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Chopin's Barcarolle on Disc · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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you This is Jed Disler, and Happy New Year! Welcome
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to The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide
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to piano recordings. I want to invite you to
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subscribe to The Piano Maven through my Substack
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page, and I've provided a link to do so in our
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episode description. Subscribers get a free download
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at the start of each month, and usually I give
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you a rare piano item from my vast collection
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of recordings. So, I thank you in advance for
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subscribing. So today is Monday, January 5th,
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and it's actually the birthday of three famous
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pianists, Alfred Brendel, Maurizio Pollini, and
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Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. I thought I should
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just acknowledge that triumvirate of piano players,
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but today's episode is all about the Chopin Barcarolle,
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and this is a topic I've been putting off for
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some time. do an episode about the Barcarolle
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while I was in the middle of the Chopin competition
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in Warsaw this past October. And when I was in
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Warsaw, of course, I was talking to so many pianists
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and piano lovers, and they were asking me to
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recommend recordings. And when it came to the
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Barcarolle, people were always asking me, oh,
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what's your favorite recording of the Barcarolle?
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What one do you recommend? I think if you've
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known me for some time, and if you followed Ben
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Laude's Chopin podcast last year, and if you've
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read my writings, you probably know what my favorite
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Barcarolle is, and you can answer that question.
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But I will be talking about notable recordings
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of the Barcarolle in a little bit. But first,
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I want to put the piece in a kind of context.
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In Chopin's time, barcarolles basically were
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lilting operatic gondolier songs that would sometimes
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materialize in the popular piano pieces of the
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day. You know, you'd get this innocuous salon
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piece that you could sight -read at home called
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the barcarolle at night or the barcarolle, you
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know, whatever. In the case of Chopin, he actually
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got bitten by the barcarolle bug rather early
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in his composing career. There's an early piece
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of his called the Souvenir di Paganini. Later,
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the Nocturne in G major, Op. 37, No. 2, you know,
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Forgive my beautiful singing there. This actually
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is a bonafide Barcarolle, and I actually consider
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this Nocturne to be a kind of prototype for the
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actual Barcarolle Op. 60 that we're going to
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be talking about. In the Chopin Barcarolle Op.
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60, his feeling for this genre would completely
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blossom, full flower. You have a gorgeous right
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-hand cantilena that is sung out in thirds and
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sixths. This theme dominates in the Barquerel's
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outer sections, and it's steadily supported by
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a lilting left -hand ostinato, which is prevailing
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throughout the piece. Now, in the central episode
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of the Barquerel, that... ostinato in the left
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hand starts to give way to shorter and more insistent
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phrases as the right hand charts much more exploratory
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waters and then Chopin thickens the textures
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to prepare for a really triumphant recapitulation
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of the theme that really uses the whole keyboard.
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And it leads to a big final peroration that is
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followed by this absolutely sublime coda that's
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packed with... dazzling polyphony and really
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extraordinary harmonic invention, along with
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these shimmering figurations and pedal effects
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that definitely foreshadow Debussy and Ravel.
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You know, Chopin always knew how to write great
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codas. Think about the coda of the fourth ballade
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that's jam -packed with crazy counterpoint, or
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that virtuosic first ballade coda, or, you know,
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the big build -up. at the end of the Polonaise
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Fantasy, or how Chopin ends the B minor sonata
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in quite a blaze of glory. Well, I think the
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coda of the Barcarolle probably encompasses the
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best music that Chopin ever wrote for piano.
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I mean, that's a very strong pronouncement, but
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I think it's certainly his best coda. But I may
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change my mind and say it's the fourth ballade.
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tomorrow maybe, but that Barcarolle coda really
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is a culmination of some extraordinarily inventive
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piano writing. Anyway, on to the recordings.
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Alfred Courtauld's 1933 recording of the Barcarolle
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still sounds really fresh almost 93 years after
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he recorded it in the Abbey Road studio in London.
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His Basic tempo is brisk, but it never feels
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hectic because of the impetuous and always organic
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sounding push and pull of his phrasing. And one
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characteristic of Alfred Courtauld that the pianist
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and writer Samuel Lipman so astutely pointed
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out in an essay. has to do with Cortot's strong
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projection of melodies and the wide dynamic trajectory
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with which he does so. And also, Cortot's rubatos
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never fall into generic... patterns that you
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can predict, like retards at the ends of each
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phrase. And sometimes he will elongate a note
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that you don't expect him to elongate, or he
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will linger mid -phrase for just a split second
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to let an inner voice register. Anyway... This
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1933 Alfred Courtauld Chopin Barcarolle is a
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classic, and he did remake the Barcarolle in
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the early 1950s, but it's less technically secure
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and assured. Benno Moiseevich had two Barcarolle
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recordings on 78s. One was unpublished. at the
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time, but it did turn up on CD many years later.
