good pianists

[Strangelet]

Originally Posted by kid cue

i don't think of Bach as obvious, other than being obviously baroque. Chopin i liked earlier (and i always thought he was quite popular, much more than Liszt), but his compositions always seemed to have this linear or even 'narrative' quality that made it difficult for me to listen to him repeatedly. i felt like once i got the story there was nothing else to be gotten. i'll dig out my recording of the ballades & scherzos today though.

Gould didn't like him either....

I really don't find him popular at all with people who listen or play classical music. Gould's response is pretty much in the same vein as anyone else I talk to and I find it based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the music. Chopin was never meant to be played in the miniaturist,precious, pretty way he's usually interpreted. Which explains why gould would call him a failure in all of the big roles music fills. The rain drop prelude is a prime example. Chopin detested it being associated with "rain drops" and thought the idea someone would write a song about "rain drops" the way saint seans was writing songs about swans and liszt was writing songs about love dreams was preposterous. The only narrative chopin ever admitted to was polish history, not unlike beethoven's use of narrative.

My suggestion is to play it without the prettiness. Wrest it away from ballet pas de deuxs and parlour room aesthetics and emphasize its intellectual homage to bach (chopin was trying to emulate bach more than anyone else). In this way I find him the most challenging and rewarding to play.