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Not only from them. Chopin's mazurkas ARE the dances, and therefore they have very characteristic and typical to that dance sense of rhythm, accentuation and tempo rubato.

That is the main reason why mazurkas are considered pieces very difficult to play correctly and are the workhorses during this competition, and during diploma exams in our universities. When you look at the programme it comes pretty clear why polonaise, waltz and mazurka are stacked together - playing them closely aparat shows very well the understanding of these genres and differences between them.

It is very important not to blend a mazurka into a waltz (which is often tempting and very often heard).

The commentators fully agree on this, but it is not basically their opinion. I'm not familiar with English books on this subject, though. I am pretty sure this topic is broadly covered in books on Mazurkas, 19th music and Chopin in general.

i think what the commentators were commenting upon were two things: what sounded like mistakes (wrong notes, wrong tempi, etc.) -- in the sense of just being WRONG, i.e. misread; but possibly also interpreting liberties in violation of the score (that's just my guess)

mati

i think the importance of the mazurka is underscored by the existence of the special mazurka price -- they really want you to get the mazurka right

Ok the faces of that Chinese girl are just too much.

If we can't put emotions in our playing, put them in our face :|

I actually think her playing is expressive though. I
n the last movement of the sonata she somehow lost control a little bit.

Wow, huangci's 2nd sonata is incredible

The online commentators may have may have good knowledge, but when the jury chooses a pianist not liked by the commentators, I think this shows that the commentators have opinions only. IMO there is not one correct way to play a Mazurka or Chopin in general. One only has to listen to the many different great performances by the great Mazurka players to see this.

Exactly what do you think the pianists who played Mazurkas incorrectly did wrong? I don't think it's "brain surgery" knowing what things should be done when one plays a Mazurka. Nor do I think the teachers of the huge majority of contestants fail to understand what's needed for a good Mazurka performance or lack the ability to explain that to their students.

Of course! But there are incorrect ways.



And one will only hear performances faithful to the mazurka rhythm. No acclaimed Mazurka performer takes liberty at that.



Those, who played them incorrectly put emphasis on the first beat with clearly heard waltz rhythmic feel (OOM-pa-pa). I believe there are other factors too, my ear and understanding of these pieces is not good enough to discern the features though.



I don't remember anyone talking about majority? Those who were accused of INCORRECT peformances were single exceptions, not the majority. Criticism of others was quite subtle.


M.

Double post

Some of them CLEARLY missed the 2nd beat accent, which is the basic of a mazurka. OTOH, ofcourse you are right that they are some of the best on the planet, and their playing is remarkable. That said, I know what they mean when they said their mazurka's weren't mazurka's.

I know you've criticized people here for giving harsh criticism to professionals due to our lack of "standing", but in this case you're dealing with professionals dealing with other professionals....

Just my opinion, just because a pianist has the best teacher, is one of the best young pianists in the world, has a fantastic resume,etc, doesn't mean they can play this kind of music correctly. This includes all folk music, or ethnic music, like Albeniz as well.

I hereby officially excuse all workers of the world to take one hour off from work tommorrow to watch Mei Ting Sun play(11 am Eastern Standard Time).

I'll also send $1 to everyone reading this thread if MTS doesn't push up his glasses more than five times.

I'm in! (no really, I'm off all day tomorrow, I love my job)

I feel excused and hereby I declare I am going to hear him tommorrow LIVE!

I think that, although there are different kinds of Mazurkas, the main difference between a Mazurka and a Waltz is the accent on the second or third beat. There are degrees of accent, so saying a pianist played a Mazurka like a Waltz is subjective unless they pounded out the first between compared to the second or third. IMO the appropriate amount of accent, whether on the second or third beat, would depend on the partciular Mazurka. I think there is still an accent on the first beat in a Mazurka, just not as pronounced as in a waltz.

Whatever the correct thought about the main difference between a Mazurka and Waltz is, do you really think the contestants and their teachers are unaware of this? It's not some secret or highly advanced topic.


Maybe I'm confusing the criticsm with PW posters criticsm about the Mazurkas. I do recall someone saying or quoting the online panel that the majority of contestants didn't know how to play a Mazurka.

I would give more credibility to the panel of professionals than non professional posters. My objection was that I think they said most of the contestants didn't know how to play Mazurkas. I don't think being a top young pianist with a great teacher guarantees someone will play a Mazurka "correctly", but I think the chances of this happening are fairly small.

Your point about including Albeniz with other folk music is interesting. I always felt de Laroccha's playing of Albeniz(but also all Spanish and even non Spanish music) had some rhythmic quality(I can't put into words) that was one its main assets.

Amusing or just colorful? I couldn't see it that clearly or didn't look closely enough. He is the only pianist I saw that wore a colorful tie(some wore no tie). I don't know if is really appropriate for such a competition but I don't think it's enough for automatic disqualification. It looked better than the other American's skinny tie with a button down collar.

Disqualification? For not wearing a tie??

That would be most ridiculous, Gulda has already proven its worth of one's clothes during a performance !

Tomorrow evening couldn't be better IMO!

Skinny tie is how young people dress these days...I love it and do the same...