Latest / The Piano Maven with Jed Distler / Six Chopin Nocturne Cycles (rebroadcast)

Transcript

Six Chopin Nocturne Cycles (rebroadcast) · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

• 0:09
  Hello, everyone. This is Jed Disler, and I welcome
• 0:13
  you to The Piano Maven, your friendly podcast
• 0:17
  guide to piano recordings. I've been really touched
• 0:20
  and honored. that so many of you have been writing
• 0:24
  to me with your comments and feedback when I
• 0:28
  post episodes, which one can download, stream
• 0:31
  or subscribe to on most major podcast platforms
• 0:36
  from Apple and Spotify to YouTube. Actually,
• 0:40
  the comments I've received largely have come
• 0:43
  from YouTube viewers and subscribers. I had a
• 0:47
  request from several people to do a survey of
• 0:51
  recorded cycles devoted to the Chopin nocturnes.
• 0:55
  And I honestly hadn't thought about doing that
• 0:59
  just now because we recently had an episode where
• 1:03
  I discussed various recorded cycles devoted to
• 1:07
  the Chopin etudes. I didn't want to tilt the
• 1:10
  scales too much toward Chopin. I'm trying to
• 1:14
  cover a lot of bases on this podcast, if you
• 1:17
  know what I mean. However, you can't deny that
• 1:20
  Chopin is the center of the piano world's universe,
• 1:25
  pretty much. And I wish I could remember exactly
• 1:29
  that quote of Arthur Rubinstein. He said something
• 1:34
  to the effect of... When the first notes of Chopin
• 1:37
  sound through the concert hall, there is a happy
• 1:42
  sigh of recognition. The piano sounds more natural.
• 1:46
  The public listens more naturally. The quote
• 1:50
  was something like that. I don't know. Maybe
• 1:51
  I'm putting words into Rubinstein's mouth. If
• 1:55
  you know that exact quote, please let me know
• 1:58
  in your comments. Anyway, I'm very happy to honor
• 2:02
  your request to talk about the Chopin nocturnes.
• 2:06
  I'm not going to talk about every Chopin nocturne
• 2:09
  cycle ever made. That would be totally insane.
• 2:12
  Well, maybe it wouldn't be insane for a piano
• 2:16
  maven like you and I. I think it might be better
• 2:20
  if we limit this discussion to a handful. Let's
• 2:24
  say I'm going to take six different Chopin Nocturne
• 2:28
  cycles. I've chosen the ones I'm going to talk
• 2:32
  about on account of their diversity in playing
• 2:35
  style, their diversity of interpretive conceptions,
• 2:40
  and also that they represent several generations
• 2:43
  of pianists. By the way, I'm going to save Arthur
• 2:48
  Rubinstein's three Chopin Nocturne cycles for
• 2:51
  a separate episode, simply because I've already
• 2:55
  devoted an episode to Rubinstein's three Chopin
• 2:58
  Mazurka cycles, and I think it's only fair to
• 3:01
  make room for some other pianists. I'd like to
• 3:04
  begin with one of the more interesting Chopin
• 3:08
  Nocturne cycles from the mono -LP era. This one
• 3:12
  features the Polish pianist Jan Smeterlin. It
• 3:17
  was recorded for Philips in 1954. And 40 years
• 3:22
  later, it came out on CD as part of the Philips
• 3:26
  short -lived The Early Years reissue series.
• 3:31
  Its most recent compact disc incarnation comes
• 3:35
  from Australian eloquence, thanks to that label's
• 3:39
  visionary reissue producer, Cyrus Mayer Homji.
• 3:42
  And he has resurrected so many valuable recordings
• 3:46
  languishing in the vaults. But I've kept the
• 3:49
  early years reissue because it has excellent
• 3:52
  booklet notes by James Methuen Campbell, who
• 3:56
  talks about... how Smeterlin tended to go his
• 4:00
  own way with Chopin's markings, often reversing
• 4:05
  the dynamics and alternating articulations. In
• 4:09
  general, Smeterlin takes fast tempos. He's not...
• 4:13
  an expansive or dreamy nocturne player by any
• 4:17
  means. And sometimes he can be a little too brisk
• 4:21
  for comfort, such as in the A -flat nocturne,
• 4:24
  op. 32, no. 2, where the middle section just
• 4:28
  whizzes by on a motorcycle, in this recording
• 4:32
  at least. Also, the pianist just speeds through
• 4:36
  the E minor Op. 72 No. 1 Nocturne's climaxes.
