In this video, Ben Laude sits down with Israeli pianist Arie Vardi to discuss Debussy. Laude probes Vardi's expertise on Debussy's life and legacy, and together they examine the composer's musical influences, his life and career, and the lasting impact he made on the musical world, especially for the composers and pianists who came after him.

In this video, Ben Laude sits down Israeli pianist Arie Vardi to discuss the peculiarity of composers, and how playing the music of Frédéric Chopin is so uniquely challenging. To Arie's dismay, the topic of competitions comes up, leading them down a conversation about what it means to be a pianist in the modern day.

What is the secret of harmony?' Ever since he was a child, Arie Vardi was drawn to the enchanting sonorities unique to the music of Debussy. In this lesson, the world-renowned pianist and teacher introduces you to the magic of Debussy's harmony and the mystery of the touch required to reveal the colors and perfumes emanating from his scores.

In this lesson, Israeli pianist Arie Vardi teaches you the difference between legato and cantabile playing. To play legato, you must connect your notes by pedaling with your fingers, i.e., releasing a note only after its sound has briefly overlapped with the next note. You must also touch the keys with the pads or “cushions” of your fingers, and your attack, you learn, must be slow. Vardi encourages you to enhance the expressivity of your legato playing with cantabile (“singable”) phrasing. To achieve a cantabile style, Vardi explains, you must never play two notes at the same volume; rather, you must use dynamics to give your playing a constant sense of direction. Finally, you learn to imitate singers’ phrasing by taking time during large melodic leaps.

Join world-renowned Israeli pedagogue Arie Vardi for a profound look at how Chopin constructs intricate emotional worlds in music. Vardi reveals how Chopin’s twin loves of opera and Bach relate to two powerfully expressive compositional techniques: poly-melody and polyphony. He begins by showing Chopin’s mastery of introductory music. In the Mazurka in B-flat Minor, Vardi sees the shrinking intervals showing how exploration of the inner nucleus of the self is more fascinating than visiting distant lands. This introduction flowers into an unforgettable melody that illustrates his main topic. Vardi defines poly-melody as a mysterious, imagined “third voice” that results from the combination of two voices in a duet. Chopin often gives a strikingly vivid, human character to each voice in the texture, as if it were an operatic duet; in the case of this mazurka, he presents both a pleading and a refusing voice in the upper register. Poly-melody is the synthesis of these two that creates a third, richly emotional impression. Vardi contrasts this with traditional polyphony. Instead of presenting two relatively independent characters like in poly-melody, when using his polyphonic technique Chopin is like a philosopher repeating the same musical idea from many perspectives until reaching the truth. Instead of merely emphasizing the top voice, freely choose to zoom in and out on this or that voice. Vardi closes by encouraging freedom and flexibility in your interpretation: “Play in such a way that no one will recognize what you are playing” — a surprising strategy for ensuring that Chopin’s extraordinary music will continue to inspire players and listeners alike.