So interesting...after a while I have gotten back to this pesky waltz, and noticed that the edition I have has no pedal markings for the middle section. There are no pedal markings around bars 66-67 (might have the numbers wrong, will have to check). This is the 'Piu Lento' section.

Question is you can't really suspend some of the notes in Baroque fashion (keeping your fingers on the notes) unless you are using a pedal. Do you have any thoughts on this? I can eventually post the edition I have if you like, can't do it at the moment.

Hope you understood what I meant. Rambling again, better have coffee...

For what it's worth this is the way I pedal it :
bar 1 ped. on beat 1;off beat 3
bar 2 ped. on beat 1; off beat 3
bars 13 & 14 a 'touch'of ped. on beat 1; off fractionally before beat 2
bar 18 ped. whole bar only (not into bar 19)
similar ped. in bar 25 (3 beats);bars 29 & 30 (beats 1 & 2 only); 31 and 32 likewise.
'Piu mosso' section (bars 33-48) 'light' pedalling for each bar i.e. ped. off on each 3rd beat ( and can be half-pedalling)
bars 49 -64 no ped.
'Piu lento' bars 65-66 ped. but release on beat 3 of 66. ( Ped. will be required in bar 68 if hands too small to hold l.h. minim chord above bass Dflat/Dnatural)
bars 69-70ped. releasing on 2nd beat of bar 70
Judicious ped. in bars 74;75/76;81;90-93
bars 97-112 ped. for each bar
bars 113-128 no ped.
From bar 129 (Tempo 1) to end (effectively the 'recapitulation')pedalling corresponds to that in bars 1 64.
Bars I have not mentioned I do not pedal at all.
Most of this pedalling is consistent with that given in Fielden and Craxton's edition published by A.B.R.S.M.
Where my suggestions differ they are designed to produce a slightly 'drier' sound which I find appealing in this intimate Waltz.
All this seems a bit fussy,maybe, but I hope it helps.
Best wishes.
rk

The pedalling in my edition is very prescriptive and seems much the same as what rovikered has described. I like the drier effect too in parts of this piece - it adds warmth to the subsequent bits that are pedalled, if you know what I mean, and produces forward movement by creating and releasing tension.

Pedalling is such a subjective thing, which can depend, as much as anything, sometimes, on the accoustics of where you're playing! Cantabile melodies, such as in the Piu Lento here, can sound great when the pedal is used sparingly in a room like mine with a hard floor and no soft furnishings, but the same treatment can make it too dry elsewhere.

Thanks for that, I dont think it's fussy at all. A very good point about ambience and resonance as well, I find that this varies greatly and one has to adjust.

From what I gathered you pedal on 1 and 3 mostly; often in Romantic piece I dont think it's a crime to use intuitive dynamics or intuitive pedalling, although in graded exams you almost certainly would get marked down. I do pedal this section apart from odd bars such as the F minor chords (F/C - C/Ab) or the very last section with diminshed chords. Interestingly (or maybe less interestingly for you), I release the pedal on the acciaccaturas in the melody at the beggining, this usually has a good effect. I will have to post some music sometime!

These are my editions (Dover I think, a collection)....

Edition
Piu Lento section

This piece certainly needs pedal to create a rich tone, but there is way too much pedal indicated in most editions. The question is? What did Chopin intend? I don't know of a reliable Urtext. Also the old fashioned Ped * notation cannot show the precision and subtlety that is needed.

Artur Rubinstein plays (played) the Piu Mosso sections with almost no pedal. He just pedals the final bar of each phrase, and possibly uses just a quick dab on the first beat of each measure. That keeps the RH line beautifully clear. I like it.

As for the rest, the general rule is to use secondary pedalling (Syncopated pedalling) on each change of harmony. But I think that in general it is better in this piece to err on the side of too little pedal rather than too much.

In the Tempo Giusto sections you have to decide whether to observe the semiquaver rest in the RH measures 4 and 5 and similar by killing the sound of the RH Fsharp-A chord. You can do that by clearing the treble with a quick up-down of the right foot - but many pianists don't bother.

That's quite difficult to do without making it sound forced, or making the music appear to stutter too much. It should, a little, I know, but in practice it all needs to be very precise. There's a danger of this section sounding 'bitty'. If what you describe is well handled, though, I think it's the best way to do it; the semiquaver rest need not be there if this was not Chopin's intention.