11:26 “God, we might just need to have a regular podcast, not just a Chopin podcast.” Can we put it to a vote? I vote a resounding YES. (You and Garrick Ohlsson are just so engaging together. Ohlsson is exceedingly affable and you both have a great rapport.)
It's funny - the Barcarolle was one of the pieces that didn't attract me immediately. As a teenager - I loved the loud, fast pieces. This piece seems to require a kind of maturity to appreciate. It may sound sentimental to say - but I see this piece as "Chopin in Heaven". It's a very special piece that feels like a foreshadowing of what his vision of heaven might be like. He was an individual who thought about death a lot - he suffered terrible illness, pain, and probably knew he wouldn't be long for this world. I like to think of Chopin composing this piece in a state of absolute bliss - him sat at the piano, freed from all his earthly pain and woes. I think the maturation that this piece requires to appreciate relates to this - to understand it, we have to confront our own immortality. We want to suspend time - we want time to stand still. This piece is not "static" and "monotone" - far from it, it's filled with delicious drama and nuance - but it has an extremely unique sense of flow, a sense of oneness. Even the moments of ecstasy - they're more like a loud sigh, a gasp, rather than an exclamation. It's a piece that has near infinite replayability - you can listen to it over and over, in different interpretations - and never tire of all of the nuances it offers, of the heavenly world it evokes. Again - as sentimental as it sounds - I see this as the piece that Chopin would play once he reaches heaven. It's so blissful - there are fleeting reminisces of the pain and suffering he felt on earth, but now he is free! He left us a gift that makes us reflect upon and treasure life - for the time this piece lasts - it's as though the world has stopped spinning, and we catch a glimpse, if only for a few moments - of eternity. Thank you Chopin!
This is wonderful. The discussion itself mirrors the wonders of the music: a rich and fascinating journey into Chopin, into Venice and into the soul. Thank you!
The Barcarolle is just the gift that keeps on giving. Everytime you listen to it you learn to appreciate it more and more. I used to not be able to choose my "favourite" Chopin piece because my answer would vary each day, but after a while the answer was the Barcarolle like 4 out of 7 days. It's the unofficial fifth Ballade.
Pieces of true art become richer as the flow of time allows them to mature in our awareness. But in essence, they are what they are once created - an artistic singularity. The piece does not change, but we do.
@@hannesdewinter1458 you can certainly make that argument, but I think the Fantasy is a little bit too structured and organized to be grouped with the more free and narrative Ballades. The Barcarolle on the other hand fits like a glove. This is just my opinion though, both of them are masterpieces.
I would vehemently disagree that the F minor fantasy is the fifth ballade, if only because it uses the same formal techniques and structure. However I consider the Barcarolle to be just as great even if it has a much simpler form
Garrick is a treasure! A master pedagogue, and so generous! Never imposing his ideas, and always open to new ones. His accumulated knowledge and inhumane technic didnt made him far away from us mortals, on the contrary. He seems so happy to share and enlighten us. I can only thank you both. What a great pair!
I can't imagine how many hours it takes to produce an episode this well 😮 music from different sources flowing into each other, sheet music annotation, the quality of the conversation. Top tier!
I just wanted to point out that it's incredible whenever Ben connects the background music (one of Garrick's performances) to him continuing the piece in the same place inside the podcast. Mad congratulations the Ben for this one
I fell in love with the Barcarolle at the age of 18 years old, and had the privilege of performing it in a concert hall at the age of 22. For many years, I wondered if it wasn't the most beautiful piece ever written for the piano. And you have answered that question, in this podcast! Thank you Ben! So happy that I'm not alone!
I had a great teacher who told me that this is "the barcarolle of life". I studied it in my late teens and never fully got it. Then i stopped playing it after experiencing a train wreck in the return of what is described here as "theme group C". I recently returned to it for purely my own pleasure, now some 30 odd years later. It speaks to me in so many ways that i could never have imagined, and even though I will never fully understand it, with the knowledge I have now, that recap with the mad left hand now no longer holds the terrors it once did. I so much enjoyed this discussion, I have to rush off and play it again. Thanks
Wonderful to see how your friendship has developed and the unbridled excitement and curiosity for music you both exhibit. Soul healing. Thank you for doing this, Ben. It is such a contribution to the music and piano communities.
So many illuminating observations throughout this video, not least that way you characterize the final bars, with the idea of a narrator coming forward as in Shakespeare after the actual journey, the action, has been completed. Brilliant. Also the way you talk about the tenor coming back in towards the end to conduct the duet, each voicing answer the other. Just revelatory. And can I just say that I was thrilled you used Garrick's Rockport Festival performance of the Barcarolle for so many examples--a video I've watched dozens of times and always come away from stunned by how much he discovers and conveys in this music. It's a performance by someone who's lived with (and loved) this music for most of a lifetime, and that shows. It's completely masterful and infinitely moving, all technical challenges met with a calm command so that a listener is directed solely to the unfolding of one beauty after another throughout the piece. Thanks for such a wise and celebratory treatment of this great composition!
The Barcarolle always has something new to say to me and always try to bring something new to it every time I play it. I often come to tears listening to it: It is one of the most astonishingly beautiful pieces of music ever written and I treasure it above everything.
Well. This is the best thing I’ve watched lately - thanks for the tears. I appreciate Ben’s comment regarding the “PG”-rated feel of the climax, I had never consciously thought it before, but I realised this section makes me think of the unbridled, wholesome joy that a dog has when it greets you again after you’ve been away. Love this piece beyond words.
