Vladimir de Pachmann (1848-1933): Chopin - Etude in Gb op.10

Vladimir de Pachmann was one of the unique figures of 19th century pianism. He was born in the Ukraine and spent a long time in study in Europe before he began concerting before the public properly in 1882. From then until the 1920s he was regarded as one of the top half-dozen pianists in the world, and he has become known primarily as one of the greatest exponents of Chopin ever (though he was more than capable of performing much else besides).

His style belongs to no particular school and he produced no pupils to speak of. He was comparecd to Liszt, in so far as his approach was of his own and stood unique.

However, his approach to Chopin in particular was informed by a great deal of thought and study: similarities exist between his playing and that of Rosenthal, both of whom represent different branchs of an "authentic" Chopin tradition (where Rosenthal studied with Chopin's pupuil Mikuli, Pachmann studied with Chopin's last teaching-assistant Vera Kologrivoff Rubio). It is noteworthy that Rosenthal approached Pachmann for some guidance on Chopin performance.

In his last years, Pachmann developed a reputation as something of a performing clown in his concerts, with a penchant for babbling commentaries through his performances. This reputation is however undeserved: he began recording in the very early days of the grammophone, and his playing, even late in life, could display extreme sensitivity and undertanding. It by no means possible to assume all Pachmann recordings are going to be wonderful, but those that capture him properly can be moving and beautiful beyond almost all others. And his interpretations are refreshingly and utterly distinctive.

This recording is somewhat unique: it shows Pachmann in his infamous mode of commenting throughout performing a work. What he seems to be telling us is that Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) performed this work in the way he is showing. Even ignoring all this fascinating but really slightly wacky commentary, the playing is still rather good! The work is Chopin's Etude in G flat op.10 no.5 and the recording comes from 1927.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• vladimir
• de
• pachmann
• recording
• classical
• piano
• chopin
• etude
• in
• Gb
• flat
• op.10
• no.5

[shilloshillos]

Was that a glissando before the coda?

[d60944]

It sounds rather like one to me too. Compare the Michałowksi recording as well which I posted - he does something similar. As my note says, I think Pachmann is telling us that Godowsky plays in this manner - so perhaps Godowsky introduced the glissando idea......? Then again perhaps Pachmann doesn't mean that particular moment, but just the other alterations. So maybe it's part of an older Chopin tradition. Who knows? Planté plays all the notes carefully, individually with no gliss though...

[hymntonight]

Ah ... the good old days when pianists knew how to let their fingers & imaginations run free.

Absolutely loved it.

[BrendanKennedy96]

Was that him talking? Where is he from..?

[pianopera]

At 1:35 two glissandi on black keys right after each other, first with the left hand, then with the right hand! The octaves on black keys in contrary movement at the end are in fact more easy to play... these changes and also the "modernized" left hand (credited to Godowsky) sound mannered to my ears and are not an improvement at all...

Pachmann also seems to complain about the "heavy piano" (1:25) that makes him "fatigué" (1:52)... that would explain the rather sloppy playing.

[lovesGenet]

I didn't know he talked during the recs .I thought i had this onan old rec from70's and he was nottalking. PLante I'm dieing to her more of.these are our closest links to Chopin's time .but places were farther apart in that day where did all these traditions come from.I've heard the glissando a few times too.

[wks1978]

Born in Ukraine of Russo-German ancestry

[sagalat]

Superb archive....Wow!

[sll10]

Hilarious! I love it!

[stienwayz]

this was a really interesting recording!