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Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau PDF

501 Pages·2014·4.04 MB·English
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Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau Arrau and pupils at Lewisohn Stadium on the campus of the City College of New York. Left to right: Roberto Eyzaguirre, Germán Diez, Norman Klekamp, Claudio Arrau, Esther Bernstein, June Eyzaguirre, Goodwin Sammel, Alfonso Montecino. Photo by Josefina Megret. Courtesy of Germán Diez. Piano Lessons with Claudio Arrau A Guide to His Philosophy and Techniques V I C T O R I A A . V O N A R X 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With ofces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Tailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmited, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permited by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data von Arx, Victoria A. Piano lessons with Claudio Arrau : a guide to his philosophy and techniques / Victoria A. von Arx. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-992434-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-19-992432-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Arrau, Claudio, 1903–1991. 2. Piano—Performance. 3. Pianists. I. Title. ML417.A8A9 2014 786.2'193—dc23 2013025765 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Germán Diez and Albin J. Zak This page intentionally left blank C O N T E N T S Acknowledgments ix About the Companion Website xiii Introduction 3 SECT I O N O N E A R R AU ’S PREDECE SSOR S 1. Martin Krause 13 2. Arrau and the Lisztian Legacy 23 3. Rudolf Breithaupt 57 SECT I O N T W O T ECH N I Q U E 4. Arrau’s Concept of Technique and Virtuosity 73 5. Te “Arrau Technique” 81 5.1. HAND AND WRIST POSITION 85 5.2. USE OF THE FINGERS 94 5.3. DROPPING THE ARM 107 5.4. PUSHING THE ARM UP 116 5.5. RECIPROCAL VERTICAL MOTION 124 5.6. VIBRATION 136 5.7. ROTATION 154 5.8. CIRCULAR MOTION 163 5.9. FINGERING AND USE OF THE THUMB 177 SECT I O N T H R E E T E ACH I N G 6. Arrau’s Collaboration with Rafael De Silva: A Community of Learners 187 Conclusion 203 Appendix: Lessons 207 1. FREDERIC CHOPIN: BALLADE NO. 2 IN F MAJOR, OP. 38 209 mm. 1–46 209 mm. 38–83 222 mm. 79–170 237 mm. 169–end 252 2. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: SONATA IN A-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 110 262 Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo 262 Allegro molto 272 Adagio ma non troppo 280 Fuga: Allegro, ma non troppo 283 3. MAURICE RAVEL: GASPARD DE LA NUIT 292 “Scarbo” mm. 1–119 292 mm. 119–220 305 mm. 232–332 312 mm. 332–end 325 4. MAURICE RAVEL: GASPARD DE LA NUIT 334 “Ondine” mm. 1–41 334 mm. 41–49 349 mm. 49–70 359 mm. 70–80 373 5. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: FIFTEEN VARIATIONS WITH FUGUE, OP. 35, “EROICA” 381 6. RICHARD STRAUSS: BURLESKE, TRV 145 427 Bibliography 477 Index 483 A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S Tere are many people without whose guidance this book could not have been writen. Principal among them is Germán Diez, who assisted in every phase of its development. Diez has spent a lifetime tirelessly imparting Arrau’s pianistic approach and his own wisdom to me as well as to countless others who have studied with him since the 1940s. Diez provided a framework for my study, giv- ing me names of others who studied with Arrau and puting me in contact with them. In 2003, he organized a series of master classes and recitals to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Arrau’s birth; these events were the occasion to conduct interviews with Arrau’s pupils, observe their teaching, and hear them perform. As I developed my manuscript, Diez spent many hours with me ex- plaining Arrau’s teachings, reviewing transcriptions of the lessons and ofering commentary on them, and sharing the benefts of his own experience as well. Tis book is a refection of his mentorship. I frst became acquainted with Arrau’s approach as a pupil of Frederick Mar- vin at a time when I was young and had very much to learn. Te skills I learned from Marvin opened up a wealth of piano repertory and gave me access to it. I am forever in his debt. I would like to ofer appreciation and thanks to others of Arrau’s pupils who generously shared stories of their studies with Arrau, their camaraderie, and much of their experience of performing and teaching. In addition to Diez and Marvin, they include Goodwin Sammel, Rosalina Sackstein, Alfonso Montecino, Ena Bronstein-Barton, Edith Fischer, Ivan Nuñez, William Goodrum, Bennet Lerner, Loreta Goldberg, Roberto Eyzaguirre, Joseph Ries, Stephen Drury, and José Aldaz. I am grateful to Loreta Goldberg for giving me access to notes she took during Arrau’s master classes. Grete Sultan also graciously met with me and shared memories of her long friendship with Arrau. Tis book grew out of work that began with my doctoral dissertation. I would like to thank my main adviser L. Michael Grifel, as well as Allan Atlas, Barbara ix

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