I love the Rubinstein recordings as well, but he had more than 2 recordings Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 04 1928 Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 16 1946 Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 29 1957 Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 46 1962 Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 62 1964
Chopin's Barcarolle is my favorite composition. I fell in love with it immediately. Every moment of the piece is the utmost form of pure enjoyment and pleasure.
I was just thinking about the incredible stretch of masterpieces Chopin wrote one after another from Op. 56 on that includes the last Mazurkas, the Berceuse, the 3rd Sonata, the 4th Ballade, the Barcarolle, and the Polonaise-Fantasie. He was certainly at the height of his creative power.
The 4th Ballade is Opus 52, and the "heroic" polonaise Opus 53. Then there's the 4th Scherzo. So his winning streak is longer than you are giving credit for.
The Barcarolle has been my favorite work by Chopin since I was an undergrad in music school decades ago. It's currently in my repertoire. Runner ups are the Fantaisie in F minor, which I have recorded, and the Ballade in F minor, which I will learn very soon. Thanks for promoting this masterpiece.
This video was a genuine eye-opener, profound and funny at the same time. Now that you've made me reflect on that, the ending does indeed feel like a narrator is wrapping up the story he has just told, a sort of "... and they lived happily ever after" moment. For a short-circuit effect, it now reminds me of the very end of Puccini's opera "Gianni Schicchi", where the main character turns into narrator and addresses the audience directly to conclude and ask for the applause: after that, a short ff recapitulation of the main motif plays a very similar role to this conclusion (it's even in the same key, enharmonically speaking).
The greatest achievement Chopin made in his later and final works (the Op.50s and 60s) is the HARMONIC inventions. You will know what I mean if you can play the piano and play some of the passages at home. The harmony is more than everything. Not only was it richer than his earlier works, but also they were new, colourful, dramatic, so full of characters, and iconic to each piece's own.
I think Chopin's Barcarolle is the most beautiful piece ever written for the piano, at least in terms of the sonorities, the way Chopin makes the piano sound. It is Chopin's love letter to the piano.
Ben you are such a hoot - your total joy (and knowledge) is a wonder to see, and of course Garrick is totally a piano tragic too so you are the perfect combination! Such fun so many insights 🎉❤
I have adored this peice for years, the "dolce sfogato" section being what truly made me fall in love. The difficult recapitulation of the theme towards the end (beginning at the dramatic "piu mosso" octaves) continues to thwart me however. It's good to see that even Garrick had some struggles playing the left hand. :) Edit: I love how obsessed you both are with this piece and how much it shows in this episode :D
So beautiful, i have learned to love this piece more as I get older and this masterclass has enlightened me immeasurably on just what is happening throughout this piece! Thank you!!
I never understood why people love the Barcarolle so much. To me it feels like a "best of" tribute piece, or like an ai approximation of Chopin. But I will say that this episode has given me a new appreciation for it, I love the Venice gondola visual.
Ben I love this piece ! Did you know that Robert Schuman coined the phrase after hearing Chopin's Barcarolle , " Hats Off Gentlemen a Genius ! " Then Felix Mendelson followed by stating ," I would have given up every single piece that I 've ever written to have gone down in history as the composer who wrote Barcarolle in F Sharp Major ! "
I first heard this played in a Vladimir Sofronitsky recording about 20 years ago (which is mind-boggling) and was lucky to study it with my favorite teacher. It’s sometimes referred to as the fifth Ballade and was very inspirational to Debussy and Ravel. Charles Rosen’s analysis in “The Romantic Generation” is also brilliant. Thanks for the detailed review I will have to return to it now.
The barcarolle and the fantasy in F minor were my favourites of Chopin for a long time, somehow nearly today too. First encounter Barenboim's recording 1973/1974.
It's hard to pick out a single favorite, but the barcarolle ranks well within my top 5: the others are the grand waltz (Chopin's own favorite composition), the polonaise-fantaisie, the F minor fantasy, and the first nocturne.
As far as christmas presents go, this one was fucking great. Thank you, Ben, and happy holidays. That narrator or "that's all folks" explanation of the ending will make me rethink the endings of lots of pieces I deemed goofy or cliche. *cue daffy duck laughter*
It's fascinating that this stand-alone piece, titled simply as a song, becomes such an amazingly varied and complex composition beneath its irresistible lyricism. It wouldn't otherwise nudge the weighty F Minor Ballade out of first place! Mendelssohn's barcarolles, the "Venetian Boat Songs," are, of course, infinitely simpler in every way than this great work, but even so, they stand apart somewhat from the other Songs Without Words in their moodiness. 39:19 "That's the swooniest thing in all of music." Oh yeah!
fell in love with the barcarolle ever since hearing it performed by alexander gadjiev at the 2021 chopin competition. perhaps Chopin’s most beautiful standalone piece in my opinion.
I imagine this piece as a tour around Venice on a gondola. The gondola sails through the misty fog in the beginning and when you have a clear vision, the gondolier began to sing. Then you probably encounter another gondola so the gondoliers sing a duet together. As you are sailing together, you heard something grand (26:40), as if a group of people are celebrating at the Carnival. But just when you thought you are getting closer and about to find out what it is (27:00), the gondola turns to the other side and the duet resumes. Then you go through some mysterious parts of the city and different people sing different tunes (the A major, G-sharp, F-sharp solo section). Then among all these tunes, a festive group singing was heard from a distance (the climax theme in A major). But once again we sail away from it, and we arrive around the opera house where a soprano was singing the dolce sfogato theme and the massive coloratura, and with the trill of the soprano we go back to the gondolier theme. This time, when everything was played forte, we all get excited because we are finally joining the Carnival and sing and dance to the theme together. (btw I always though the left hand chords in the climax section have a form of a wave, imagine the gondola were sailing over these waves as we sing the theme in the right hand!). Then we all get drunk after-party with all the mysterious chords and modulations. Finally as we wake up, we hear the gondolier duet again. In the end we say goodbye to the gondolier as we get off the gondola. The ending was like the gondolier saying CIAO-CIAO!, and everyone responds with CIAO-CIAO!
