Pianist and actor Hershey Felder has returned to Mountain View in TheatreWorks’ “Chopin in Paris,” taking on the role of famed composer Fredyryk Chopin, considered one of the greatest musical minds of his time. The one-man show opened Aug. 19 and runs through Sept. 11.
Felder as Chopin welcomes audience members not through an invisible fourth wall, but as individuals entering his personal home as piano students. While this is, of course, a conceptual and aesthetic choice used so Felder can speak directly to the audience while in character, the content of the show may make the audience feel like they are being educated as well as entertained.
Throughout the play, Felder chronicles Chopin’s life, from his early days in Poland to his travels across Europe, his romantic relationships and ultimately his untimely death at only 39 years old, all punctuated by his solo piano performances of some of Chopin’s compositions that corresponded with the life events either chronologically or thematically. Felder even delves into some musical theory, speaking to some of the music’s translation to real-life action or emotion. In a piece placed following a scene depicting the end of his relationship with partner George Sand, he plays Chopin’s “Farewell Waltz” and points out the note of pain, and then its peaceful resolve.
Felder also noted that Chopin as composer and virtuoso pianist especially shined in improvisation, and that his “improv was always bolder than the finished compositions,” and he was always trying to channel the magic of those spontaneous performances in his work. Felder cleverly works this spirit into his own performance, taking several moments throughout the evening to answer audience questions. Not only were some of the improvised bits among the funniest of the performance, but also keenly represented Felder’s incredibly rich knowledge of Chopin’s personal and professional life.
Felder has made a career out of such performances, portraying musical legends from Beethoven to Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Irving Berlin. The truly special thing about a Felder show is not his technical music ability, nor the incredible amount of academic rigor that goes into cultivating a historically accurate play, nor the improvisation that brings spontaneity to each performance – it is the way he seamlessly brings each of these elements together to paint a nuanced portrait, in this case of Chopin, that connects the composer’s musical talent, family trauma, sensibilities, neuroses and the cultural context of his work together into one performance.
Felder’s approach to portraying Chopin is not merely to showcase his talent as a pianist, but rather to inform his audience and relay his passion for the music, creating a living (yet of course ephemeral) biography of the man behind the Romantic-era compositions that have transcended time to remain popular to this day.
Performances of “Chopin in Paris” are scheduled 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St..
Tickets start at $30.
For tickets and more information, visit TheatreWorks.org.
