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Topic: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4  (Read 3713 times)

Offline donjuan

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Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
on: November 02, 2005, 11:13:21 PM
Hi everyone,

I have to perform this piece at a music festival this month, and thought I should run it by you first.  Sorry about the computer noises.  Comments and suggestions, please!

donjuan
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Offline gaer

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #1 on: November 03, 2005, 06:22:02 AM
Hi everyone,

I have to perform this piece at a music festival this month, and thought I should run it by you first.  Sorry about the computer noises.  Comments and suggestions, please!

donjuan
You have all the notes. The overall feel seems right to me, although the forward motion seems to stop when you pause too long a certain notes and chords. This is a matter of taste, so others may or may not agree with me.

The one thing that bothered me (ignoring problems in the recording process which you are not interested in worrying about) is the pedalling. Something sounds wrong. Either you are not always depressing the sustain pedal fully or there is a problem with the pedal itself. You also "lose" notes, meaning that at times, when you play bass notes, they are not "held on the pedal". This happens when the pedal is not depressed until after you have already released a key, then it no longer sounds throughout the measure. Do you know what I mean?

I would concentrate most of all on making sure that your use of the sustain pedal is really sustaining. This may fix many other minor problems. Perhaps other people will be able to explain what I'm mentioning better, in writing.

I don't think there is a huge amount of work you need to do to turn this into a really effective performance. :)

Gary

Offline rafant

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #2 on: November 04, 2005, 04:44:01 PM
Tempo and mood very good. Tender and warm. Only I hear imbalance in the touch quality between both hands. Right one is fine, but left hand sounds percussive, and notes at times are interrupted prematurely. So care for improving the left hand legato touch. I'm learning also a left-hand arpeggiatted piece and my teacher continuously exhort me to keep practicing legato all kind of arpeggios.
It's a wonderful piece and I hope you don't cease perfecting it.

Offline donjuan

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #3 on: November 04, 2005, 09:37:45 PM
Thanks so much for responding!

Ill keep at it!
Quote
You also "lose" notes, meaning that at times, when you play bass notes, they are not "held on the pedal". This happens when the pedal is not depressed until after you have already released a key, then it no longer sounds throughout the measure. Do you know what I mean?
I certainly dont mean to do that on purpose, but I know what you mean.  I feel like making up excuses and blaming the tin-can quality microphone on my laptop, but most likely it's shotty pedal work on my part.  Ill just have to pay more attention. 
Quote
Only I hear imbalance in the touch quality between both hands. Right one is fine, but left hand sounds percussive, and notes at times are interrupted prematurely.
yeah, I think that has to do with my interpretation of it.. I was trying to not make it a run-of-the-mill performance, but I could have gone too far.  I try to throw in the occasional surprise, contrasting light and dark, but if my actions come off as "interrupted prematurely" I just have to change something.  It's good to see how people respond to my playing so I can think about changes to make.

Thanks again, guys!
donjuan

Offline wzkit

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #4 on: November 14, 2005, 09:01:43 AM
Congratulations! You play with much heart and soul, and frankly, that matters to me more than anything else. I found myself moved by your interpretation - which does mean something because I have recorded this piece myself and am rather critical and opinionated when it comes to this music. Because of that, I can give allowances for the rather thin piano tone, a left hand which is too loud in the beginning (but not towards the middle and the end), and some minor pedalling problems. As Gary had already pointed out, this doesn't take much more work to make it a really good performance. Bravo!

My own version of this piece can be found on this thread:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11856.0.html

Offline stephenvandorn

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #5 on: January 13, 2022, 01:32:05 AM
Hi, Orion! I think your interpretation is lovely. I know you performed this 16 years ago, and the whole world has changed, but it's fun to go back in time. I was wondering if you were the actor, Orion Lee. I'm an actor and a pianist, myself, so it's always fun to see if someone is both. - S

Online lelle

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #6 on: January 13, 2022, 11:44:01 AM
Hi, Orion! I think your interpretation is lovely. I know you performed this 16 years ago, and the whole world has changed, but it's fun to go back in time. I was wondering if you were the actor, Orion Lee. I'm an actor and a pianist, myself, so it's always fun to see if someone is both. - S

The guy is probably long gone by now. 16 years is a long time to stay on a forum :)

Online perfect_pitch

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #7 on: January 13, 2022, 01:02:49 PM
The guy is probably long gone by now.

I think it's safe to say that, given he was last active in 2013... and it's now 2022.

So... yeah. Although, I have been here for over 16 years.

Online lelle

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Re: Rachmaninoff: Prelude Op. 23 No.4
Reply #8 on: January 13, 2022, 02:18:44 PM
I think it's safe to say that, given he was last active in 2013... and it's now 2022.

So... yeah. Although, I have been here for over 16 years.

Damn, that's impressive! Come to think of it, I've been here for nearly 14 years now :o
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