Bel Canto: Chopin's inspiration (with Magdalena Baczewska)
Chopin was enamored with the expressive capabilities of the human voice. He never missed an opportunity to go to the opera, where he reveled in the beauty of the popular bel canto style (the term literally meaning beautiful singing). While it is no secret that the composer encouraged his students to sing at the piano, no specific practical information survives on how exactly to go about it. In this episode of tonebase live, pianist and an avid opera admirer Magdalena Baczewska shares what she has learned about Chopinâs music by listening to great singers, and how it may help us better understand the clues encoded in Chopinâs piano scores.
Magdalena's Performance of Chopin's Nocturne in E minor op.72. no.1!
CHECK OUT magdalena Baczewska'S âINTRO TO J.S. Bach's Keyboard Musicâ COURSE!
Follow this event link to tune in!
https://app.tonebase.co/piano/live/player/chopin-bel-canto-magdalena
We are going to be using this thread to gather suggestions and questions!
- What questions do you have on this topic?
- Any particular area you would like me to focus on?
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I am enjoying this LiveStream very much! Thank you, Magdalena! Sharing the quote by Chopin's students was quite interesting.
Listening. Listening to singers and to the music. There is no substitute.
The video clips clearly demonstrated how many different colors can come from the human voice and the piano! Glorious!
Thank you for displaying the score so precisely during the lesson, Dominic! All while getting the video clips ready for us to view! Displaying words and their definitions when needed, too. I know this takes great care and attention and your audience/tonebase members appreciate how expertly you do this!
Magdalena expressed her thoughts and feelings about Opera, Bel Canto and the tenderness with which one wants to play with fine articulation and sensitivity. I liked the reminder to explore all styles...There is not one "right" way. Explore. Find the composers whose works speak to you.
Magdalena spoke of "changing the lighting" or changing the colors as one plays...use the light and shadow.
She quotes the advice of Chopin, "Listen to as many great singers as you can."
Accentuating the "breaths" that naturally occur in the playing makes the connection once again to the human voice.
Magdalena's final point about Opera and the stories...being close to our own emotions and our own struggles.."uttering the things [expressing emotions] sometimes that we are too shy to utter ourselves" is well said. I agree!
Emphasis on simplicity - yes! Again, thank you, Magdalena! Thank you, Dominic! Thank you to those who asked questions!
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Thank you so much for this lecture, so much valuable information in it ! I really enjoyed this!
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Thank you so much for the lecture!
Which edition is the scores shown in the video?
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Lars Looks like the Ekier edition.
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Thank you so much for your answer ! Ekier seems to be relevant and I will look into it further. Greetings!
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Lars No problem. Itâs free on IMSLP too. https://imslp.hk/files/imglnks/euimg/3/32/IMSLP705554-PMLP1126972-Chopin--nocturnes--Ekier-pd.pdf
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Thanks so much Magdalena for sharing this. This angle is definitely enlightening and shows paths to a deeper practice, focused on musicality and melodic intensity.
I wonder if this kind of âvocal analysisâ might also be conducted on Schumanâs works such as the Kinderszenen.