37:35 this sounds like Coltrane changes!!! The harmonic invention of the greatest jazz saxophone player. Oh my freaking Lord. Crazy, im astonished 😮 (eg Satellite, or Countdown)
Best Chopin piece? The Tarantella of course. (Ha - pulling your leg. I know the first rule of Chopin Club is "Don't mention the Tarantella".) The Barcarolle is PURE atmosphere. It's like the smell of fresh food markets. A great festive treat this. Is this our Christmas Carolle from Team Ben?
@ijskålleter I've played it myself as an encore piece and a party piece, and it can be a rip-roaring entertainer. But Chopin himself hated it with a passion, regarding it as an embarrassment on his reputation. "Dreadful" is how translators have handed down his own verdict on it. And I notice it has not yet had a mention in these wonderful video essays. So I was just riffing on that. No offence meant.
@ijskålleter This is Ep 9 and I think (stress - "think") I've seen them all. No dive yet into the Sonatas, the Concertos (weirdly there's a Chopin subset I actually do not like), the Mazurkas, the Grand Waltzes, the Polonaises, the Variations, the misc stuff (Ecossaise, Bolero, Berceuse, Fantasy...). So I reckon we still have a couple of very nicely filled months to look forward to. Which is a most pleasing thought.
It is Christmas Eve and I spent the whole day digging out and listening to as many performances of the Barcarole I could. Finally I had enough, so I stoped. In the silence that fell on my ears it came to me that I have heard two types of renditions. The first group, probably the majority, were the performances in which: a) transition form the opening to first theme sounded senseless or almost senseless. (You may wonder how a brief moment of silence can sound senseless, apparently it can in my ears…) b) the first bridge was somehow misaligned with the entrance of second theme, making it sound like a foreign passage or a stumble or a shock of a train suddenly changing direction. c) trills were not part of the song but rather or to some extent attempts at ornamentation. d) melodic lines were not clearly intertwined but rather obscuring each other like almost always missing last one or two notes or at least the right accent. On the other hand, the few of the master performances were completely fluent including all grace notes and none of the subtle flaws mentioned above. No names. If you have time and patience you may wish to find out for your self’s. Happy Holidays season to all.
4:37 MUST pause to catch my breath, my initial favorite passage also, 5:58 NICE to see that others have issues with GMAJ Frankly, just hit you Joplin and "make music" with the left hand only 7:10 OH if only I had the freedom to "take more time"! with the left hand (it must, as Miles remarked, "defend the beat") 10:35 Since I can remember, music ALWAYS in my mindstream (I have more than one) 11:42 "begin at the beginning" due credit to Lewis Carroll, please 16:35 For a great feel for Venice, "Summertime" with Kate 18:30 "how to do it"? Sleep with an Italian for a while. 20:17 "emotional energy" translate properly into Sanskrit as "prana" , "breath", "rowing", etc. . . 23:28 MUST head back to the piano 25:35 Yes! There's probably some tongue involved 46:16 "The piano is parental controls. . ." That is some Oscar Wilde level shit! 48:03 Yeah! Dude! the Rach himself. Sweet insight. 49:25 Yes, no fireplace crap! Chopin is NEVER cozy. 50:52 TMI on the phone sex plans . . .15:34 I believe it's "vicariosity" (just ignore those red squiggles) 54:20 Yes, crass is bad
The 12th minute here is FIRE! Imagine the voicing ut what did people think or how did they that amazing 13th chord on C#.This piece often is in C#Major (really Chopin's fave key of Db!) I've read several biographies of Chopin . Alan Walker's Liszt volumes too. Yet I never reflected on the fact he was not the travelling kind. How much of Fance did he see .Never like John Feild and Clementi ,Spohr visit or actually live in Russia .He loved Italian opera but never toured or visited Rome or Venice .He did go to London and toured Germany but little else .Spanish Music can be found in his work but no visits. Travelling was fdangerous in the 19th century and of course disease had few vaccines etc. n
I wonder how Garrick gets away with playing his Bluthner on the podcase when he's a Steinway artist. The piano is so wonderful, but I know the guys at Steinway are losing their minds lol
It is profoundly an unfair question because each of Chopin's compositions evoke different feelings & emotions. That said, I do think the Barcarolle is his most harmonically sophisticated piece. Such feelings of longing...it is as if he was analyzing his entire life's work and this was his final state of emotions combined with brilliant musical craft. That is why it is fitting that this was his last and perhaps greatest composition.
Ben, is it normal for a pianist to be working on 24 pieces at the same time? I have no frame of reference, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. The Barcarolle ahhhhh, that one I have never played but it must happen. But not as my 25th piece. That one will wait until my mind is cleared and renewed.
I'm only 20 years old and I hate Ballada no. 1, Scherzo no. 2, Fantasia impromptu, Funeral March, Nocturne opus 9 no. 2 and those things that everyone loves and only listens to, I like the ballade and Scherzo no.4, I like the Polonaise fantasy and hate the heroic opus.53, I like the third improvisation, I think that happens when you specialize in listening to Chopin. It doesn't mean that I actually hate these works, but I will never prefer them.
