I started this thread with the sentences below:

>Has anyone heard the latest recording of the 53 Etudes based on Chopin's
>works by Marc-Ande Hamelin? I have the Madge versions and don't much
>care for them.  The Grante CD's have gotten very good reviews.  Are they
>better/worse than Hamelin's?
>
>I have some of the Etudes by Bolet and Hobson, and they are quite good.

This thread has morphed into a discussion of tape editing which is
interesting too.

As an update, I bought the Hamelin set and am enjoying it very much, as
expected.  The gem of the entire set is Godowsky's Etude # 25, his third
version of the Chopin Op 25, No 1, known to some as the "Aeolian Harp".
The different ways this is played is certainly telling, among the 4
versions that I now have of it.

Timing is as follows:
Hamelin    2:45
Hobson     2:36
Bolet          3:38
Madge - an unbelievable/unbearable 6:25!!!

Actually the timing is not the main thing here, it is the interpretation.
Hamelin and Hobson play it pretty much as Chopin/ Godowsky, whereas Bolet
plays it as GODOWSKY/Chopin.  His interpretaion places the emphasis on
Godowsky's melody in the treble whereas the other pianists balance the
two composer's tunes rather equally.  In fact, if I hadn't heard the Bolet
first, I might not have been able to find or follow the beautiful Godowsky
melody.

With Madge, I didn't even recognize the piece!!  His recording sounds like
like me practicing on a really bad day.  No wonder his Godowsky set is 4
CD's and Hamelin's only 2.  I have never seen the Godowsky scores, so I
don't know if there are repeats.  Without looking it up, I don't recall off
hand any repeats in the Chopin originals.  Again, without looking it up, I
don't know if the Bolet is available on CD.  He does 8 of the Etudes and 6
waltz transcriptions on a beautifully presses L'Oiseau-Lyre disk.  Hobsons
Arabesque disk sounds just as good.  Buy the Bolet if you can find it.

All this has forced me to try my hand(s) at the original Chopin Etude.
Do any of you pianists out there have any tips about how to practice this
piece? I am starting with the right hand alone and am not sure that this is
the best approach.  With both hands, I feel like I am kneading and washing
socks.  My hands actually hurt after practicing.

This brings me (finally) to another thought, about playing the Alkan
Etude in the Op 35 set, also in A flat.  I started playing it, and after
a few measures, thought that it was *incredibly* difficult.  Then I looked
further down on the page and realized that what I had been playing with 2
hands was supposed to be played with only one.  I gave up!!

Joel Hill
Tallahassee, FL - USA
ALKAN Web Page: http://www.nettally.com/joelhill/alkan/index.html