The Grand Chopin Etudes

[Terry-Piano]

Hey all , I'm new to this forum ... i'm a 20 year old pianist
I played the guitar when i was young but discovered the piano at the age of 16.. and ive been in love with the instrument ever since...it's rich sound,it's endless possibilities makes it surpass any other instrument.

Anyway, enough about me and onward about the post,
The Chopin Etudes... this work is a marvel of the instrument.. so unique... so hard to play...such beauty and such hard work was put into each of them... and all this by a relatively young pianist...Chopin was really an amazing genius... I've heard many renditions of them
by : Alfred Cortot
     a couple by rubinstein
      Bianca Sitzius
     Louis Lortie
     Pollini
   
I'd like to know who else played them
and how well did they play them?
I want your opinion on the best version of them you heard... This work is worth being heard as Chopin wouldve played it , if anyone ever played them as he did

[f0bul0us]

It's funny of you to say how hard they are to play because I once heard that Liszt sight read (in speed) Op. 10 No. 4 (that, or some other etude. Or was it the Grieg concerto? Damn it! I can't remember!)

Do yourself a favour and don't listen to Murray Perahia, let's just say I finally found a reason to hate the Etudes after I heard him play them. Seek out Cziffra's recordings, they're all very "firey". Also, there were some recordings I got off Mp3.com a while ago (but deleted accidentally) by a pianist named Mei-Ting Sun. For someone so young, I'd still put his recordings "up there" with Cziffra and the rest.

If only that damn Argerich wasn't so scared of solo concerts, she might've actually learned the Etudes. But oh well, what else does she have to prove? We're the one's trying to imitate her, which means in the end the best we can get is second place.

Good luck!  

[Antnee]

f0bul0us...

You do know that Mei ting posts here on occaison don't you?? By the way have you heard his feux follets?? It's on his website...

-Tony-

[f0bul0us]

I do (thanks for not calling me fabulous ) and I have!

[Antnee]

Just checking..  

...and you're welcome by the way..

-Tony-

[goalevan]

I really like Murray Perahia's

[steinwaymodeld]

It's funny of you to say how hard they are to play because I once heard that Liszt sight read (in speed) Op. 10 No. 4 (that, or some other etude. Or was it the Grieg concerto? Damn it! I can't remember!)

Do yourself a favour and don't listen to Murray Perahia, let's just say I finally found a reason to hate the Etudes after I heard him play them. Seek out Cziffra's recordings, they're all very "firey". Also, there were some recordings I got off Mp3.com a while ago (but deleted accidentally) by a pianist named Mei-Ting Sun. For someone so young, I'd still put his recordings "up there" with Cziffra and the rest.

If only that damn Argerich wasn't so scared of solo concerts, she might've actually learned the Etudes. But oh well, what else does she have to prove? We're the one's trying to imitate her, which means in the end the best we can get is second place.

Good luck!  

Franz Liszt sight-read Grieg Concerto in A, when the composer visited Liszt when Grieg just first finished composing the concerto and he wanted to know what this young genius was capcable of (and he wanted to know what Liszt think).
Liszt sight-readed the concerto right at that moment(remember, it hadn't been released, so it's Liszt first time see the score), completely perfectly, not only the piano part, AND the orchestra part TOGETHER!!!

And when Liszt knew in Vienna, people were all hyped up about Alexander Dreyshosck (Liszt wasn't as big as a blast in Vienna as most of the people thinks), people were being so hyped up about Dreyschock's playing of the Chopin Revolutionary Etude with left hand plays in Octave(Dreyschock worked on it for 3 months 15-18 hours a day). Liszt knew about it, gave a concert in Vienna, he picked the Op.25 No.2 chopin etude, he played the first bar, again the first bar faster, again yet faster, faster, faster, then he played the whole pieces perfectly with the left hand in OCTAVE! and without any practicing before!!!

So there u see, the true genius of Liszt.


Chopin etude, I have the complete recordings from more than 23 pianist.

My favorite is either cziffra, Murray Perehia or Gavrilov.(I hate Pollini's, completely not colorful, lack of imagination)

Anyway, that's my 2 cent.

[donjuan]

Cziffra certainly has interesting interpretation of many of the Chopin etudes.  I especially love how he does the "aeolian harp" etude, playing specific base notes an octave lower, making the sound much more rich.

I have never liked Pollini's playing.  I find it too mechanical and dry.
donjuan

[DarkWind]

Franz Liszt sight-read Grieg Concerto in A, when the composer visited Liszt when Grieg just first finished composing the concerto and he wanted to know what this young genius was capcable of (and he wanted to know what Liszt think).
Liszt sight-readed the concerto right at that moment(remember, it hadn't been released, so it's Liszt first time see the score), completely perfectly, not only the piano part, AND the orchestra part TOGETHER!!!

And when Liszt knew in Vienna, people were all hyped up about Alexander Dreyshosck (Liszt wasn't as big as a blast in Vienna as most of the people thinks), people were being so hyped up about Dreyschock's playing of the Chopin Revolutionary Etude with left hand plays in Octave(Dreyschock worked on it for 3 months 15-18 hours a day). Liszt knew about it, gave a concert in Vienna, he picked the Op.25 No.2 chopin etude, he played the first bar, again the first bar faster, again yet faster, faster, faster, then he played the whole pieces perfectly with the left hand in OCTAVE! and without any practicing before!!!

