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Kathleen - someone who was pure of heart ALL the time would be boring indeed:-) (I certainly ain't!!) I look forward to hearing more about La Lind from you. If she gave Chopin any comfort whatsoever in his final months - be it the joy of hearing her voice, musical companionship or even something more romantic, I am grateful to Jenny Lind for ever.

I'm afraid I shall always see her through Hans Christian Andersen's lens.

Seven ways I try to cheer myself up when feeling sad about Chopin:

Sometimes when I am thinking or reading about Chopin’s life, particularly the purgatorial final years, I feel so terribly sad. At such times I try to list ways in which he was actually very fortunate:

1- How wonderful to know you have composed such music (and although modest, he wasn’t so stupid at to not recognise that his works are great)
2- He could actually play those works, and by all accounts, without much effort (unlike poor us)
3- He had a very fortunate childhood – I can think of no other composer who had a better start in life. Loving, sensible, unselfish parents who were able to give him just the right amount of opportunity without ever exploiting him
4- His musical education was ideally suited to his character; he had a strong foundation of harmony and theory, whilst being given his head in piano playing which must have gone a long way to contribute to his originality
5- When he got to Paris he was in the perfect place and time for his genius to flourish. He was welcomed into the society of the top musicians, intellectuals and artists of his day, and had a lifelong gift for making true friends so that he had a wonderfully protective inner circle almost from the beginning
6- Women cherished him right up to the end of his life
7- His music has been loved all over the world and all over the centuries by those who know about music, by those who just like a good tune, and by many in between. He continues to be venerated today by folks such as us to which I am sure he would respond by being heart-warmed (if slightly non-plussed!)

That’s the way I manage to cheer up sometimes… any other suggestions of how lucky he was?

He had the ability to laugh at himself, and to laugh through tears. Both are great gifts.

MaryRose: I couldn't agree with you more. That she brought so much happiness and joy into Chopin's life just when he needed it the most, would certainly qualify her not only as the Swedish nightingale, but as a Swedish angel.



I didn't mean to imply that she wasn't a kind and sweet woman, and she was certainly a wonderful and caring friend to Chopin. I remember how thrilled he was when she came to visit and sang into the night, obliviously making it an evening of pure bliss for him.

A. Lincoln is a great hero of mine. Some years ago, someone made a demaining remark about him, and I recall getting so angry I couldn't see straight.

I guess I am like Frycek in the respect that I wish all of our childhood fantasies could remain ever so, especially about the people we so love and admire.


Kathleen

Kathleen - thanks for posting that photo. It's lovely. Lind isn't beautiful exactly but she looks nice, and has quite a "modern" face.

This is an example, though, of comparison between painted portrait and photograph. She is definitely romanticised in paintings.

Frycek - thanks for your addition to Chopin's "good fortune list"; very true.

MaryRose: Your poignant post brought tears to my eyes, for I, also, get terribly sad and often depressed when thinking of his life. How so very short and so very painful it was, both physically and emotionally.

You definitely have taken the higher road when thinking of all the positives in his life. I agree with all of them. In so many ways he was so fortunate (think about poor Schumann, for example).

I think what upsets me the most is that he could have lived much longer if the doctors could have provided better treatment. And in doing so, he would not have sufferred and would have found the kind of happiness to which he was so entitled. I believe he deserved the very best because of his legacy to us.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't listen to a recording of his music. And though I have heard all of it, over and over, for years and years, it never fails to find that certain spot down deep within that can only be reached by his music and his music alone.

Frycek: The M.Chopin CD (2 discs) came in the mail today. I can hardly wait to listen to it. I feel like a kid the night before Christmas!

MaryRose: M. Chopin is/was a one-man played starring Hershey Felder as Chopin. The play takes place in Chopin's salon (the room where he gave lessons). The actor actually lost 30 pounds, plays the piano, and research for 2 years in order to do justice to his character. It's like he is giving a piano lesson to the audience and talking/playing at the same time. It was a sold-out performance everywhere it went. He did Gershwin before and is working on Beethoven next, in the same type of format. The actor actually looks like Chopin (at least, the way I would picture him.)

