The Chopin Must Go On

He considered the late music of Beethoven wayward.

by Peter Burwasser

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Published: Apr 13, 2010

This year is the bicentennial of the birth of Frédéric Chopin. There is a bit of hoopla about it, but not on the scale accorded to similar milestones from Mozart and Beethoven. Why not, because he mainly wrote solo piano music — no epic symphonies or operas? Perhaps, and yet within those singular solo piano compositions, there was the work of one of the most original and consistently inspired musical minds of all time.

The story of Chopin's creative life is wonderfully paradoxical. He was an epic trailblazer, a key figure in the early Romantic era in music. Schumann famously declared, after a recital by the young Chopin in Paris, shortly after the young man's flight from his native Poland, "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!" Chopin was flattered, but did not return the favor. He found the music of Schumann, and also Liszt, another generous admirer, to be vulgar. He considered the late music of Beethoven, conceived in Chopin's lifetime, wayward. When he was not composing, he happily played Bach and Mozart, his heroes. In the meantime, he was writing music of harmonic daring and dramatic impact that continues to challenge listeners to this day.

Above all else, it is Chopin's melodic gift that distinguishes him in the pantheon of the great ones. Bach was the master of polyphony, Mozart the technician par excellence, Beethoven the hammer, but Chopin had the tunes. The richness, variety and unflagging high level of his prolific work, in a short 39 years, is still a thing of wonder.

There has never been a lack of terrific Chopin recordings. You can pretty much throw a dart at the catalog and come up with something worthwhile. Pianists adore Chopin. He was himself one of the great pianists of his time, so he wrote with the insight of a performer. Even amateur musicians appreciate the natural way the notes fall under the fingers. You can spend a premium for recordings by such legends as Rubinstein, Horowitz, Cortot, Argerich and others, but there is also much pleasure to be derived from excellent budget versions from Naxos and their ilk. Better yet, take a few piano lessons and learn the music firsthand. You could do no higher honor to the memory of a unique master.

(p_burwasser@citypaper.net)

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