How exciting it is to be able to listen to this great pianist story. Legend has it that he was very shy before the public, and that in his studio he could play ten times better than on stage. He was a pianist for pianists, and many famous figures of the instrument would listen to his house.
some parts ARE extremely fast i agree, but he did some things here that were very very interesting, and he brought out some parts I've never heard any pianist do before. mainly "after" the big return of the main theme in the bass and in the right hand when the theme comes back for the 3rd time. emanuel ax's recording is the one i grew up with
There is a lot of technical imperfection. Listen exactly ! I'm not talking about wrong nots, I'm talking about badly controlled notes, a bad structuring of chords etc. A lot of pianists today have a better technique. But when you aren't a professional pianist, it's difficult to explain.
not human! I can't imagine Chopin would have played it like this. I like it because it is one of a kind -- not my favorite first ballade by any means however.
Thoughtful highly intelligent with a mind all of his own.. No matter strange the gestures, he always betrays an intimate knowledge of the musical language. No pianist plays like this other than himself
this Ballad is of formidable musical difficulty. I heard the greatest pianists trying to cope with it not always successfully. Only Rubinstein in his 1959 studio recording had a great moment of inspiration and stand above all others
Unbelievable fast playing but it makes it sound less musical and more technical, a shame there is no video of him playing to see his technique. It looks like he had quite small hands interesting how he could play so comfortably. The same question I always had about Hoffmann
I wonder if the pressures of time constraints for records during this time spurred these faster tempi. If you look at Godowsky's editions of Chopin's music and even his arrangements of the etudes, he has reasonable metronome numbers, and even advises slower tempi in the Chopin Etudes than Chopin's own. For instance, the Etude No.1 in C major, Godowsky thinks quarter-note = 176 is much too fast and writes that a tempo closer to quarter-note =144 is better suited for the character of the piece.
these tempi used her by Godowsky are very very fast. Incredible concentration he had to get it right. Otherwise its a very classic interpretation in Chopins style. No other pianist of the 20th century could do it like that except maybe Ignaz Friedman
I wasn't ever aware that Godowsky made a Duo Art recording of the 1st Ballade, or any recording of it for that matter. Where'd you get this? Are you sure it's really him? Thanks!
Love you Leopold. YOu are one of the Greats, but I feel ,you are rushing through sections of this remarkable ballad and therefore sweeping away some of its beauty.
I think you should acknowledge Godowski's absolute topclass technical mastery instead of relating to duo art. Musical expression and gesture in the fast parts are completely in line with the tempi played, just as the many barely touched upon notes, or "sloppiness" in these crazy tempi . As I hear it, there is no or at max very little increased playing speed. Horowitz also plays the coda with this speed, be it with less exaggerated accents in the right hand. If we look at duo art I guess it is more probable that some wrong notes were repaired in the coda.
@@davisatdavis1 I didn't talk about one ore two wrong notes - but the logic is: When you play too much wrong notes, you don't play the work the composer wrote anymore. Some wrong notes are an absolutely no go, f. ex. the note of the climax in a phrase...And badly controlled notes: thie is much more grave. Badly controlled notes can distroy a work. When you play a phrase and one note is too loud or too week, the whole phrase is over the Jordan...When you don't hear it, you must work on your musical sensivity. But when I hear your Bach Prelude in G, so i'm not so hopeful concerning your career. No musical idee, and played like a machine with a defect. No controle: Listen youself exactly: One note loud, one week , the tempo is instable. When you do it, you must do it with a maximal control and will - but you heve a grave deficite in this thinks. But who cares....
Actually, thlugh he plays some sections quite fast, some of the slower sections are actually on the slow side, thpugh sensitively played. Demonically fast, crystal clear fast passages, but he is only highly musical in the slower sections and then his playing is quite colorful and sensitive. Unusual playing!
the Coda of this!!! That's exactly the murderous Coda this needs. Yes, I would play the rest in a different manner, but hey, nowadays pianists play the Coda like it was something NICE, but it's not - that Coda is evil, is about hypothetical person being an "architect of death", what's nice about that? Nothing! It's evil and so it should sound evil and murderous and horrible and terrifying, definitely not nice. And if you play the first part of the Ballade nicely then you have unbelievable contrast capable of shaking everyone. Something like designing beautiful world or describing huge love of two youngsters only to kill them both in the Coda.
