Chopin: Fantaisie (Kissin, Zimerman, Pollini, Rubinstein, Michelangeli et al)

The great thing about fantasies is that they’re works with huge interpretive space, since they’re less tightly bound by structure and are meant to sound at least a bit improvisational. So here’s eight remarkable (and very different) performances of one of Chopin’s greatest works, sometimes referred to as his 5th Ballade. (Performances listed below.) The F minor Fantasy is an extraordinarily powerful work, but it’s quite hard to figure out what exactly it’s trying to say. You’ve got extended elegiac passages, profuse melodicism, intense laments, three marches of drastically different character, flirtations with sonata / rondo / cyclic form, and one of Chopin’s most epiphanic creations in the B major chorale that emerges inexplicably in the middle of the piece to interrupt what might have been seen as a distorted sonata form. There is little about this piece that is not brilliant: consider, for instance, how the modulatory scheme of the main group of 5 themes (modulation in thirds) is itself contained in the prelude / transitional passage, and how this scheme of moving in thirds actually extends beyond the 5 main themes to bridge the development and the reprise (or recapitulation), since you can see movement from Gb major to Bb minor (with B major interrupting). Or consider how the tension between F minor (the key of the work) and B major (the key of the chorale, a tritone apart) is already present within the very first march (1:16). Here’s a brief outline of the basic structure: 1. INTRODUCTION a. March I (00:00) b. March II (1:39) 2. PRELUDE/BRIDGE (3:17) 3. EXPOSITION a. Theme I (F minor) (4:11) b. Theme II (Ab major) (4:28) c. Theme III (C minor) (4:55) d. Theme IV (Eb major) (5:19) e. Theme V (March III, Eb major) (5:45) 4. BRIDGE (6:12) 5. DEVELOPMENT a. Theme I (C minor) (6:30) b. Theme II (Gb major) (6:49) 6. BRIDGE (7:18) 7. INTERLUDE – CHORALE (B major) (8:05) 8. BRIDGE (9:56) 9. REPRISE/RECAPITULATION a. Theme I (Bb minor) (10:12) b. Theme II (Db major) (10:28) c. Theme III (F minor) (10:55) d. Theme IV (Ab major) (11:19) e. Theme V (Ab major) (11:44) 10. BRIDGE (12:11) 11. CODA (12:25) 00:00 -- Kissin. Hushed, reverenrial. 14:01 -- Zimerman. Sombre and ecstatic by turns. (Look out for the articulation in the intro.) 28:02 -- Pollini. Direct, passionate, unfussy. 39:33 -- Lugansky. Free, with some lovely shading and incredible dynamic control. 52:41 -- Ashkenazy. Explosive, brittle, rich. 1:06:38 -- Moravec. Intensely melodic, with incredible control of tempo. (E.g., 1:12:52) 1:19:30 -- Rubinstein. Colourful, restless, sweeping, worshipful. 1:30:59 -- Michelangeli. Elegant, robust, taut. I have a fondness for Zimerman, Moravec, and Rubinstein. But since all the interpretations are so different (just listen to the tempi for the opening or March III), this really changes on a day-to-day basis.