Pollini Vs Liu: Interpreting Chopin Op. 27 No. 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- Listen to the full recording of Pollini: • Chopin: Nocturne No. 7...
Listen to the full performance by Liu at The 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition: • BRUCE (XIAOYU) LIU - N...
Interpretation is what gives music life, and in this video we take a look a two strikingly different interpretations of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 27, No. 1 in c-sharp minor. Both Maurizio Pollini and Bruce Liu are winners of the Chopin Competition: Pollini in 1960 was the first winner of the competition from outside of Poland and the Soviet Union, and Liu in 2021 is the most recent winner. Have Chopin's directions in his music changed so drastically in 61 years? Of course not. If Pollini and Liu competed against one another, who would have won? Who can say? And *does it really matter*? One of the beautiful things about music is its ability to come to life in so many different ways. Every great musician has countless reasons behind their interpretive choices, and while we as listeners can have a favorite, our favorite should never diminish the mastery of any other artist.
Thank you to the Chopin Institute for allowing the use of the footage of Bruce Liu in this video.
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Charles Szczepanek is an international prize-winning pianist, has collaborated with GRAMMY Award winners, and has taught music for over 20 years to everyone from his next-door neighbor to finalists on NBC's America's Got Talent. Through Pianist Academy, he now brings that wealth of knowledge to you: the beginner, the intermediate, the professional, or the fellow music teacher.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:57 - Pollini Playing m. 1 - 28
02:37 - Reaction to Pollini's 1 - 28
03:47 - Liu Playing m. 1 - 28
06:09 - Reaction to Liu's 1- 28
07:49 - Pollini Playing m. 29 - 83
09:08 - Reaction to Pollini's 29 - 83
10:25 - Liu Playing m. 29 - 83
12:00 - Reaction to Liu's 29 - 83
13:53 - Conclusion
![ทททททททท #27 [หลุยส์ เค โตมายังไง ณ สระบุรี]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CaKoYw_Xmtg/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 1 มิถุนายน 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3canzHC_d0k/mqdefault.jpg)
Wonderful...Bruce captivated me as soon as I heard his interpretation of this nocturne. It was magical. From this to the end of the competition, I knew he was going to win.
And judging from his scores, he won every round...
The most shocking aspect of Liu’s interpretation is that it is from a 26 year young artist who is already mastering audience emotions with Chopin’s greatest compositions.
Artists of this rank masters audience emotions with 13 years (for example Alexandra Dovgan)
has he not been playing more than 20 years was he not a child prodigy, both Rubenstien and Mozart could play before they could speak so I am not shocked at all that he shows such skill and maturity, what about Yunchan Lim or countless others
I love Pollini but Bruce Liu’s Nocturne touched my heart more. I like this Nocturne and Scherzo No.4 the most played by B.Liu. Pollini's Nocturne also gives another impression, but this Nocturne is better played by Liu.
Thank you for the great video, very well made !!!! 👍🏻
I like the dramatic/ operatic version of Bruce Liu. 😮
Bruce’s interpretation! I knew he would be the winner at the Chopin competition as soon as he started playing this piece. Absolutely beautiful!!
Bruce liu is really amazing.
i like Pollini a lot - a true maestro, but in terms of op27-1, i definitely enjoy bruce's rendition more. the first part is like a misty/cloudy/some light but overall very dark vibe to me, and Pollini's tempo is a bit too fast for me. in the middle part, the dynamic range of bruce's version is obviously wider, which i enjoy quite a lot. to me this part is like a reminiscence, you start to tell people around you a story with ebb and flow, with tear and joy. i like bruce's way telling this story.
Thank you for this video which
I appreciate very much!
Chopin didn't write the metronome marks, just the editor's suggestions as you probably know.
It's usually risky to play slow pieces too slowly, but Liu took it very slowly to express this emotional nocturne as much as possible. Mysterious vibes and changing of subtle nuances in different dark colors are so inspiring as it is a night song -- nocturne.