One of the most characterful, truly barcarolle-like performances of the piece, in a wonderful flowing tempo, is the one by Stephen Hough. However great Garrick Ohlsson is, it's a pity that not a single word about tempo has been said; and his performance, at least in my opinion, is too slow and heavy.
@@martintangora7324 You were taught wrong, sorry. Speed IS a possible element of "Piu Mosso" but not necessarily. Literally, "Piu mosso" just me MORE: bigger sound, speed, (depending on the musicality of it) - if it was just about speed Chopin would have written, "Accelerando"
@@josephciolino5493 Your name looks Italian, is that right? Is Italian your first language? Every dictionary that I can find says that you are wrong and I am right. At least on balance. Here for example is from Trinity College London "Musical terms and directions for performance": "Meno mosso. Slower at once. Più mosso. Quicker at once." "At once" distinguishes from accelerando which means (as you know) becoming quicker. I know enough Italian to understand that in the general language "piu mosso" means "more." But in music, it means "faster, quicker." I Googled on the phrase and found that the first ten dictionaries all agreed that in music it means faster or quicker. You may be able to find a dictionary that agrees with you, but you have lost the argument. Maybe you are an Italian speaker and not a musician?
@@martintangora7324 FACT' I am a retired professor of musicology with over 40 years teaching and performing experience. I have lectured around the world including the Smithsonian Institute. I might guess that you are under 40 since you rely so heavily on the internet. just remember that what an idiomatic expression means TODAY is not necessarily what it meant 175 years ago, or even 50 years ago. And yes, I am a classical pianist with a specialization in the music of Chopin.
@@josephciolino5493 -- I only wish that I were more adept on the Internet. I wrote a three-paragraph reply to your comment but now it has disappeared. I have no professional credentials in music but have been a serious amateur pianist since the 1950s. In 1969 I performed the Barcarolle twice at the University of Chicago, once at the Festival of the Arts concert and once for Edward Lowinsky's Chopin class -- the distinguished musicologist had stepped out of his usual expert zone to give a class on Chopin. Your personal library surely contains at least one dictionary of Italian musical terms, and since you have not reached out and pulled one off the shelf to refute my point, you evidently are unable to. The piu mosso in the Barcarolle is controversial because, as the podcast hints, many performers are already playing big, fast, and loud at this point so that the third thematic group does not make much sense. I'm sorry that our connection is off to such a bad start. We are both lovers of music, piano, and Chopin. You are welcome to "friend" me on Facebook or to use the Internet to send me email. There is probably a lot we can agree on.
11:26 “God, we might just need to have a regular podcast, not just a Chopin podcast.”
Can we put it to a vote? I vote a resounding YES. (You and Garrick Ohlsson are just so engaging together. Ohlsson is exceedingly affable and you both have a great rapport.)
@@jeff__w I second that
It's funny - the Barcarolle was one of the pieces that didn't attract me immediately. As a teenager - I loved the loud, fast pieces. This piece seems to require a kind of maturity to appreciate.
It may sound sentimental to say - but I see this piece as "Chopin in Heaven".
It's a very special piece that feels like a foreshadowing of what his vision of heaven might be like. He was an individual who thought about death a lot - he suffered terrible illness, pain, and probably knew he wouldn't be long for this world.
I like to think of Chopin composing this piece in a state of absolute bliss - him sat at the piano, freed from all his earthly pain and woes.
I think the maturation that this piece requires to appreciate relates to this - to understand it, we have to confront our own immortality. We want to suspend time - we want time to stand still.
This piece is not "static" and "monotone" - far from it, it's filled with delicious drama and nuance - but it has an extremely unique sense of flow, a sense of oneness.
Even the moments of ecstasy - they're more like a loud sigh, a gasp, rather than an exclamation.
It's a piece that has near infinite replayability - you can listen to it over and over, in different interpretations - and never tire of all of the nuances it offers, of the heavenly world it evokes.
Again - as sentimental as it sounds - I see this as the piece that Chopin would play once he reaches heaven.
It's so blissful - there are fleeting reminisces of the pain and suffering he felt on earth, but now he is free!
He left us a gift that makes us reflect upon and treasure life - for the time this piece lasts - it's as though the world has stopped spinning, and we catch a glimpse, if only for a few moments - of eternity.
Thank you Chopin!
You're right!
maybe one of the best comments that I have ever read on youtube!
This is wonderful. The discussion itself mirrors the wonders of the music: a rich and fascinating journey into Chopin, into Venice and into the soul. Thank you!
The Barcarolle is just the gift that keeps on giving. Everytime you listen to it you learn to appreciate it more and more. I used to not be able to choose my "favourite" Chopin piece because my answer would vary each day, but after a while the answer was the Barcarolle like 4 out of 7 days. It's the unofficial fifth Ballade.
Pieces of true art become richer as the flow of time allows them to mature in our awareness. But in essence, they are what they are once created - an artistic singularity. The piece does not change, but we do.
Wouldn't you agree that the fantasie op.49 can be called his 5th ballade as well?
@@hannesdewinter1458 you can certainly make that argument, but I think the Fantasy is a little bit too structured and organized to be grouped with the more free and narrative Ballades. The Barcarolle on the other hand fits like a glove. This is just my opinion though, both of them are masterpieces.
@@thegreenpianist7683 That's a fair point!
I would vehemently disagree that the F minor fantasy is the fifth ballade, if only because it uses the same formal techniques and structure. However I consider the Barcarolle to be just as great even if it has a much simpler form
Regular podcast with Garrick… yes please!
