And that is what is refreshing! We've had enough of the Charlie Rose type who had to basically make himself the star of any interview; actually, refreshing he is gone and this man is here.
@@bloodgrss poor Charlie Rose you know few successful men from his generation could manage to detach themselves from that unfortunate double standard. I think he shouldn't have tried to come back from retirement.
What I like about Chopin's melodies on piano is how a lot of them are quite melancholious or desolate sounding, almost lonely. You kind of lose that feeling when they are sung.
Thank you for the interesting experiment. To me it shows one thing in particular, namely that Chopin likes to set long notes that get their beauty from fading away. Frankly, I find that a little difficult when singing a note is maintained over its entire length. In Chopin's piano music, the passing of time becomes tangible.
I teach Music History and the main points I give about Chopin and his legato obsession are: - he developed his style in Paris in the peak of belcanto opera, which he loved; - also in Paris, he was friends with Bellini, the king of belcanto composers; - in certain passages and even whole pieces, Chopin wanted the piano to sound like an italian belcanto style singer; I immediately illustrate this with two pieces: Casta diva by Bellini and Nocturne op. 9 n.2 by Chopin, and just add this: - Nocturnes were invented by the Irish John Field (then I show one of his awesome works, wich everybody should know) and the main idea is sounding like a troubadour (right hand) accompained by his lute (left had) under the balcony of his beloved by night (hence the name, as 'nocturne' means 'by night' in French). That's why in nocturnes we barely find counterpoint, shocking modulations or complex developments, as in other of Chopin's works; - despite this, a piano is not a singer, so Chopin takes advantage of its technical resources and "spices" the cantabile style with pianistic procedures such as out of range notes or 'cascades of notes' that the performer must make sound as natural and clear as a human voice. I would like to comment that when the soprano sings the piano concerto it strongly reminds me the beautiful Concerto for soprano and orchestra by Reinhold Glière, a work everybody should know, and obviously Vocalise by Rachmaninov. Sorry for my long comment. I've tried to summarize as much as possible.
She was so funny when the host told her in relation to the "Queen of the Night" - "I think that creature can sing Chopin", and her response was "I think that creature can sing Chopin. This creature (referring to herself) can't sing Chopin". Comedy gold. Great pianist, singer and person, I hope she gets a lot of concert engagements. I would love to see her perform Chopin 1 Piano Concerto and attempt to sign parts of it in a concert.
Love the idea of someone who’s both an instrumentalist and a vocalist. Sometimes people make them see like they’re totally different worlds, but it’s so cool to be proficient in more than one instrument. Kinda inspiring as someone who studies voice but has a band background
A lot people I know both sing and play an instrument, including me. But most of them concentrate on one aspect or the other as their primary thing, unless they're a guitarist/singer.
The recording takes I'm drawing from are exactly the highest recording quality (as you can tell). They're not so sharable! But I do love the idea (as others have also requested) of engaging Chelsea to prepare vocalises of Chopin melodies (and Mozart, Schubert, Debussy) and produce high quality performance recordings of them (audio and video).
8:00 You weren't kidding, it must have been a LOT of work to edit in all of those annotations, zoom ins, highlights of Chelsea's quirkiness, punctiliousness and funny interactions with you, finding the right clips and transitions to give a rythm to the video, and who knows what else... Voice music isn't particularly my thing, but this was masterfully done and very entertaining, bravo! Highlighting the breaths in the Prelude at the end was a fantastic idea, it really puts into perspective one of the challenges of forming musical phrases with the voice as an instrument.
Chelsea , you are amazing. I was at your recital in Singapore tonight. I can’t believe someone can manage both piano and voice in a such high standard. Bravo again
Oh, I loved that scene from 5th Element! The first part is actually the Mad Scene from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and then the more wild finale was composed by the soundtrack composer w/ voice synth. But yeah. It's great. I'm sure she could :D
I love that the Éric Serra tried to write impossible things so it would sound alien, and Inva Mula successfully sang much more than he was expecting to be possible
This was so much fun. Reminds me of the way Villa-lobos - “bachianas brasileiras “ uses the orchestra / soprano voice to similar effect . Hauntingly beautiful melodic lines…
Chopin melodies are just something else you know. I've seen all kinds of instruments play them, nothing as good as a voice course. Loved the interaction between you two as well
Thanks for the wink at 17:05 hahahaha Maryla Jonas is a REVELATION - so glad you (finally *cough*) found her and included her here!! Love how you're tying in the singing that Chopin loved in the presentation of his works.
Dear Mark, thank you for all the work you do unearthing all the great treasures of pianists past! Everyone should check out Mark's article on Maryla Jonas, and start exploring The Piano Files! www.thepianofiles.com/the-maryla-jonas-story/
What a fascinating idea and performance from you both! Chelsea, I will be keeping an eye out for your concerts, both vocal and pianistic. I just retired after thirty some years in the Phil, and I spent my life singing the violin and viola repertoire to figure out what I wanted to do musically, unencumbered by bow and fingerboard. I think most good musicians do that; just not as well as you, and not on camera! I have some thoughts about specific moments in the video, which I’ll post separately (if I get around to it). 😊 Lovely and unexpected. It reminds me of the joy of just poking around in music, thinking how it works, experimenting.