I am posting the front and back of the CD. If you want information on how to order it, let me know. And I will let you both know just how wonderful it is...tomorrow.





Kathleen

Thanks for taking the trouble to show us the outside of the Hershy Felder CD, loveschopintoomuch. He must indeed be versatile (or possibly have very good make-up artists) to play both Chopin, and Gershwin, and Beethoven!

Is the inside as good as the outside?

Love to all Chopinophiles on a blue-skyed morning near London

I'll have to order that Hershey Felder CD. I heard his performance as Monsieur Chopin and was very impressed with his playing. He is not a traditional classical musician and you can fault him on some things like tempo. Nor would he win any contests, because his style of playing goes against the conservatory approach to Chopin.

What is different about him is this very light, silvery touch that he brings to Chopin's music. In his hands, Chopin sounds even more mystical, romantic, and ethereal than we are used to hearing. Or, to put this in technical terms, Felder certainly can play fortissimo, but he utilizes pp and ppp tones unlike any contemporary artist. You have to go to recordings before the 1930's to hear anything like this.

Numerian, I wonder if Hershey Felder is actually trying to "enact" Chopin's own playing, rather than being himself? I also wonder what piano he used? Oh, why isn't this show coming to the UK! [groans]

A good article that answers some of the questions. NB Hershey Felder is half Polish.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20050826/ai_n15363130

I suspect Hershey Felder may be one of us.

A good article that answers some of the questions. NB Hershey Felder is half Polish.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20050826/ai_n15363130

Thanks Frycek - interesting. I'm not sure that Chopin would have liked to hear Square d'Orleans called "Montmartre" - it's in the more up-market Opera district. And why on earth try to turn a Fazioli into a Pleyel? I wonder what else he's got wrong.

Grumpy of Milton Keynes (trying to make out it's rubbish because she can't go)

Montmartre may've been the reporter's fault. As for the piano (or pianos?) I wonder if it travels with him or if he adapts on site. Because it does seem to me that in one write up I read he was using a Pleyel. (Of course I've heard the Pleyels of today are nothing like they were in Chopin's day. For one thing they now have the double escapement that Chopin hated. Chopin would probably be happier with old Sam.)

Boy, these are "fight'g words, parnder!"

First and foremost, Chopin set the stage for all who followed him and "opened up new horizons of musical poetry. DeBussy above all others excelled in such discoveries, although he exploited them for their magic rather than for their potentialities of musical content." (The words in quote are those of Artur Rubinstein.)

To think of him as an "early DeBussy" is an injustice and an insult. (IMO). It's as if one is giving more esteem to the would-be copycat than the creator.

And, watch out!! To use the word "emotion" in the same sentence with Chopin is definitely a no-no.

Emotion=Romanticism And anyone who knows anything about Chopin would not put his music in that category (or genre) for he, himself, hated the word and its connotation. He has been given credit for "bridging" the two schools...Classic/Romantic, and "opened a great unexplored world of new sounds and vibrations. He mixed sounds as paints are mixed on a palette, and produced colors that had not even been imagined before. He developed his own alchemy of tones; he ventured unexpected combinations, and created harmonies with extraordinary freshness." (again Rubinstein)

Now Kathleen...
It's difficult to listen to much of Chopin's music and not get emotionally involved. So therein may lie the false labeling. I can only speak for myself, but his music weaves its magic spell on my rational thought more so than on my temperment or passion. Yes, when I was younger, I admit to shedding a few tears at the beauty of it all. But now, many, many years later, I've come to appreciate it on a more logical level.

It seems to "complete" me. Everything seems to fit, so that you almost have to nod your head as if to say: "Yes, that's it! That's how it is suppose to sound, and how I, myself, would make it sound if I had the ability."

Lastly, Chopin was a perfectionist and his art was his life. He didn't go off walking on a cloud, humming to himself some little ditty and then put the notes to paper in a blink of the eye. He labored long and hard for days, months and even years to get it perfect.

