Piano Video Discussiong Group #2: Pogorelich's Scarbo

I am sure many pianists have watched Pogorelich and seen odd mvts. such as his finger lifting/curling especially with his forefinger. Would it be possible to discuss Pogorelich's piano technique, which he says stems from the Liszt-Siloti school?

Pogorelich's technique is only weird (as most of the YouTube comments say as well) if you believe the currently popular dogma that you should not curl the fingers but only curve them, that you should not lift the fingers because this may lead to co-contraction otherwise known as dual muscular pull, etc. Interesting that so many find his technique strange or unusual, say he is tense, and yet he can DO so much more than virtually any pianist! Could there be a connection? What sort of box of limitation have we packed ourselves into with our current obsession with avoiding injury? As far as his hands are concerned, to my mind Pogorelich's technique is virtually flawless. His hand alone is magnificent, and his practice of raising and opening his fingers to give them maximum 'primed-ness' allows him maximum moveability and agility. He can make any sound he wants, and uses this freedom to orchestrate Scarbo in a really creative way. I believe one reason he did this is because his hand is so big (he has a 12th): it risks falling into lethargy and needs constant activation - it's the opposite problem from that of a small hand, where the constant extension risks putting it into continual tension, and constant relaxation is needed. Soon I am going to post some fascinating pictures of Wanda Landowska's hand at . Her fingers are lifted high and pulled back making it totally clear that she practiced that big no-no, dual muscular pull. But her playing is great, as the audio clips reveal. This old-style practice, now frowned upon, can also be seen in books describing Marie Jaell's technique, and in certain pictures of some of the old masters. Could there be a 'right' way of doing it, one that enhances your sound-producing possibilities at the keyboard without risking injury? On this Pogorelich video you can certainly see at times vigorous action of his deep and superficial flexors (as I noticed in the Argerich video as well): he curls the finger for brilliance, articulation and speed. He also at times curls his fifth finger tightly while the others are in full flight, something you'll also see Horowitz doing. He expresses one aspect of my idea of skeletality in the way he plays his octaves. You can see him using his bones as a bell clapper to create a wonderful, gong-like, open sound. His technique does what ideally a technique should do: provide an ideal mechanism for the transmission of one's musical imagination. However, it's not all roses. When I saw Pogorelich decades ago in Montreal, my first reaction was to wish that I could get him on my Feldenkrais table. I felt that in 10 lessons or so I could transform his playing completely, without ever even referring to the piano. His hands were great, but the amount of tension in his torso was visible and not insignificant. In this video it is not so easy to detect. I felt that this made his sound, which was magnificent in its own way, grey, black and white rather than full of colours. This was especially so when he played - his pianissimos were exquisite. Also I had heard Horowitz a little earlier and it was like hearing the master and then a fairly advanced student - no comparison. His playing has deteriorated steadily since his early days, but he was a magnificent player at the beginning of his career who showed great promise. I will always have great respect and admiration for him although I regret the road he has gone down. Thank you for posting this URL, it is great to see him playing at the height of his technical musical powers.

I was wondering if you could elaborate on the old-style practice of lifting the fingers high and pulled back. You mention that Pogorelich does it because his hand is large and needs constant activation. How would someone with a smaller or average hand benefit from this form of technique? Would it even be valid for someone to explore this practice and if so, how could you go about it? As you said in your post: Could there be a 'right' way of doing it, one that enhances your sound-producing possibilities at the keyboard without risking injury? Is there? If so, could you explain it? Pp16

Uh! What a question!!! I could explain it but it would take me another book and video to do it. Let me think about it and get back to you in awhile. In the meantime, look at my entire film again and read my entire book, and see how far you can get in figuring it out yourself. But I can say a few things: a small or medium-sized hand would benefit for the same reason a large hand benefits. Larger hands tend more to become sluggish, so they benefit MORE, but smaller hands also can do more, the more they are ACTIVE. 'Priming' the fingers is a great way to cultivate this - there's a chapter in my next book on it... As for doing it in the right way: Virtually any action will not hurt you if you release it soon enough. Muscular effort that is translated into movement has a healthy quality. It's when it holds rather than moves that it risks creating tension and problems. Here he holds his fingers up for some time but not forever. And priming one finger constantly can help the others play - c.f. Horowitz's pretty constant curling of his pinkie. The prerequisite for doing this well is good skeletal organization... SORRY not to give you a more complete answer right now, but that's a big topic!! Cheers, AFF