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Peyton, I would have liked to make a new recording on the 55.1, but truth is I have wotked too little on it. I have polished the LH triplets part and the last part a bit, but I feel not at all confident playing it.

Truth is, I do not have the "temperament" for playing Chopin, I am not really a "dramatic" type .
Also my piano (which sounds a little "electric"..)has almost no dynamic range and gives no justice to Chopin's emotional music !

Ragnhild

Wow, I wouldn't say that at all. I think you have a great feel for it. And the piano sounded fine in the recording.

Ragnhild, I think that with your modest, cheerful and dignified presence Chopin would've found you very pleasant company indeed and there is a great deal of his music that requires precisely your gentle steady touch.

No I'm blushing , did not really mean to ask for comfort, but I loved all of it !

What I said about my piano is still true...

What might be a little bit interresting is:
I know there are different "schools" among professional players and that some of the European players seem to be a little less emotional when playing, I think the idea is to let the music "speak for itself". Some find their way of playing a little cold.

I love it if we can have different ways of thinking music as amateurs as well

Ragnhild

Welcome Sarah: As you can read, we really take our playing seriously, but (and this is very important) we all love to debate and discuss the piece and appreciate each other's interpretations and performances as something we can learn from.

Please do join in with us. I am also sorry you had such a terrible experince with your piano teacher. Her attitude and others like her are the reason so many young people quit the piano. However, I'm glad that you are now able to dismiss her completely and start again on this great adventure.

Ragnild: I agree with Peyton and Nancy. You most DEFINITELY have the "feel" for Chopin. That you were able to play it so wonderfully several weeks back really impressed me. However, as one who isn't particulary fond of Bach or Mozart (even though I know how important learning their music is), I can empathize with you if you don't feel strongly attracted to Chopin's music. He isn't everyone's cup of tea, that's for sure.

Nancy and Peyton: What a great discussion. I just wish I was up to par on playing the sections you discussed. Right now, I'm just trying to get them under my fingers while memorizing at the same time. Once I reach that point, then I can put my "soul into it" as Chopin once suggested.

Nancy: I own a wonderfully old Lyon and Healy Grand piano. However, it has a cracked sound board and when I record with it (using a cheap mic and the free version of Audacity), I get such a terrible shimmy sound, it makes me want to cry. Also I dropped a pencil into the workings (this is the 4th time I've done this, I need to tie it around my neck, for Pete's sake) so along with the vibrating sound I was getting a buzzing noise. Just yesterday, I managed to remove the front part of the grand (not easy) and found the pencil. But my piano still doesn't record well. I believe I recorded my nocturne on my Yahama Clavinova with a direct cable-in setting. For the life of me, I can't remember how I set the settings on my computer. But I was pleasantly surprised that it sounded so good, at least compared to my grand.

O.K. I am going to risk getting booted off the forum by posting Rubinstein's recording of the nocturne. He recorded it a long time ago, and I have to think that any copyright on it has long expired. If not, it's been nice knowing you all.

Artur\'s version

You may want to lower the volume here and there.

Wow, after I recorded this from a tape from very good stereo (and it sounded great while I was listening), when I heard it recorded, the piano sounded just as bad as mine. This is good news because now I KNOW it's NOT my piano but the recording equipment that is so lousy.

Regards, Kathleen

An addendum; I read it was illegal to "share" for commericial purposes. We are using it as a learning tool. :p

Wow, he does it faster than I thought he would. And you're right he does play that 28/29 section slow. He throws some rubato in. He doesn't speed up at all the piu mosso but does get "dramatic". He does pick up the tempo a bit near the end. Love his trills throughout and the apegios at the end. Thanks!! He certainly is the master Chopin player.

You can tell right away when you are listening to a master. Every note comes out so cleanly. All those grace notes, trills, rolled chords are executed perfectly. Phrasing of each section is clearly defined and it flows smoothly into your ears.

Dittos.

Wow--that was great. Thanks for posting that, Kathleen. I'll send you care packages in jail as a token of my appreciation!

I play it almost a minute faster than he does, and I can see now that the slowness in the beginning really makes the faster tempo at the end seem more satisfying. There were many nuances he added that I haven't heard on other recordings. And, Peyton, did you notice he did slow down a bit at the very end of the arpeggio series? And he definitely plays the 28/29 section like he was improvising, exactly as my summer teacher said for me to think of it (Rubinstein is one of his favorite pianists, so I guess my teacher is consistent in his preferences). He did sound like he was lingering over the notes sometimes, hesitant to move on. There were several places where he really quieted the left hand compared to me and other versions, and I liked that sound also.

Raghnild, I still haven't listened to your version, but I am looking forward to "stealing" more ideas from this forum!

