Chopin, Schubert and Verdi come alive in different versions

Three different versions of a Chopin Nocturne. One is slow and dreamy. One is fast and direct. And one is by the man who inspired the Oscar-winning film, “The Pianist.” You won’t forget them.

I'm calling my next class "Music in the Mirror" because we will explore different versions of piano pieces, cello pieces, opera arias, choruses, songs and symphonies. Some of these pieces will be familiar and some may not be, but we’ll get to know them in new ways. I thought it would be interesting to compare performances of single pieces as a way to talk about how meaning and emotion change depending on how the performer makes the music come alive.

Join us!

4 p.m. Feb. 10, Classic Pianos in Portland, 3003 SE Milwaukie and Powell Boulevard.

Here's one example: In 1944, a German officer found Wladyslaw Szpilman hiding in an abandoned building in Warsaw. He asked Szpilman if he would play something on a nearby piano. Szpilman played Chopin's beautiful Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor. The officer told him where to hide in a better place and brought him food. Szpilman inspired Roman Polanski's film, "The Pianist" and, in 1997, recorded the same Nocturne: