Musica
Works of Chopin - Pietro De Maria, piano
We have had an introduction to what promises to be one of the most important interpretations of Chopin of the immediate futureHats off, gentlemen! While Pietro De Maria carries on his activity as a concert pianist illustriously with that super repertory of his, solistic, chamber and orchestral music, the Venetian pianist, Tuscan by adoption, has found the time to begin playing the complete works of Chopin! And at such a pace! In Florence he got as far as op. 25 in two concerts, in Turin in the same period he got up to op. 31 in three concerts! Obviously, for such an exploit, one requires exceptional gifts of technique, memory, and resistance, but the global result of the two Florentine concerts convinced even those who clearly look for something more in the pages of the great Polish composer. Even the first program, which began with the Rondo op.1 and ended with the Twelve Etudes op.10, presented difficulties: the drawing-room Chopin, (op.1 and op.5), Chopin coming to grips with the sonata form (op.4), the already great Chopin of the first Mazurkas (op.6 and 7) and the first Nocturns (op.9): technique, passion, lyricism, elegance and control of the form. Quite different, obviously, is the second program: once again the “light” side of Chopin (op.12, 16, 19), more Mazurkas (op.17 and 24) and Nocturnes (op.15), and then the first great Waltz (op.18), the first Scherzo (op.20) and the first Ballade (op.23); and the second book of Etudes (op.25). With an encore on the first evening that reached ahead to the second Scherzo, op.31.
I don’t know how many pianists today can consistently reach the level we heard in all these interpretations: granted his impeccable and practically infallible technique, a constantly beautiful sound at every decibel level, his unfailing attention to the dynamic contrasts (how many piano and pianissimo in Chopin’s works!) his fidelity to the text studied even in the recent Urtext editions, De Maria convinced the listener for his total adherence to the spirit of the individual works, differentiating character of each and searching for the most recondite and unexpected motives of inspiration: personally, I found absolutely exceptional the atmosphere of some of the Etudes (op.25 n.1 and n.2) and some Mazurkas (op.17 n.4 and op.24 n.4), but practically every piece had its magic moment. And, structurally speaking, rarely have I heard the principal works of Chopin (Sonata, Scherzos, Ballade) played with such coherence. We shall wait, with patience and curiosity, the next, comprehensibly more difficult, performance. But we have had an introduction to what promises to be one of the most important interpretations of Chopin of the immediate future.
We have had an introduction to what promises to be one of the most important interpretations of Chopin of the immediate futureHats off, gentlemen! While Pietro De Maria carries on his activity as a concert pianist illustriously with that super repertory of his, solistic, chamber and orchestral music, the Venetian pianist, Tuscan by adoption, has found the time to begin playing the complete works of Chopin! And at such a pace! In Florence he got as far as op. 25 in two concerts, in Turin in the same period he got up to op. 31 in three concerts! Obviously, for such an exploit, one requires exceptional gifts of technique, memory, and resistance, but the global result of the two Florentine concerts convinced even those who clearly look for something more in the pages of the great Polish composer. Even the first program, which began with the Rondo op.1 and ended with the Twelve Etudes op.10, presented difficulties: the drawing-room Chopin, (op.1 and op.5), Chopin coming to grips with the sonata form (op.4), the already great Chopin of the first Mazurkas (op.6 and 7) and the first Nocturns (op.9): technique, passion, lyricism, elegance and control of the form. Quite different, obviously, is the second program: once again the “light” side of Chopin (op.12, 16, 19), more Mazurkas (op.17 and 24) and Nocturnes (op.15), and then the first great Waltz (op.18), the first Scherzo (op.20) and the first Ballade (op.23); and the second book of Etudes (op.25). With an encore on the first evening that reached ahead to the second Scherzo, op.31.
I don’t know how many pianists today can consistently reach the level we heard in all these interpretations: granted his impeccable and practically infallible technique, a constantly beautiful sound at every decibel level, his unfailing attention to the dynamic contrasts (how many piano and pianissimo in Chopin’s works!) his fidelity to the text studied even in the recent Urtext editions, De Maria convinced the listener for his total adherence to the spirit of the individual works, differentiating character of each and searching for the most recondite and unexpected motives of inspiration: personally, I found absolutely exceptional the atmosphere of some of the Etudes (op.25 n.1 and n.2) and some Mazurkas (op.17 n.4 and op.24 n.4), but practically every piece had its magic moment. And, structurally speaking, rarely have I heard the principal works of Chopin (Sonata, Scherzos, Ballade) played with such coherence. We shall wait, with patience and curiosity, the next, comprehensibly more difficult, performance. But we have had an introduction to what promises to be one of the most important interpretations of Chopin of the immediate future.
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