One can ponder whether the placement of the staccato indication only just in the 2nd half of the bar is not an example of the Chopinesque manner of placing indications within their range of validity. In other words, whether one should not perform the entire chromatic sequence in this bar staccato. According to us, no – such placed indication most probably means that the first few notes are to be performed legato and then the articulation is to be gradually changed, so that the last few notes are clearly performed staccato. There is a similar situation in bar 532.
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category imprint: Source & stylistic information
issues: Centrally placed marks
notation: Verbal indications