CHOPIN! 　　 　　 "Hats off, gentlemen— a genius!" 　　 Robert Schumann "Opus 2" Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 7 December 1831 　　 　　How right Schumann was with that prophetic statement! Chopin was a genius— a true original, creating a new approach to piano-playing that was both personal and innovative. He sounded like no one else but himself at the keyboard, and concentrated most of his energies on the instrument he knew and loved. 　　 　　Chopin explored the piano on his own terms. He never studied with a professor of the piano; the two men solely responsible for his early musical studies in Poland were a composer and a professor of violin. Kalkbrenner, the well known nineteenth- century piano virtuoso, offered to give Chopin lessons for three years to mold him into a “real” virtuoso, but the composer passed on the offer. This was a man who never received strict guidelines as to how to play the piano; he just followed his nose to wherever it might lead and managed to break all the existent rules with his unique approach to fingering, touch, texture, pedaling, harmony, and melody. 　　In Chopin’s music, poetry and virtuosity coexist in total harmony with each other. However, what Chopin personally lacked was the temperament of the true virtuoso. He was not comfortable playing for the masses in a huge concert venue but found his place in the more intimate salons of Parisian aristocracy where his small sound at the instrument could be better appreciated. He did not possess the performer’s persona and certainly bore no resemblance to his good friend Franz Liszt! 　　 　　"I am not fitted to give concerts- the public frightens me. I feel suffocated by its panting breath, paralyzed by its curious glance, mute before those unknown faces." Frederic Chopin 　　 　　Chopin and Liszt carried on a bit of a love-hate relationship with their friendship. Certainly Liszt had great respect and admiration for his friend’s genius, and Chopin’s influence is evident in much of Liszt’s lyrical piano writing. Chopin was not as generous. Perhaps he envied Liszt’s strength and natural ease and monumental technique at the keyboard and surely must have resented Liszt’s irresistible urge to improvise the occasional bravura cadenza in performance. Yet according to Chopin, no one could play his music better than Franz Liszt. 　　 　　"I write to you without knowing what my pen is scribbling because at this moment Liszt is playing my Etudes and putting honest thoughts out of my head. I should like to steal from him his way of interpreting my Etudes!" 　　 Frederic Chopin in a letter to Ferdinand Hiller 　　 　　As a performer of Chopin’s music, I appreciate the honesty of Chopin’s comment. Preparing this recording, I realized how Lisztian are his major compositions such as the B Minor Sonata and the Four Scherzi. What bravura and virtuosity within these masterworks and also what poetry! The Berceuse serves as a sorbet to cleanse the palette in between these major doses of romantic pianism. Yet within its sublime poetry this work also displays its own brand of magnificent virtuosity. 　　 　　What a privilege to perform these masterworks of the nineteenth century for you on a richly colored American Steinway concert grand. Even Chopin might have been tempted to trade in his Pleyel for this modern day wonder! 　　 　　SONATA No. 3, Op. 58 in B minor (1844) 　　A master of the miniature, Chopin also produced several large-scale piano compositions including two four-movement Sonatas: the famous “Funeral March” Sonata in Bb minor and also a later composition in B minor written five years prior to his death. Chopin relied more on variation than on development within this large structure. The motivic techniques of a Beethoven were not adopted as part of Chopin’s vocabulary. Chopin was a master of the variant— never repeated the same way twice and always meant to sound improvised. According to Chopin’s painter friend, Eugene Delacroix, Chopin was at his boldest when just improvising at the keyboard, and of course each time was different! 　　 　　The first movement Allegro maestoso cast in sonata form is a succession of contrasting themes, repeated but never truly developed. Chopin gives us plenty of beautiful material here contributing to its lengthy “kitchen-sink” character. For me the highlight of the entire movement is the second theme aria, sung and declaimed so touchingly from center stage. 　　The contrasting second-movement fleeting Scherzo marked molto vivace is written in three-part form with a chorale-like middle section. Each of these four movements sounds like they could have existed independently, and been separately placed elsewhere — it reminds me of a family that doesn’t seem to belong together even though they possess the same last name. 　　After a dramatic introduction, the Largo can be heard as an extended Nocturne- a beautiful soliloquy- a deep statement of beauty and purity. Calm is shattered by the virtuosic Lisztian Finale with its moto-perpetuo rhythms and uplifting energy. Chopin has conquered and emerges victorious! 　　 　　BERCEUSE, Op. 57 (1843-44) 　　This beautiful lullaby in Db, a favorite of the composer, consists of a hypnotic ostinato bass line of just a tonic and dominant chord, repeated and played by the left-hand as the accompaniment for the right-hand’s twelve embroidered variations. My favorite moment occurs in the coda when Chopin surprises us with the introduction of Cb, the unexpected flat-seventh harmony, similar to the harmonic change that occurs in his Db Nocturne. The Berceuse is a wonderful example of rubato playing. 　　 　　"Look at these trees! The wind plays in the leaves, stirs up life among them, the tree remains the same, that is Chopinesque rubato." Franz Liszt 　　 　　According to Berlioz, “Chopin simply could not play in strict time.” 　　 　　FOUR SCHERZI (1831-1842) 　　The word scherzo usually implies a sense of humor, a musical joke but Chopin provides no laughter within these dramatic, dark and virtuosic compositions. These four pieces in no way resemble the scherzo movements that Haydn or Beethoven included as diversions within their symphonies. 　　 　　Written in 1831 during the November uprising when Poland unsuccessfully rose up against Russia, Scherzo No. 1 in B minor reflects the anxiety and worry that Chopin felt for his homeland— a place that he was destined never to see again. The composition was written in Vienna. In the beautiful and calming middle section, Chopin quotes nostalgically from an old Polish Christmas song, “Sleep little Jesus, sleep.” Anxiousness returns, concluding in a storm of bravura. 　　 　　The Scherzo No. 2 in Bb minor, written in 1837, was compared by Robert Schumann to a poem by Byron “so overflowing with tenderness, boldness, love and contempt.” It opens and concludes with a rhythmic motive that according to one of Chopin’s students always sounded to the master “never questioning enough, never soft enough…” This composition overflows with emotion, drama and tenderness and always virtuosity! 　　 　　In 1839 during Chopin’s disappointing trip with George Sand to the island of Majorca, he composed the Scherzo No. 3 in C# minor in the abandoned and chilly monastery at Valldemossa. But this work dedicated to his talented student, Adolphe Gutmann, is full of warmth and hot passion and Lisztian pianism. The beautiful chorale section with its descending arpeggiated passages contributes to the drama, and the scherzo concludes with bombast. 　　 　　The final work of the set, the Scherzo No. 4 in E major was composed in 1842 and is the only scherzo written in a major key, a work full of sunshine, smiles and hopefulness. Chopin returns to his roots and uses a Polish folk song as inspiration for the lyrical middle section. The sounds and colors evoked by Chopin’s pianism provide evidence of his personal brand of virtuosity. 　　 　　"Simplicity is everything. After having exhausted all the difficulties, after having played immense quantities of notes, and more notes, then simplicity emerges with all its charm, like art’s final seal. Whoever wants to obtain this immediately will never achieve it: You can’t begin with the end. One has to have studied a lot, tremendously, to reach this goal; it’s no easy matter." Frederic Chopin 　　 　　Thank you, Maestro Chopin! 　　 Notes by Barbara Nissman