{"id":9428,"date":"2018-10-24T09:13:35","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T09:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/?p=9428"},"modified":"2019-01-01T11:48:40","modified_gmt":"2019-01-01T11:48:40","slug":"the-pleyel-piano-a-key-to-genuine-chopin-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianostreet.com\/blog\/albums\/the-pleyel-piano-a-key-to-genuine-chopin-sound-9428\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pleyel Piano: A Key to Genuine Chopin Sound?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hubert Rutkowski’s new CD is a portrait not only of Chopin<\/a>, but of the composer’s favourite instrument: Rutkowski plays a Pleyel piano from 1847. In his search for a genuine Chopin\/Pleyel sound he has also turned to historical recordings of Raul Koczalski and Moritz Rosenthal, students of Karol Mikuli, who was in turn a student of Chopin himself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Chopin’s own Pleyel piano from 1848<\/p><\/div>\n

Songful and spontaneous<\/h2>\n

The album offers a well-rounded view of Chopin the lyricist, and the selection of pieces presents the whole spectrum of sound possibilities available to the Pleyel. The piano has a songful tone, but without the density and weight of a modern instrument, which allows you to hear all the different layers of sound very clearly. Rutkowski also manages to create a big sound in the G minor ballade, but in the coda it\u2019s clear that the Pleyel is approaching the limit of what it can convey in terms of power.<\/p>\n

In spite of the great focus on history, there is a sense of fresh spontaneity in Rutkowski\u2019s performances. From his early-20th century role models he has picked up a special sense of freedom, and a rubato that can be surprising to modern ears, accustomed to 21st century \u2018standard Chopin playing\u2019. So, is this the only true and genuine Chopin? Well, we might want to look at different portrait pictures of Chopin to get a sense of what he really looked like. In much the same way, historically informed performances like these can certainly give us a more nuanced picture.<\/p>\n