uncodified chopin
among my fav piano concertos, chopin’s 2nd concerto in f minor holds a special place in my heart. It would be unfair if I don’t introduce this piece of masterwork to my readers, and i would hate to see this concerto to be eclipsed or forgotten.
i won’t lie: i’m not a fan of chopin. as someone who was immersed in a cultural upbringing that almost oversells chopin, i’m always kinda overcautious when it comes to chopin. why? due to the skyrocketing renditions of chopin, it would be incredibly difficult to offer one’s idiosyncratic expression. i don’t want to play, speak, or think as everyone else. so arrives my avoidance of chopin.
the oversaturation of chopin in our listening library causes more than a problem of delivering a unique interpretation. chopin’s meanwhile codified as an unavoidable signpost in the career of any pianist—emanuel ax once said the same thing, “i don’t know one pianist whose career doesn’t devote to chopin.” similar conversations about why classic literature should be preserved and widely taught are not unheard of.
for a stage in my life, when i was living in the epistemic bubble of my hometown, chopin was all i knew in terms of music. i simply had no clue about any other musicians—including those big names, i.e. rachmaninoff, prokofiev, stockhausen—other than the great chopin. more horribly, my younger self was only exposed to some particular genres of chopin. those genres happen to be of little value to the personality or compositional style of chopin. what i’m trying to convey here is, my younger self wasn’t aware mazurkas, but merely polonaise, valse, or scherzo. to conquer the latter group requires a lot of technical practice, which is not a pleasant experience for me.
enough about my relationship with chopin. i’m here to share this special rendition of the second concerto played by one of the most exciting pianists in our age: Alex kantorow.
(this album cover is seriously ruining the aesthetic of my website. i mean, couldn't they use the one with pires' profile picture?)
the 3rd movement symbolizes a magical triumph (of something). this movement is my timeless favorite. i mean, how is it possible for any mortal to compose something like this?