And that's what I hear when I listen to him. The perfection, not the emotion.

Kathleen

Kathleen, your mention of Rubinstein reminds me that I have been meaning to ask if you could tell us more about his concert that you went to... and sat on the stage.... what an experience! Rubinstein is my favourite pianist, although I was never in a position to hear him live.

Please can you give an account of how that came about, and your impressions of the concert?

BTW on another thread you mentioned that he wasn't note-perfect, and I thought to myself that that wasn't surprising as he must have been decades past his prime at that time. Even so, what a man, and what an interpreter of Chopin.

Hi MaryRose:

I would LOVE to tell you about one of the most memorable days in my life. I never get much of a chance to do so, since my friends and family aren't very interested. None likes classical music. And one thought that Artur Rubinstein was the "guy who invented the atomic bomb."

Sometimes I think I was adopted.

This took place when I was 15, so he would have been 67 (hey, just the age I am now). I was born and raised in Chicago in a small Polish neighborhood. It wasn’t unusual to hear Chopin’s music being played on the radios or stereos or even pianos, especially during the summer when everyone’s windows were open. Since my family didn’t get the daily newspapers, I found out about his performance, just one day at Orchestra Hall downtown, only 4 days beforehand. I HAD to get a ticket, no matter what the cost. All the kids my age were ga-ga about Elvis. Me…Rubinstein!! I grew up listening to alll of his Chopin recordings, and I memorized every one, with every nuance. Horowitz was around at the same time, but he seemed (at least to me) a bit too loud. I used to call him “heavy-handed Horowitz.”

Luckily, when I called the box office on Thursday, I was informed that there were just a few SRO places remaining. I rushed downtown (taking the el and subway) and bought a ticket. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep those next remaining days.

When I arrived at Orchestra Hall, I was told that because they couldn’t allow people to stand, they were setting up folding chairs on the stage! And, I was one of the lucky (and late) people who were going to be able to sit there. Wow! So much for the “early bird gets the worm.”

I had a seat on the “aisle” just where Rubinstein would walk as he approached the piano. And he did, walk right by me, within an arm’s length.

My impressions: He looked like someone’s beloved grandfather. On the short side, wild white hair that floated around his head like a wispy halo. But a bundle of energy and confidence. The house figuratively hit the roof with applause when he appeared.

The next two hours are somewhat of a blur because he played as beautifully as I thought he would. I did hear the clinkers but, of course, thought I must have imagined it because how could Rubinstein hit a wrong note?

The audience would not let him leave the stage, and he played 3 encores.

I think, aside from the fact that he was the ONLY interpreter of Chopin…IMO, I loved the fact that he was quite a playboy and “fooled around” a lot until his mid-twenties. It was at that point when he realized he couldn’t live off his friends and family. So he applied himself to the piano in earnest, and the rest is history. His story rather inspired me because although I had to intenitons of playing in the concert hall, I did think that starting rather late (in my mid-teens) would not impede my progress at playing.

What a guy!

Someday, if you’re interested (and this is a great and hilarious story), I’ll tell you about my attending a Van Cliburn concert. Another unforgettable experience.

Thanks for your interest, and I hope I didn’t bore you…too much.

Oh, if you have any teens, they may have heard of the Nine Inch Nails (an acid rock group ). My nephew, James, played with them for about 4 years. Another tale to be told, someday.

Kathleen

I just received this poster, which I ordered from allposters. com.

At first, I loved it...the coloring and etc. Then I was struck by something very wrong about it. Can you guess what that might be?


Kathleen

Well there's that fiddle for starters.

Now, let's hear about Van Cliburn.

Yep, you're right, of course.

Why in the heck did they put a violin smack in the middle of the picture instead of a piano?

Very strange. Maybe they have some type of boiler plates made up as posters, and they forgot to take off the fiddle for Paganini.

I think I told the Van Cliburn story on the Pianist forum. I'm going to see if I can find it so I won't have to type it all over again.

Kathleen