Liu loves operas and singing lines are more or less operatic. It's keenly played yet spontaneous, while Pollini's playing is almost straightforward. 😅
Chopin wrote many metronome marks himself in manuscripts, and in an urtext edition, it’s his marks given, not those of an editor. But you’re right in that in many many scores, marks are a suggestion, not from the composer.
The manuscript for this piece in particular has been lost, so we only have the first editions to go by.
I enjoy your description of the interpretations 😁
I like Bruce’s interpretation more. Enjoy your video very much! Will you do the comparison for Chopin Nocturne op. 55, no. 1?
How a piece of music sounds in the player's mind is reflected in his hands. I think the speed at which this melody was assembled in Bruce's mind is really beautiful. I never thought it could be expressed like this. He is a true musical artist!
El estilo de Mr Bruce Liu es incomparable. Se percibe una transferencia de su pasión por el piano que llega a conmover con cada acorde y hasta con los silencios. ❤️🎵🎶❤🎵🎶❤🎵🎶❤
Charles- hi! This may be your “Mona Lisa” of music analysis (at least so far)! I can see what you’re doing, and it’s totally “high road”. Under the rubric of “interpretation”, which some people stubbornly believe can only exist as a singularity, you provocatively show two excellent, but very different, performances of the same piece, and, rather than ask “which is right?”, or “which is better?”, you ask simply: “which do you prefer?” And, of course, intrinsic to your question is the subatomic core of interpretation itself! Genius!
Reflecting for a moment on the rolling vitriol that surrounds the tempo of Chopin’s étude 10/3: by changing the marking from “fast, but not too fast” to “slow, but not too slow” (while retaining a metronome marking that most agree is hurried), Chopin guaranteed an eternity of debate. The “rubato vigilantes” see no room for discussion. I, on the other hand, can’t help but wonder if this was Chopin’s way of saying: “interpret!” 😊
Great work, Charles, and a real treat to find on a Saturday morning!
Thanks so much for this comment! There are a handful of occasions in the canon of rep where I’m finding composers changing things in their score and leaving very little trace of why anywhere in writings or correspondence. Almost like a challenge to those pianists who dig deep enough to even find the discrepancy to then try and discover the intention behind it.
I like Bruce's interpretation better because its atmospheric soundscape and slow pace are just so close to my idea of a nocturne.
Por esto no puedo dejar de escucharlo con alma, cada día. Bruce Liu es pasión, misterio, armonía, excelencia ....🇦🇷❤️
Liu, for sure! His is much more refined, mesmerizing.
Interesting explanation of two completely different interpretation of this Chopin Nocturne, both are so beautiful that it’s really not possible to choice one of them, this is the secret of classical Music….
Yes, Pollini had the reputation of having "ice cold water" in his veins.
Of course he did as a double Capricorn!!!
Thank you very much for this comparison, it helps me understand what l appreciate unknowingly. I started to listed to Bruce Liu after going to his concert in Kraków recently (mainly Rameau and Ravel), and l am hooked. The range of emotions he can express is what pulls me in, so he is my favourite here.
Individual preferences is to be respected. Bruce is a gifted pianist and his renditions has become the only one to be able to grasp emotional feelings rendered by music lovers ❤.
Interesting comparison of opposite extremes , although a bit unfair. A studio recording is nothing like a live competition performance. Also, Pollini won the Warzav Chopin Competition 63 years ago, and his interpretation benefits from a lifetime of study. That said, both artists are wonderful. I'd rather enjoy both of them than choose one. By the way, I had the chance to listen to Pollini live a few times and met him socially once in Milan. He's actually a funny guy.
Well I agree with you. It's about the pianist you are with at the time. Everything becomes more sophisticated over time. I have always been a huge fan of Ivan Moravec, but now that I have heard the Maria João Pires recordings of the Nocturnes, she's absolutely blowing me away. I don't think there's a better pianist on the planet for these particular compositions. Does anyone know what type of piano she's playing on? In any case her interpretations are very fresh and absolutely her own. I love her style - elegant in every way. Each phrase is a little composition in itself.
Very true!
Well put and I totally agree with you on the age factor. Regardless both are wonderful pianists, and think Bruce Liu only 25 years at this time already playing marvellously, and how will he play in ,10, 20, 30 years’ time!
