Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810-1849) – Etudes, op. 10 & 25

Continuando a saga chopiniana, aqui temos outra gravação histórica, Maurizio Pollini tocando os Estudos, op. 10 e op. 25. Claro que não é por acaso que estou colocando esta versão. Temos aqui no blog um grande defensor do pianista italiano. Admiro Pollini, mas confesso que não é meu pianista favorito, mas nem por isso deixo de admirá-lo. Entra aqui uma questão extremamente pessoal: o intelectual sobre o emocional. Explico em poucas palavras: muitos acusam o italiano de ser por demais cerebral, não se deixa levar pela emoção, é contido onde poderia extravasar.Como isso é uma questão extremamente pessoal, deixarei para discuti-la em outra ocasião. Como o que nos interessa aqui é a música de Chopin, vamos a ela.

Upon his return to Warsaw, Chopin, already free from student duties, devoted himself to composition and wrote, among other pieces, two Concertos for piano and orchestra: in F minor and E minor. The first concerto was inspired to a considerable extent by the composer’s feelings towards Konstancja Gladkowska, who studied singing at the Conservatory. This was also the period of the first nocturne, etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, and songs to words by Stefan Witwicki. During the last months prior to his planned longer stay abroad, Chopin gave a number of public performances, mainly in the National Theatre in Warsaw where the première of both concertos took place. Originally, his destination was to be Berlin, where the artist had been invited by Prince Antoni Radziwill, the governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznan, who had been appointed by the king of Prussia, and who was a long-standing admirer of Chopin’s talent and who, in the autumn of 1829, was his host in Antonin. Chopin, however, ultimately chose Vienna where he wished to consolidate his earlier success and establish his reputation. On 11 October 1830, he gave a ceremonial farewell concert in the National Theatre in Warsaw, during which he played the Concerto in E minor, and K. Gladkowska sang. On 2 November, together with his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, Chopin left for Austria, with the intention of going on to Italy. Several days after their arrival in Vienna, the two friends learnt about the outbreak of the uprising in Warsaw, against the subservience of the Kingdom of Poland to Russia and the presence of the Russian Tsar on the Polish throne. This was the beginning of a months-long Russo-Polish war. T. Woyciechowski returned to Warsaw to join the insurgent army, while Chopin, succumbing to the persuasion of his friend, stayed in Vienna. In low spirits and anxious about the fate of his country and family, he ceased planning the further course of his career, an attitude explained in a letter to J. Elsner: “In vain does Malfatti try to convince me that every artist is a cosmopolitan. Even if so, as an artist, I am still in my cradle, as a Pole, I am already twenty; I hope, therefore that, knowing me well, you will not chide me that so far I have not thought about the programme of the concert”. The performance ultimately took place on 11 June 1831, in the Kärtnerthortheater, where Chopin played the Concerto in E minor. The eight months spent in Vienna were not wasted. Strong and dramatic emotional experiences inspired the creative imagination of the composer, probably accelerating the emergence of a new, individual style, quite different from his previous brilliant style. The new works, which revealed force and passion, included the sketch of the Scherzo in B minor and, above all, the powerful Etudes from op. 10. Having given up his plans for a journey to Italy, due to the hostilities there against Austria, Chopin resolved to go to Paris. On the way, he first stopped in Munich where he gave a concert on the 28th of August and then went on to Stuttgart. Here he learnt about the dramatic collapse of the November Uprising and the capture of Warsaw by the Russians. His reaction to this news assumed the form of a fever and nervous crisis. Traces of these experiences are encountered in the so-called Stuttgart diary: “The enemy is in the house (…) Oh God, do You exist? You do and yet You do not avenge. – Have You not had enough of Moscow’s crimes – or – or are You Yourself a Muscovite […] I here, useless! And I here empty-handed. At times I can only groan, suffer, and pour out my despair at my piano!”.

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810-1849) – Etudes, op. 10 & 25

01 – Etude op.10 No.1 in C major_ Allegro

02 – Etude op.10 No.2 in A minor_ Allegro ‘chromatique’

03 – Etude op.10 No.3 in E major_ Lento, ma non troppo ‘Tristesse’

04 – Etude op.10 No.4 in C sharp minor_ Presto

05 – Etude op.10 No.5 in G flat major_ Vivace ‘Black Keys’

06 – Etude op.10 No.6 in E flat minor_ Andante

07 – Etude op.10 No.7 in C major_ Vivace

08 – Etude op.10 No.8 in F major_ Allegro

09 – Etude op.10 No.9 in F minor_ Allegro, molto agitato

10 – Etude op.10 No.10 in A flat major_ Vivace assai

11 – Etude op.10 No.11 in E flat major_ Allegretto

12 – Etude op.10 No.12 in C minor_ Allegro con fuoco ‘Revolutionary’

13 – Etude op.25 No.1 in A flat major_ Allegro sostenuto ‘Harp Study’ 1

4 – Etude op.25 No.2 in F minor_ Presto 1

15 – Etude op.25 No.3 in F major_ Allegro

16 – Etude op.25 No.4 in A minor_ Agitato

17 – Etude op.25 No.5 in E minor_ Vivace

18 – Etude op.25 No.6 in G sharp minor_ Allegro

19 – Etude op.25 No.7 in C sharp minor_ Lento

20 – Etude op.25 No.8 in D flat major_ Vivace

21 – Etude op.25 No.9 in G flat major_ Allegro assai ‘Butterfly Wings’

22 – Etude op.25 No.10 in B minor_ Allegro con fuoco

23 – Etude op.25 No.11 in A minor_ Lento – Allegro con brio ‘Winter Wind’

24 – Etude op.25 No.12 in C minor_ Molto allegro, con fuoco

Maurizio Pollini – Piano

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