Musica
Chopin: The Mazurkas - Pietro De Maria
"...De Maria displays a first-rate legato, softens the dynamic contrasts, creates continual reverberations between the timbre of the melody and that of the accompaniment partly through a use of the pedal which it is no exaggeration to call virtuosity..."One characteristic has remained an absolute constant in Pietro De Maria’s complete piano works of Chopin, which has now been terminated with the publication of the Mazurkas. That is a smooth, soft, unmistakable sound. The sound, even more than the phrasing, is the signature of a pianist. But the sound also depends on the instrument and the room used, and it shows the signs of the passage of time. That is, it changes, the way a person’s face changes with time. But the sound of these recordings is always the same. Always extremely elegant, always small, carefully and precisely polished. The fact is that De Maria made all the recordings on the same piano, in the same room, with the same piano tuner, Claudio Busotti, and with the same technician, Valter Neri, a wizard of the microphone able to obtain excellent results both in terms of definition and in terms of the spatial distribution of sound.
Then comes all the rest, that is, the elegant phrasing, control of the dynamics, virtuosity and sentimental abandon, sense of form and, more generally, sense of style, qualities we have already discussed with reference to the earlier releases (n. 205 e 225 of MUSICA). All these characteristics are present as well in these mazurkas, where the popular origin of the rhythmic impulse is a distant memory, sublimated in a universe of elegant courtly beauty. Almost nothing disturbs the precious arabesques designed with impeccable style, even the pages that might be overtly brilliant but are not, for example Mazurka op. 41 n. 1. As in the polonaises, we feel an elegant aplomb: all is clear, polished and precious yet at the same time soft and warm. De Maria displays a first-rate legato, softens the dynamic contrasts, creates continual reverberations between the timbre of the melody and that of the accompaniment partly through a use of the pedal which it is no exaggeration to call virtuosity.
It would be useless to look for drama in such a polite Parisian Chopin. Non in the rougher and more direct mazurkas such as op. 33 n. 1, or even in the first bars of the Phantasie op. 49, which rests languidly on a relaxed rhythm. Other interpreters may aim at the drama, the patriotic rhetoric, the revelations of interior conflict; here we have a more intimate and elusive image of Chopin, and also more courtly , in the noble sense of the term.
We are far away from the warmth and vitality of the old Rubinstein, we are in an elegant world, even a dream world at times, as in the central part of the Mazurka op. 17 n. 4. Worked out in every historical and dynamic detail, these mazurkas are precious little items. De Maria’s elegance ennobles even the slightly inspired Bolero and brings out the sentimental subtleness of another piece, youthful, though not as unimportant as it may seem, that is the Rondeau à la Mazur op. 5, played very slowly, like a watchful, waking dream.
Luca Segalla, Musica, April 2012
"...De Maria displays a first-rate legato, softens the dynamic contrasts, creates continual reverberations between the timbre of the melody and that of the accompaniment partly through a use of the pedal which it is no exaggeration to call virtuosity..."One characteristic has remained an absolute constant in Pietro De Maria’s complete piano works of Chopin, which has now been terminated with the publication of the Mazurkas. That is a smooth, soft, unmistakable sound. The sound, even more than the phrasing, is the signature of a pianist. But the sound also depends on the instrument and the room used, and it shows the signs of the passage of time. That is, it changes, the way a person’s face changes with time. But the sound of these recordings is always the same. Always extremely elegant, always small, carefully and precisely polished. The fact is that De Maria made all the recordings on the same piano, in the same room, with the same piano tuner, Claudio Busotti, and with the same technician, Valter Neri, a wizard of the microphone able to obtain excellent results both in terms of definition and in terms of the spatial distribution of sound.
Then comes all the rest, that is, the elegant phrasing, control of the dynamics, virtuosity and sentimental abandon, sense of form and, more generally, sense of style, qualities we have already discussed with reference to the earlier releases (n. 205 e 225 of MUSICA). All these characteristics are present as well in these mazurkas, where the popular origin of the rhythmic impulse is a distant memory, sublimated in a universe of elegant courtly beauty. Almost nothing disturbs the precious arabesques designed with impeccable style, even the pages that might be overtly brilliant but are not, for example Mazurka op. 41 n. 1. As in the polonaises, we feel an elegant aplomb: all is clear, polished and precious yet at the same time soft and warm. De Maria displays a first-rate legato, softens the dynamic contrasts, creates continual reverberations between the timbre of the melody and that of the accompaniment partly through a use of the pedal which it is no exaggeration to call virtuosity.
It would be useless to look for drama in such a polite Parisian Chopin. Non in the rougher and more direct mazurkas such as op. 33 n. 1, or even in the first bars of the Phantasie op. 49, which rests languidly on a relaxed rhythm. Other interpreters may aim at the drama, the patriotic rhetoric, the revelations of interior conflict; here we have a more intimate and elusive image of Chopin, and also more courtly , in the noble sense of the term.
We are far away from the warmth and vitality of the old Rubinstein, we are in an elegant world, even a dream world at times, as in the central part of the Mazurka op. 17 n. 4. Worked out in every historical and dynamic detail, these mazurkas are precious little items. De Maria’s elegance ennobles even the slightly inspired Bolero and brings out the sentimental subtleness of another piece, youthful, though not as unimportant as it may seem, that is the Rondeau à la Mazur op. 5, played very slowly, like a watchful, waking dream.
Luca Segalla, Musica, April 2012
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