Bruce’s interpretation is incredible.
I love both. They approach the piece differently but they both play it with honesty and truth.
I must say though that from the very first piece in the first round, I knew Mr Xiaoyu (Bruce) Liu (together with Alexander Gadjiev) would reach the finals and win the competition.
Brilliant, and this is exactly the point of this video. We can appreciate both, even if we wouldn't necessarily choose one of them as a "favorite."
Not an accurate comparison based on the age factor, one in his twenties just launching his concert career, the other an much older veteran concert pianist! Regardless, I still prefer Bruce Liu’s interpretation.
Interesting side by side comparison !🤩
I prefer Bruce Liu - his interpretation always amazes me and becomes my favorite of all !🫶🎶🎵
The Liu dancing sequence to me mars a good performance, and I prefer the detachment of Pollini, having heard him play this piece live innumerable times over 50 years. I do look forward to a day when I might hear Liu live too.
Great video!! More videos like this please!!
This really illuminated some challenging concepts for me, and I want to learn more! Will listen for variety in interpretations more now. 💖 thank you for another wonderful video!
My favorite version is the Maria Joao pires one
But out of the 2 i would say pollini's is speaking to me the most
Great video !
Her's is one of the best without question. A lot has to do with quality of the recording and the piano itself. Playing this composition in a wimpy fashion doesn't cut it. It has to be sensitive yet feel solid. Maria Joao meets that criteria. Her performance instills a sense of confidence and beauty. The dynamics are as smooth as butter. She makes Polini sound like an amateur who lacks control. At the same time she exudes a sense of power. She sits down at the piano and says with her playing, "This is how this piece should be played." From my perspective she completely blows Liu off the stage. He's still learning it when compared to her.
In Pollini you can hear all the power and wind of emotion that I expect from this piece.
I listened to him live last year and after playing Ballade No. 1, Ballade No. 4 and Barcarola Op. 60, we all had tears in our eyes, contrary to those who consider him good only in terms of technique.
I cannot compare between the two because I am bias 😁😁😁 And it validated my preference even more when I saw Bruce Liu in person yesterday in Vancouver, May 19. He played himself, a maestro!!!
Thank you ❤
I definately go for Pollini's interpretation in this piece. Like Bruce Liu's interpretation of Chopin's Valses.
Pollini's nocturnes is my go-to reference when learning and improving a Chopin's piece
RIP Pollini; though their approaches differed, they're still 2 top-notch artists.
100% yes
I’d listen again and again Pollini’s interpretation rather than Liu’s one. Both great artist
Wonderful, indeed. Extremely different interpretations but I always found Pollini's (since his early EMI recording dated back in 1970) beautiful
I want to note that Bruce’s interpretation is likely inspired by Bela Bartok’s 1939 recording. The tempo is very similar. The lack of change in piu messo section, the slowing down in agitato section was also present in Bartok’s performance.
Thanks for bringing this up!
also, obviously Bruce's hands were shaking like hell, and it's completely normal for this major competition, yet he still delivered this piece almost flawlessly. so impressed!!
Yes! That about of visible nervousness yet still able to play so delicately and fluidly is quite impressive!
Faut-il vraiment choisir ? Les 2 versions sont merveilleuses et l'une ou l'autre peuvent nous toucher différemment selon notre humeur du moment. La sobriété et la pudeur de Pollini touchent au sublime, à la transcendance, et à ce titre sa version m'émeut profondément. Alors que la version passionnée de Liu me transporte dans un autre monde.
Question d'époque aussi : combien d'années séparent les 2 versions ?
2 artistes fabuleux !
THIS is exactly the point of this video :-). No, you don't have to choose. We can enjoy both for what they are and the variety they bring to the same piece of repertoire.
Oh wow this is a first for me, first time i prefer something faster than slower! Sorry not sorry i prefer pollini's one, i may be based because i'm italian who knows..😅
Jokes aside i may play it a bit slower than pollini and use rubato in different ways but Bruce's one is just too slow for my taste, out of all the chopin's nocturnes this is the one that to me gives me the most accurate image of what i see in my head when i hear the word nocturne, 'of the night', and pollini does amazing in interpreting the music.