So there u see, the true genius of Liszt.


Chopin etude, I have the complete recordings from more than 23 pianist.

My favorite is either cziffra, Murray Perehia or Gavrilov.(I hate Pollini's, completely not colorful, lack of imagination)

Anyway, that's my 2 cent.

Right hand. Anyways, more lovely anecdotes. He was once asked to accompany a violinist, and had never seen the music before. So he sat down and played it magnificently, while holding a cigar in his right hand. He also played the emperor concerto with the four small fingers of his left hand. He sight read what others labored over for months.

[zhiliang]

Vladimir Ashkenazy played the etudes really well too. Especially his first recording. (not the one on decca). Think its a recording in the 60s.

Is the Cortot's version considered the most beautiful musically?

Zhiliang

[Dave_2004_G]

Some of those stories just sound stupid...how is it physically possible to play the emperor concerto with 4 fingers on your left hand?!  Liszt was good, but he couldn't bend the laws of science...

Dave

[littlechopin]

Pollini plays Chopin's etude wonderfully!
However I like also Ashkenazy, obviously, and the very fast Gavrilov, great!

[cherub_rocker1979]

Perahia's recording is one of the best.

[infectedmushroom]

Franz Liszt sight-read Grieg Concerto in A, when the composer visited Liszt when Grieg just first finished composing the concerto and he wanted to know what this young genius was capcable of (and he wanted to know what Liszt think).
Liszt sight-readed the concerto right at that moment(remember, it hadn't been released, so it's Liszt first time see the score), completely perfectly, not only the piano part, AND the orchestra part TOGETHER!!!

And when Liszt knew in Vienna, people were all hyped up about Alexander Dreyshosck (Liszt wasn't as big as a blast in Vienna as most of the people thinks), people were being so hyped up about Dreyschock's playing of the Chopin Revolutionary Etude with left hand plays in Octave(Dreyschock worked on it for 3 months 15-18 hours a day). Liszt knew about it, gave a concert in Vienna, he picked the Op.25 No.2 chopin etude, he played the first bar, again the first bar faster, again yet faster, faster, faster, then he played the whole pieces perfectly with the left hand in OCTAVE! and without any practicing before!!!

So there u see, the true genius of Liszt.

Amazing story!... That Alexander Dreyshosck must have been a genius too. Playing Chopin Revolutionary Etude with left hand plays in Octave must have been impressive to see and to hear. 

[crazy for ivan moravec]

reference/insightful recording: cortot

warning: don't ever think you can do his way of playing it.

[jas]

I love Berezovsky's recording. I didn't know who he was when I bought it, but it's an Apex recording I got for £4.99, which is a complete bargain! I think that's still my favourite (it was the first full cycle I heard), although with a few of them it's tied with Pollini's. I've also got Gavrilov's, but I haven't listened to it yet. I keep forgetting I've got it.

Dreyschock was a single-minded nutter. They all had their own bag of tricks back then, it was the only way to stand out from the competition!

Jas

[pianowelsh]

Frankly i cant think off hand of a pianist who dosent play them either in concert or for recording purposes they are a backbone to the repetory.  When it comes to selecting a good version to listen to I'll let you know when ive found one. There isnt a single pianist ive heard that i can really say YES i approved of everything you did in that set!  I have complete etudes by Ashkenazy& Polini - Ive listened to otherbox sets but these two i find the most helpfull generally.  Dont bother with R Saitkoulov! Ive never heard such unclear unrythmic and unmusical etudes on disc.  I have many on records too of older artists Lymphany/Lipati/Horowitz/Rubinstein etc and these are all very interesting but for all they are so main stream they are very elusive and exremely hard to get just right.  Alexae Scravrosnky was when last i heard in the process of completing a new edition of the Chopin studies with some revisions (in the grand romantic manner) Im not sure if he has recorded them as well but its well worth having a search for - any fresh air on these pieces is!

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I love Maurizio Pollini's recording of the Chopin Etudes. Sheer power and color. I really adore the etudes.

[maxy]

Some of those stories just sound stupid...how is it physically possible to play the emperor concerto with 4 fingers on your left hand?!  Liszt was good, but he couldn't bend the laws of science...

Dave

The story says he cut his pinky the day of the concert.  He had to substitute a lot of the "usual" fingerings to avoid using the "damaged" finger.

[frederic chopin]

I have been searching for the definitive version of the Chopin Etudes and found it a few years ago in the form of a recording played by Nikolai Lugansky under the Erato (Warner Classics) label. It has won an award or two.  https://lugansky.homestead.com/ 

Other decent recordings include Louis Lortie and Murray Perahia - but there are some bits that I don't like in both of them. Unfortunately, I have never really liked Ashkenazy's recording. 

[crazy for ivan moravec]

i didn't like most of the etudes in perahia's set. he wasn't being musical... he was being ULTRA musical. it was too stylish for my taste. i heard his waltzes as well, it was just too much for me...

i love his ballade in gm, though.

dont get me wrong, i have great respect for perahia. i love his schumann concerto with sir colin davis (?), i love his mozart, scarlatti, his gnomenreigen... but something about his chopin etudes just bothers me. how did he end the 10/1 again? haha. ok that's enough.