life. Like everyone else, I’ve had good times & tough times, much to be grateful for, and some things to regret. Throughout it all, one constant source of joy and upliftment has been beautiful music played on the piano (hence, the site’s name, PIano Passion.)

If you are a regular visitor to this site, that means you love piano music too, and everyone has their favorite genres & pieces. In the classical catalog, two pianists/composers are often seen as embodying the peak of both playing and composing for the instrument, Fryderk Chopin and Franz Liszt. What glorious music! Many is the time I’ve not merely listened, but been totally transported by their melodies and flourishes, and no matter what happens to me in this world, I’m so grateful I’ve had the songs of Chopin and Liszt at my side.

Both Chopin & Liszt were proponents of the shorter expositions, and as a result their under 5-minute songs are revered much more than their irregular ventures into the long, concerto form. Liszt was, of course, Hungarian, and wrote 20 beautiful  Hungarian rhaphsodies. I love all of his "Consolations" and his "Liebestraum", but I think my favorite shorter Liszt piece would have to be one of his dreamy etudes, "Un Sospiro." Although Liszt has many, many modern interpreters like Georges Cziffra and Horowitz, I really like this version by Earl Wild on YouTube below:

Chopin has been covered by everyone from Paderewski in the 1930s to Martha Argerich just a few years ago. In between there have been marvelous interpretations by Pollini, Michelangeli, and a state-of-the-art, comprehensive boxed set of almost everything Chopin wrote by Arthur Rubenstein. All are technically proficient, and your personal preference tends to depend on whether you lean toward a more clnical and straightforward reading of his work (Rubenstein) or a more passionate, flourishing reading (Claudio Arrau and others.)

I’ll go out on a limb and say, if you want to hear Chopin’s wonderful Waltzes played with the most beautiful tone and maximum joyful expression you’ll ever hear, you MUST pick up a copy of the EMI recording by Dinu Lipatti, it’s incredible!

My own ardor to play beautiful pieces and improve my technique is very much owed to Chopin. I was a new piano student of 7 when I first heard one of his most dazzling pieces, "Fantasie Imprompru," and I quickly vowed that I must learn how to play that piece. Playing it well represents a significant task of technique, so the desire to command it forced me to really work on my finger skills. It is, today, still one of my most favorite pieces of music from any era.

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