Oh my! She is really talented! I too sometimes sing the melodies of piano pieces to understand them better. Nocturne in Eb and Prelude in E sound very good with her voice! tonebase piano always surprises me with very unique content. Thanks so much! I really enjoyed it!
This is great! I love that she sang the Chopin Nocturne op 9 no 1, which is not as well known as #2 but gorgeous. One of my favorites to play. Fabulous singing and piano playing!
Chelsea us extraordinary in every respect but for the next video we need to see her sing and play in a concert format - her range even to Broadway repertoire is uplifting - merci
Oh man. This is such a slice of heaven on earth. You guys have such good chemistry that you have to collaborate more often. Would love to see Mozart's Piano Concerto #20 in D minor, 2nd movement? Pretty please?
Oh, Thanks a lot, I really appreciate that vídeo too much! All musics are amaziling singing, but Prelude 4th touched me more No doubt that your suport and conduction were fundamental in this job 👏👏👏❤❤❤
This was so refreshing, original, and full of insights into both singing and piano playing -- and from the perfect exemplar -- someone so skilled in BOTH! Plus, you guys have the sweetest (and often funniest) banter -- mixed with the anxiety of having to give up the room -- all made for a perfectly delightful and thought-provoking 22 minutes. I agree with other commenters -- I'd love to hear a couple of these pieces (or least significant sections thereof) without interruption or commentary. Very glad that Mazurka (one of my favorite Chopin works) made the shortlist. A question for Chelsea: so, what pieces of Chopin do you find most would match your tessitura? And which would you most want to sing, even if they fell well outside your range? PS Props to the "Fifth Element" reference: saw that in the theater back in the day, and loved the alien diva: yes, get HER to do a vid!
That was a fascinating experiment, with rather surprising results. The prelude in particular came out really beautifully. Maybe you should consider doing it with some of Schubert's solo piano music as well, I think it would be just as interesting.
I like the calm way in which you do the interviews and how you give the guest room to express themselves ✨✨, excellent journalism and excellent dynamics with the guest, don't change!!, that's what I really like, it's somewhat annoying to hear people on youtube who don't let speak to the interviewee and do not transmit peace and clarity in the interview ✨✨So never change ur dinamic🙏✨✨
That was really interesting and fun to listen to. Thanks for showing all of the difficulties and challenges in singing the parts. Chopin created such beautiful melodies that sound like they were meant to be sung, but are quite alien to a human voice. Good shout out to the movie "The 5th Element" and the incredible performance. The movie is actually quite entertaining.
Chopin the Poet of the Piano was a singer by all means. His basic conception was formed by the influence of Opera and Meyerbeer whom he heard and Bellini etc.contributed to this no doubt. What is portatato and martellato is really a form of diction and also applies to the touch in piano playing. Diction in this case in articulation of the tones. Good to hear this kind of presentation to bridge the first art with playing the piano. Love to hear her solfege all these tunes. Lol 😮
I'm reminded of a remark by Garrick Ohlsson, on transcriptions of Chopin's melodies to other instruments: "If you take [Chopin] and put it in an orchestral transcription or a violin solo... it sounds absolutely disgusting. When you can actually realize the sustaining quality of the sound, it loses all of its suggestiveness, it loses all of its chastity. It becomes pornography: the thing itself, rather than the poetic thought of the thing itself... It's just too Technicolor. It doesn't leave anything to the imagination, no matter how beautiful it may be."
As a baritone that sings musical theatre and opera, I can say that being a proficient musician adds so much to a performance. You don’t need to be performance level in piano or anything, just being able to sight-read and analyze music takes your art to the next level. Not to mention what it can do for your acting.
Awesome video at 3.48 there is this guy named Dimash who is the type of creature that lives in space with those kinda runs and notes...i learn a lot watching this even tho i can't sing or play an instrument lol but i do appreciate passionate work by passionate people😍
Год назад+4
the Prelude was sooooo beautiful. sounds awesome as a vocalize.
This is so great! I don't much listen to Chopin much but the background is really interesting. The whole video is really good at giving me alternating viewpoints with music. A lot of beautiful natural moments. Thanks for sharing!
So beautiful. This soprano singing opens a secret door to the greater beauty of Chopin's art. The voice brings out much more than a piano tone can (for certain passages). Now, I know what Chopin had meant by imitating the operatic singing style on the piano. A violin or a cello rendition of a Chopin nocturne also sounds good too. By the way, I've long concluded that Bach's Goldberg piano variation sounds best played by a quartet or a small orchestra. But I think the Prelude in E minor should remain just for piano to keep things simple, dry, and w/ no emotional burst.
I disagree, the prelude was already used for making a song, with amazing results: ruclips.net/video/PHIe9B5plDI/видео.html&ab_channel=ThiagoBerr%C3%AAdo
Most definitely agree with the choice to sing, not skip, the ending of Op.28 No.4 (the "decaying prelude," as I like to call it). That was throat-clenchingly beautiful! Fred
This works so well with so much of Chopin's work; there are others, though, that come to mind. Of course, one of the most beautiful is Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata, mvt. 2 in A♭ major. That would be incredible. It makes me try to sing it when I play it.
