Saline Royale Academy – Nelson Goerner's Masterclass: Frédéric Chopin's Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52
About this event
In this masterclass, Léo Pensel plays Chopin's fourth ballade and Professor Nelson Goerner helps him to find a more hesitant atmosphere for the beginning, not so certain. They talk about a detail in this edition, the dots on the repeated notes and how to interpret them, how to put emphasis on something without over-pronouncing it. And about how phrasing is not being afraid to go where the phrase takes us. On a technical level, he emphasizes not to press the keys down, but to bring them up with the fingers slightly elevating the wrist, in order to find a better sound. When there are consecutive repeated notes, change the sound on each note without re-articulating. He also talks about the importance to the corresponding voice in each passage so that it stands out and is heard. The Professor also discusses timing in relation to the character of each part of the piece, depending on whether it is more leggiero, agitato, floating, intense, etc. At the end of the masterclass, Professor Goerner talks about the relationship between the use of the pedal and the polyphony in the piece.
What we learn:
How to phrase naturally.
How to play repeated notes by giving them direction.
Sensitize the ears to the nuances of different chords, harmonies, passages, etc.
Featuring
Professor: Nelson Goerner
Student: Léo Pensel
Repertoire
Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor op. 52 B. 146
Duration: approx. 48 minutes.
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