I'm waiting for my hair to dry again. It seems I spend most of my life waiting for my hair to dry. I bet if anyone did a study they could tell me I spend a disastrous amount of time, like 38% of my life waiting for my hair to dry.
I spent $52 on 2 CDs with the exact same pieces, but different pianists. A selection of Beethoven's piano sonatas played by Alfred Brendel and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Yes, call me an idiot. I was testing the CDs, trying to decide which to buy, and I was intrigued by both and couldn't possibly listen to the whole CD, so in the end I just bought both. What follows is my very subjective and amateur dissection of what I like/ don't like about one of the pieces, Piano sonata No 8 in C minor, Pathetique. (I've been mainly listening to this piece because I'm trying to play it.)
1st Movement (Grave) - Let's face it, I like drama in my music, with storm clouds gathering and titanic clashes of forces etc. Ashkenazy's opening is dramatic (I think he's a dramatic sort of pianist); he starts with literally a crash of keys followed by soft, tense and tight phrases. Brendel's opening is measured and deliberate. It's not without tension, but it's not as nerve-wracking as Ashkenazy's. In principle I like a more overtly dramatic opening like Ashkenazy's, and when I play I tend to interpret along the lines of Ashkenazy instead of Brendel. Yet strangely enough, I prefer Brendel's version. Perhaps it's because while Ashkenazy is dramatic, there's something about it that makes me feel slightly restless and flustered and unsatisfied, as if Ashkenazy's drama is not as focused and masterful as I'd like it to be. That said, I do wish Brendel's version had a bit more fire and less soiree in it. So yes I like Brendel's version, even if I would not go with his interpretation.
2nd Movement (Adagio Cantabile) - This is the Adagio Cantabile section (meaning slow & stately, & in a singing style respectively). Ok, this movement is a big problem for me because I go for more cantabile and less adagio. It just seems strange that for a section that is supposed to be cantabile/ singable, so many pianists play it so slowly that no one could hold their breath long enough to sing it. In other words, I feel that most tend to go for more adagio and less cantabile, which I think is a pity because it's such a pretty section and playing it too slowly takes the prettiness away. Plus most pianists play the bass too heavily for me. It just ends up feeling like a very 'heavy' section, whereas I prefer it with more movement and more song-like. Then again who am I to argue with these legions of professional pianists? It's just me I tell you. For this section Ashkenazy plays it faster than Brendel, but again, I like Brendel's cleaner sounding playing. Hmmm I'm beginning to think that it's Ashkenazy's piano that I don't like, not his playing. I actually adore Ashkenazy for Rachmaninoff.
3rd Movement (Rondo Allegro) - Ok, again mixed feelings. On one hand I think Brendel captures the shape of the music better, on the other, Ashkenazy's interpretation is closer to my own. The thing about this section is that I feel both play the section slightly too quickly. There are parts of this section that (I think) are dying to be milked for emotion and drama. For me, this is especially so for the theme, and even more so for bars 170-182. I was waiting for either pianist to do that, but I think both played the movement too fast to do much with it. Then again, I play the movement too slowly for an allegro, so maybe I'm just entirely off track.
Hmmm this has been an interesting exercise for me, comparing my interpretation of the piece with the interpretations of two piano superstars. Sometimes I learn a piece AFTER listening to it many many times, and I get very influenced by that recording. For this sonata, I started playing from the score first, so my interpretation is really quite uninfluenced. It's kind of fun to see where my teacher would have rapped me on my head for ignoring the score and tempo instructions entirely (the latter is something I tend to do a lot). I guess what I call 'my interpretation' could as easily (and perhaps more accurately) be called 'my mistake'. Ah well, I guess it also shows me how far I have to grow still. Perhaps in a month, I'd be changing my assessment of the two pianists entirely.
Gosh I'm so incoherent today.
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