As a composer, getting my Master of Music in Film and Television Scoring, I like to use vocalists a LOT in the music I compose. I have learned, through the years, some ways to better use the voice, but it has all been worth it. James Horner loved using vocals in his film scores, especially in Titanic, where some of the solos are a bit tricky, but the sound is incredible. This lady did very well at the singing. Even when she goes from chest voice to head voice, she still keeps the notes forward, and her piano skills are incredible. P.S., it is musicians like her that give me hope that musicians won't be drowned out by sound libraries. The trained musician puts incredible amounts of time into EXPRESSING the music, and each time sounds different. Humans performing music is something I value. Yes, musicians are far more expensive than using sound libraries, but to me, the results are 100 times better.
Very interesting and quite engaging. Well done, Chelsea! A whole 20 minutes! Watching this video I couldn't help but wonder how Edita Gruberova might have sung those parts.
This was so good! Not only beautiful to hear her bring to life something that goes through my mind while playing these Nocturnes, but also learning a lot with all the annotations, thanks for the editing and please bring Chelsea back with more piano pieces, specially from Chopin :)
Wow, what a charming mesmerizing lady! You two were really cute together. The E-minor prelude was cream-of-the-top music at its best! The voice with this prelude was a natural prefect fit. AAA+ video!
It is interesting that some piano melodies work better than others. Listening to this makes me appreciate how well Monty Python sang Chopin's Heroic Polonaise.
This was a very insightful program, and a very brave thing to put out there without rehearsal or arrangement (transposition especially ;) ). I have just started trying to arrange some short Chopin pieces for bass and guitar(s) and I'm pretty sure the beauty of the works won't survive my efforts, but it's not for performance, just my own instruction and enjoyment. I started with Prelude no. 6, in which the melody is almost entirely in the bass, and quickly learned that the bass simply doesn't have the range to do it justice. Those low notes B, C#, and D, even though few in number, are crucial, and transposing them spoils the line. I suppose that in the end, regardless of how melodic Chopin's lines are, they are essentially too pianistic to translate well to other instruments. I'm going to persevere anyway, for educational purposes. I'm in love with Chopin, and dearly wish I had the chops to play his work as written.
Ms. Guo, you have a very beautiful voice and you apply it beautifully!! Thank you! I am currently completely immersed in Chopin's 19 Nocturnes. Why not? 6:57 So funny, right after I commented the ^ above: "Let's do Nocturnes." Yeah! Let's do Nocturnes!!!
I hope you also do this for Clara Schumann's piano works, especially the Nocturne, Mazurka in G minor and Ballade from her 'Soirees musicales' and also Rachmaninoff's Romance in A major. I find them really nice to sing along to, although i do sometimes find that my voice range lacks lmao.
Chopin's writing is aimed directly at the piano, which is hammers on strings. But the human voice is such a extroardinary instrument that it handles the lines of Chopin well.
On the prelude piece, there is a Brazilian composer called Tom Jobin who composed a song called "Insensatez", based entirely on that very same chopin prelude. Worth it taking a look at the song!
Wonderful seeing you together and helping us understand the connection between singing and playing. I don't think I have ever seen it done before. I posted the video in my blog.
At least this vid shows how ingenious Chopin would use the piano for its ideomatic power, its own power. Taken as a demo it is hervorragende, this video. It would be interesting to have a discussion about what suits the piano best and how Chopin caught that even if he also wrote songs, and even if it is known that his friend Pauline Viardot sang Chopin's Mazurkas: The soprano and composer Pauline Viardot was a close friend of Chopin and his lover George Sand, and she made a number of arrangements of his mazurkas as songs, with his full agreement. He gave Viardot expert advice on these arrangements, as well as on her piano playing and her other vocal compositions. Chopin in turn derived from her some firsthand knowledge about Spanish music. [Wikip.] Except for salon or cabaret use, never accompany yourself singing - thereby bereaving the audience for the experience of concentrated song :)
Not only was this video beautiful but also highly entertaining. I think singing does add something to the prelude as there is new territory with the long notes of the melody. I feel like the first ballade (or at least part of it) would sounds superb sung.
What I like about Chopin's melodies on piano is how a lot of them are quite melancholious or desolate sounding, almost lonely. i'd love to hear full versions with someone "voice-holding" (like hand-holding) through to make it less heart-wrenching to hear.
Just found this channel and (A) What a lovely voice! and (b) The whole video I was thinking of suggesting that very Mazurka and the Prelude, and then you did them. You read my thoughts before I had them! Fun, interesting stuff!
That was in response to a "slurred staccato" marking, which Seymour B suggested is Portato. I'm a violinist. String players think of portato as a bow stroke used to give the effect of slightly separated but connected, slurred notes, created by "carrying" the bow from note to note, often marked with lines rather than dots. For the referenced repeated- note passage, I'd suggest it be played or sung "Cantando," or expressively spaced as in a sung style, or "Parlando," as if in a spoken style. Not sure about Portato in this case... 🤔
How can you concentrate doing both at the same time? I alway get amazed with people who can sing at the same time play an instrument like guitar etc ( in pop music) but with classical piano you really have to listen your own piano sound with enormous concentrations more than pop music, I don’t understand how you can do both!!
