G. Catoire, Op. 12, No. 4, "Etude-fantastique" (My 100th Recording at PS)

[rachfan]

Continuing with the Quatre Morceaux, Op. 12 from 1901 by Georgy Catoire (1861-1926), here is his Morceau No. 4, the “Etude-fantastique”.  This one piece in the set bears a dedication to Alexander Goedicke (1877-1957), a colleague and pianist who had studied with Safonov, composer and professor at the Moscow Conservatory in Catoire’s day.  The piece opens in F#m, later travels through E flat, and ends enharmonically in G flat mimicking the F#m tonic heard early in the piece.  I hope you’ll enjoy the etude.  

P.S. I've added a second recording with the sound enhanced and recommend it.

Piano: Baldwin Model L Artist Grand (6’3”) with lid raised on the singer prop.
Recorder: Korg MR-1000
Mics: Matched pair of Earthworks TC20 small diaphragm, omni-directional condenser mics in A-B configuration

Comments welcome.

[ted]

Well, I now see why you have not posted quite as often lately ! The first thing which strikes me is your wonderful control of dynamics. Playing which involves this sort of undulating crescendo is always difficult.  Too little misses the bus and too much leaves nowhere to go later on, especially if one has any emotional affinity with a piece; but then again, a listener soon discerns a totally calculated approach and who wants cold perfection ? Some might but I don't.

Your use of accents is also striking. I haven't looked at the score so I don't know whether the dozens of internal accents within the finger work are actually marked or you are just inserting them intuitively. From my point of view it doesn't matter much as the result is musically effective in either case.

The music itself, as with other Catoire, sounds like an improvisation to me. However, as you have pointed out, Catoire did not improvise and probably would not have appreciated the comment, even if complimentary ! Nonetheless, that is my reaction. There are obvious influences in the music - at one point I though it was turning into "What the West Wind has Seen" - but this sort of "find the similarity" puzzle is unimportant. All that really matters is that it stands valid with respect to itself, and it certainly does that.

This will be another of yours to put on audio CD to keep and play on my hi-fi.

 

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

Nice to hear from you, and thanks for listening!

Yes, the dynamic control in the early part of the piece is important, as the latter part of the piece is fireworks.  You're so right, you need to keep some volume in reserve to leave room to maneuver.  

As I listen to the recording now it almost sounds like three hands playing.  That's because the RH has melody plus accompaniment in the hand.  The LH plays its own accompaniment.  So there is laying of sound there.  Also, being an etude, there are many melodic scalar passages which often have to be etched.  There is also a recurring sigh motif that also has to be brought out.  These elements have to rise in sonority over all the busywork.  Some of the accents are written in the score by Catoire, but I added others.  Unlike Chopin who liked to have each of his etudes dedicated to a particular principle of technique, Catoire instead packs a variety of technical aspects into this etude. There is voicing of the melodic scalar passages, sigh motifs, and strategic bass harmonies.  There is close cohabitation of the hands in one section; hand-offs of runs between the hands; playing accompaniment within the melody hand; too there are frequent polyrhythms in the figuration; then in the climax come the big arpeggios sweeping up and down the keyboard.  In the coda there is that waterlike rushing sound in the bass underlying the last of the sighs to be uttered.  With all of that it's easy to see why it's truly a "fantastic" etude!

I really deliberated hard on whether or not to undertake this piece.  In all honesty, it's probably best left to the virtuoso pianist.  (And certainly I cannot play the piece like Marc-Andre Hamelin or Koji Attwood!) And at my age I thought maybe I should leave this athletic piece to the younger pianists.  Plus I have a phobia about fast passage work.    Well, it came down a couple of things: I wanted to play all of Op. 12, plus I know that the members here like to hear me play a difficult piece once in awhile.  So I struggled with it, and am glad I did.  At the moment I think I've plateaued with the piece.  But if I were to return to it in the future, I believe I could add some nice touches that I didn't quite accomplish this time around.  A piece like this can be a lifelong learning challenge.

