The Magaloff Corpus: an Empirical Error Study

Musicians at all levels of proficiency must deal with performance errors and have to find strategies for avoiding them. As their level of skill increases, errors occur less frequently, tend to be more subtle, and mostly go unnoticed by the audience. The phenomena of performance errors have been investigated before. However, precise performance data is difficult to acquire, as the automatic extraction of information related to timing and dynamics from audio data is still not possible at the required level of precision. Hence, most studies focus on data gathered on computercontrolled pianos under laboratory conditions. We present a study conducted on a unique corpus of precisely measured performances: the complete works for solo piano by Chopin, performed on stage by the Russian pianist Nikita Magaloff. The data was recorded on a Bösendorfer SE computer-controlled grand piano in a series of public recitals in Vienna in 1989. In this first large-scale error study, we examine Magaloff’s performances from qualitative, quantitative, and perceptual standpoints.