#mikuli

[clavierissimo]

The tone which Chopin brought out of the instrument was always, especially in the cantabiles, immense (riesengross), only Field could perhaps in this respect be compared to him. A manly energy gave to appropriate passages overpowering effect – energy without roughness (Rohheit); but, on the other hand, he knew how by delicacy – delicacy without affection – to captivate the hearer.

Mikuli

[clavierissimo]

Moriz Rosenthal and Raoul Koczalski were both pupils of Karol Mikuli, a favorite pupil of Chopin. However their approach to the music of Chopin is often very different, as for example in this etude in A flat major.

[clavierissimo]

[clavierissimo]

Raoul Koczalski, a pupil of Mikuli, plays the charming Ecossaise op. 72 by Chopin

[clavierissimo]

(At Chopin’s house) the pupil played always on a magnificent concert grand, and it was part of his duty to practise only on best quality instruments.

Mikuli

[clavierissimo]

Even in his much maligned tempo rubato, the hand responsible for the accompaniment would keep strict time, while the other hand, singing the melody, would free the essence of the musical thought from all rhythmic fetters...

Karl Mikuli about Chopin

[clavierissimo]

Chopin mastered the most difficult arpeggios legato, since his wrist and forearm were in continuous motion.

Karol Mikuli