louis lortie plays chopin

[Tash]

i went to see louis lortie playing chopin the other night, and it was quite good, except for the fact that he looked like chopin was the most emotionally painful thing to play- like it seriously looked like the barcarolle was just ripping him to pieces inside. and this bugged me, because i absolutely love the barcarolle, except i don't hear it as it being sad or painful in any way. so once again a concert pianist's facial expression got in my way. like seriously if i wanted to see some acting i'd go to the theatre. sure you know, piano is about expressing emotions, but i believe that it is the pianists job also not to interfere with the audience's interpretation of what they're hearing. i made this point in a series of artworks i produced for school, in how the the pianist attempts to convey what they want through the piece, and then the audience finishes their mental image of it themselves- in painting this, i avoided painting detailed faces so as not to distract the viewer from what i wanted the picture to be expressingm because if you mess the face up then the viewer isn't going to get your intentions anyway.
and so i go with this when watching pianists perform. i find that their facial expressions are obviously going with what they're feeling in that part of the piece, except if he/she's not successfully conveying that in the music, then it is a bit of a disappointment for the audience. maybe it's just me, cos i like to remain poker-faced sometimes in order to not give away my thoughts, but i think that musicians should move on from making bizarre facial expressions just to show the audience how connected with the music they are- if you are truely feeling anything then you should be capable of producing it through the notes and not your face.
i know we've discussed this topic at least once, but i want to know what others think of louis lortie's playing- i thought he could work on his tone a bit more, however the steinway was sounding a bit brassy (which was a surprise) so maybe that affected him?

[Alde]

what was on the program?

[steinwayguy]

so once again a concert pianist's facial expression got in my way. like seriously if i wanted to see some acting i'd go to the theatre. sure you know, piano is about expressing emotions, but i believe that it is the pianists job also not to interfere with the audience's interpretation of what they're hearing.

Close your eyes?

[Siberian Husky]

Although i agree with your perspective on the entire situation. I can also identify with the pianist whom performed whilste expressing himself in ways that may make some people uncomfortable. I believe sometimes emotions like this seep out unintentionally and at times the pianist may not realize he/she is being so expressive. But i do agree with you when you say the pianist should refrain from intercepting the interpretations of others. Im not easily influenced as i could be smiling during a funeral march if you know what i mean. I rather enjoy seeing a pianists' expression while playing, but excessive unnecessary "acting" just looks stupid.

[tds]

husky spoke normal english? what has the world turned into?

[Tash]

he played the barcarolle, scherzo no.4 op.54, polonaise-fantasie, nocturne op.62 no.1, sonata no.3 op.58, and encore i can't remember what the first one was and the 2nd was a waltz.
yeah i did close my eyes half the time, or looked somewhere else, but i'd rather not have to. but i'm not looking for a solution here i was just having a rant because i felt like venting...

[galonia]

Wow - tash, is it true it was standing room only that night?

I was going to go, but writing my thesis has got in the way of my life.  My teacher, though, heard the first half broadcast, and she was very impressed, and upset I didn't go to the recital.

[Alde]

Canadian pianist Louis Lortie will be performing all 24 Chopin Etudes plus the 3 posthumous Etudes at the University of Michigan in January.

[Tash]

standing room only? well i was sitting like 4 rows from the front and saw a few empty seats, so if it was overly crowded i was completely unaware! yeah his playing was good, i thought the scherzo was really nice and the nocturne too. and the barcarolle probably was too except i'm so used to hearing argerich play it i got annoyed when he didn't play the same way! d*mn interpretation!! hahaha