OMG I love the melodies found in his Etudes and have long imagined writing a musical based on them! Op. 10 No. 3, Op. 10 No. 10 (which could be a duet), Op. 25 No. 1, Op. 25 No. 12... good stuff.
This is so wonderful seeing the process and discussion. As Tonebase lifetime subscriber it is the most useful site. Especially all the great instructional videos of garrick ohlsson both his chopin works and brahms videos beyond invaluable. I relisten to his Chopin barcarolle and his 118 2 of Brahms
Lovely voice Chelsea, your lucky to be gifted with more than one instrument. If you thought Chopin has problems with intervals etc think again, you should hear the soloist singing 'Eight songs for a mad king' by Peter Maxwell Davies! I only ever played once with him thank goodness the piece was minimalist compared to this score. It's a brilliant piece, could call it one of the greatest compositions of the 20th Century.
Great idea, I so enjoyed this. I hope you do more of these fascinating digs into what music actually is 🎉 oh and my favourite mazurka ! It’s the only one I play 😘. The prelude was sooo gorgeous.
I think this was a super cool experiment. You both are amazing and I thank what you create and produce on youtube daily! This was really special. I'm still inclined to say that I would prefer Chopin in piano over voice. I find this interesting because these past few years I've taken such a huge interest in listening to voice and opera, etc. There really hasn't been (that I know of) anyone on earth quite like Chopin, musically speaking. His music seems or is destined for the piano somehow, or he for it. I'm not saying that I won't ever listen to a beautiful production like you've done here re voice/piano. I'm just contemplating a bit on the subject. And I've listened to all of Chopin for close to 3 decades now. It's amazing that it "fits" so well with the keyboard, no? Thank you so much for doing this stuff. Both of you. Truly, thank you!!!
What a wondrous beautifully talented 'creature'. I am a tenor and once got caught in the wonderful situation of singing the orchestral part of Rach 2 with a Mexican Concert Pianist in Zurich. I've often thought of how an ensemble could easily sing many works of the late romantic composers.
![Six Hundred Strike [EPIC: The Musical] Full Animatic](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zov6NXIAuow/mqdefault.jpg)
This man is like furniture. Could just prop a broom up next to her and it would be the same content.
ruclips.net/video/oPDSoFgivPA/видео.html
@@tonebasePiano😂😂😂
And that is what is refreshing! We've had enough of the Charlie Rose type who had to basically make himself the star of any interview; actually, refreshing he is gone and this man is here.
😂😂😂😂
@@bloodgrss poor Charlie Rose you know few successful men from his generation could manage to detach themselves from that unfortunate double standard. I think he shouldn't have tried to come back from retirement.
What I like about Chopin's melodies on piano is how a lot of them are quite melancholious or desolate sounding, almost lonely. You kind of lose that feeling when they are sung.
Good point , you point it out !
She recorded this in her debut album “Chopin in My Voice”.
Thank you for the interesting experiment. To me it shows one thing in particular, namely that Chopin likes to set long notes that get their beauty from fading away. Frankly, I find that a little difficult when singing a note is maintained over its entire length. In Chopin's piano music, the passing of time becomes tangible.
then you should listen to Nina Koshetz singing his op 74 no 2. this might change your mind
@@stunugh it is because the entire Op.74 were composed for singers, not for piano.
She should make a CD of vocalized Chopin pieces.
Her album Chopin in My Voice has both her piano playing and her singing of Chopin songs.
@@PianoMiffy OK, thanks I'll check that.
Mans talking about compact disks😂
I teach Music History and the main points I give about Chopin and his legato obsession are:
- he developed his style in Paris in the peak of belcanto opera, which he loved;
- also in Paris, he was friends with Bellini, the king of belcanto composers;
- in certain passages and even whole pieces, Chopin wanted the piano to sound like an italian belcanto style singer;
I immediately illustrate this with two pieces: Casta diva by Bellini and Nocturne op. 9 n.2 by Chopin, and just add this:
- Nocturnes were invented by the Irish John Field (then I show one of his awesome works, wich everybody should know) and the main idea is sounding like a troubadour (right hand) accompained by his lute (left had) under the balcony of his beloved by night (hence the name, as 'nocturne' means 'by night' in French). That's why in nocturnes we barely find counterpoint, shocking modulations or complex developments, as in other of Chopin's works;
- despite this, a piano is not a singer, so Chopin takes advantage of its technical resources and "spices" the cantabile style with pianistic procedures such as out of range notes or 'cascades of notes' that the performer must make sound as natural and clear as a human voice.
I would like to comment that when the soprano sings the piano concerto it strongly reminds me the beautiful Concerto for soprano and orchestra by Reinhold Glière, a work everybody should know, and obviously Vocalise by Rachmaninov.
