FREDERIC CHOPIN AND FRANZ LISZT: THE COMMUNICATION IN PIANO ENSEMBLE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the creative communication of famous pianists of the 19th century – Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin in a piano ensemble. It is emphasized that the processes of improving the piano as an instrument by the firms of S. Erard and C. Pleyel contributed to the appearance of a large number of pianists in the Paris concert salons in the 1830s, who competed with each other and same time united for joint performances in piano ensemble. Frederic Chopin’s compositional and performing activities are studied, which demonstrates his interest in the piano ensemble genre. The features of Chopin’s style as a performer are characterized on the basis of critical reviews of his contemporaries, which emphasize the chamberness, lyricism and elegance of his playing. The main innovative approaches of Franz Liszt to the interpretation of the possibilities of the piano from the point of view of orchestrality, virtuosity, the extreme degree of romantic expressiveness and theatricality are outlined. It was determined that for some time Chopin and Liszt, despite the difference in their individual artistic and performing manner of communicating with the listener, played together in piano ensembles. As a result of the analysis, it was found Frederic Chopin highly valued Liszt’s interpretation of his etudes, and Franz Liszt paid considerable attention to Chopin’s work (in the book dedicated to him), noting its romantic sublimity, poetics and harmonic potential. It was researched that among the piano-ensemble works they performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s concerto for the three pianos, Ignaz Moscheles’ Grande sonata and George Onslow’s sonata for piano duet, Ferdinand Hiller’s Grand Duet for piano duo. It is proved that the exchange of artistic thinking in the communication of two talented figures, such as Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt formed a new spiritual reality, which was aimed at a highly artistic interpretation of music.