Rachmaninov - Moment musical N.5

[quasimodo]

Your advice please...

[pianowolfi]

As far as I can hear it's a beautiful performance. Acoustically not so satisfying, background noise and reverb. Seems the piano is at one end and the micro at the other end of an endless hall. I've played that five years ago. Isn't it amazing, the harmonies are really alphorn-like. As if Rach had been in Switzerland when he composed that. But actually, his Swiss times were later I think.

[quasimodo]

Thanks for your comment, pianowolfi. And yes, I'm sorry not to have better recording settings.
I didn't have the alphorn reference in mind, but it's somehow right. However, This piece really shows a different facet of Rachmaninov's composition genius, especially from a harmonic perspective.

[zheer]

  I love music that make me think of nature, this was really mature and sensative piano playing. Good luck.

[pianowolfi]

Thanks for your comment, pianowolfi. And yes, I'm sorry not to have better recording settings.
I didn't have the alphorn reference in mind, but it's somehow right. However, This piece really shows a different facet of Rachmaninov's composition genius, especially from a harmonic perspective.

I just noticed that I had a very bad earphone yesterday. Now I listen again and It sounds much better, though there is still reverb. What recording device have you been using and where have you recorded it? Perhaps I'll post my old recording of that piece too. Certainly there will be a lot of reverb too And btw you really play beautifully!

[rachfan]

Hi quasimodo,

You do a very nice job with this piece!  Many people who listen to this Moment Musical never realize that the piece is actually in the form of a barcarolle.   Although most barcarolles are in 6/8, this one is in common time, which makes it an exception in that regard.  But a barcarolle it is nevertheless.  Here are a few thoughts:

First, you might want to quiet the LH significantly.  Then when you voice the RH melody, which you do very well, it will be with even greater clarity.

You blend the volume of phrase endings and new phrase beginnings very well. 

In measure 9, fourth beat triplet in the RH, the C natural underlying the tie is harmonic only, not melodic in function.  I'd suggest that you quiet that note down to a mere whisper to keep it noninterruptive.  Notice too in 10, the C natural there IS melodic and is sounded as such, presenting a differentiation in the treatment of that same note in a short space of time.

12-13: You bring out the important RH scale very nicely, voicing the upper notes.  On the G flat-B flat double note tie in the RH there, don't be afraid to linger on that.  It produces a really nice effect.  Try it. 

Yes!  In 18, you recognized the C natural in the RH as being harmonic, and deemphasized it in favor of the tenuto G flat in the LH.  Great!

29: Fine preparation for the contrary motion roll between the hands!  That roll is the climax of the piece, so try to bring out the top B flat more to make the roll brilliant.  It needs to be at ff as written.

36: Note the voice leading:  The G#, first note in the LH in that measure leads to the A natural in the RH in the second beat.  I would suggest that you make that even more apparent for the listener. 

39: I would suggest that you make the RH triplet in the second beat (see also 41 and 48) way quieter!  If you aim for ppp on those, you'll at least attain the pp as marked.  They are intended as mere whispers.

44: The B flat whole note in the RH has to have some omphhh to it in order to sustain throughout the measure.  I cannot hear you playing the note at all.  Did you omit it, or is it the recording? 

49:  Nice!  You noticed that despite Rach's tenuto accents on the lower notes of the RH chords, that in fact you must also naturally voice the top notes which are actually the melody, producing a duet there.  It's the middle line that's unobtrusive.  You play that well. 

50: A voice leading trick: In the RH fourth beat triplet, put enough energy into playing the intial A flat, and hold onto it (despite the fact that Rach wrote it as an eighth note) so that it will sustain over the tie.  It's important, because the A flat is the dominant  pointing toward the resolution to the D flat tonic.  Try it, I think you'll like it. 

At this stage of getting comfortable with this piece, your playing tends to be somewhat metronomic.  I think the reason is the polyrhythms.  You're very conscious and particular about the twos against threes, notes in the RH that fall between the triplet notes of the LH, etc.  This rigorous approach, while correct, detracts a bit from the leisurely adagio sostenuto character that you need to achieve.  To mitigate that, I would suggest that you relax and loosen it up a little.  Also, feel free to introduce more rubato as appropriate.

Finally, in the last measure (where this is audio, not video) I wonder if you "play" the rests there?  That is, once the rests begin, you need to keep your hands over the keyboard while you gaze down at them until the end of the final rest's value; and only then withdraw your hands.  That signals to the audience that the spell is not to be broken until you say it is to be broken.  Do you do that in performance?

Very nice job!  Again, I liked your rendition a lot.  I hope you'll find these suggestions helpful.

   

[piano121]

Quasimodo,
this piece is rely beautifull, i enjoyed it very much. Just would like to listen to a better recording, it seems the mics are far away from the piano. Other than that, good job!

Rachfan,
You are such an encyclopedia of knowledge keep sharing it with us!

piano121

[rachfan]

Hi piano121,

Haha!  I don't know about the encyclopedia part, but I did study this Moment Musical.   I also recorded it, but will only post it if Quasimodo would like to hear it.  I got the business from one of the other posters here for putting too many recordings up, so am now trying to keep a lower profile here.  This Moment is a wonderful piece to play though.  It's a shame more pianists don't include it in their repertoires. 

RachFan

[quasimodo]

Hi all,

Here's a recent recording of that same piece.
I had a major flub somewhere in the middle 
Yet I'm beginning to like what I hear when I lsiten to myself, hahahaha!

[rachfan]

Hi quasimodo,

I believe you're making good progress with this Moment.  There are a lot of good things in your playing.  A few suggestions: 

In general, No. 5 is in the form of a barcarolle despite the common time, so you have to play it in an atmospheric way depicting a boat plying calm waters.  The RH is mostly comprised of thirds, so they must be voiced, most usually the tops, to achieve clarity of line in the phrasing.  Melodic tones in the RH have to be distinguished from harmonic tones in the same hand, meaning that the harmonic tones need to be very subdued.  For triads, voice the upper and lower notes, or as otherwised indicated by the composer's specific tenuto marks.  I think you could inject more rubato--right now, your rendition is quite metrical throughout seemingly in strict time.  Relax and let it breathe more.  Continue to work at quieting the LH.  At the moment, the piece sounds a bit "notey".  See if you can shape the phrases more, while making them very legato in touch and sound.

I'm attaching my own recording made quite awhile ago and not with good equipment, so please excuse the sonics.  It might give you a few ideas to consider though. 

Keep up the good work!