Garrick is a treasure! A master pedagogue, and so generous! Never imposing his ideas, and always open to new ones.
His accumulated knowledge and inhumane technic didnt made him far away from us mortals, on the contrary. He seems so happy to share and enlighten us.
I can only thank you both. What a great pair!
I can't imagine how many hours it takes to produce an episode this well 😮 music from different sources flowing into each other, sheet music annotation, the quality of the conversation. Top tier!
33:56 It's hard not to notice the incredible editing in this part. Whoever did this edit did a great job.
I just wanted to point out that it's incredible whenever Ben connects the background music (one of Garrick's performances) to him continuing the piece in the same place inside the podcast. Mad congratulations the Ben for this one
I could listen to you two for hours and hours. Thanks so much for this series.
I fell in love with the Barcarolle at the age of 18 years old, and had the privilege of performing it in a concert hall at the age of 22. For many years, I wondered if it wasn't the most beautiful piece ever written for the piano. And you have answered that question, in this podcast! Thank you Ben! So happy that I'm not alone!
I had a great teacher who told me that this is "the barcarolle of life". I studied it in my late teens and never fully got it. Then i stopped playing it after experiencing a train wreck in the return of what is described here as "theme group C". I recently returned to it for purely my own pleasure, now some 30 odd years later. It speaks to me in so many ways that i could never have imagined, and even though I will never fully understand it, with the knowledge I have now, that recap with the mad left hand now no longer holds the terrors it once did. I so much enjoyed this discussion, I have to rush off and play it again. Thanks
Wonderful to see how your friendship has developed and the unbridled excitement and curiosity for music you both exhibit. Soul healing. Thank you for doing this, Ben. It is such a contribution to the music and piano communities.
This is one of the most brilliant presentations I have ever seen. One for the ages. Bravi tutti!
So many illuminating observations throughout this video, not least that way you characterize the final bars, with the idea of a narrator coming forward as in Shakespeare after the actual journey, the action, has been completed. Brilliant. Also the way you talk about the tenor coming back in towards the end to conduct the duet, each voicing answer the other. Just revelatory. And can I just say that I was thrilled you used Garrick's Rockport Festival performance of the Barcarolle for so many examples--a video I've watched dozens of times and always come away from stunned by how much he discovers and conveys in this music. It's a performance by someone who's lived with (and loved) this music for most of a lifetime, and that shows. It's completely masterful and infinitely moving, all technical challenges met with a calm command so that a listener is directed solely to the unfolding of one beauty after another throughout the piece. Thanks for such a wise and celebratory treatment of this great composition!
The Barcarolle always has something new to say to me and always try to bring something new to it every time I play it. I often come to tears listening to it: It is one of the most astonishingly beautiful pieces of music ever written and I treasure it above everything.
Well. This is the best thing I’ve watched lately - thanks for the tears.
I appreciate Ben’s comment regarding the “PG”-rated feel of the climax, I had never consciously thought it before, but I realised this section makes me think of the unbridled, wholesome joy that a dog has when it greets you again after you’ve been away.
Love this piece beyond words.
Every time my phone rings, it's Rubinstein's recording of the Barcarolle. I never want to pick up the phone😂
He recorded it twice, the first in mono 1953.
@poturbg8698 right it's the later recording
I love the Rubinstein recordings as well, but he had more than 2 recordings
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 04 1928
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 16 1946
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 29 1957
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 46 1962
Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 62 1964
@@markdecker2112 -- So which is your favorite?
@@martintangora7324 I tend to favor the 1962 performance (volumes 44-49 in the Rubinstein collection)
“Something like that” 😂 This is truly one of Chopin’s masterpieces. Every bar is magical. I would love to take lessons from Garrick.
Chopin's Barcarolle is my favorite composition. I fell in love with it immediately. Every moment of the piece is the utmost form of pure enjoyment and pleasure.
Us: “This is the most eternally miraculous piece Chopin ever wrote!”
Chopin: “Yeah, I got 500 francs for it.”
Dino Lipatti raises the bar so high in 1950, completely hypnotic. I like only a very few other versions like Pollini.
What a gift to the world of music. Thank you a thousand time
I was just thinking about the incredible stretch of masterpieces Chopin wrote one after another from Op. 56 on that includes the last Mazurkas, the Berceuse, the 3rd Sonata, the 4th Ballade, the Barcarolle, and the Polonaise-Fantasie. He was certainly at the height of his creative power.
The 4th Ballade is Opus 52, and the "heroic" polonaise Opus 53. Then there's the 4th Scherzo. So his winning streak is longer than you are giving credit for.
It demanded Chopin a great effort. He was aware that it was absolute perfection.
The Barcarolle has been my favorite work by Chopin since I was an undergrad in music school decades ago. It's currently in my repertoire. Runner ups are the Fantaisie in F minor, which I have recorded, and the Ballade in F minor, which I will learn very soon. Thanks for promoting this masterpiece.
My mother played the barcarolle at the end of her master’s recital. It has remained one of my favorite works of all time.
One of my favorite pieces of all time
What a tremendous video. Thank you Ben, Garrick and of course Chopin!
This video was a genuine eye-opener, profound and funny at the same time. Now that you've made me reflect on that, the ending does indeed feel like a narrator is wrapping up the story he has just told, a sort of "... and they lived happily ever after" moment. For a short-circuit effect, it now reminds me of the very end of Puccini's opera "Gianni Schicchi", where the main character turns into narrator and addresses the audience directly to conclude and ask for the applause: after that, a short ff recapitulation of the main motif plays a very similar role to this conclusion (it's even in the same key, enharmonically speaking).
