[vid] Chopin Etude op 25 No 11 “Winter Wind”

[furiouzpianist]

Very happy to share my recent recording of the Chopin Etude No. 23 in a minor, Op. 25 No. 11 "Winter Wind"

[ted]

Very enjoyable Michael. I got a lot out of this because I do actually play it, albeit sloppily, and I can learn quite a bit from your wonderful rendition. Aesthetically, the skeletons win the game in this piece and its mood can be quite frightening. I like the delicious harmonic changes in the middle section and those two chords just before the final cataclysm are magnificent, like a boulder poised on a clifftop before the descent. I like to linger on those for dramatic effect, but I'm probably wrong as I know little about the classical tradition. The title is really silly as there is much more at stake than the weather, or so it seems to me.

I think you are right not to belt through it at a uniform, heavy ninety miles an hour as many famous players do. There are many moments of supreme poetry in it, even for a hack like me.

[quantum]

You took a poetic approach to this piece, and it is a wonderful result.  There is beautiful shaping of the melodies, all the while maintaining the intensity of the rapid passage work.  I sense the juxtaposition of sweet melody with ferocious storm. 

[goldentone]

The artistry in your rendition is most original, Michael.  You maintain technical control over the piece, employing at times a distinguished sfumato-like effect, softening part beneath part.  I hope listeners appreciate the delicacy you achieve in the left hand ascent starting at 3:27.  From this point you give it a great finish.

I look forward to hearing more of your recent posts.

[furiouzpianist]

This Etude took me a surprising amount of effort to learn and maintain, each position gets progressively more difficult, and as it is often the case in Chopin, the rhythmic layout often goes against the shifts in position

Requires a certain amount of concentration to play it “live”.

Perhaps when I get a few more months of performing experience with it under my belt, I could play it securely at my top speed - which is quite a bit faster than this.

[furiouzpianist]

You took a poetic approach to this piece, and it is a wonderful result.  There is beautiful shaping of the melodies, all the while maintaining the intensity of the rapid passage work.  I sense the juxtaposition of sweet melody with ferocious storm.

I’m so happy that you found it lyrical enough! 

[furtwaengler]

On the very first note I was struck by how well the overtones come through on that instrument. I gad already read the other comments a day or so ago before finally listening tonight, so I already know you want to speed it up and all, but this as it is you can be proud of because you are very much in control of yourself and are able to present this poetically with precision, fine detail, and balanced structural suspense, If we are to take this as descriptive of a storm, we are describing something on a massive scale, far more powerful than us, beyond out control...an indiscriminate engine with no feelings or emotions sweeping its path until it fades. But our reaction is to take cover, to cower, or to look on in wonder as it is just a glimpse of the fringes of the almighty who towers above it (Psalm 29 as a picture). If Chopin is successful in conveying this thought, the performer most have as their baseline every bit of control over self, the instrument and the piece as you display.

Again like the ballade there is much to learn from your restraint, such as using the resonance of an added bass octave as subtle gesture to enhance color rather than to pound it out with indulgent fury. It reminds me rather of the taking away of the final hammer blow in Mahler’s 6th Symphony, knocking the fatal blow with a whisper.

I’ll tell you what you are achieving. The performer has successfully taken himself out of the picture so the picture can be be more clearly seen, amplified, felt, known. Thanks for letting us share in your work.

[furiouzpianist]

I already know you want to speed it up and all, but this as it is you can be proud of because you are very much in control of yourself and are able to present this poetically with precision, fine detail, and balanced structural suspense,

I have struggled for a proper choice of tempo in this piece.... there are some that rip through it faster than me.
I found that when I take a faster tempo than that, I start losing poser in the left hand, and end up with a tempo which fluctuates based on the density of the textures - which can be justified, but less than ideal.

I've also found that certain liberties - when taken in a live performance, create a wonderful effect but are not subject to as much scrutiny as a studio recording....

at any rate, I think that in the future, I could possibly do a remake of this at a SLIGHTLY faster pace, and hopefully don't lose any of the rhythmic stability and contrast.

I have to say - playing even one Chopin Etude and achieving some kind a complete artistic performance of it, is a TON of a work, for a sub-4 minute piece!

thanks for listening!
more to come 

[furiouzpianist]

such as using the resonance of an added bass octave as subtle gesture to enhance color rather than to pound it out with indulgent fury.

yes, much like the powerful bass notes in some of the piano writing of Brahms, never overtly percussive but enhancing everything on top of them.

such a tricky composer.
I stayed away from Chopin's works precisely because I always knew that his soundworld is unlike anything else written for the piano.