A cause de la technique d’enregistrement on n’a pas la dynamique, mais c’est une interprétation passionnante avec de la tenue qui peut être appréciée en l’état et pas trop abîmée par les fantaisies que l’on se permettait à l’époque, genre Josef Hofmann. Très beau style avec un côté très ébouriffant !
Mais un assez mauvais contrôle , les pianistes d'aujourd'hui jouent beaucoup plus controlé et avec une meilleure technique, mais la comparaison est assez injuste, c'est clair...ça concerne aussi la technique de l'enrégistrement.
have a drink We see the life of Virginia Woolf and It tells the story of the hem of a lady who set off on a wooden horse. The horse has abandoned its master, and only the bell rings, I left for fall, a star falls from the bottle The broken star breaks lightly in my heart The girl I've known for a while Growing next to vegetation in the garden Literature dies, life dies. Even so the truth of love hunts the shadow of love and hate I can't see the person of love riding a horse time comes and goes I once withered from isolation now we have to say goodbye Hear the bottle fall in the wind You should look in the eyes of an old writer …… On the lighthouse…… Even though you can't see the fire For the future of pessimism We must remember the sound of the dreary horse Whether all go or die Holding on to the weak consciousness left in my heart for free We must hear the sad story of Virginia Woolf. Like a snake that crossed the space between two rocks and found its youth Open your eyes and drink a glass of wine. life is not lonely It's popular like the cover of a free magazine Are we leaving because we are afraid of something to regret? the horse is in the sky The sound of bells roars in my ears. the autumn wind I'm choking on my fallen bottle of wine .
If this is really the tempo he originally played (on which I have my doubts), the Ballade is indeed really fast - even the octaves starting 04:47 are extremely fast, almost like the ones played by Horowitz.
@@ferrino6642 I have utmost respect for Godowsky as a musician and a pianist. He is the one single pianist whose work I want to study deeply and whose thoughts and rationales I want to understand throughly. I greatly admire his playing, especially in the Chopin nocturnes which are peerless. But you have to understand that the problem with piano rolls is that they are not recordings - and that they can be played in many different speeds. And because of that my rationale here is as follows: I always try to compare Godowsky's playing in his piano roll performances to the ones where one can hear him play in an acoustic recording. If there's something that is too much off in the former, I tend to believe the testimony of the latter. The result of my comparison here is my unshakable conviction that the tempo in which the piano roll played is not correct. It is somewhat too fast and leads some passages to be so fast that they are technically impossible. An as such I think that does not reflect his original way of choosing tempos when playing the Chopin g minor ballade. I'm fully aware that I might be wrong and Godowsky's technical prowess is even greater that I can believe. Still, I do believe that the piano roll here is too fast. The result is of course extremely brilliant, but is not representative of Godowsky's original playing.
So they're both from your own private collection then? Some of the fast sections seem like they may have been sped up, but regardless of whether that was done after he made the recording or not, the final product is very interesting. I searched your postings, and don't see his 3rd Ballade recording. Would you consider posting that one too?
Hi Mr. C! Agree. He plays (MURDERS) the pieces so SWIFTLY that you don't hear the music. I don't have a clue why people speak so highly of this machine. I will never believe a thing l hear from '"experts" again.
I have listened to almost all of Godowsky's recordings not made from piano rolls and he was clearly a great artist with a huge technique at his disposal. This recording is, I believe, a gross distortion of both Chopin's music and Godowsky's playing of it. Listen to any and all of Godowsky's actual recordings of Chopin and you hear nothing like this travesty.
It's an interesting recording but one has to take these piano rolls with a big grain of salt when it comes to tempo, velocity and pedaling. They have always this awkward feeling to them.
I don't doubt that Godowsky could play this fast---his technique was high praised. But Chopin is destroyed in the process. Something like playing the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata as an arpeggio etude.
Albeit there are some unique ideas he explored During the process. For example, his clarity is well possessed and his Dynamics are soft. Horowitz's interpretation is unique but articulation seems disjointed. I used to mix all ideas astonished me when I was younger but now, due to age, my playing is no longer near satisfying.
I honestly found his interpretation (I can’t believe I’m saying this. I didn’t think it was possible.) too fast. I hope it was because it’s a roll and not because that’s actually how he plays because if so I really didn’t find it emotionally enjoyable just virtuosic
It's not a serious Interpretation, it's a exhibitionism of himself....and technically badly played.....for all who know each note of this piece, a very bad technical performance.
I actually question the veracity of this piano roll recording relative to Godowsky's playing. If you listen to the actual recordings of him, and compare to the piano roll, this does not sound like him at all in conception or execution.
