Staccato and sustain pedal

[henrah]

How is one supposed to play staccato when the sustain pedal is notated? Chopin's etude 10/9 in Fminor is an example.
Henrah

[zheer]

  Staccato under the pedal, is not really staccato, nor is it legato, its a slightly different sound effect, play the notes portando (detached), and dont forget the quaver rest.

[henrah]

I can see the difference when the pedal is released on the last quaver beat as the melody will drop away when played staccato. But other than that, in general, it seems a pointless thing to notate staccato under the pedal, unless the desired affect comes from the visual signifier. In an audio recording, the similarity will be unnoticeable methinks.

[counterpoint]

In an audio recording, the similarity will be unnoticeable methinks.

It will be very noticeable, mehopes 

If you see staccato notes, the accentuation will be completely different as when you see a legato bow without staccatos. It's not only the breaks between the notes but also the feeling of staccato which will lead you to play every note with an accent. In contrary, when playing legato, that means also cantabile, therefore more rubato, no accents on single notes, but continuous cresendo/diminuendo, slow movements etc.

[will]

It's not only the breaks between the notes but also the feeling of staccato which will lead you to play every note with an accent.

AFAIK staccato only relates to the length of a note. If the pedal is fully depressed then there will be no breaks between the notes. If Chopin wanted every note to be accented then why didn't he write an accent over every note? Adding further confusion the piece is marked legatissimo.

[counterpoint]

If Chopin wanted every note to be accented then why didn't he write an accent over every note?

Because staccato is not only to shorten the note - but to accentuate it too. You can observe this in all music since Bach (or even before Bach).

Adding further confusion the piece is marked legatissimo.

In my edition (Paderewski) the legatissimo is notated below the sixteenth notes of the left hand. There is no contradiction at all.

[anda]

there's staccato, and there's staccato...

don't ever use pedal on a scarlatti sonata passage in staccato. use it on certain passages in chopin works, dont' use it on others... the point is: staccato + pedal is staccato (a different kind, of course) and should be used accordingly.

just one more thing: legatissimo, in 99% of the cases, does not refer to fingers playing legato (whether the notes are marked staccato or legato), but to head and arm legato - which has nothing to do with what the fingers are doing.

best luck