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Topic: Pollini's technique overrated? (Read 3143 times)

cloches_de_geneve

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Pollini's technique overrated?

on: March 01, 2006, 04:56:31 PM

According to some earlier statements on this forum, Pollini's technique is overrated.
Overrated?? Here's a little bit of history. In 1960, at age 18, he won the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in which candidates have to present 4 of the Chopin Etudes. Pollini choose (in this order): op. 25/10; op. 25/11; op 10/1; op 10/10.

To play 95% of all of the 1203 notes of the RH in 10/1 accurately at the indicated speed is already an incredible, near miraculous achivement (no wonder Horowitz considered it the most difficult of all the chopin etudes). How many notes did Pollini miss in his Warsaw competition performance? Half a dozen. About 10 years ago I heard him live, playing Stravinsky's even harder Petrushka. It was just a breathtaking performance, impetuous and incredibly accurate at the same time. No, I am sorry, Pollini has been one of the greatest technicians of the 20th century.

That today, at the age of 64, he is no longer the master he used to be can hardly be held against him. Also, he was and is capricious, some of his performances are really bad. But then, the same thing could be said of many legendary pianists including Richter. It does not change my earlier statement.

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henrah

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Re: Pollini's technique overrated?

Reply #1 on: March 01, 2006, 05:21:55 PM

Every pianist is overrated by somebody. Someone who doesn't think as highly of Pollini as you do would think you are overrating him. Therefore it is kind of like art: it is what you make of it.

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gruffalo

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Re: Pollini's technique overrated?

Reply #2 on: March 01, 2006, 05:22:31 PM

i wouldnt argue against his technique, but i really dont like his chopin etudes. technically, yes i think they are great but i hardly musical. i know they are studies, but they require flavour aswell. i havent heard anymore of his Chopin though.

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mikey6

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Re: Pollini's technique overrated?

Reply #3 on: March 02, 2006, 08:18:17 AM

I heard him live in Munich in December and I can say that there is nothing wrong with his technique as far as right notes go.

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maxy

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Re: Pollini's technique overrated?

Reply #4 on: March 03, 2006, 05:30:58 AM

the little worms we are, compared to Pollini, should not be allowed to say anything against his technique.

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sevencircles

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Re: Pollini's technique overrated?

Reply #5 on: March 03, 2006, 07:53:35 AM

Anyone have a liverecording of him playing Boulez 2 ?

The score of that piece did scare me more then anything by Alkan.

I would like to hear how he executes his remarkable cadenza in Bartok 2 live too.

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Women and the Chopin Competition: Breaking Barriers in Classical Music

The piano, a sleek monument of polished wood and ivory keys, holds a curious, often paradoxical, position in music history, especially for women. While offering a crucial outlet for female expression in societies where opportunities were often limited, it also became a stage for complex gender dynamics, sometimes subtle, sometimes stark. From drawing-room whispers in the 19th century to the thunderous applause of today’s concert halls, the story of women and the piano is a narrative woven with threads of remarkable progress and stubbornly persistent challenges. Read more

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Topic: Pollini's technique overrated? (Read 3143 times)

Piano Street Magazine:Women and the Chopin Competition: Breaking Barriers in Classical Music

Piano Street Magazine:
Women and the Chopin Competition: Breaking Barriers in Classical Music