Awesome timing, working on this piece now. Loving every bar!
And you guys just made a wonderful video full of joy, awe and laughter. Thank you
The greatest achievement Chopin made in his later and final works (the Op.50s and 60s) is the HARMONIC inventions. You will know what I mean if you can play the piano and play some of the passages at home. The harmony is more than everything. Not only was it richer than his earlier works, but also they were new, colourful, dramatic, so full of characters, and iconic to each piece's own.
This is definitely my favorite of his compositions.
Eagerly waiting for your video on it!
You said you would make a video about it :)
this was amazing, I could listen to you guys for hours ! merci !!
Yay, Christmas has come early this year - thank you, Ben and Garrick 🙏 Merry Christmas from the UK ☃️🌟
I think Chopin's Barcarolle is the most beautiful piece ever written for the piano, at least in terms of the sonorities, the way Chopin makes the piano sound. It is Chopin's love letter to the piano.
This was an absolutely amazing segment guys. Thank you.
Best episode ever. I have never enjoyed a musical discussion more! BRAVO you two.
Thank you Ben, Garrick, wonderful presentation.
Wesotych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia, Joyeux Noel, Merry Christmas all you Chopin lovers. (Forgive my Polish please)
Ben you are such a hoot - your total joy (and knowledge) is a wonder to see, and of course Garrick is totally a piano tragic too so you are the perfect combination!
Such fun so many insights 🎉❤
I have adored this peice for years, the "dolce sfogato" section being what truly made me fall in love.
The difficult recapitulation of the theme towards the end (beginning at the dramatic "piu mosso" octaves) continues to thwart me however. It's good to see that even Garrick had some struggles playing the left hand. :)
Edit: I love how obsessed you both are with this piece and how much it shows in this episode :D
A really captivating discussion. Even when the music theory is lost on me, your enthusiasm draws me in. Thanks, guys!
So beautiful, i have learned to love this piece more as I get older and this masterclass has enlightened me immeasurably on just what is happening throughout this piece! Thank you!!
I never understood why people love the Barcarolle so much. To me it feels like a "best of" tribute piece, or like an ai approximation of Chopin. But I will say that this episode has given me a new appreciation for it, I love the Venice gondola visual.
Over the last few years, the Barcarolle has become my favorite Chopin piece.
I love the connection between this piece and Medtner's Sonate Ballade
Ben I love this piece ! Did you know that Robert Schuman coined the phrase after hearing Chopin's Barcarolle , " Hats Off Gentlemen a Genius ! " Then Felix Mendelson followed by stating ," I would have given up every single piece that I 've ever written to have gone down in history as the composer who wrote Barcarolle in F Sharp Major ! "
I believe that the Hats Off comment was actually in response to Opus 2, the La Ci Darem variations.
@@martintangora7324yeah, joseph made a mistake there
@fenyx044 One can read Schumann's article, from 1831:
www.pianostreet.com/blog/files/schumann-article-on-chopin-opus-2.pdf
The Barcarolle is a chef-d’œuvre parmi des chefs-d’œuvres.
Something miraculous.
I first heard this played in a Vladimir Sofronitsky recording about 20 years ago (which is mind-boggling) and was lucky to study it with my favorite teacher. It’s sometimes referred to as the fifth Ballade and was very inspirational to Debussy and Ravel. Charles Rosen’s analysis in “The Romantic Generation” is also brilliant. Thanks for the detailed review I will have to return to it now.
Oh this was lovely, thank you Ben.
47:11 Ah, that atmosphere. You can feel Chopin’s influence on the Iberia suite.
The barcarolle and the fantasy in F minor were my favourites of Chopin for a long time, somehow nearly today too. First encounter Barenboim's recording 1973/1974.
It's hard to pick out a single favorite, but the barcarolle ranks well within my top 5: the others are the grand waltz (Chopin's own favorite composition), the polonaise-fantaisie, the F minor fantasy, and the first nocturne.
As far as christmas presents go, this one was fucking great. Thank you, Ben, and happy holidays. That narrator or "that's all folks" explanation of the ending will make me rethink the endings of lots of pieces I deemed goofy or cliche. *cue daffy duck laughter*
It's fascinating that this stand-alone piece, titled simply as a song, becomes such an amazingly varied and complex composition beneath its irresistible lyricism. It wouldn't otherwise nudge the weighty F Minor Ballade out of first place! Mendelssohn's barcarolles, the "Venetian Boat Songs," are, of course, infinitely simpler in every way than this great work, but even so, they stand apart somewhat from the other Songs Without Words in their moodiness.
39:19 "That's the swooniest thing in all of music." Oh yeah!
Faure wrote a dozen barcarolles. My favorite is the first, and it is perfect, but one cannot compare it to Chopin's.
fell in love with the barcarolle ever since hearing it performed by alexander gadjiev at the 2021 chopin competition. perhaps Chopin’s most beautiful standalone piece in my opinion.
First impressions are powerful: I got introduced to the piece by a Zimerman recording -- and instantly fell in love with it.
Excellent presentation, as usual. Thank you.
Wow I think I like the barcarolle a lot more now after this video. Also this discussion had me burst out laughing multiple times. Great video!
