Il Giornale della Musica
A dancing Chopin
an artist’s notebook read by a musician in a state of grace...the union (which is truly that of the great musicians) of emotional depth and simplicity of expressionIt seems a paradox for a composer who has written many works that are dense with impervious virtuosity, but it is often said that Chopin’s most “difficult” works are the apparently simple and charming mazurkas. Perhaps it is because in these short pieces, free in form but all with the rhythmic temperature of the folk dance, Chopin was at home as never before, he was talking in dialect, so to speak, and we know how arduous it is, even for one who was born just a few miles away, to understand fully (let alone to produce) the living language, communicated orally.
For this and for other reasons, we eagerly awaited the latest effort of Pietro De Maria, who chose to end his amazing complete works of Chopin with these drawing room pieces (beside the Mazurkas there are the Fantasie, the Berceuse, the Bolero, the Barcarolle, and the Rondos) written for a select, exclusive audience, for limited spaces, without the nightmare of having to please en masse that undoubtedly weighed on the great concert pieces. And they became the composer’s laboratory, a visionary, experimental space, a kind of intimate diary.
De Maria, even with his characteristic polished performance, has made a recording of them which is full of personality. An artist’s notebook read by a musician in a state of grace. The Venetian pianist is always impressive for his attention to the sound, his sure sense of structure and phrasing, and the union (which is truly that of the great musicians) of emotional depth and simplicity of expression, and that natural elegance which, here more than ever, supports and brings to light the music.
an artist’s notebook read by a musician in a state of grace...the union (which is truly that of the great musicians) of emotional depth and simplicity of expressionIt seems a paradox for a composer who has written many works that are dense with impervious virtuosity, but it is often said that Chopin’s most “difficult” works are the apparently simple and charming mazurkas. Perhaps it is because in these short pieces, free in form but all with the rhythmic temperature of the folk dance, Chopin was at home as never before, he was talking in dialect, so to speak, and we know how arduous it is, even for one who was born just a few miles away, to understand fully (let alone to produce) the living language, communicated orally.
For this and for other reasons, we eagerly awaited the latest effort of Pietro De Maria, who chose to end his amazing complete works of Chopin with these drawing room pieces (beside the Mazurkas there are the Fantasie, the Berceuse, the Bolero, the Barcarolle, and the Rondos) written for a select, exclusive audience, for limited spaces, without the nightmare of having to please en masse that undoubtedly weighed on the great concert pieces. And they became the composer’s laboratory, a visionary, experimental space, a kind of intimate diary.
De Maria, even with his characteristic polished performance, has made a recording of them which is full of personality. An artist’s notebook read by a musician in a state of grace. The Venetian pianist is always impressive for his attention to the sound, his sure sense of structure and phrasing, and the union (which is truly that of the great musicians) of emotional depth and simplicity of expression, and that natural elegance which, here more than ever, supports and brings to light the music.
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