# 2021 Listening Project - Jan 25



## daco (Jan 5, 2021)

Chopin
Nocturnes Op. 9
Maurizio Pollini, piano

I have a CD with all 19 Chopin Nocturnes played by Pollini (including the posthumous Op. 72). That seems like too many to absorb at one sitting, so I will try to listen to one opus per day. Today was Op. 19. I listened to each twice.

I like these first three. When I've played this CD in the past, it's just been background music, where I was really only paying attention for the first minute or two. So Op. 91 No.1 was familiar to me, but the others weren't. It makes me wonder what Chopin would have thought about people "listening" to the short, concentrated pieces as "mere" background music. It also makes me wonder what it would be like to hear someone play these live, in small intimate setting, which I think must be the intended venue.

It's hard to choose among these, maybe I like No. 2 best, but very hard to say.


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