• 4:41
  It's a little bit disconcerting to my ears. But
• 4:45
  I can forgive these occasional transgressions
• 4:49
  because the genius behind Smetterlin's Nocturnes,
• 4:54
  and I use the word genius very carefully here,
• 4:57
  but I really mean it. is in how he projects melodies.
• 5:01
  It's really kind of remarkable how he does this.
• 5:04
  Now, I'm going to quote from my review of this
• 5:09
  recording for Classicstoday .com because I really
• 5:13
  can't describe Smetterlin's melodic projection
• 5:16
  any better than this. I wrote that... Phrases
• 5:21
  transpire in conversational fashion, oblivious
• 5:25
  to bar lines, with nearly every accent and dynamic
• 5:29
  inflection falling in an unexpected yet logical
• 5:32
  place. Each selection bears this characteristic
• 5:37
  out. Memorable examples include Op. 15 No. 3's
• 5:42
  magically voiced central chorale -like episode,
• 5:46
  The freedom from sentimentality he brings to
• 5:49
  the Op. 9 No. 2 E -flat Nocturne, Op. 37 No.
• 5:54
  2's delicately honed double notes, and the rarefied
• 5:59
  textural layering he achieves in Op. 48 No. 2's
• 6:04
  final pages. Somehow, quoting from my review,
• 6:09
  As I'm speaking those words, I think they look
• 6:13
  better on page than they sound spoken out loud.
• 6:17
  Anyway, the point is, is that I come back to
• 6:21
  Jan Smetterlin's Chopin Nocturnes pretty often.
• 6:24
  And every time I listen, I always find something
• 6:27
  new to savor. Now, the Sonics are a little bit
• 6:30
  boxy, even by 1954 mono standards, but Smitterland's
• 6:36
  tonal shadings definitely come across. However,
• 6:39
  if you want to have similar conceptions, but
• 6:43
  in the hands of a more modern -day Chopin stylist
• 6:46
  and in up -to -date digital engineering, I would
• 6:52
  recommend that you check out Nelson Freire's
• 6:54
  Chopin Nocturne's cycle on Decca. Next, I want
• 7:00
  to talk about a Chopin Nocturne cycle that has
• 7:03
  always seemed to fall between the cracks. It
• 7:06
  was released in 1960, I think, originally on
• 7:11
  the EMI label, and it features the pianist Maura
• 7:14
  Limpany. My late friend Harris Goldsmith, who
• 7:19
  was a great critic and an excellent pianist,
• 7:22
  reviewed this cycle when it first came out. He
• 7:25
  reviewed it for High Fidelity magazine. and he
• 7:28
  really did not care for it. I've always admired
• 7:32
  this cycle. Like Jan Smetterlin, Maura Limpany
• 7:36
  always leaned toward faster tempos generally,
• 7:41
  but she adhered more to Chopin's markings as
• 7:45
  far as tempo modifications were concerned. Like
• 7:48
  if you compare how she times the A -flat nocturne
• 7:53
  opus. 32 No. 2's middle section to Smeterlin
• 7:59
  kind of rushing through it. You'll hear how Limpany
• 8:03
  captures much more the music's almost balletic
• 8:07
  subtext. In fact, this Nocturne is featured in
• 8:11
  the Ballet Les Sulfides, which is the ballet
• 8:14
  based on Chopin piano pieces. I also... want
• 8:19
  to mention more Olympiany's drop -dead gorgeous
• 8:22
  Chains of Trills and the B major Op. 62 No. 1
• 8:27
  Nocturne. Now, some of her performances, I have
• 8:31
  to admit, are a little glib and smoothed over,
• 8:34
  but I do enjoy this cycle, and I'm happy to pull
• 8:38
  it down from my shelf every now and then. It
• 8:41
  was reissued by Dutton on CD many years ago.
• 8:46
  and you might possibly be able to find that through
• 8:50
  second -hand dealers. Oh yeah, it was also reissued
• 8:54
  on the Regis label, coupled with more Olympian
• 8:58
  Chopin preludes. That might be easier to source.