I'm honored, Ted, that you'll put this performance on a CD so you can listen to it on your hi-fi.  Thanks!

David  



    

[birba]

Wow.  Really inspiring music.  And you get it across.  This is the outstanding element in your playing.  Bravo.

[furtwaengler]

Congratulations on this outstanding achievement! You communicate it very well, and well...I love the piece.

I'm going to have to take it up. I may well look to play some Catoire this summer, a tribute to your influence.

[rachfan]

Hi birba,

Thanks so much for the nice compliment!  I respect your thoughtful and helpful critiques that you so generously share with the members who post their recordings here.  So this means a lot to me.

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

I'm so glad that you enjoyed this piece so much.  I do too--it's a real gem!  That you will play some of the Catoire repertoire is flattering.  Thank you!    When I play the little-known music of this composer (or Bortkiewicz), it always feels like trying to roll a large boulder uphill to stir interest in the music.  So when another pianist is intrigued by it, I'm thrilled, especially if they might also  perform the music for live audiences at piano parties or even recitals.  Thanks for listening!

David 

[furtwaengler]

Hi David, I'm posting on this again as I've been listening over and over. Catoire's world is a fusion of so many worlds...I hear shadows of Duparc, Ravel, Faure, but also shared textures of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov (especially the moments musicaux), Scriabin and even early Stravinsky. It is so unique, and it speaks a powerful breadth in outstanding brevity. Your battle in playing it serves well the expressively dark struggle of the etude...the piece excels in your hands.

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

I think you've found the power of Catoire's composing idiom.  In most of his repertoire that I've played, I can sense the influences of Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Faure, and Scriabin.  But from your list, yes--Duparc and Ravel too, as examples, not the cool classical Ravel, but the Ravel of "Daphnis and Cloe".  Catoire's parents, French citizens, moved to Moscow to set up a business there.  Although Georgy Catoire was a natural born Russian citizen and the first-generation Russian of his family, there is no doubt in my mind that he was imbued with the great French traditions in literature, music and the arts.  His parents would have certainly seen to that.  In the same way that Victor Hugo appears in the "Chants du crepuscule", we can hear echoes of Faure's shifting tonal centers or even the great organ surges in the music of Charles Widor in the piano music of Catoire.  

I believe it comes down to this: Catoire was a master ecletic in that not only did he draw on influences, but he could meld the styles of lush late romanticism, impressionism, and expressionism producing a unique idiom of his own.  The effect is one of startling beauty. There is nothing superficial about Catoire's music.  He is clearly a deep thinker, where much of his inspiration lies well below the surface. Although I analyze his scores of course, invariably I end up playing Catoire by instinct.  To find Catoire, you will not discover him only in his musical notation; rather you must search for him between the lines. That is where the greatness of Catoire is to be found.  

Thanks so much for your comment on my playing!  You refer to the "dark struggle". Performing this piece is the like a harrowing struggle with a titanic force of nature, and I believe that only the amateur pianist can reveal the edge of that struggle to the listener.  It soon becomes evident that it will be impossible for the pianist to prevail.  He desperately hopes for a stalemate at least, so that the struggle can be rejoined another day.      

David

[emill]

wow!  sounds very good... feels very good .... i like the "goodness" around it...
(wish i knew how to say that in techinical terms without sounding too youtubish )

[rachfan]

Hi emill,

Thanks for listening, and glad you enjoyed it.  This is a difficult piece to play, so it was quite a challenge.  I love the piece and am glad to add it to my repertoire.  It was well worth the effort!

[goldentone]

Hi Rachfan,

What a piece!  You play it with a breathtaking pulse, and superbly convey the drama of the Etude.  I'm so impressed by your layering, for it sounds three dimensional.  The Etude-fantastique was a perfect choice for your 100th recording here at Pianostreet.  Congratulations!    

[rachfan]

Hi goldentone,

Thanks for your kind comments!  I'm glad I was able to "put the piece over" as you described it.  It was a tall challenge for me, but I was determined to succeed with this piece, and am glad I stuck with it. 

