Chopin Polonaise Op. 53

[drumstix]

Hello, all...I recorded this yesterday and would greatly appreciate any feedback you have to offer! 

...it seems that the forum only allows certain filetypes to be uploaded, so I'll post it on my own site:  http://www.lordcharlie.com/pol_op53.wmv
-Kerry

p.s.  my little digital camera (the only recording device I have as of now) seems to ignore any and all attempts at dynamic contrast; I don't know if it's too close to the piano, or what...so I apologize for the poor quality of the recording.

[mwhite]

Wow!  I'm impressed.  How long have you been working on this piece?  It needs some work, but hey, you got through the whole thing without a major lapse.  That surely was a lot of notes to memorize.  It's so refreshing to see young people doing something constructive with their lives. 
Mike

[jamie_liszt]

Nice piano, is that in a school of some kind? and How old are you. heres some things i liked about your playing:

-You have a good memory
-your scales are better then mine
-good octaves with the left hand, do you use alternative fingers ? does your arm get tired.
-man i have trouble memorizing the slow part after the octave parts, you memorized it well (try playing it slower and softer)
-nice arpeggios at the end (after the arpeggio you had a small stop, fix it

heres some stuff that you can fix, these are just the stuff that stands out ALOT to me, i could be picky about dynamics and alot of other things but work on these first:

-The runs in the beginning were to uneven to begin with but the last one was ok.
-In the main part your left hand needs alot of work  with accuracy.
-half of the time the notes don't even come out in the left hand.
-Work on your 4/5 trills
-at 1:50 start with the loud octave C's then go soft and get louder (could be the recording)
-to much pedal in parts, weird use of rubato

[drumstix]

Thanks!  yeah, it's still very much a work in progress...there's so much I want to do with it! 

Nice piano, is that in a school of some kind? and How old are you.

Yes, that's at my school--I practice in the choir room during my lunch period.  I'm 17, a senior in high school...which explains the lack of practice time

-good octaves with the left hand, do you use alternative fingers ? does your arm get tired.

I've tried alternating fingers, but it just didn't work well for me...(the best alternating combination that I found was kinda weird-- 4-3-4-5 --but by that point, I was already used to not alternating at all, so I've just left it as it is.  But yes, my hand does get tired, and the second repetition is usually considerably more sluggish than the first.

-man i have trouble memorizing the slow part after the octave parts, you memorized it well (try playing it slower and softer)
-nice arpeggios at the end (after the arpeggio you had a small stop, fix it

Is the 'slow part' the section that starts at 4:33?  or the preceding section, starting at 4:15?  I've never really thought of the 4:15 section as a 'slower' section; the "1 +a 2 +a 3 +a " rhythm seems to want to move forward...can you clarify?  (although, I suppose it should probably go a bit slower, for the sake of keeping it clean!)  I've had quite a bit of trouble with that section; I just can't seem to remember the left hand! 

-The runs in the beginning were to uneven to begin with but the last one was ok.
-In the main part your left hand needs alot of work with accuracy.
-half of the time the notes don't even come out in the left hand.

I've done a lot of work on the beginning runs, and can do them (for the most part) by themselves...but it seems that when I'm playing the piece,
I think part of that may have to do with the quality of the recording; it doesn't pick up the lower notes quite as well...but I agree, it does still need a good bit of work. 

(mostly)-off-topic side note:  has anyone else ever opened the piano and removed the music stand (it slides right out on most grands) so you can watch the hammers as you play?  I've found that it's a pretty good way to watch accuracy; you can see what notes you're almost hitting, like with fast passages and big chords, and your hands don't get in the way...  just a thought

-Work on your 4/5 trills

Ok, so I kinda cheated with the 4/5 trills :-P I couldn't do them properly if my life depended on it.  I found that playing 4-5-5 (letting the 5 slide) worked pretty well, on good days...although sometimes it doesn't work as well as I'd like

-to much pedal in parts, weird use of rubato

I'm hoping the pedal might be, in part, the piano's fault...but I'll definitely work on that.
And the rubato is partially my not being able to play it properly :-P what sections stood out, in that regard?

Wow! I'm impressed. How long have you been working on this piece?

I've been working on it for a while now, since last august--4 months?  When I began learning it just before the beginning of the school year, I predicted it would take the better part of 3 or 4 months just to learn the notes  (I got considerably less practice time back then, but things have calmed down a bit), but once I got started, it all progressed rather quickly, and I had the notes learned within a month.  The last two months or so have been spent mainly trying to polish and maintain it. 

It needs some work, but hey, you got through the whole thing without a major lapse. That surely was a lot of notes to memorize. It's so refreshing to see young people doing something constructive with their lives.

It certainly is a lot of notes :-P I almost fainted when I looked at the music for the first time!  But with a good bit of work and the right attitude, anything is possible, I believe...(*sarcastic glance back to the infamous breadboy FI thread*)

I began the piece with the intention of playing it for the Young Artist's Competition, an annual competition sponsored by the Roanoke (Youth) Symphony.  Whoever wins gets to play a concerto with the Youth Symphony the following year!  (I'm a senior, and a percussionist in said youth symphony, so I would love the opportunity to go back and solo with them!)  But I may try to learn another piece before then; I'm worried that this one will fall apart between now and then (it's in the spring), since I learned it so much faster than I anticipated. 

I will try to get a better-quality recording as soon as I can...I may see if my church will let me borrow their recording equipment sometime in the next week.
Thanks so much for the feedback!  And for any more than you have to offer
Kerry

*edit:  wow, sorry, that's a really long post! :-P

[instromp]

WoooooooooooooW!!!!!! That was amazing,very nice.I cant believe you memorized all those notes,whoa. I would definitely need to site read alll that.But at my level it would take me forever to learn it.

[jamie_liszt]

You will improve over time, anyway thats a nice piano, i hope it sounds better then it did in the recording.

EDIT: Oh and I meant the slow part as being the part at 4:33 in your video and ending at 5:30 but I gues in your recording its not really "slow"

[zheer]

I think for someone as young as you, you did a very good job and your interpretation will only improve in the years to come
  I have personaly never playd this polonise,but i've heard it so many times that i have already memorized it. The first thing you need to do is make this polonaise sound more heroic, one way you can do this is by listining to some old recordings by Arthur Rubenstine and Padrawiskie ( spelling not sure). All the best.