Sorry for my long comment. I've tried to summarize as much as possible.
useful asf
legato whats that all i need is a pedal
Superb idea and beautifully sung and played. I also try to sing Chopin 😁 -- at least when nobody is listening.
😂😅
Yes, his melodies have a tendency to stick to our minds, don't they?
I knew her from the Chopin Competition. Didn't know she was such an unbelievably skilled singer as well. Shes amazing!
She was so funny when the host told her in relation to the "Queen of the Night" - "I think that creature can sing Chopin", and her response was "I think that creature can sing Chopin. This creature (referring to herself) can't sing Chopin". Comedy gold. Great pianist, singer and person, I hope she gets a lot of concert engagements. I would love to see her perform Chopin 1 Piano Concerto and attempt to sign parts of it in a concert.
Love the idea of someone who’s both an instrumentalist and a vocalist. Sometimes people make them see like they’re totally different worlds, but it’s so cool to be proficient in more than one instrument. Kinda inspiring as someone who studies voice but has a band background
A lot people I know both sing and play an instrument, including me. But most of them concentrate on one aspect or the other as their primary thing, unless they're a guitarist/singer.
This is a genius idea - finally to hear all this sung by a real soprano and not just the imaginary (and bad) singing voice in our heads!
Chelsea's addition to the episode is enlightening, but it would be very nice to hear all the pieces played uninterrupted as well in a companion video!
The recording takes I'm drawing from are exactly the highest recording quality (as you can tell). They're not so sharable! But I do love the idea (as others have also requested) of engaging Chelsea to prepare vocalises of Chopin melodies (and Mozart, Schubert, Debussy) and produce high quality performance recordings of them (audio and video).
@@tonebasePiano We fully support that idea.
8:00 You weren't kidding, it must have been a LOT of work to edit in all of those annotations, zoom ins, highlights of Chelsea's quirkiness, punctiliousness and funny interactions with you, finding the right clips and transitions to give a rythm to the video, and who knows what else... Voice music isn't particularly my thing, but this was masterfully done and very entertaining, bravo! Highlighting the breaths in the Prelude at the end was a fantastic idea, it really puts into perspective one of the challenges of forming musical phrases with the voice as an instrument.
Thank you for noticing!
Chelsea , you are amazing. I was at your recital in Singapore tonight. I can’t believe someone can manage both piano and voice in a such high standard. Bravo again
Oh, I loved that scene from 5th Element! The first part is actually the Mad Scene from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and then the more wild finale was composed by the soundtrack composer w/ voice synth. But yeah. It's great. I'm sure she could :D
I love that the Éric Serra tried to write impossible things so it would sound alien, and Inva Mula successfully sang much more than he was expecting to be possible
This was so much fun. Reminds me of the way Villa-lobos - “bachianas brasileiras “ uses the orchestra / soprano voice to similar effect . Hauntingly beautiful melodic lines…
I so want to hear Chelsea's studio recording of the 4th prelude. Hope it is made one day, and without faking in the edits, the breaths make it real.
Chopin melodies are just something else you know. I've seen all kinds of instruments play them, nothing as good as a voice course. Loved the interaction between you two as well
Now I really need the full lyrical versions of Chopin's pieces. This has been very insightful, amazing video.
This is such a cool project. Please more! You both are such a precious duo btw!
Thanks for the wink at 17:05 hahahaha Maryla Jonas is a REVELATION - so glad you (finally *cough*) found her and included her here!! Love how you're tying in the singing that Chopin loved in the presentation of his works.
Dear Mark, thank you for all the work you do unearthing all the great treasures of pianists past!
Everyone should check out Mark's article on Maryla Jonas, and start exploring The Piano Files! www.thepianofiles.com/the-maryla-jonas-story/
Wow so cool hearing instrumental music performed by a singer. This was beautiful, thanks!
What a fascinating idea and performance from you both! Chelsea, I will be keeping an eye out for your concerts, both vocal and pianistic. I just retired after thirty some years in the Phil, and I spent my life singing the violin and viola repertoire to figure out what I wanted to do musically, unencumbered by bow and fingerboard. I think most good musicians do that; just not as well as you, and not on camera! I have some thoughts about specific moments in the video, which I’ll post separately (if I get around to it). 😊
Lovely and unexpected. It reminds me of the joy of just poking around in music, thinking how it works, experimenting.
Oh my! She is really talented! I too sometimes sing the melodies of piano pieces to understand them better. Nocturne in Eb and Prelude in E sound very good with her voice! tonebase piano always surprises me with very unique content. Thanks so much! I really enjoyed it!
This is great! I love that she sang the Chopin Nocturne op 9 no 1, which is not as well known as #2 but gorgeous. One of my favorites to play. Fabulous singing and piano playing!
Chelsea us extraordinary in every respect but for the next video we need to see her sing and play in a concert format - her range even to Broadway repertoire is uplifting - merci
Oh man. This is such a slice of heaven on earth. You guys have such good chemistry that you have to collaborate more often. Would love to see Mozart's Piano Concerto #20 in D minor, 2nd movement? Pretty please?
Oh, Thanks a lot, I really appreciate that vídeo too much!
