Rafal Blechacz

[rodney_h_d]

I only heard his Chopin and for me it was another pianist in too much of a hurry! Come in Peter Katin!

[rauschwerk]

I lost patience when I heard him absurdly accelerate the tempo (it at least doubled) for the last six chords of the B minor Scherzo. It completely ruined the ending fro me, and I cannot see in the score what his justification was.

[ahinton]

I lost patience when I heard him absurdly accelerate the tempo (it at least doubled) for the last six chords of the B minor Scherzo. It completely ruined the ending fro me, and I cannot see in the score what his justification was.

That's because there isn't one - not in any edition, as far as I am aware. I didn't hear this, but it sounds a most awful thing to do. The codas to this and the C# minor scherzo are indeed impetuous and powerful, but every time there is the slightest departure from an absolutely consistent metronomic approach, their very impetuosity and power is gravely undermined, as is their relentless drive. I think that the closing bars of the B minor scherzo are the closest that Chopin ever came to violence of expression - a violence made all the more potent by the sheer violence of contrast between the work's outer sections and its central lullaby; the peremptory wrenching of that lullaby from its calm and tender moorings by the sudden interjection of the opening chords of the work makes for a most remarkable transition. It's also curious that the famous repeated dissonant chord near the end, with its Gs and E#s searing against the pedal F#s, is repeated once again much later on, untransposed (other than at the octave) just before the central section of Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie, where its dissonance has an entirely different effect and outcome.

[Peter Katin]

I only heard his Chopin and for me it was another pianist in too much of a hurry! Come in Peter Katin!

Well, I heard it all and most of it was like punishment. It all sounded to me very rough-and-ready and the Chopin was certainly impatient and badly thought out. Probably the best of the Chopin group was the final Polonaise - at least it sounded like he'd practised it! But it was all so restless and uninvolved, and where was that famous technique?!

[ahinton]

Well, I heard it all and most of it was like punishment. It all sounded to me very rough-and-ready and the Chopin was certainly impatient and badly thought out. Probably the best of the Chopin group was the final Polonaise - at least it sounded like he'd practised it!

I've now heard it; sadly, I am bound to agree with you. Rough-and-ready and ill thought out "interpretations" seem particularly inappropriate in the case of a composer as fastidious as Chopin whose sketches sometimes way exceeded the finished product in terms of sheer quantity and who was notorious for continuing to make the tiniest tweaks and corrections as works went to publication.I sometimes wonder if the extent of Chopin's exposure over the years - however understandable - has led to aspects of his work being taken too much for granted.

where was that famous technique?!

Left it at home, perhaps. In any case, I remember Ronald Smith telling me that there's no such thing as "technique", only "techniques" and very many of them; he added that, when people wax lyrical about this or that pianist's "technique", he often urged them to spend some time listening to John Ogdon...

[amateur51]

I remember Ronald Smith telling me that there's no such thing as "technique", only "techniques" and very many of them; he added that, when people wax lyrical about this or that pianist's "technique", he often urged them to spend some time listening to John Ogdon...

What a wonderful performer and teacher Ronald Smith was. I recall attending a class of his on Alkan at Guildhall and his enthusiasm and generosity was so infectious. Do they make 'em like that any more? I do hope so.

[ahinton]

What a wonderful performer and teacher Ronald Smith was. I recall attending a class of his on Alkan at Guildhall and his enthusiasm and generosity was so infectious. Do they make 'em like that any more? I do hope so.

He was indeed a wonderful performer and I have never heard other than favourable comment about his work as teacher (and, heaven knows, he did an enormous amount of that!); I was not a student of his (I am not a pianist), but his profound commitment to teaching was as well known as his generosity in that capacity.

[Keybawd]

A horrible recital. I switched off halfway through.