Posted by Gary Collins on April 12, 19101 at 13:54:30:

In Reply to: Re: Polonaise Recording Question. posted by Ian McLachlan on May 06, 19100 at 13:03:16:

: : I recently purchased Pollini's Polonaise CD on DG. I was greatly dissatisfied. First of all, I thought a Polonaise was supposed to be a march. It would be impossible to march to the music Pollini Plays, with all of the sudden tempo changes and pauses between notes. Second of all Pollini plays all of the polonaises much slower than the marked tempo. The 1st polonaise he plays almost adagio instead of allegro. Third of all he creates emotion only by banging really hard on the piano, I can't bear to listen to the polonaise #6 because of this.

: : What I was wondering is if there were any polonaise recordings out there with constant tempos that one could march to, with tempos played as fast as marked, and played smooth and flowing. That, in my opinion is what separates a polonaise from any other type of piano piece.

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: I think you should listen to Ali Wood - her A flat Polonaise will astonish you!!!!!!!!!

Aaron,

Pollini's recorded work with Chopin has been much criticized, and, as is sometimes the case with such criticisms, some of it was warranted. However, I think a misunderstanding of "polonaise" as march probably accounts for your displeasure with Pollini's efforts. While there is a "Military Polonaise" by Chopin, which, as you would expect, should be played with a militaristic pomp and precision, a polonaise is a dance, which, while consisting chiefly of a march or promenade in/for couples, does allow for variations in tempo, etc. For a strcit tempo in the "Heroic Polonaise", look for Van Cliburn's "My Favorite Chopin" on RCA, mid-late '60's.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Polonaise Recording Question. J. Monsegue 19:53:12 4/06/103 (0)
• Re: Polonaise Recording Question. Chris Snead 04:21:05 3/20/102 (0)

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