All musics are amaziling singing, but Prelude 4th touched me more
No doubt that your suport and conduction were fundamental in this job
👏👏👏❤❤❤
This was so refreshing, original, and full of insights into both singing and piano playing -- and from the perfect exemplar -- someone so skilled in BOTH! Plus, you guys have the sweetest (and often funniest) banter -- mixed with the anxiety of having to give up the room -- all made for a perfectly delightful and thought-provoking 22 minutes. I agree with other commenters -- I'd love to hear a couple of these pieces (or least significant sections thereof) without interruption or commentary. Very glad that Mazurka (one of my favorite Chopin works) made the shortlist. A question for Chelsea: so, what pieces of Chopin do you find most would match your tessitura? And which would you most want to sing, even if they fell well outside your range? PS Props to the "Fifth Element" reference: saw that in the theater back in the day, and loved the alien diva: yes, get HER to do a vid!
That was an awesome idea :D I enjoyed so much listening vocally the melodies of Chopin... It would be great if you could make a 2nd episode of this.
That was a fascinating experiment, with rather surprising results. The prelude in particular came out really beautifully.
Maybe you should consider doing it with some of Schubert's solo piano music as well, I think it would be just as interesting.
Chopin wrote such otherworldly beautiful music.
you guys are hilarious! and this is such an interesting video, you won’t find it anywhere else
I like the calm way in which you do the interviews and how you give the guest room to express themselves ✨✨, excellent journalism and excellent dynamics with the guest, don't change!!, that's what I really like, it's somewhat annoying to hear people on youtube who don't let speak to the interviewee and do not transmit peace and clarity in the interview ✨✨So never change ur dinamic🙏✨✨
That was really interesting and fun to listen to. Thanks for showing all of the difficulties and challenges in singing the parts. Chopin created such beautiful melodies that sound like they were meant to be sung, but are quite alien to a human voice. Good shout out to the movie "The 5th Element" and the incredible performance. The movie is actually quite entertaining.
Chopin the Poet of the Piano was a singer by all means. His basic conception was formed by the influence of Opera and Meyerbeer whom he heard and Bellini etc.contributed to this no doubt. What is portatato and martellato is really a form of diction and also applies to the touch in piano playing. Diction in this case in articulation of the tones. Good to hear this kind of presentation to bridge the first art with playing the piano. Love to hear her solfege all these tunes. Lol 😮
This is so sick. omg she is gifted.
More of these please! You two are THE dynamic duo! ❤
Chelsea Guo your a goddess... Beauty brain and talent.. Is so rare to have a Pianist then a great singer in one person
I'm reminded of a remark by Garrick Ohlsson, on transcriptions of Chopin's melodies to other instruments:
"If you take [Chopin] and put it in an orchestral transcription or a violin solo... it sounds absolutely disgusting.
When you can actually realize the sustaining quality of the sound, it loses all of its suggestiveness, it loses all of its chastity.
It becomes pornography: the thing itself, rather than the poetic thought of the thing itself...
It's just too Technicolor. It doesn't leave anything to the imagination, no matter how beautiful it may be."
(nothing against Ms. Guo, she sounds sublime!)
As a baritone that sings musical theatre and opera, I can say that being a proficient musician adds so much to a performance. You don’t need to be performance level in piano or anything, just being able to sight-read and analyze music takes your art to the next level. Not to mention what it can do for your acting.
Awesome video at 3.48 there is this guy named Dimash who is the type of creature that lives in space with those kinda runs and notes...i learn a lot watching this even tho i can't sing or play an instrument lol but i do appreciate passionate work by passionate people😍
the Prelude was sooooo beautiful. sounds awesome as a vocalize.
That is indeed a very rare creature - one who is a masterful vocalist *and* pianist. Thanks for making this video, such a treat!
This is so great! I don't much listen to Chopin much but the background is really interesting. The whole video is really good at giving me alternating viewpoints with music. A lot of beautiful natural moments. Thanks for sharing!
Great Idea! Thank you both👍
So beautiful. This soprano singing opens a secret door to the greater beauty of Chopin's art. The voice brings out much more than a piano tone can (for certain passages). Now, I know what Chopin had meant by imitating the operatic singing style on the piano. A violin or a cello rendition of a Chopin nocturne also sounds good too. By the way, I've long concluded that Bach's Goldberg piano variation sounds best played by a quartet or a small orchestra. But I think the Prelude in E minor should remain just for piano to keep things simple, dry, and w/ no emotional burst.
I disagree, the prelude was already used for making a song, with amazing results: ruclips.net/video/PHIe9B5plDI/видео.html&ab_channel=ThiagoBerr%C3%AAdo
Most definitely agree with the choice to sing, not skip, the ending of Op.28 No.4 (the "decaying prelude," as I like to call it).
That was throat-clenchingly beautiful!
Fred
This works so well with so much of Chopin's work; there are others, though, that come to mind.
Of course, one of the most beautiful is Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata, mvt. 2 in A♭ major. That would be incredible. It makes me try to sing it when I play it.
We need some recordings of these pieces with voiced melodies!
