Art of the Chopin Waltz

[quantum]

What qualities would one wish to bring out of the music in order to give beautiful interpretation of these pieces? 

Are there any specifics or tricks for the LH accompaniment in order to better characterize the waltz?

What about pedaling in the waltzes?  1 pedal per bar; pedal only beat 1; multiple changes within a bar - what are the arguments for each? 

Waltz articulation in LH?


Please discuss anything to do with Chopin Waltzes

[ramseytheii]

Please discuss anything to do with Chopin Waltzes

Play the Mazurkas.

Walter Ramsey

[daniloperusina]

Hi!
I wonder if you mean any tricks to bring out the waltz character? I my opinion, no. It's not dance music, it's pure art. Like a painting of a waltz, but with notes. So I don't think they should be specifically "waltzy", if you know what I mean.

Have you seen the Rubinstein video on youtube where he is teaching someone on the gm ballade? He says something so beatiful: "Music is a noble art, you musn't bang the piano, you have to sing it, play it nobly" or something like that. I think it gives such a wonderful picture of how he played Chopin..

Specifically, I also think one should avoid exaggerations in the waltzes; i.e avoid extreme tempos, be subtle in the left hand and don't bring out inner voices in an exaggerated way, don't overdo the rubato etc. Play them elegantly and with a sort of subtle joy.

About pedalling, well, study Chopin's own markings and see what you think! They often seem a bit odd for us as we are used to "clean" pedalling all the time. If you are going to blur harmonies a bit, I think good voicing of the chords is even more essential, e.g. bring out the top voice (thumb) a bit more, and phrase carefully so that the accompaniment becomes melodious.

[mcgillcomposer]

Play the Mazurkas.

Walter Ramsey

I must agree 

[pianistimo]

jean-yves thibaudet plays these really well.   i like the feeling of one actually waltzing rather than pretending to do something else.  the polish liked to dance, didn't they?  why not imagine waltzing with most of them.  agreed,there are a few that are not so dancish.  but, hey - the waltz is a waltz.  i would think coming near the top like a roller coaster about to fall - is what i look for.  the slow start.

what did cortot say about these waltzes.  michael mc graw has played these for michael baryshnikov.

here's a video of horowitz playing a chopin waltz at the white house:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHHGKlrj-B4  i'm not sure it's my favorite way of playing chopin waltzes.  i tend to like the conservative side of jean-yves.  but, horowitz certainly captures the romantic element of a lot of rubato and then fast speeding here and there.  if horowitz had to dance with the last bit of that waltz - he'd have to be fred astaire.  but, i suppose he's the fred astaire of the piano.

[pianistimo]

apparently chopin was very fond of a pianist woman pianist/composer 21 years his senior - who also wrote in all the typical polish genres.  her name was maria szymanowska.  here's a bit about her influence on chopin:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/PMJ/issue/5.1.02/dobrzanski.html

[steve jones]

My advice would be to keep the rubato as natural as possible (ie, flowing with the phrasing of the music).

It seems that many people go OTT with the rubato when playing these pieces. For my tastes anyway. I think they sound better when the rubato is treated more conservatively. Same with the Mazurkas.

SJ

[ramseytheii]

I must agree 

Hmm.... I was just at your university today!  Looks great.  What's with the fountain?

Walter Ramsey