Battle of the Bands.
I listened to both and used an Applauso-Meter, Pollini won.
Good idea for a video.
A mi criterio, considero que no es posible hacer una comparación entre estos dos destacados pianistas. Tanto Pollini como Liu interpretan a Chopin bajo las mismas condiciones de interpretación en cuanto q técnica. Sin embargo, Mauricio Pollni que ha ganado premios mundiales en la musica de Chopin, conserva el mismo espíritu de ejecución extraordinaria sin menosprecio del joven Liu que también es un gran talento. ¡Saludos desde México. Gracias! Por compartir este excelente vídeo.
Thanks for watching! And yes, that’s really the spirit of this video as you say: both are great talents and both deserve praise.
Pollini ❤
Pollini plays Chopin. Liu plays Liu.
I kind of wished that you had compared Liu and Pires since they are both hugely reflective and passionate. They create such imagery as both have limitless imaginations. Pollini has had my admiration for years, but never draws me in because of the distance he maintains in his playing. It's always been Maria Joao Pires for me as she transports me emotionally every time. Bruce Liu is going in that direction but he's young and not quite there yet.
Pires' interpretation of this Nocturne is lovely and leans in the direction of Pollini's, but with much more inflection. She really takes opportunities given by the notes to create magic, especially in similar phrases side by side.
Chopin was very influenced by the operatic aria… also seen in the nocturne in e flat major.. I will listen later to the complete performances
i do tend to like Liu's performance though Pollini's is a standard..
Do a comaprison between alfred cortot and sofronitsky in Chopin.
Thank you for the video. I admire both artists. However when it comes to that particular nocturne my heart goes to Rubinstein take.
Despite this specific nocturne being a bit of an exception… It’s a shame you took the 2005 recording of Pollini as some would argue that this is during his phase of stylistic collapse, his “mushy” phase that only the Beethoven survived! Although, having seen him live recently, the Chopin seems to be making a comeback in his old age (and I do hope so)
I actually prefer his 1968 recording over the 2005, and while I'd characterize the overall interpretation as actually the same between them, there's a bit less of a striking difference between the 1968 and the Liu version than the 2005... hence why I picked the more recent.
Do that kind of video for a Schumann piece.
Under Liu's hand, it sounds almost like Scriabin.
私はあなたのチャンネルに興味津々です😍 楽しみにしています!!😃
Thanks! I hope you enjoy the videos that are already here and continue to watch the new content as it comes out :-)
I wrote a long response then my ISP's wireless modem lost all its setting and crashed. I don't feel like rewriting it. In short, I prefer the Liu. I want to hear some women play it. Often they do better than men.
Yulianna Avdeeva - Nocturne in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 (third stage, 2010)
th-cam.com/video/B28j2Eud5wE/w-d-xo.html
0:25 / 4:47
Chopin Nocturne C Sharp minor op 27 #1 Valentina Lisitsa
th-cam.com/video/JtZokkiSxBM/w-d-xo.html
Chopin: Nocturne No. 7 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 1 · Maria João Pires
th-cam.com/video/-NIOkGMWP4o/w-d-xo.html
Vanilla or vanilla?
Bruce has the Eastern cultural touch. More poetic, sensuality and soul to feeling of the composition. I must say that his piano teacher and mentor, Dang Thai Son taught him well. Dang Thai Son was propelled to the forefront of the musical world in October 1980, when he was awarded the First Prize and Gold Medal at the Xth International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. It was also the first time that a top international competition was won by an Asian pianist.
I've seen Dang Thai Son's name come up often in the last few years as teacher of some of the greatest up and coming artists. He really seems to know what he is doing!
Liu all the way.
I’ve never understood Pollini’s appeal in this rep. 20th century, yes, perfect technique. But….
And yet, Pollini was the first non-Polish and non Soviet winner of the Chopin competition!
