Chopin composed a total of two sets of Etudes published as Op. 10 and Op. 25. Our attention is focused on the third piece of the first set of Etudes which has been named "Tristesse" by Chopin himself which means sadness. Some scholars are of the opinion that this piece was composed when Chopin heard that his motherland Poland has been occupied forcibly by the Russians but this does not seems to tie in chronologically as there were more facts pointing to the entire Op. 10 being published when he was 23 years old which is before the Russian occupation. Anyway, sadness is the theme of this piece no matter what the root of his sadness. The fact that Chopin put a name to this piece is of significance as he did not name all this Etudes save for a handful of them.
This piece is also known for its romatic fluidity as Chopin himself commented later on in his life as follows. "In all my life I have never again been able to find such a beautiful melody." I actually thought his Piano Concerto No. 1 as his greatest piece of work always but anyhow, the maestoro opinion counts more than mine. Herbert Weinstock in his biography on Chopin that "if it is realtively easy to play, it is maddeningly diffcult to play well." Actually this comment most probably refers to the Theme portion of the piece as the other two portions; Variations and Iterations are no child's play with some of the more difficult chromatic chord manipulations. Chopin has actually meant a steady 2/4 beat of Lento ma non-troppo but many interpreters has taken liberty in following their heart instead of pursuing technical excellence over the years. I tend to agree as the later recordings has a more varied tempo then the older ones and I find the more modern recording more befitting style wise for playing this beautiful romantic piece. The same biographer also went on to comment that "No lesser pianist should play it except to himself." This makes it like the Bible that can be plainly understood by laymen but has enough depth to drown many a biblical scholar.
Enough about the generalistes of the piece and I have done a comparison of the piece with the following. I have decided to excludes transciptions for other instrueents and cross over versions. Please forgive my purists pursuit o this note as cross over artists occupy a different part of my heart when it comes to music and this is a very peronal opinion.
1.Chopin:The Complete Etudes, Earl Wild, Chesky Records 4:30
2.Chopin the Complete Works, Garrick Ohlssohn, Hyperion 4:20
3.Chopin Etudes, Murray Perahia,Sony Classical, 3:51
Chopin Etudes, Murray Perahia,Sony Classical
4.Favourite Chopin, Vladimir Ashkenazy,Decca, 4:21
Of these 4 pieces that I have listened over and over again, my vote goes to Ashkenazy as he seems to playing though Chopin;s hand literally. Technically, Perahia is most probably the most consistent. I find the Earl Wild a bit over the top in terms of personalizing the piece by injecting his entire being into it. Ohlsson who is a well regarded Chopin figure seems to have something missing overall in the piece although I cannot fault any portion of the piece but the sum of the parts somehow did not add up.
I shall try to continue to write on Chopin after having bought quite a number of Chopin CDs of late and tune in soon.
Peter Lye aka lkypeter.blogspot.com
Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye