How did Chopin play – vol. 7

It’s a common belief that Fryderyk Chopin's playing was characterized by extraordinary delicacy – indeed, that he was incapable of producing any louder notes from the piano. Indeed, even Chopin himself emphasized his dislike for ‘hammering’ and ‘walloping’ the keys, writing, not without sarcasm, to his family from Vienna: ‘The general opinion, however, is that I played too weakly, or rather, too delicately for the Germans, who are used to hearing their pianos hammered. I expect to see this charge in the daily paper, especially since the editor’s daughter wallops the instrument terribly. But it doesn’t matter, as it’s impossible not to have any flaws, and I prefer that sort to having them say that I play too forcefully.’

This, however, should not be taken to mean that Chopin’s playing was rickety and monotonous – some witnesses of his performances even claim that he did not lack energy when it came to accentuating the expressive elements of the work with dynamics. ‘He gave a noble, manly energy to appropriate passages with overpowering effect – energy without roughness – just as, on the other hand, he could captivate the listener through the delicacy of his soulful rendering – delicacy without affectation.’ Also thanks to Mikuli, as noted by his student Raul Koczalski, we know that ‘in performance you should develop an ample, full and rounded tone; shade the scale of nuances with infinite gradations between pianissimo and fortissimo, though in pianissimo avoid any indistinct muttering, just as in fortissimo avoid the sort of pounding that would hurt a sensitive ear.’ Others, like Adolph Gutmann, remembered that ‘Chopin played generally very quietly, and rarely, indeed hardly ever, fortissimo’ – but in this case we must consider what we know about Gutmann’s playing style, who supposedly favoured exceptionally powerful strokes. However, based on numerous texts, we can be virtually certain that Chopin's dynamics were as refined as he himself, and as nuanced as his distinctive personality. This was brilliantly summarized by another distinguished virtuoso of the era, Ignaz Moscheles: ‘Chopin’s piano is so like a soft breath that he needs no vigorous forte to bring about a desired contrast; and one does not miss the orchestral effects that the German school demands of pianist.’

Kamila Stępień-Kutera