Tempo giusto: Chopin

[skibickay]

My edition of Chopin's waltz in c-sharp minor, Op.64 No.2 instructs the performer to play "tempo giusto."  Typically I interpret this term to mean "play with a strict tempo, lose the rubato."  But this goes against my intuition with this piece.  In fact, my instinct is to play this waltz with more rubato than most other Chopin waltzes.  What do you all think?

[birba]

a tempo that's "just right".. not too slow, not too fast.

[skibickay]

That sounds good, but what about rubato?  Fair game?

[birba]

I think rubato, if justified, if it serves a purpose, is de rigueur in chopin.

[j_menz]

There's also a theory that tempo giusto relates to the beat of the heart, so at the tempo of a heartbeat.  That would allow for some rubato, and indeed some variation with emotional impact.

[chopin2015]

From a skeptical point of view, i say keep the beat...do not get behind or ahead of the tempo pulse. Especually where the pulse is most important.

[lateromantic]

I worked up an informal performance of that piece just recently, and have to confess I was a bit puzzled by the phrase.  I cannot conceive of playing it with no rubato.  Perhaps the composer only intended the term in a relative sense--relative to the performance practice of his time, when rubatos could be pretty exaggerated by today's standards?

[birba]

Tempo giusto has nothing to do with rubato.  The basic pulse is a tempo giusto.  Not too slow, not too fast, just right.  And within that basic pulse, of course there's rubato.

[skibickay]

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments.  The discussion has been helpful and I feel more confident about my approach to the piece.  By the way, I just love Chopin.  To me his music  is unique in that it exudes clarity and beauty, yet is intensely melancholy at the same time.  He suffered chronically from tuberculosis which I'm sure influenced his work.