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And then there is his better known 1939 HMV 78.
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And I think in these interpretations, there's
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a little more surface elegance compared to Courtauld.
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Although surprisingly, Moiseevich... breaks his
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hands a lot and arpeggiates chords, maybe a little
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too much for my taste, and he pushes the central
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episode just a tad too much. But his coda is
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beautifully managed. I actually like the stereo
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version that Moisejevic recorded for EMI that
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came out on the Capitol label in the United States,
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and it also turned up... on the Phillips Great
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Recordings of the Century, I mean the Great Pianists
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of the Century series, which restored his 1958
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EMI Chopin disc, which is kind of hard to source
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now. And basically that stereo Barcarolle is
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a mellower performance overall, but it has gorgeous
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details. Of course, we cannot forget about Dini
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Lepati, and he recorded a fantastic barcarolle
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that he actually did not approve for release.
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It only came out after his death in 1950. I have
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no idea why he didn't approve of it, because
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it's a beautifully proportioned and elegant and
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eloquent barcarolle on every level. Also, we
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have from the late 1950s is a version that you
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might not expect to be on this list, but the
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German pianist Wilhelm Kempf. gave us a very
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sensitive and cultivated performance of the Barcarolle
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on his Decca Chopin recordings. And it doesn't
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have Courtauld's intensity, but he captures the
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lilt of the Barcarolle rhythm beautifully, and
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his balancing of lines and his awareness of how
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inner voices... move in and out of the texture
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really impresses me. He does push his technique
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to the limits in the CODIS climaxes, to be sure,
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but it's really no big deal. I think this is
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one of Kempf's most persuasive Chopin performances,
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and I would also put his Berceuse up there. I
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talked about that in a previous podcast episode.
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Another fine Barcarolle from another pianist
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who was not so well -known for playing Chopin
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was Walter Gieseking, and his version on 78s
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is really nice. It's a bit straight -laced compared
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to Courtauld or Moiseevich, but the beauty of
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tone and the colors and his subtle pedaling really
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does foreshadow the way that Gieseking played
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Debussy and Ravel, and he remade the Barcarolle
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on LP. Gieseking did in, I think, 1956, but that
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performance is really pallid compared to the
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version on 78s. I know that... A lot of piano
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mavens swear by the 1957 studio recording of
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the Barcarolle by Vladimir Horowitz. And I understand
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why, because this is a superb example of Horowitz's
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affettuoso style with tapered phrases and all
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kinds of ear -catching little local details.
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But I have to offer... a dissenting opinion i
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have never warmed to this performance i've always
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found the interpretation kind of contrived and
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lacking in continuity and kind of overdone i
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actually prefer Horowitz's live 1980 version
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that came out, I think, in 1982 on an LP called
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Horowitz on Tour. I don't remember which venue
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this 1980 version was taken from. It may have
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been edited from several different concerts.
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But here, I think Horowitz's affectations seem
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to have more continuity and flow, and there are
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wonderful details of voicing. But, and this is
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a very big but, in that upward chromatic chain
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of trills in the coda, Horowitz hits a very exposed
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wrong note. And it kind of hurts because it's
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a very important melodic note. kind of ruins
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the build -up, you know, the melodic build -up
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of the trills. And I'm kind of surprised that
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it got through, that this mistake was sanctioned,
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because there could have been an alternate take
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of that passage to splice in. Anyway, that's
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just one little fly in the ointment in a performance
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that otherwise I really like a lot. Finally,
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we're going to get into the 1960s. there's a
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gorgeously sculpted and often reflective rendition
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of the Barcarolle featuring Ivan Moravec. And
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he's one of the few pianists who really takes
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his time in the coda rather than pushing it.
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And the sheer control and the contouring of his
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trills I think adds up to a real masterclass.