I imagine this piece as a tour around Venice on a gondola. The gondola sails through the misty fog in the beginning and when you have a clear vision, the gondolier began to sing. Then you probably encounter another gondola so the gondoliers sing a duet together. As you are sailing together, you heard something grand (26:40), as if a group of people are celebrating at the Carnival. But just when you thought you are getting closer and about to find out what it is (27:00), the gondola turns to the other side and the duet resumes. Then you go through some mysterious parts of the city and different people sing different tunes (the A major, G-sharp, F-sharp solo section). Then among all these tunes, a festive group singing was heard from a distance (the climax theme in A major). But once again we sail away from it, and we arrive around the opera house where a soprano was singing the dolce sfogato theme and the massive coloratura, and with the trill of the soprano we go back to the gondolier theme. This time, when everything was played forte, we all get excited because we are finally joining the Carnival and sing and dance to the theme together. (btw I always though the left hand chords in the climax section have a form of a wave, imagine the gondola were sailing over these waves as we sing the theme in the right hand!). Then we all get drunk after-party with all the mysterious chords and modulations. Finally as we wake up, we hear the gondolier duet again. In the end we say goodbye to the gondolier as we get off the gondola. The ending was like the gondolier saying CIAO-CIAO!, and everyone responds with CIAO-CIAO!
37:35 this sounds like Coltrane changes!!! The harmonic invention of the greatest jazz saxophone player. Oh my freaking Lord. Crazy, im astonished 😮 (eg Satellite, or Countdown)
Best Chopin piece? The Tarantella of course. (Ha - pulling your leg. I know the first rule of Chopin Club is "Don't mention the Tarantella".)
The Barcarolle is PURE atmosphere. It's like the smell of fresh food markets.
A great festive treat this. Is this our Christmas Carolle from Team Ben?
I‘m curious, what is wrong about the tarantella?
@ijskålleter I've played it myself as an encore piece and a party piece, and it can be a rip-roaring entertainer. But Chopin himself hated it with a passion, regarding it as an embarrassment on his reputation. "Dreadful" is how translators have handed down his own verdict on it. And I notice it has not yet had a mention in these wonderful video essays. So I was just riffing on that. No offence meant.
@@dwdei8815 Would be cool if there was an episode about the bolero and tarantella
@ijskålleter This is Ep 9 and I think (stress - "think") I've seen them all. No dive yet into the Sonatas, the Concertos (weirdly there's a Chopin subset I actually do not like), the Mazurkas, the Grand Waltzes, the Polonaises, the Variations, the misc stuff (Ecossaise, Bolero, Berceuse, Fantasy...).
So I reckon we still have a couple of very nicely filled months to look forward to. Which is a most pleasing thought.
@@dwdei8815 Pretty sure Ben said 16 episodes so we're just over half way...
BEST PIANO PIECE EVER WRITTEN AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
marvelous time
Yes the Barcarolle is his best work. And I really like the F minor Fantasy.
I burst out laughing when "unburdened" was mentioned.
A podcast for every measure? I’m not mad at that.
György Cziffra's recording of the Barcarolle is worth hearing!
Quite programmatic,think of images while in the gondola,stars are twinkling
It is Christmas Eve and I spent the whole day digging out and listening to as many performances of the Barcarole I could. Finally I had enough, so I stoped.
In the silence that fell on my ears it came to me that I have heard two types of renditions. The first group, probably the majority, were the performances in which:
a) transition form the opening to first theme sounded senseless or almost senseless. (You may wonder how a brief moment of silence can sound senseless, apparently it can in my ears…)
b) the first bridge was somehow misaligned with the entrance of second theme, making it sound like a foreign passage or a stumble or a shock of a train suddenly changing direction.
c) trills were not part of the song but rather or to some extent attempts at ornamentation.
d) melodic lines were not clearly intertwined but rather obscuring each other like almost always missing last one or two notes or at least the right accent.
On the other hand, the few of the master performances were completely fluent including all grace notes and none of the subtle flaws mentioned above.
No names. If you have time and patience you may wish to find out for your self’s.
Happy Holidays season to all.
Cosi fan Tutte mentioned!!!!
4:37 MUST pause to catch my breath, my initial favorite passage also, 5:58 NICE to see that others have issues with GMAJ Frankly, just hit you Joplin and "make music" with the left hand only 7:10 OH if only I had the freedom to "take more time"! with the left hand (it must, as Miles remarked, "defend the beat") 10:35 Since I can remember, music ALWAYS in my mindstream (I have more than one) 11:42 "begin at the beginning" due credit to Lewis Carroll, please 16:35 For a great feel for Venice, "Summertime" with Kate 18:30 "how to do it"? Sleep with an Italian for a while. 20:17 "emotional energy" translate properly into Sanskrit as "prana" , "breath", "rowing", etc. . . 23:28 MUST head back to the piano 25:35 Yes! There's probably some tongue involved 46:16 "The piano is parental controls. . ." That is some Oscar Wilde level shit! 48:03 Yeah! Dude! the Rach himself. Sweet insight. 49:25 Yes, no fireplace crap! Chopin is NEVER cozy. 50:52 TMI on the phone sex plans . . .15:34 I believe it's "vicariosity" (just ignore those red squiggles) 54:20 Yes, crass is bad
Good vid. Enduring Masterpiece
@53:50 elicited not just a lol but a full on guffaw!
Makes sense that the two voices would turn to one; the Barcarolle was written when his relationship with George Sand ended.
About time...
Ben is working on his next movie: Barcarole
The coda, THE CODAAAA
The final to me sounds like 'that's all, folks' after a cartoon...
Ben sometimes it's very easy to choose your favourite child ....only sometimes 😂
Bar 107-109 reminds me of Rach Prelude Gb m49 (around there)
Garrick is extremely funny when he's imitating how a "bad pianist" would play.
