VIDEO: Performance - Chopin's Polonaise Op. 53

[drumstix]

http://www.lordcharlie.com/kerry_ryso_yac.wmv

YAY!  I performed last night in a local Young Artist's Competition, sponsored by the Roanoke Youth Symphony.  Twelve people played, on various instruments - mostly violins, then one flue, one oboe, a marimba solo, and me on piano.  I didn't win anything, but I think this is about the best I've ever played it, and that's more than enough for me. 

One of my friends performed Keiko Abe's 'Prism Rhapsody' on marimba and got 2nd place...it was AMAZING!  I think he deserved 1st place, but that only goes to seniors. 

Soooo let me know what you think, if you think had any business performing a piece like this, and what aspects I need to improve...
Thanks!
-Kerry

p.s.  I posted a recording a while ago, it can still be found at http://www.lordcharlie.com/pol_op53.wmv - if you feel like taking the time, let me know if you see improvements! 

[nicco]

The main things i think about when i see this is:

- Tempo. Its a bit robotic some places, especially in the parts with the 1st theme
- Dynamics. Many places the bass is too loud compared to the melodic line. (F. ex the start of the staccato passage)
- Your sitting position. For my taste you are sitting too much into the chair.

Else its pretty ok

[henrah]

Wish we could see your hands...

[drumstix]

hmm...robotic?  last time i posted a recording i was told i had 'weird use of rubato'...so apparently i'm not doing something right.  how do i know what the 'right' expression is? 

[allthumbs]

Well for someone who looked to be about 16 or 17 years old, you did an admirable job over all and in front of an audience too!

Just keep doing what you are doing and you'll be well on you way to concert pianist status.

[zheer]

Soooo let me know what you think, if you think had any business performing a piece like this, and what aspects I need to improve...
Thanks!
-Kerry
 

   I think you did very well, its a very difficult piece so just learning it is an achievment, but playing in a competition is going to make it even more difficult. It was an improvement from your last recording which means you will reach a very advanced level at some point.


   Anyway the what aspects need improving question, hmmmmmmmmm thats a difficulty question, apart from the wrong notes ( which does'nt matter that match ) i guess you need to creat a large sound and then find its contrast ie soft sound. You play the piano like a conductor, for example when you play a loud chord you lift your hand up into the air, try keeping them on the piano keys,. I guess you can practice doing that, ie play the chord as loud as you can then keep your finger tips on the keys with enough pressure to keep the keys down and not too much so that you hurt your hands. Anyway you are young and you have time to fix all these things, with the right teacher you will go far.
    All the best.

[pizdac]

Man eventhough I didn't like the song, it sounded very good, very rare that I see people at such age playing that good...For how long have you been playing?

[pianistimo]

this is such a difficult piece!  i haven't heard the second recording - but i watched your pedalling.  it's very metronomic.  to get the best pedalling in chopin - you have to pedal in strange places, sometimes (sort of like singers not breathing exactly here and there - but giving an impression of phrasing without always breathing).  more connectedness, i guess.

the opening 'almost' gave me a thrill.  there was hesitancy in the first recording.  maybe as you play it more and more - you'll give way to some real thrills to your audience.  you have a very pianistic way about you.  good quality of concentration.  maybe now, you have to let go of the 'boom chuck' and give way to keeping your hands much closer to the keys.  stride and chopin really have nothing in common.  you watch stride pianists and they are slapping the keys and getting a lot of peripheral noise from it.  you don't want this in your recordings.

[pianistimo]

there was a pencil on the strings int he second recording.  very interesting.

[drumstix]

whoa, i figured this thread was pretty much dead by now...guess not :-P 
as for the lifting of the hands, does anyone else have that problem?  pianistimo, you were probably right about the stride pianist thing--i play a lot of that style of music as well, so that's more than likely where it came from.  was this problem most prevalent leading into the lh octaves section?  or were there other places that i haven't even noticed..?

