Chopin: Nocturne Op 72 / Pachmann

In the words of the great Russian-German pianist Vladimir von Pachmann, a celebrity in his time but now forgotten, there is no better exercise to develop and maintain the deftness of the fingers than milking cows.
Vladimir von Pachmann (the particle "von" was added by himself, since his brothers, he did have them, were called simply Pachmann), was born in Odesa, Ukraine, in 1848. Early signs of his talent advised his prompt entry to the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied piano, and composition with Anton Bruckner. Even though he offered his first public concert at age 21, it was not until thirteen years later that he decided to go on tour around Europe and even the United States, gaining great acclaim everywhere as an exceptional artist.

By the time, the general opinion was that he played in an exceptional way the waltzes, preludes and mazurkas from Chopin. To respond to this distinction from the audience, he paid every year a visit to the grave of the Polish composer, to whom he asked for forgiveness for the wrong notes he might have pressed in the previous season.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, already a mature man, he chose to take his special sense of humour to the stage, applauding himself in the difficult passages already overcome, stopping the execution, kissing his hands and exclaiming: Bravo, Pachmann, Bravo! or, at the beginning of the concert, apologizing to the public for not having studied enough, and then going, calmly, revising scales and arpeggios in the presence of everyone.

Cover of one of Pachman's discs,
which he recommended buying
and then destroy  (1848 - 1933)

On one occasion, at the Albert Hall in London, the room crowded, Pachmann made his entrance, took a seat, tried to settle on the stool and then began to show signs of concern because he could not get it no matter how hard he tried. After a while, he stood up and left the stage without saying a word, before an astonished audience. After an anxious wait, after a quarter of an hour, his secretary or assistant emerged from behind the scenes, advanced towards the piano, delicately taking between his fingers a cigarette paper sheet, which he arranged with equal care under one of the legs of the stool. Pachmann returned to the stage, took a seat and after approving with a satisfied expression the perfect stability of the stool, he began to play.
It goes without saying that the public adored these witticisms and, in a way, did constitute by themselves an essential element in the success of his magnificent career.

Vladimir de Pachmann was one of the first pianists to make recordings of his work, back in 1906. In some of them, he makes comments on what he is playing. We have chosen one in which he doesn't. It is the Nocturne Op. 72, posthumous, by Chopin, who with the same spirit of Pachmann once stated: "I do not like people who never laugh, they are not serious people".

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