French Technique: Alfred Cortot?

[crazy for ivan moravec]

we had National Artist Pianist/Composer Jose Maceda (check him in Grove's) who recently died of old age... he studied piano with alfred cortot (wow, a filipino actually studied with him). when i took lessons with him three years ago, he told me that the movement and position of the hand for each passage/chord is very important in making the sound automatically correct/ideal already.

for example, playing the first chord of the Beethoven Pathetique: in the RH, use 2 for Eb, 1 for G and 5 for the C... this means that the thumb goes under. the pianist doesnt have to make effort in voicing the top note so much because the weight automatically shifts to the top note in this kind of position. that's why Cortot's fingerings are weird because the logic of those fingerings refer to the arm weight most of the time (even in running passages). this way, you wouldn't have to raise ur fingers at all! and they use lots of dropping of the hand from the air together with the arm weight (that means mastering how much weight u drop everytime)!!!wow old school!!! i love that sound! i love all the dead pianists like hofmann, paderewski, rubinstein, godowsky, etc

i know the only basic principles of this technique because i had the opportunity to play for Dr. Jose Maceda for quite some time before he died. but i'd love to really master that technique and modify it to fit our modern pianos (french pianos then were really different from ours now). i believe it's more natural if i play this way... only that i dont have a teacher to guide me in this technique.

please say anything if you have insights/knowledge of the topic. im really interested in this one.

or, who knows a teacher who might have studied with alfred cortot?

[pianistimo]

there's jean-paul billaud, but i think he's retired.  anyway, his wife lousie billaud teaches the same methods, i think, and is a very good pianist.  will look up her address.  (they are french, btw, as their name implies and he is genius)  prof. billaud studied with alfred cortot and has some anecdotes about it.  he has the same intensity of interest, phenomenal memory, and has been a very successful teacher.

you can either type in 'pianist louise billaud' or www.nr.edu/billaud  and then 'contact info'

[crazy for ivan moravec]

wow, thank you, pianistimo! i will check it out.

[pianistimo]

you're welcome.  he's on the steinway and son's list of artists, too. 

he's one of the main reasons (among my own love of piano) that i enjoyed piano so much.  he made it interesting and challenging.  and, he was a stickler about fingering pieces to your best advantage.  all the pieces that he fingered are 'fingered in stone' to me.  i wouldn't change anything.  you can review teacher's work like that and sort of obtain some general rules of thumb about good fingering.

lately, i've been elated to find that many pieces at west chester university music library are also fingered by julliard trained teachers.  you can learn so much by just going to a good music library, too, and comparing fingerings and sideline notes written in light pencil.