• 9:01
  However, there was a vinyl reissue on the Classics
• 9:06
  for Pleasure label that contained 10 of the Nocturnes,
• 9:09
  and you can grab this release for free. by going
• 9:15
  to the amazing Internet Archive website, and
• 9:19
  I've posted a link in my episode notes, so you
• 9:23
  at least can sample some of the cycle. However,
• 9:27
  when we look at the Chopin Nocturne cycles from
• 9:30
  the 1960s, there's one version that continues
• 9:34
  to stand out above the others, and that is the
• 9:38
  cycle by the great Czech pianist Ivan Moravec.
• 9:43
  It was originally issued on LP in the United
• 9:46
  States on Connoisseur Society. Nonsuch reissued
• 9:51
  it on CD back in 1991. And then in 2015, the
• 9:57
  Superfun label brought out a remastered version
• 10:00
  that... probably as the best sound overall. There
• 10:04
  was a little less tapis than on Nonsuch, and
• 10:07
  the piano's upper register is slightly brighter
• 10:11
  and more defined. But honestly, the differences
• 10:15
  between Nonsuch and Superfon are so minimal that
• 10:19
  if you already have the Nonsuch edition, you
• 10:22
  don't have to upgrade it. But what's... More
• 10:26
  important is how Ivan Moravec approaches these
• 10:30
  works and the way he manages to be both refined
• 10:33
  and purposeful at the same time. Let's use that
• 10:38
  B major opus 32, number one, Nocturne, again,
• 10:43
  as an example. Now, Moravec is far more dramatic
• 10:47
  than Smeterlin or Limpany. Think of those intense,
• 10:52
  almost heart -stopping strettos, those dynamic
• 10:57
  build -ups that lead into pauses in the melodic
• 11:00
  line. It's a performance that's dramatic without
• 11:04
  being vulgar or obvious. Oh, and by the way,
• 11:08
  the last chord... of this B major Nocturne is
• 11:12
  a B minor chord in the Urtext edition. Yet Moravetz
• 11:17
  plays B major instead of B minor, and so did
• 11:21
  Arthur Rubinstein, incidentally. I think it's
• 11:24
  a perverse textual decision in any case. But
• 11:28
  check out how Moravetz plays the popular F sharp
• 11:32
  major Nocturne, Op. 15 No. 2. In the central
• 11:36
  section, most... pianists emphasize the right
• 11:40
  hand. elaboration to the expense of the left
• 11:44
  hand, whereas Moravec brings the bass lines to
• 11:48
  the fore. I think all of his interpretations
• 11:51
  are intrinsically contrasted, where every note
• 11:55
  counts for something. I should also mention that
• 11:59
  Moravec plays the 19 so -called standard nocturnes,
• 12:03
  but he leaves out the posthumously published
• 12:06
  C -sharp minor nocturne, which is a youthful
• 12:09
  composition that I don't find that interesting.
• 12:13
  Yet so many younger pianists seem to think that
• 12:17
  this is the perfect encore, and it pops up all
• 12:21
  the time in concerts. I have no idea why. And
• 12:24
  the set also does not include that posthumously
• 12:28
  published Nocturne in C minor. But Claudio Arrau's
• 12:33
  Nocturne cycle contains all of the pieces in
• 12:37
  this genre of Chopin. This cycle was recorded
• 12:41
  for Philips in 1978 in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw,
• 12:46
  and the sonics capture Arau's rich and burnished
• 12:51
  sonority in full splendor, which I think is helped
• 12:55
  by the Concertgebouw's wonderful acoustics. Arau
• 13:00
  always considered the nocturnes to be Chopin's
• 13:03
  most profound works. And he constantly probes
• 13:09
  between the lines. His rubato is born out of
• 13:13
  bel canto traditions in terms of how he influx
• 13:17
  phrases and how he resolves cadences. And the
• 13:21
  effect is very much akin to how Maria Callas
• 13:25
  approached the big arias in Bellini and Donizetti
• 13:30
  operas. I vaguely remember that Harris Goldsmith,
• 13:35
  described Arthur Rubinstein's stereo recordings
• 13:38
  of the nocturnes as complacent and kind of Mendelssohnian.
• 13:43
  I don't completely agree with that sentiment,
• 13:46
  by the way. Yet there is not a complacent bone
• 13:50
  in the body of Claudio Rau's Chopin nocturnes.