As a composer, getting my Master of Music in Film and Television Scoring, I like to use vocalists a LOT in the music I compose. I have learned, through the years, some ways to better use the voice, but it has all been worth it.
James Horner loved using vocals in his film scores, especially in Titanic, where some of the solos are a bit tricky, but the sound is incredible.
This lady did very well at the singing. Even when she goes from chest voice to head voice, she still keeps the notes forward, and her piano skills are incredible.
P.S., it is musicians like her that give me hope that musicians won't be drowned out by sound libraries. The trained musician puts incredible amounts of time into EXPRESSING the music, and each time sounds different.
Humans performing music is something I value. Yes, musicians are far more expensive than using sound libraries, but to me, the results are 100 times better.
Accompanying yourself while singing jazz is one thing but stinging chopin?! "Pretty hard" is a total understatement!! 😅🤪
Very interesting and quite engaging. Well done, Chelsea! A whole 20 minutes! Watching this video I couldn't help but wonder how Edita Gruberova might have sung those parts.
Beautifully done ‘experiment’. Completely agree with the comments you both make. Honestly, brought tears to my eyes❤
This was so good! Not only beautiful to hear her bring to life something that goes through my mind while playing these Nocturnes, but also learning a lot with all the annotations, thanks for the editing and please bring Chelsea back with more piano pieces, specially from Chopin :)
I just simply enjoyed watching this. Lovely persons, lovely music, lovely feelings. Thank you so much. ❤️
Wow, what a charming mesmerizing lady! You two were really cute together.
The E-minor prelude was cream-of-the-top music at its best! The voice with this prelude was a natural prefect fit.
AAA+ video!
Wow - what a talent. This is an amazing idea and wonderful execution and analysis
It is interesting that some piano melodies work better than others. Listening to this makes me appreciate how well Monty Python sang Chopin's Heroic Polonaise.
Was that in a movie?
@@rogerg4916 Don't know. Search under Oliver Cromwell, Monty Python. It's a great history lesson.
Wow! I recall her from the Chopin competition but didn't know she sang as well. So talented, nice personality and pretty too!
This was a very insightful program, and a very brave thing to put out there without rehearsal or arrangement (transposition especially ;) ). I have just started trying to arrange some short Chopin pieces for bass and guitar(s) and I'm pretty sure the beauty of the works won't survive my efforts, but it's not for performance, just my own instruction and enjoyment. I started with Prelude no. 6, in which the melody is almost entirely in the bass, and quickly learned that the bass simply doesn't have the range to do it justice. Those low notes B, C#, and D, even though few in number, are crucial, and transposing them spoils the line. I suppose that in the end, regardless of how melodic Chopin's lines are, they are essentially too pianistic to translate well to other instruments. I'm going to persevere anyway, for educational purposes. I'm in love with Chopin, and dearly wish I had the chops to play his work as written.
Chelsea Guo’s voice is just BEAUTIFUL, I love her talent, her intelligence and versatility
Ms. Guo, you have a very beautiful voice and you apply it beautifully!! Thank you!
I am currently completely immersed in Chopin's 19 Nocturnes. Why not?
6:57 So funny, right after I commented the ^ above: "Let's do Nocturnes."
Yeah! Let's do Nocturnes!!!
this is a really beautiful video - I love the
explorations in the time crunch.
thanks for playing within the restrictions! I truly enjoyed it
What an absolutely beautiful video!! Your voice is gorgeous. Can’t wait to share this video to my students
Next project for you two should be Schubert, Schumann, Debussy….. Keep this project!! Love it!!!! SO interesting!
And Mozart!!
@@tonebasePiano Yes! My pianist friend requested Rachmaninov too!
I hope you also do this for Clara Schumann's piano works, especially the Nocturne, Mazurka in G minor and Ballade from her 'Soirees musicales' and also Rachmaninoff's Romance in A major. I find them really nice to sing along to, although i do sometimes find that my voice range lacks lmao.
The banter and the brilliance are apt companions - bravo chelsea
Chopin's writing is aimed directly at the piano, which is hammers on strings.
But the human voice is such a extroardinary instrument that it handles the lines of Chopin well.
I'm amazed she is doing this seated!
hey I saw her perform in my hometown last year! she was amazing, and the encore was magical. didn't even realize it was her until the video started
Amazing, and wonder-full! as always!
A beautiful experiment. The prelude and the phrases from the concerto were my favorite.
Gorgeous singing and so musical! Descending chromatic scales are arguably the most difficult thing to do as a singer.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! Thank you so much 🙂
On the prelude piece, there is a Brazilian composer called Tom Jobin who composed a song called "Insensatez", based entirely on that very same chopin prelude. Worth it taking a look at the song!
Wonderful seeing you together and helping us understand the connection between singing and playing. I don't think I have ever seen it done before. I posted the video in my blog.
At least this vid shows how ingenious Chopin would use the piano for its ideomatic power, its own power. Taken as a demo it is hervorragende, this video.