Yes, 100 recordings here!    According to my profile I joined on 1/4/2003, but it seems even longer.  Time flies when you're having fun!  Anyway, hopefully as time has gone by, I've improved as a pianist.

Thanks for listening!

[furtwaengler]

It was June 14, 2007 that I joined. For years Pianostreet existed apart from my knowledge, and I feel in some part I've missed out, as if there was some golden age. But no, my experience has been great, and though I missed the time when Koji Attwood was setting out on this site Catoire and Bortkiewicz for the discovery of passionate musicians and music lovers, I learned them from David here. It's like he's moved the chains of enthusiasm another level. (Plus Koji's recordings are still here!).

What can I say, except to thank Rachfan (David) for staying on so long and being such a tremendous asset and inspiration!

Cheers!

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

Back in the "old days" this site was actually called Piano Forum before it was later changed to Piano Street.  I remember, for example, several of us posting and comparing our recordings of Liszt's "Sonetto 104 del Petraca".  Those discussions were a lot of fun and very interesting and educational too. Unfortunately, many of the early participants have left, but some are still here with us.  And the good news is that the old archives are ever-present too.  You just have to track way, way back to the early pages to peruse all the recordings there.

It was Koji who first introduced me to Bortkiewicz and Catoire (and others too).  I was inspired by his artistic performances and decided to survey some of that extraordinary piano literature.  It's been a labor of love ever since to help promote these compositions.  There are yet more pieces of these composers I want to play.  But even as it stands now, members and visitors who are interested in exploring this music already have a good sampling available to them in the Index to Audition Room.  And it's all free!

Thanks, Dave, for your appreciation of my being at Piano Street for so long.  The pleasure has been all mine!   

David 

[philiphotchkiss]

Beautiful playing. Thank you for introducing me to this piece and the recording quality was also excellent. Congrats

[rachfan]

Hi Philip,

Glad you enjoyed this etude.  It's a gorgeous piece!  Thanks for listening!

David

[arielpiano]

Hi David,
I like it a lot. It is interesting to compare it with Koji's, which I think is quite a bit more Lisztish (or is it Lisztian?...) and more reckless. But I like both. I don't think I'm quite there yet. But I do have a Liszt that I think I'll post. Thanks for pointing me to this link.
Ariel

[rachfan]

Hi ariel,

Glad you liked it!  Koji's and my interpretations vary considerably.  He and I briefly discussed this once and concluded that with neglected music we perhaps tend to focus on different elements of the compositions, giving us both a renewed appreciation for the wealth of possibilities for interpretation. Thanks for listening and commenting on it.  Looking forward to your Liszt.

David

[costicina]

BRAVO David!!!!
Your performance is really outstanding...
Thank you for sharing, and for enlarging my musical horizons. I've discovered this great composer only thanks to you.
Please, post more of these unjustly  neglected musical jewels..
Again, bravissimo!!
Margherita

[rachfan]

Hi Margherita,

Thanks so much!  I'm happy that you enjoyed this wonderful piece by Catoire.  By the way, if you go to the Index of Audition Room at the top here, the index is in alphabetical order by composer.  If you haven't already heard them, there are three complete sets of Catoire's music that I recorded.  I also recorded many pieces of Bortkiewicz (another favorite) which also appear there.  I find the index to be a real shortcut for finding pieces.

Yes, when I prepare pieces, I always look for what has been overlooked.  And you're absolutely right, there are many gems hidden away there.  I now find that endeavor more interesting than playing standard repertoire pieces.

Thanks for listening and commenting!

David

[gvans]

Beautiful! I can see why you've become a Catoire champion. Harrowing technical stuff, but truly full of heart. Super. Thanks, David.
Glenn

[rachfan]

Hi Glenn,

Thanks so much for that compliment!  It's been an honor to champion Catoire's music.  I spent so much time with him, it was almost as if he were teaching me how to play the piano all over again. I believe that as a composer he was a deep thinker who often revealed his innermost feelings between the lines of his scores.  He's one of my favorite composers now.

David