I think it partly speaks to the changing preference of interpretation over time. Rubenstein along with many other extremely legendary pianists were on the jury, and Rubenstein supposedly said about Pollini “that boy can play the piano better than any of us.”
frankly Pollini's 4 Ballads and Op. 49 Fantasy CD is possibly the greatest Chopin's recording ever.
@@PianistAcademy1 The changing in preference is for the better in my opinion. That era produces so many excellent pianists technique wise, but with rigid interpretations. This contrasts the 20th century practice, where musicians valued free and unique interpretations. Probably due to the rediscovery of the historical recordings of the great pianists in 20th century, we see, in recent years, a move back towards that flexible style from pianists like Liu, Beatrice Rana, and Yunchan Lim.
Very interesting comparison, thank you. The slower tempo, in my opinion give justice to this composition and make me remind the theory that states that we are interpreting in a wrong way the tempo indicated by the composer. According to this theory we should think the metronome beats are to be interpreted as one full back and forth oscillation is one beat. This leads us to consider the tempo indicated by the XIX century composers as half speed with respect to the mainstream interpretation.
Tempo is always an interesting conversation. The mark Chopin wrote was “Larghetto”… slowly but not too slowly. If we count the half note, Liu’s slow tempo is extremely slow, not “Larghetto.” But if we count the quarter it seems to fit perfectly.
I haven’t heard double beat theory applied as late as Chopin and I’d say most cases in Chopin really wouldn’t work with it… which leads us back to questioning what exactly it means all over again!
Sorry, but double beat theory has been completely debunked. Here is a document showing timings of 200 historical performances:
drive.google.com/file/d/1OOQO6f031yENH1uUpbl9C87MfJ8KJLfP/view?pli=1
Has Sim Sinters provided even one playbill?
In addition, for Chopin, there are the Mazurkas, which only sound like traditional mazurkas if played in single beat. If you believe in Double beat, you'd have to say that the Polish are wrong about their own cultural heritage. Also, modern piano has way more sustain than Chopin's piano. You can watch Flavio Ponzi's rendition on the Pleyel, which is 4 minutes and 28 seconds. It really couldn't be any slower and be cantabile.
To me it's all the mood and feel. I don't give a rip about metronome markings. They are a guide or suggestion. I just attended a Master class presented by Andreas Klien, an excellent pianist with not much following at least on TH-cam. He made the point in the presentation that if you play metronomically, you are not a very good pianist. Even the best jazz pianists who really know how to swing, know how to pull on the time to really make it cook. If you listen to the recordings by Maria João Pires, it's her sense of phrasing that sets her apart from the ordinary. Maria João Pires is not just reading the score, she's making real music. There's a joke amongst jazz musicians:
"Do you know how to read?"
"Not well enough to hurt my playing."
Those pianists that can read and make it sound like they have been playing the piece for a long time are the ones to be admired.
I prefer definitely Eva Gevorgyan ,s interpretation of this piece th-cam.com/video/iCmrETgdTq8/w-d-xo.html I think since the year 2000 no proper winner of the Warsaw Chopin competition was selected .I have no doubt that Eva Gevorgyan was the best pianist of the 2021 Chopin competition in Warsaw , whereas Kate Liu was the best pianist of the 2015 Competition .
These pianist will stand the test of time as they are the most talented and people will like to listen to them more and more in the future. In the long run public should and will decide who is the best .
Thanks for watching and writing such a great comment! Eva's performance of the Nocturne is very very nice. For my own taste, her interpretation is a bit vanilla... she plays very well, with great poise and makes a great line, but she doesn't take the risks to create magic and her B section is missing some power in the uppermost notes. That missing power was probably more pronounced in the hall... where on the recording you can still hear the melody because the mics are so close to the instrument, in the hall, most of the audience probably got more of a "cloud" of sound without much melody.
She's still a very fine pianist who I'd love to hear play live. And on top of that, I'd love to hear her playing when there isn't so much nervousness because of the stakes of the competition and she could really let loose and be herself.
