ANGELA HEWITT
To play Chopin, you have to try to be a poet like him. You can be as clever or passionate as you like, but if you don’t make the piano sing, you’re not playing Chopin. That doesn’t mean being sentimental. There’s no image less helpful than that of the Romantic consumptive, eating himself up at the piano with the rain hammering against the windows. You only need to hear his music to be in touch with his immense inner strength and sense of discipline and craftsmanship.
PETER DONOHOE
I learned to play Chopin early, but avoided performing his music until about 20 years ago. I was wary of the Romantics as a young pianist, but listening to older recordings taught me how classical Chopin is in his clarity of form. The key to playing his work is a restraint that only comes after years of playing it. I’d held back performing the Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor until the other day, when I did it for the first time. I suddenly felt young and vulnerable again. After all, his music is partly why we become pianists.
EMANUEL AX
I’m from a Polish family, so playing Chopin was unavoidable. Although he’s a national hero, his real value is universal. His connection with the piano is so complete, it feels almost as if the instrument was created to allow his music to come into the world. I have to work hard to get it right, but the notes fall under the hands so beautifully that playing him is overwhelmingly pleasurable.
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