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This is a very beautiful Barcarolle with Ivan
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Moravec. In a similar vein, I would put the 1985
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recording by Murray Pariah. It's a little less
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subjective than Ivan Moravec's, but you have
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a similar elegance and eloquence in terms of
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tone production. You have more assiduous transitions
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from one section to the next and wonderful contrapuntal
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clarity. Basically, Murray Pariah is a line guy
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to Ivan Moravec's being a chord guy. We're back
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to my line guy, chord guy obsession. But Christian
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Zimmerman's recording of The Bar Girl from 1988,
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I think, shows even more emotion than Murray
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Pariah in regard to... taking on a wider dynamic
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range, and there's a kind of controlled volatility
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that really holds my attention. And Zimmerman
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really takes his time in the opening measures,
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but once the main theme kicks in, he gets going.
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And also the central section really takes wing
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in this performance, and the phrases really move
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over the bar lines. Every now and then I get...
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a hint of pre -planning or micromanaging the
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dynamic hairpins. But, you know, that's being
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picky because Christian Zimmerman's Barker Roll
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is a very artistic and very original interpretation,
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I think. And it's grown on me more and more over
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the years, actually decades now. When I first
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heard Richard Good's recording of the Barker
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Roll on Nonsuch, at first, I was a little disturbed
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by his breaking of the hands in the introduction,
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but once the main theme kicked in, I was really
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taken by how he made interpretive points through
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tonal shading and voicing more than through tempo
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adjustments. and also through a really strong
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interaction between both right and left hands.
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And I actually hear more linear interplay from
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Richard Goode than in the Murray Pariah recording,
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believe it or not. And when Richard Goode uses
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rubato, it's very, very subtle. He's a classicist
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through and through. But I find his Chopin Barcarolle
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very idiomatic, and rehearing it... before I
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recorded this episode, I was impressed even more.
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It's grown on me very much in the way that Christian
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Zimmerman's Barcarolle has grown on me. And you
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wouldn't think of Richard Goode as a Chopin player
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primarily, but actually this Chopin recital disc
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that he did for Nonsuch, I think is one of this
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pianist's finest releases, in my opinion. And
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among recent recordings, I just adore Benjamin
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Grosvenor's Barker Roll. He has great sensitivity
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and... I really like his well -judged tempos
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and his transitions, and he really has an innate
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feeling for what this piece is about. It's absolutely
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first -class pianism and interpretation. And
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you can say the same thing about a recording
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that I'm not sure is on your radar, but I did
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mention it when I recorded my Chopin recommendations
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for Ben Laude's Chopin podcast last year. And
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this is a recording on the BIS label with the
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pianist Roland Pertinen. I've returned to this
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recording with pleasure numerous times. Also,
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I recommend that you try to find a live performance
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from the 2009 Van Cliburn competition with the
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American pianist Spencer Meyer. Now, I'm sure
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that there are lots of live competition performances
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of the Barcarolle out there on YouTube from tons
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of competitions. Let's not even talk about the
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Chopin competition. But I think Spencer Myers'
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2009 performance has great distinction, and I
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think you'll agree with me, and you can go to
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the link that I've included in my episode comments.
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However... And for my however choice, those of
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you who've followed this podcast, The Piano Maven,
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from the beginning, or who saw my recommendation
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on Ben Laude's podcast, you know where I'm going
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with this. My personal favorite Barcarolle of
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all time. is the performance that Arthur Rubinstein
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gave at the Moscow Conservatory October 1st,
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1964. This is available in both audio and video
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formats. It's a performance that's easily accessible,
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and what... I have said before about controlled
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freedom. This is a masterclass in how to set
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a mood, how to affect transitions, how to project
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melodies so that they sing out, so that they
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follow a logical arch with a beginning, a middle,
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and an end. What Rubinstein does in the coda
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is just not to be believed. He makes gradual
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ritardando so that all of the imitative passages
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in inner voices speak as well as sing. And in
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that final passage with the right -hand decorative
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filigree, Rubinstein gives such... beautiful
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shape and meaning to the left -hand melody. I
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mean, I can't really sing it, but it's just so
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touching, and I always cry when I see this part
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of the performance or I hear it. Now Rubenstein...
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has several excellent studio recordings of the
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Barcarolle that largely follow this. interpretive
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game plan, but not to the same kind of ardent
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and communicative and emotionally generous effect
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as his live Moscow performance. This is Jed Disler
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and you've been listening to The Piano Maven,
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your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
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Thanks so much for tuning in and I look forward
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to being with you for our next episode.