Played a certain way! AHHH!!!

[jamie_liszt]

Hey

I hate when a piece is overplayed by many pianists, the Musicians get used to the way everyone else plays it and plays it the same, then the audience gets used to hearing it at the same, speed, tempo, dynamics, and then you have to play it a certain way, i cant explain it, its like heroic polonaise, I can never perform this piece how I want it, Without people saying, thats not right, play it like this, but I DONT WANT TO, because its boring, every pianist plays it basically the same these days, what happened to the good old days, thats why i like 20th century pianists, cziffra and horowitz, richter and rubinstein, they played it how they want, with freedom, if they want to change tempo or dynamics they did, if they wanna use the pedal more then you should, but these days all you get is, thats not how its played. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Does anyone know what im getting at

[quantum]

I know exactly how you feel. 

Funny enough, a professor at my university told me that I need to play that heroic polonaise more like Van Cliburn and that's how the octave section should sound, and that I should never play this piece in public until I successfully copy that sound     This wasn't my piano teacher, but another prof. who critiqued my recital.  He made that comment in private (not on the official comment sheet) but still I was shocked to hear that from a respected prof. at my univerisy.  I still consider it quite unprofessional for this person to say such a thing. 

[rc]

For the record, I have no idea .

I would say there's nothing to stop you from doing it your way, if it sounds good they'll have to accept it, and instead of listening to the people who cry "It ain't right!" listen to the ones who say they liked it.

Tastes have always been changing across the generations. But it's always good to stay true to the intent of the piece, especially in music where the composer was very specific to what was wanted (Beethoven on...). Sometimes we might be guilty of trying to put too much of ourselves into someone elses music.

I remember hearing a young pianist (I forget who) on the radio who did what he wanted with the Appassionata, ignoring a lot of Beethovens diretions. It sure was different, but it completely killed the mood of what the piece could be, a lot of the interpretive decisions just didn't make sense.

To me, when playing someone elses music one should try and capture the original intent (as one understands it). If one wants to do their own thing, one can create his own music (composition, transcription, improv...). No matter what, your own character will come through.

[jamie_liszt]

Well if you enter a competition, why would they pick on you if you played the heroic polonaise like cziffra with too much pedal ? is that the wrong way to play it... Or just your own interpretation. Why is it wrong ?

[donjuan]

You need to ask yourself what the composer would have wanted from you in a performance.  Work within certain limitations and no one will trash you because of your interpretation.  Composers were generally the geniuses behind what we are today!  For the most part, go with what you think they would have wanted.  If you want to do your own thing, well, then compose your own music.

what happened to the good old days, thats why i like 20th century pianists, cziffra and horowitz, richter and rubinstein, they played it how they want, with freedom, if they want to change tempo or dynamics they did

they did what they wanted, which is to represent the music as it should be represented.  Sometimes, they would make changes as musicians paying tribute to musicians of the past. For example, think about Cziffra's transcriptions of the Brahms Hungarian Dances.

However, I can't think of any instances of them "playing how they want," when performing another composer's work.  When Cziffra wants play as he wants -express his own ideas, not someone else's-, he would compose his own piece. (For example, Rumanian Gypsy Fantasy)

[quantum]

I think the question is geared towards those who think that there is a very specific way to play a single piece.  Yes we strive to be aware of the composers' intentions, but we are talking about people who think any small deviation from a specific performance is wrong. 

Let me give another example.  Due to the popularity of Horwitz's HR 2, some people may always expect it to be played that very specific way.  Some may have the misconception that the way Horwitz played it is exactly the way Liszt indended it to sound, and therefore conclude that it is the only acceptable way of playing it - regardless of what the score says.