Frédéric Chopin - Étude Op.10 Nº 3 in E Major, "Tristesse", 1832. Claudio Arrau, "The Philosopher of the Piano", 1956.
Arrau's Complete Études
Recorded: 15 - 22 & 29.VI. and 5.IX.1956, No. 3, Abbey Road Studios, London. Producer: Alan Melville and William Mann - Balance engineer: Neville Boyling
Recording first issued in 1957 by Columbia Ltd. Mono/ADD. This Compilation & Digital Remastering (P) 2007 by EMI Records Ltd. "Great Recordings of the 20th Century". EMI Icons - EMI Classics, 2011 and Warner Classics, 2013.
Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin 1990 from the Warsaw Chopin Society.

As always with Arrau, the Pianism takes a back seat to Music Making, are a prime example of how myth making regarding Arrau's Recordings. Arrau approaches Chopin's Etudes as a genuinely mature musician and sensitive interpreter who obviously wishes to bring out their musical, not technical, qualities. In Opus 10, No. 3, for instance, he infuses the music with a deep sadness that recalls its XIX Century Title, "La Tristesse." Incidentally, this record received the Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin from the Warsaw Chopin Society when it was re-released in 1990.

The twenty-four Études of Frédéric Chopin (divided into two separate opuses, 10 and 25, but actually composed almost simultaneously) remain the most significant entries in that particular musical genre. Chopin refers, in a letter dating from the fall of 1829, to having written a study "in [his] own manner," and indeed, a great chasm stands between his achievements and the far drier études of his predecessors (one thinks of Moscheles, Czerny, and Hummel in particular). It was not Chopin's intent, as it was with many nineteenth-century pianist-composers, to create studies of mere technique and raw dexterity; here, instead, are works with an inexhaustible array of textures, moods, and colors to explore. These are works meant for the concert hall as well as for the practice room. The twelve Études published as Chopin's Opus 10 are an indispensable tool of the modern pianist's craft: they are a rite of passage that no serious pianist can ignore.

The Étude in E major Op.10, Nº 3 is the first of Chopin's studies to resemble the composer's own Nocturnes more than a traditional technical study. It has been called a tone-poem in miniature, and the wonderful cantabile phrasing bespeaks the composer's great love of opera. A famous anecdote relates how the composer, while teaching this particular work to a pupil (Adolf Gutmann), broke down and cried out, "Oh, my homeland!".

Despite the slightly cramped, airless sonics, Arrau's characteristically warm and ample sonority makes itself felt in these 1956 recordings. The pianist uncovers layers of depth and disquiet in the slower Études that others merely prettify. The treacherous extensions in the E-Flat Étude, for instance, are distinctly projected and balanced, rather than strummed. Arrau's spectacularly honest technique enables him to articulate Chopin's sparkling figurations with a liquid legato unaided by the pedal. As always with Arrau, the pianism takes a back seat to music making.

28.XI.12

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