"Hey, this piece is so hard because it is so hard to play such a simple piece! But Horowitz did that!!"and...
"I do play this sonata.So this boils down to the basic question:
But my playing sucks, Horowitz is piano GOD!How can he possibly play so well?"
"_______ (insert pianist name here) & I know how to perform this piece - without wrong notes.Here is the answer! I am not a professional pianist, but I would say I am quite a humble yet decent one.
But I know if I continue to play this same piece for 50 years, I will still be getting no where near this guy! What are our differences??"
I mean, I myself can observe what the difference are, between my and most other people's performances.
So, read on...
! 1) Understanding the music - Interpretation is more important than getting the notes right after you have learned the piano music.
- To perform well, you must understand the music - how's did this piece came into the composer's mind? For example, for playing the Raindrop Prelude, what did George Sand has to say about it when she heard Chopin performing it? What is Chopin trying to express in his short prelude "Suffocation" (Op.
28 No.
4)? Schumann's Traumerie - what is this piece of music all about? 2) Thinking about the music - This is where interpretation comes in, once you have an understanding of a piece of piano music.
- This is the part where you THINK & IMAGINE how this piece SHOULD sound.
Yes, bar by bar, note by note - some times my thoughts of a piece of music can go down to that detail.
3) Executing your interpretation - This is the hard part, in fact, this is the hardest part.
Some times I have problems with this.
- After you have an idea on HOW the piano piece should sound, now it is time to perform it so that it sounds like what you have imagined.
- How is that done? You cannot just imagine about raindrops out of the window and expect to play the Raindrop prelude well.
You cannot just imagine about war when playing the 'Heroique' Polonaise and expect to play it well.
What is in your mind does NOT reflect in your performance! - We must think, think and think about HOW to perform that piece according to your ideal version in your mind - make adjustment to your playing, pedaling, articulation, phrasing etc.
4) DIFFERENT interpretations - Horowitz once said that he plays his pieces DIFFERENTLY every time - that is true artistry.
- Yes, I do perform a piece of music differently from time to time.
For example, Schumann's Traumerei expresses beautiful or heart breaking memories.
Sometimes, I play to express some very fond memories, sometimes I play to express - yes, some sad memories.
So, both performances sound very differently.
- Besides, over the years, your understanding of the music will change - so does your interpretation.
5) UNCONVENTIONAL interpretations
"UN-conventional??? Are you sure???"- Yes, of course I am sure.
Unconventional or unorthodox does not mean that you should play Fur Elise in the spirit of the Revolutionary Etude.
It is not that.
- By being unconventional (sometimes only), I will use rather different interpretations & different thoughts during playing certain pieces.
An example, if you play Chopin's Nocturne Op.
9, No.
2 - what do you think about the last section starting from bars 30? What was Chopin trying to communicate in his chromatic octaves? What about the "senza tempo" section? - Most people will interpret the chromatic section as a happy passage, and when it reaches the "senza tempo" section, it will suddenly change to a sudden serene, as if entering trance before finishing.
- My thoughts on these sections? Totally different (I will not discuss it here).
But when I learned this years ago, I thought exactly as what most people thought! - The idea is, the more you perform a piece of piano music, the more you need to think about it - everybody is playing piano, these different thinkings will help you make a difference.