I dont mean to be critical but this analysis seems to rest entirely on the tempi chosen the respetive pianists and not the two other elephants in the room, one is a studio recording the other a live communication with a live audience, secondly the fundamental difference in a Fabrinni Steinway and and much brighter and louder Fazioli. I heard Pollini play live and it was fireworks and drama, just glance the Rubinstein live and the famous Rubinstein recordings. Of couse Liu would win on these excepts but it is not a fair comparison, we are comparing apples with pears. Why this reviewer was so shallow in his analysis I have no clue! I would add I play this nocturne differently every day depending on my mood so no interpretation is set in stone.
Thanks for the comment, Martin! Really the point of this video wasn’t so much to compare one performance to the other, but rather to say that there is beauty to be found in each and every interpretation and performance of every piece by every different pianist. Sometimes I’ve felt alarmed by how strongly people express likes and especially dislikes of performances by truly fantastic pianists. I think there’s a tremendous amount to be learned by studying what *doesn’t* appeal to you, just as much as what does, hence my choice to, as you put it, put apples and pears against one another here. If you can learn to love both and also learn why, then your own artistry can flourish even more brightly.
I do like Liu's rendition but it is not original or innovative in any sense. Pollini's tries to understand the metronome marking and he gets to an immense ocean of despair, anxiety and even anger. What seems a more cheerful moment is still dominated by these feelings which, I believe, are most likely Chopin's real ones. So I think Pollini actually gets the point with a very deep and psycological analisys of this piece! I'm afraid that the Bard in a pub doesn't make any sense in this context!
To me, that's the beautiful thing about music! We can all hear the same notes played the same way but perceive them completely differently. Neither you nor I are right nor wrong, just have different perceptions. To me, Pollini plays this with next to no emotion... he sounds very detached from the music, like he's almost just going through the motions, but very perfectly. I prefer a great many other pianists over him in this particular one. But my preference doesn't make Pollini's any less of a valuable contribution to the many recordings of this piece. Just like the aspects of what you dislike about Liu's doesn't negate his contribution as well. That's why the world can have so many classical pianists who tour! Not everyone is going to go hear everyone play because of personal taste, but there are plenty of people who prefer "each" to fill concert halls everywhere.
Great video! The same piece by the other Liu (Kate) is definitely also worth listen: th-cam.com/video/uLsYnyMcA4k/w-d-xo.html
Very interesting. Thanks for posting this link. when she comes out of the bigger section it's quite satisfying. I'm still going with Maria João Pires because I prefer a more solid yet flowing opening. Kate Liu's is too halting for my tastes, but you can see that she was received a lot of acclaim.
“The other liu” lmao
I pick Pollini because his interpretation didn’t suffer the structure. Bruce brings interesting color, but he did sacrifice the structure.
Sorry but you can't compare a recording by one of the best century pianists at almost the end of his life with a young talent competition... just can't.
Not the same context, not the same experience, not the same vision of the composition. The darkest of nights of critics.
All of that is the point I make in this video. One *isn't* better than the other. Time, experience, vision, may all lead to a different interpretation (better or not shouldn't even be a question), but judging two masterful interpretations is, in my mind, almost like being God and passing judgement. We can absolutely have a preference for one over another, personally. But we are doing massive disservice to music itself if we can't see the value in all interpretations. I chose two of the most different recordings I could find on purpose, and to help illustrate that point.
Your voice is 4x louder than the piano music. it should only be, at most, 1.5x louder.
Polini butchered this piece . It’s supposed to feel like calming storm. He plays too fast . grade C. Bruce wins
Liu = good student of Richard Raymond.
Don't hate me, but I feel both recordings are too slow and heavy, so I don't like either of them
Do you have a recording you have made or that you reference with a tempo you prefer? This Pollini is one of the fastest I've ever heard this piece played, and for my taste his tempo causes all of the magic within these notes to be lost. My own interpretation is closer to Bruce's, but a few bpm quicker... the focus being on grief, loss, extreme sadness, and in a sense "wailing" in the melody... none of which can be achieved in a quicker tempo.
But while I don't prefer the faster, I'd still be interested in hearing another interpretation, especially if there's one out there that actually takes the tempo Chopin marked.
Good grief, even Pollini's you find slow?! Wow, I need to hear your interpretation!!