For how long have you been playing?

going on 14 years pretty soon

wow, i just realized how much faster i took it in the older recording...
i made an effort to keep the intro slower and more controlled in the competition, because that's been a trouble spot for me all along... i guess that made it less interesting, as well...oops
has anyone else played this, who could offer some advice on the opening bars?  i've practiced those chromatic runs more times than i'd like to admit, but they still don't come out as cleanly as i'd like--particularly the 2nd and 3rd ones.  practicing the fingering in the music for more than a minute or two at a time really hurts; i presume it's from all the 4-5-4-5 crosses and such.  any special practice tips there?

thanks for all your feedback!!
-kerry

[jlh]

In the beginning you need more clarity (indeed throughout the rest of the piece as well).  You're not using enough of your fingers and that's what's causing the notes to run together.  Try practicing the beginning slower and lift your fingers high before striking the notes. 

I don't think it's very robotic, but you don't seem to understand what's important to bring out to your audience.  You seem to be focussing on the harmony in the RH and not the melody -- bring that out, don't just shrug it off.  The LH is not going to do anything for you if you play it as loud as you are in places (like the octaves in the middle, which should be MUCH quieter, by the way).

Make sure your rhythms are very crisp and that the hands are playing in ensemble with one another.  Like in the very beginning, after the first couple measures when you're playing the Dd - C - F# - E in the RH, the hands are not together, .  You might try playing the beginning without pedal a few times to make sure the hands are playing at the right time.

Notes....  yes, the notes are very important, and when you play so many that it distracts the audience from the music, then it matters.  An occasional slip of the fingers is forgivable, but a slip of the fingers every measure or two is not.

Other than that, good job!   

What are your plans after highschool?

[xire]

Hi drumstix,


I really liked your performance, keep up the good work! 

[drumstix]

hmmmm plans after high school?  not quite sure.  i'm goin to Radford University for a year or two, since it's pretty close to home, and then i'll probably transfer somewhere else.  at this point, i'm planning on doing a double-major in computer science and music performance-- i do a lot of computer work and wouldn't mind making a living out of it, and i wouldn't be able to live with myself if i fell behind in piano and percussion.  i don't, however, plan on doing anything with music professionally.

[...]you don't seem to understand what's important to bring out to your audience.

this is more or less what i meant when i asked "did i have any business performing this piece?"  see, i stopped taking regular lessons about a year and a half ago, and i feel like i've really gotten ahead of myself since then, since i'm playing only what i want.  so perhaps i should tone it down a bit and play some less advanced pieces that are easier to interpret?

[jlh]

hmmmm plans after high school?  not quite sure.  i'm goin to Radford University for a year or two, since it's pretty close to home, and then i'll probably transfer somewhere else.  at this point, i'm planning on doing a double-major in computer science and music performance--
 

You DO know that a music major doesn't play well with most other majors, right?  practicing takes up a lot of study and computer programming time.  I tried doing business and piano, and ended up dropping the business major because of time constraints...

i wouldn't be able to live with myself if i fell behind in piano and percussion.

So THAT was it!  I thought some of your chord technique was a little percussion-like, now I know why.

  so perhaps i should tone it down a bit and play some less advanced pieces that are easier to interpret?

I don't know that the piece is too difficult for you.  Now that I know you haven't had lessons for a year and a half, I realize that you just haven't had any direction by means of technical facility or musical interpretation for this piece.  I think if you had a good teacher you could pull this one off easily!

[drumstix]

hmm...i knew piano made me play percussion more musically, but it never occurred to me that percussion might make me play piano more mechanically interesting...

leaving regular piano lessons was one of the dumbest things i think i've ever done, but there's no way i would have made it through the last year if i hadn't--i've been way too busy.  i've taken occassional lessons, primarily when my sister couldn't make it to hers, in which my teacher offered some guidance, but i haven't seen her enough to really make a difference.  i do, however, plan on focusing on piano in college--i figure that if i get a good, solid foundation now, i'll be more likely to continue it for the rest of my life. 

how much time does being a music major take?  is it significantly more than any other major?  one of the reasons that i chose to go to radford instead of a more..uh..prestigious school was so that i might be able to keep up with the work load more easily.  academically, i'm pretty far ahead of the average freshman at RU, so maybe i'll be able to keep up with a bit of extra work? 

[el nino]

give us more music. don't play just to get the job done,but be inside with whole mind (and body...).

[jlh]