Is there a 'right time' to perform certain works?

[Thropplenoggin]

I got to thinking about this with the release of wunderkind Jan Lisiecki's disc of Chopin Études. He is 18. Should a player record such bravura works at the height of their powers, with all the ebullience and accuracy of youth, or wait until they have more maturity? Some rate Pollini's youthful account of these études (Testament) more than his later one on DG. He, too, was 18 in that first account. Yet wait too long and accuracy will diminish. Igor Levit (26), talking about his new disc of Late Beethoven Sonatas (which I rate, BTW), says that these are meant for younger pianists because of the physical demands they make on the performer.

Is it irrational to think that an older performer is somehow wiser and transmitting more than just the notes to a recording? Why do I feel a Solomon or a Gilels carries more 'authority' somehow in Beethoven?

Your thoughts, please.

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In response to Don Petter's suggestion, I think 'recording' makes more sense than 'perform' here. Perhaps the thread title can be amended.

[Don Petter]

Might there not also be a difference between perform and record in this context?

[Thropplenoggin]

Might there not also be a difference between perform and record in this context?

Well spotted. Perhaps a kindly Moderator might change that for me.

[Don Petter]

Well spotted. Perhaps a kindly Moderator might change that for me.

I wasn't trying to correct you in any sense. I think both could/should be discussed.

Perhaps with a performer having played a work in concert for a while there's sometimes then a point where he feels that it has been shaped sufficiently to be committed permanently, though not to preclude later thoughts and recordings in due course.

(There may be other, commercial, factors clouding the issue, as well!)

[Thropplenoggin]

I wasn't trying to correct you in any sense. I think both could/should be discussed.

Perhaps with a performer having played a work in concert for a while there's sometimes then a point where he feels that it has been shaped sufficiently to be committed permanently, though not to preclude later thoughts and recordings in due course.

(There may be other, commercial, factors clouding the issue, as well!)

Thanks, Don. What I initially had in mind, though, was records - hence the specific reference to Pollini's Testament/DG releases, Lisiecki's new DG release, and Levit's latest disc. You were right to point out the misleading title.

[Don Petter]

Thanks, Don. What I initially had in mind, though, was records - hence the specific reference to Pollini's Testament/DG releses, Lisiecki's new DG release, and Levit's latest disc. You were right to point out the misleading title.

Fair enough - And much the easier to discuss!

[Sir Velo]

One never knows when the grim reaper is going to sharpen his scythe so my advice would be to cut it (in every sense) while you can. Particularly, in bravura repertoire like the Chopin Etudes, it's a young man's (and woman's) game and the level of daredevil excitement which youthful fingers can bring more than outweighs compensatory benefits of experience, IMO. Which is not to say that elder statesmen/women of the keyboard cannot bring insights into this or other less pianistically demanding repertoire.

Notwithstanding, my critical antenna are always sharpened when I hear critics apply adjectives like "thoughtful" or "considered" to interpretations by older pianists, particularly in works like Schumann's 2nd piano sonata. For example, I have some recordings of Schumann made by the octogenarian, Wilhelm Kempff. Magisterial in the autumnal Waldszenen but his Florestan comes across as an arthriticky old gentlemen in Carnaval. So swings and roundabouts.

[ahinton]

I got to thinking about this with the release of wunderkind Jan Lisiecki's disc of Chopin Études. He is 18. Should a player record such bravura works at the height of their powers, with all the ebullience and accuracy of youth, or wait until they have more maturity? Some rate Pollini's youthful account of these études (Testament) more than his later one on DG. He, too, was 18 in that first account. Yet wait too long and accuracy will diminish. Igor Levit (26), talking about his new disc of Late Beethoven Sonatas (which I rate, BTW), says that these are meant for younger pianists because of the physical demands they make on the performer.

Is it irrational to think that an older performer is somehow wiser and transmitting more than just the notes to a recording? Why do I feel a Solomon or a Gilels carries more 'authority' somehow in Beethoven?

Your thoughts, please.

--

In response to Don Petter's suggestion, I think 'recording' makes more sense than 'perform' here. Perhaps the thread title can be amended.

I don't think that it's practically possible to "set" any "right time" to perform anything, really but, since you mention Chopin's Études, it might be worth bearing in mind that the Op. 10 set were begun when the composer was only 19 and completed by the time he reached 22 and the Op. 25 set as completed by the time he was aged 26.