It would be interesting to have a discussion about what suits the piano best and how Chopin caught that even if he also wrote songs, and even if it is known that his friend Pauline Viardot sang Chopin's Mazurkas:
The soprano and composer Pauline Viardot was a close friend of Chopin and his lover George Sand, and she made a number of arrangements of his mazurkas as songs, with his full agreement. He gave Viardot expert advice on these arrangements, as well as on her piano playing and her other vocal compositions. Chopin in turn derived from her some firsthand knowledge about Spanish music. [Wikip.]
Except for salon or cabaret use, never accompany yourself singing - thereby bereaving the audience for the experience of concentrated song :)
The E Minor Prelude sung makes it sound like a tragic Aria and I love it.
it was like an arrow through my soul
I LOVED this! Oh my gosh. That was fun, and informative, and exactly what I needed today. Thank you!
Not only was this video beautiful but also highly entertaining. I think singing does add something to the prelude as there is new territory with the long notes of the melody.
I feel like the first ballade (or at least part of it) would sounds superb sung.
Love all your Chopin videos. Please keep it up.
What I like about Chopin's melodies on piano is how a lot of them are quite melancholious or desolate sounding, almost lonely. i'd love to hear full versions with someone "voice-holding" (like hand-holding) through to make it less heart-wrenching to hear.
Great video! And the prelude op.28 no.4 soooo beatiful. Bravo
Just found this channel and (A) What a lovely voice! and (b) The whole video I was thinking of suggesting that very Mazurka and the Prelude, and then you did them. You read my thoughts before I had them! Fun, interesting stuff!
The effort in this video is appreciated. Thank you a lot for this content
You're welcome!
absolutely beautiful! The melody from the prelude always gives me goosebumps.
Chelsea Guo: super talented, and so humble.❤
this is a pleasure to listen to for both the gorgeous singing and for the thoughtful analysis, thank you so much
wow Great talent Chelsea ,Chopin in My Voice features her piano playing and her singing of Chopin songs.
I'm speechless! Loved this video. Everything about it. Everything!
That slip where she says she did not learn anything at Juliard is quite cute. Very nice experiment and often sounds very "belcanto".
That was in response to a "slurred staccato" marking, which Seymour B suggested is Portato. I'm a violinist. String players think of portato as a bow stroke used to give the effect of slightly separated but connected, slurred notes, created by "carrying" the bow from note to note, often marked with lines rather than dots. For the referenced repeated- note passage, I'd suggest it be played or sung "Cantando," or expressively spaced as in a sung style, or "Parlando," as if in a spoken style. Not sure about Portato in this case... 🤔
How can you concentrate doing both at the same time? I alway get amazed with people who can sing at the same time play an instrument like guitar etc ( in pop music) but with classical piano you really have to listen your own piano sound with enormous concentrations more than pop music, I don’t understand how you can do both!!
OMG I love the melodies found in his Etudes and have long imagined writing a musical based on them! Op. 10 No. 3, Op. 10 No. 10 (which could be a duet), Op. 25 No. 1, Op. 25 No. 12... good stuff.
This is so wonderful seeing the process and discussion. As Tonebase lifetime subscriber it is the most useful site. Especially all the great instructional videos of garrick ohlsson both his chopin works and brahms videos beyond invaluable. I relisten to his Chopin barcarolle and his 118 2 of Brahms
Lovely voice Chelsea, your lucky to be gifted with more than one instrument. If you thought Chopin has problems with intervals etc think again, you should hear the soloist singing 'Eight songs for a mad king' by Peter Maxwell Davies! I only ever played once with him thank goodness the piece was minimalist compared to this score. It's a brilliant piece, could call it one of the greatest compositions of the 20th Century.
Great idea, I so enjoyed this. I hope you do more of these fascinating digs into what music actually is 🎉 oh and my favourite mazurka ! It’s the only one I play 😘. The prelude was sooo gorgeous.
Both of you: great musicality! BRAVISSIMO!!!!\
Now, back to my trumpet and piano.
So beautifull. I had tears in my eyes. Please make them all. I love it
Loved this!! Also the fifth element portion was taken from Lucia’s mad scene
The first section. The second section is an original work by Éric Serra
I think this was a super cool experiment. You both are amazing and I thank what you create and produce on youtube daily!
This was really special. I'm still inclined to say that I would prefer Chopin in piano over voice. I find this interesting because these past few years I've taken such a huge interest in listening to voice and opera, etc. There really hasn't been (that I know of) anyone on earth quite like Chopin, musically speaking. His music seems or is destined for the piano somehow, or he for it. I'm not saying that I won't ever listen to a beautiful production like you've done here re voice/piano. I'm just contemplating a bit on the subject. And I've listened to all of Chopin for close to 3 decades now. It's amazing that it "fits" so well with the keyboard, no?
Thank you so much for doing this stuff. Both of you. Truly, thank you!!!
Very interesting, I've often wondered how suitable Chopin's melodies could be for the voice, thanks for giving us some insight about this !
What a wondrous beautifully talented 'creature'. I am a tenor and once got caught in the wonderful situation of singing the orchestral part of Rach 2 with a Mexican Concert Pianist in Zurich. I've often thought of how an ensemble could easily sing many works of the late romantic composers.
Wow I’d love to hear that :O sounds beautiful!