BRAHMS, J.: Piano Sonata No. 2: I. Allegro non troppo, ma energico (Masterclass with Zoltan Kocsis) (Ji Liu)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 2
Composer: Brahms, Johannes
Kocsis, Zoltan
Liu, Ji
Catalogue Number: RSS10395_1
Zoltan Kocsis starts his lecture explaining that, in a formal sense, this work is bigger than the student has shown with his performance. Regarding the first chords from this movement in detail, in the professor's opinion they should be played more "seco" and staccatissimo. Then Kocsis makes some comments on the use of the pedal, articulation, brahmsian sound and accents.
Afterwards, they dial with dynamics, effects and character of the legato melody, or tempo and metrics aspects. Kocsis insists on character, agogical and dynamical issues for the second theme. In a certain passage, the marcato is very important and then the student must play more agitato so the audience does not get bored.
Regarding the following part, Prof. Kocsis suggests playing the rests without pedal and playing a little slowly but on time. They also talk about the pesante character in Brahms (here is not necessary for this early composition in comparison with others) and Kocsis highlights the importance of leading the audience to the next part. The student must be like an actor.
