10 years ago by
A Pianist
His double thirds is very articulated, and definitely involves no ''pressing'' at all (although with double thirds at THAT speed, just a tiny amount of pressing would ruin the whole thing....)
I am very impressed. Most pianists play it in legato and blur it a bit with the pedal. I try it on the keyboard and although I found double thirds very difficult and nowhere close to be able to play this etude at reasonable tempo, I find a legato double thirds is at least ''attainable'': mainly, it is very difficult neurological coordination. With a 3-4 notes thrill I can play at close to that tempo so I can imagine myself playing it legato if I work hard on it. But a staccato one like Sergio Tiempo doing here is almost impossible. I simply don't understand how he does it.... perhaps we can learn something from it? I wish I could find a bluray disc of this and slow down frame by frame to see how he did this.....
For a comparison, here are a few pianists (with very good technique) playing the original piece:
first, kissin:
Pogorelich at his peak:
Valentina Lisitsa ( a very skeletal playing, and highly efficient with minimal effort, which makes me think she might be able to play it staccato if she tries to. At 1:17 or so she actually made it quite articulated, but not nearly as spiky and loud as Sergio Tiempo)
Pollini (who is considered to ''own'' the Chopin etudes):
ALEXEI SULTANOV (who unfortunately passed away young. His performance of op.25 no.6 uses just a little pedal and relies heavily on his finger articulation. Very active fingers and didn't stay as close to the keys as Valentina Lisitsa did. So his approach is the closest to Sergio Tiempo's. However, I find Sergio Tiempo's movement, at least above the wrist, to be much more efficient and well-coordinated.)
Cziffra (unfortunately no video of him playing this)
Sokolov ( whose performance of this etude I love very much. But no video so can't learn much in terms of movement....)
Richter (again no video)