• 13:54
  He's not out to please you or comfort you. If
• 13:59
  Ivan Moravec took the nocturnes from the salon
• 14:03
  onto the concert stage, then I would say that
• 14:06
  Claudio Arau takes the nocturnes from the concert
• 14:10
  stage and puts them into the opera house. Now,
• 14:14
  maybe you don't want an imposing operatic diva
• 14:18
  in the Chopin Nocturnes of the Maria Callas or
• 14:21
  even Jesse Norman class. Maybe you'd prefer the
• 14:25
  warmth or the lyrical intimacy of a great leader
• 14:28
  singer like Janet Baker or Elie Ameling. And
• 14:33
  if that's what you prefer, then I can recommend
• 14:35
  the Chopin Nocturne cycle by the Brazilian pianist
• 14:39
  Nelson Gurner. I reviewed his Chopin Nocturne
• 14:43
  cycle on the Alpha label for Classicstoday .com
• 14:47
  years ago, but I hadn't listened to it since
• 14:50
  then. And I just reconnected with it, and I really
• 14:54
  like it more and more. His phrasings and accentuations
• 14:59
  always move over the bar lines, and the rolling
• 15:03
  left -hand accompaniments always have vibrancy
• 15:07
  and shape. Now, you may not get the darkness
• 15:10
  and tragic undertones that others bring to the
• 15:14
  C -sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 Nocturne's outer
• 15:19
  sections, or to that tumultuous central octave
• 15:23
  passage at the climax of the C minor Nocturne,
• 15:27
  Op. 48 No. 1. But that's, you know, a tiny quibble.
• 15:33
  There's another, more recent Chopin Nocturne
• 15:36
  cycle. also on alpha, that comes from Bruno Riguto,
• 15:40
  and I hope I will have the opportunity to discuss
• 15:45
  that release in a later podcast, especially because
• 15:48
  Riguto recorded the nocturnes earlier for EMI,
• 15:52
  and it might be fun to compare his two cycles.
• 15:56
  However, one of the most recent Chopin nocturne
• 16:01
  cycles I've heard is unambiguously reference
• 16:06
  worthy. And this cycle comes from pianist Stephen
• 16:10
  Hough. It's on the Hyperion label. And just everything
• 16:14
  about his playing seems ideal. Stephen Hough
• 16:18
  applies rubato with the utmost discretion, taste,
• 16:22
  and proportion. And he underlines Chopin's harmonic
• 16:27
  felicities. by way of the most subtle shifts
• 16:31
  in tone color and chord balances. And the way
• 16:35
  that he floats cantabile legato lines often gives
• 16:40
  the illusion that he's using more sustained pedal
• 16:43
  than he's actually employing. This is finger
• 16:47
  legato technique at its most rarefied and masterful.
• 16:52
  And I've seldom heard the double notes and the
• 16:55
  G major nocturne, the opus 37, number 2, sound
• 17:00
  so effortless and feathery, for lack of a better
• 17:03
  word. In my review of this cycle for Classicstoday
• 17:09
  .com, I wrote the Stephen Hough. struck a perfect
• 17:14
  balance between intelligence and instinct, and
• 17:17
  that he projected plenty of imagination without
• 17:20
  spilling over ever into contrivance. And there
• 17:25
  are bonus tracks, too. In addition to The 21
• 17:29
  Nocturnes, Stephen Hough presents a piece in
• 17:32
  C -sharp minor of anonymous authorship published
• 17:36
  in Russia under Chopin's name. And then he gives
• 17:40
  an additional performance of the E -flat Op.
• 17:43
  9 No. 2 that incorporates authentic ornamented
• 17:48
  textual variants. And Angela Hewitt also played
• 17:53
  these variants in her Hyperion recording, incidentally.
• 17:57
  And I'm sure that hardcore piano geeks know about,
• 18:02
  or maybe you've even heard, that old 78 with
• 18:07
  Raoul Koshalsky playing this Nocturne with. authentic
• 18:11
  variance, or as my late record collector friend
• 18:15
  Phil Stern used to say, he plays authentic variance.
• 18:20
  So there we have it, six diverse, yet I think
• 18:25
  equally compelling Chopin Nocturne cycles for
• 18:29
  your consideration. The pianists... are Jan Smetterlin,
• 18:33
  Maura Limpany, Ivan Moravec, Claudio Aral, Nelson
• 18:38
  Gurner, and Stephen Hough. This is Jed Disler.
• 18:43
  Anne, I thank you for checking out The Piano
• 18:46
  Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
• 18:50
  Please let your piano -loving friends, colleagues,
• 18:54
  and family members know about this podcast. And
• 18:58
  I look forward to you and I being together next
• 19:01
  time for the next episode. Until then, be well
• 19:05
  and stay safe.