Compare performersFrédéric Chopin
Chopin, Étude Op. 25 No. 5: Neeman and Goldstein
Étude in E minor, Op. 25 No. 5
Goldstein, on an Érard of 1851, and Neeman play the étude’s semitone clashes and its slower middle section in E major.
Recordings in
this comparison
Choose a recording and press Play. Selecting another card continues playback from the matching point in that recording.
Edward Neeman
Neeman’s teacher Larry Sitsky wrote his First Piano Sonata for him; Neeman made its first recording.
Martha Goldstein
Goldstein’s Érard was built in Paris in 1851 and restored with its original hammers and action.
Loading the player…
Each strip shows changes in volume within one recording.
Chopin’s tune repeatedly sounds the adjacent semitone before reaching its note. Goldstein and Neeman move from these quick semitone clashes to a slower song in E major, low in the piano. The opening then returns with its clipped chords.
Tempo map
Time taken compared with Edward Neeman, c. 2014: above 1×, the performer takes longer over the same music; below it, less time.
- Edward Neeman, c. 2014 · reference
- Martha Goldstein
Passages compared
Each version plays in card order, for up to 12 seconds of reference music or until the next marked passage, whichever comes first.
- 01
Opening with semitone clashes
0:12 in the referenceQuick semitone clashes interrupt the tune. The opening has short, clipped chords and brief pauses.
- 02
Middle section in E major
1:00 in the referenceIn E major, the left hand plays a broad melody while the right hand moves up and down around it.
- 03
Return of the E minor opening
2:30 in the referenceThe quick E minor opening returns after the long central song, with its short phrases and semitone steps.
Length of each recording
- Edward Neeman, c. 20143:45
- Martha Goldstein3:07
These times include the lead-in and final fade. Cuts, repeats and disc-side breaks also affect a recording’s length.
Recording notes
Edward Neeman, c. 2014
Neeman’s teacher Larry Sitsky wrote his First Piano Sonata for him; Neeman made its first recording.
Edward Neeman
Listening notes & recording detailsOriginal recording source ↗Martha Goldstein
Goldstein’s Érard was built in Paris in 1851 and restored with its original hammers and action.
Martha Goldstein, piano
Listening notes & recording detailsOriginal recording source ↗Further reading
- Neeman — recording dedication by Musopen
- Goldstein — Érard 1851; session undated
- Excluded Pachmann transfer — CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
- Mieczysław Tomaszewski, Chopin Institute — the scherzando opening, cello-like middle melody and return
- Op. 25 No. 5 — semitone dissonances, E major middle section and return
- Pandora Records — Goldstein’s 1851 Érard and the preservation of its original hammers and action
- Australian National University — Neeman’s teachers and first recording of Sitsky’s Piano Sonata No. 1
How the recordings are matched
The matching follows sequences of pitches, using a method called dynamic time warping. Every recording is mapped to the reference, so switching between two versions goes through that shared clock. Where several reference times match one point, the middle time is used.
- Martha Goldstein: match score 0.949. Matched passages available.
Switching stays within the matched span, and trimmed recordings keep their original clock times. Match scores describe similarity in the sound.