The "Variations Sérieuses" op. 54 Mendelssohn in the Interpretations of Outstanding Pianists
The paper is devoted to the comparative analysis of interpretations of “Variations Sérieuses” op. 54, one of the fundamental piano works by F. Mendelssohn. The survey touches upon the history of this work’s creation, it also reveals Mendelssohn’s comprehension of the terms “brilliant” and “serious” and the character of their combination. The main focus is given to the comparison of the performing styles of “Variations Sérieuses” by such famous masters of the past and present as A. Cortot, V. Horowitz, V. Sofronitsky, A. Brendel. The survey is also aimed at analyzing how the aforementioned pianists reveal the semantic content of the Mendelssohn’s work in order to discover their attitudes to interpreting the form and their principles governing the use of expressive means in music performance.