Vladimir de Pachmann (1848-1933): Chopin - Nocturne op.9 #2

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 of Chopin's most famous Nocturne in E flat op.9 no.2 was made in 1915. You can hear that the early recording equipment had a little trouble with the extreme delicacy and hushed tone Pachmann was producing here!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• vladimir
• de
• pachmann
• piano
• classical
• recording
• chopin
• nocturne
• Eb
• flat
• op.9
• no.2

[phantom4087]

Can you post the record playing at the correct speed.

[d60944]

This appears to BE the correct speed. Piano tuning was not standardised in 1915.

[hidastuu]

This very refreshing performance needs to be processed with some modern anti-noise technique.

[d60944]

It has been (!)

The problem is that the piano is playing very quietly and if you remove all the background noise you end up losing far too much of the piano tone itself. Better to just get used to the hiss and let your ears tune it out.

[pjioayncoe]

What are your standards of good music? Pachmann had said in an interview that originality is "nothing more than the interpretation of one's real self instead of the artificial self which traditions, mistaken advisors and our own natural sense of mimicry impose upon us." Would you rather prefer a monotonous and cheap imitation to a truth told from one's "inner voice," as Pachmann called it.

Also, you eulogized yourself by assuming that you can actually INTERRUPT.

[mombeekmarcel]

right, i prefer this kind of interpretations instead of the non-interesting interpretations of people like richter and even rubinstein...

[COPPERTOP926]

GREAT QUALITY !

[freeqwerqwer]

There are digital filtering programs which can eliminate these annoying low frequency white noise.

[phantom4087]

you said it.

[otto6891]

Wonderful! Truly in the same league as Rosenthal and Rachmaninoff....

[billyguns2]

This is playing a 1/2 step too low! This is my favorite recording of this deceptively simple piece after Moriz Rosenthal's; many great pianists completely miss the boat with this, but I feel Rosenthal and dePachmann are right on the money. The hiss makes me think I'm peering back into a far gentler, more beautiful era. I can't stand sanitized, updated Chopin playing; Bellini was his role model!

[shilloshillos]

Pardon me as I will be the philistine of the bunch. The left hand unevenness is overdone and rather phoney. Typical of pianists of that time to take extreme liberties with the music but its possible to do things in bad taste. And this is one of those instances. Again, sorry to interrupt the eulogy shower above...