Nancy

Nancy, yes your absolutly right. I'm sure what you are describing would be called rubato (the lingering). and he DID slow down there at the end...just like me he he he. I'm a genius!! (Meanwhile I did it because I was messing up...but don't tell anyone).

That's what the real genius in Rubinstein's playing is. His interpretation is universal, I believe.

We can all "hear" certain sections of the music the same as he does. Whether we can play it that way, well, that's another story.

I thought I was a genius in slowing up on a few measures when I heard him play it almost the same. Oh and that rubato or hesitancy...gee, I do the same kind, but for different reasons. I get a flash of a blackout and can't remember the next notes.

I always remember reading that Chopin (and I think almost every pianist) never played the music the same way twice.

I just purchased (over the Internet) a video of Rubinstein playing Chopin in the initimate setting of his living room. It was filmed in the 70's, I think. Sometimes it's not enough to just listen, you want to watch those hands!

Kathleen

Thanks, but in fairness to her I didn't practice as much as I should have and I think she was very frustrated with me. It was kind of funny, one week she'd make me cry and the next week she'd tell me how talented I was. I think that was her way of trying to make up. Even though I was a kid I knew she was just saying stuff like that to make me feel better because she felt bad for making me cry the week before. But yeah, it was a roller coaster ride and I have a total aversion for lessons now.

I found the sheet music for the piece last night and started working on it already.

Wow!! Good for you. Let us know how it's going. The first two pages aren't too bad, but after that it gets pretty heated up, so to speak.

Good luck,
Kathleen

Ragnhild--I finally got to listen to your version. I do really like your tempo also, so now I'm more indecisive on how to play it. I especially like how you play the end, maybe the last 20 measures or so; it's with such tenderness. You seem to have that delicate, fluttery finger quality that I lack, and it really showed in those last arpeggios to the top.

I'm wondering if I, like you, lack the temperament to play Chopin. I think you really have to give yourself over to him, and I'm just not sure I'm willing and that may be why I am analyzing the way to play this so much. I wish it would just flow forth, but maybe that's unrealistic. I do feel like I'm wrestling it into submission, and I have a feeling that is not really the way to play Chopin.

Thanks for sharing your version, even if it was a while ago. I'm amazed at how long it has taken me to get this piece from "passable" to recital-appropriate. Starting from the point where we never hear the introductory melody again, I think I went through the fingering for every note, played it at a snail's pace, took it two notes at a time, and used every other tool I'd ever heard of to get it to the point I was playing it with some confidence and consistency.

Sarah--Maybe with your years of experience this will come a little more easily for you. Let us know how it's coming along!

Nancy

Kathleen, thank you for posting Rubinstein's playing, it is such a great inspiration.
Made me feel like working some more on the 55.1, maybe I should try somebody elses piano

I must confess that i have dedicated my weekend to Mozart - It is always great to have the chance to sing with professional musicians. The young Mozart's church-music is something I really like ,the Church sonatas is wonderful chamber music and these musicians (who normally has Fabio Biondi as their conductor) really had the "Mozart" feeling.

I still hope it is OK that I am a Bach-Mozart-Chopin-lover and a Church-music-classical-music-not-only-romantic-piano-music-lover. The true total-Chopin-devotion I leave to you, Kathleen

Sarah M : I am waiting to hear your version and your views.

Raghild, Chopin loved Mozart. Chopin asked a friend on his deathbed that after he was gone that his friend play "Play Mozart for me. I will hear you." He loved singing as well. He probably enjoyed your performance very much.

I decided to start working on this piece, too -- it was too hard to resist, after hearing Nancy's, Peyton's, and then Artur's versions! I'll pipe up if I have anything to contribute to the discussion.

Edited to add: I forgot to include Ragnhild and Kathleen! Also inspiring.

So glad that you've become inspired. Hope you find the journey a little (actually, a lot) less bumpy than I am. But it's still worth it.

Ragnhild: Frycek has said it all. The only thing I would add is that I wish I had the talent you have for playing Chopin. But then I know you've studied and worked very hard to achieve what you have.

Kathleen

Wow... as you can tell by my post count I'm new to these forums, and I just came across this crazy thread of more than 20 pages talking about the execution of Chopin's Nocturne 55.1

You sure guys are serious about your stuff !!

It just so happens that my teacher suggested I learn this piece starting this week, so I'll definitely know where to come if I have some trouble on some particular passage (or the whole piece )

You guys are great !

By the way, what tools do you use to record your playing ?

Welcome Damz, you have a lot of reading to do, don't forget to practice in between

For the recording I can only speak for myself, but I have only used my laptop with a cheap microphone. I open the piano lid half (with a pillow ) and put the microphone on the left side of the piano top. My piano is an quite old upright with not so much sound, you will probably do it differently with a digital or a grand.
I use Audacity for the recording and then save as MP3.

Ragnhild