Hello!! Enjoying your videos. Question: have I missed the video on the F-minor Fantasie??? I think it is Chopin's greatest. Thanks.
The 12th minute here is FIRE! Imagine the voicing ut what did people think or how did they that amazing 13th chord on C#.This piece often is in C#Major (really Chopin's fave key of Db!)
I've read several biographies of Chopin . Alan Walker's Liszt volumes too. Yet I never reflected on the fact he was not the travelling kind. How much of Fance did he see .Never like John Feild and Clementi ,Spohr visit or actually live in Russia .He loved Italian opera but never toured or visited Rome or Venice .He did go to London and toured Germany but little else .Spanish Music can be found in his work but no visits. Travelling was fdangerous in the 19th century and of course disease had few vaccines etc. n
I wonder how Garrick gets away with playing his Bluthner on the podcase when he's a Steinway artist. The piano is so wonderful, but I know the guys at Steinway are losing their minds lol
I would like to ask you to please do a similar episode on op. 48 no.1
Maybe it's all the talk of lovers but I feel like I have a crush on Garrick after watching this. 😂
I’m sure it’s a full time job 😊
"Not even a human" LOL. Nevertheless, i would pay good money for a weekly podcast with u guys.
Soggestion: talk about allegro the concert (originally 3rd concerto) on the concertos episodes
Masterful podcast
It is profoundly an unfair question because each of Chopin's compositions evoke different feelings & emotions. That said, I do think the Barcarolle is his most harmonically sophisticated piece. Such feelings of longing...it is as if he was analyzing his entire life's work and this was his final state of emotions combined with brilliant musical craft. That is why it is fitting that this was his last and perhaps greatest composition.
Well, I think the deeper comment is that it's not his last; his next was the very dark Polonaise-Fantaisie.
46:45 if this is a romantic movie, this part is the part where they both admit they wer tarnished by not having one another for all this time
Is that the Barge Music venue where Mr. Ohlsson was performing the Barcarolle?
Each is unique and wonderful in their unique way.
Is the plural of way warranted?
probably, but I had said "their", which typically implies plural, so pluralized "ways." we don't always speak as perfectly as we can write.
What is the "Arabic Spain" Garrick is playing at 36:42?
Flamenco
Ben, is it normal for a pianist to be working on 24 pieces at the same time? I have no frame of reference, so I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. The Barcarolle ahhhhh, that one I have never played but it must happen. But not as my 25th piece. That one will wait until my mind is cleared and renewed.
The highlight of my year thank you. PLEASE do Bach next!!!!
I'm only 20 years old and I hate Ballada no. 1, Scherzo no. 2, Fantasia impromptu, Funeral March, Nocturne opus 9 no. 2 and those things that everyone loves and only listens to, I like the ballade and Scherzo no.4, I like the Polonaise fantasy and hate the heroic opus.53, I like the third improvisation, I think that happens when you specialize in listening to Chopin. It doesn't mean that I actually hate these works, but I will never prefer them.
One of the most characterful, truly barcarolle-like performances of the piece, in a wonderful flowing tempo, is the one by Stephen Hough. However great Garrick Ohlsson is, it's a pity that not a single word about tempo has been said; and his performance, at least in my opinion, is too slow and heavy.
Love Ohlssonn's playing but Piu Mosso does not mean FASTER.
I was taught that it does mean faster. Are you splitting hairs?
@@martintangora7324 You were taught wrong, sorry. Speed IS a possible element of "Piu Mosso" but not necessarily. Literally, "Piu mosso" just me MORE: bigger sound, speed, (depending on the musicality of it) - if it was just about speed Chopin would have written, "Accelerando"
@@josephciolino5493 Your name looks Italian, is that right? Is Italian your first language? Every dictionary that I can find says that you are wrong and I am right. At least on balance. Here for example is from Trinity College London "Musical terms and directions for performance": "Meno mosso. Slower at once. Più mosso. Quicker at once." "At once" distinguishes from accelerando which means (as you know) becoming quicker.
I know enough Italian to understand that in the general language "piu mosso" means "more."
But in music, it means "faster, quicker." I Googled on the phrase and found that the first ten dictionaries all agreed that in music it means faster or quicker. You may be able to find a dictionary that agrees with you, but you have lost the argument. Maybe you are an Italian speaker and not a musician?
@@martintangora7324 FACT' I am a retired professor of musicology with over 40 years teaching and performing experience. I have lectured around the world including the Smithsonian Institute.
I might guess that you are under 40 since you rely so heavily on the internet. just remember that what an idiomatic expression means TODAY is not necessarily what it meant 175 years ago, or even 50 years ago. And yes, I am a classical pianist with a specialization in the music of Chopin.
@@josephciolino5493 -- I only wish that I were more adept on the Internet. I wrote a three-paragraph reply to your comment but now it has disappeared.
I have no professional credentials in music but have been a serious amateur pianist since the 1950s. In 1969 I performed the Barcarolle twice at the University of Chicago, once at the Festival of the Arts concert and once for Edward Lowinsky's Chopin class -- the distinguished musicologist had stepped out of his usual expert zone to give a class on Chopin.
Your personal library surely contains at least one dictionary of Italian musical terms, and since you have not reached out and pulled one off the shelf to refute my point, you evidently are unable to. The piu mosso in the Barcarolle is controversial because, as the podcast hints, many performers are already playing big, fast, and loud at this point so that the third thematic group does not make much sense.
I'm sorry that our connection is off to such a bad start. We are both lovers of music, piano, and Chopin. You are welcome to "friend" me on Facebook or to use the Internet to send me email. There is probably a lot we can agree on.