Beethoven - Pathetique Sonata Movt. 2

[tompilk]

Hi all,
The Blackburn Symphony Orchestra came to our school and they played the following programme. Our school also arranged for 3 solos, one of which was me playing the 2nd movt. of Pathetique. I recorded it on a Digtal Dictaphone - the quality is OK, not fantastic.

Programme:
Suppe - Light Cavalry Overture
Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 (nos 1, 3 and 4) and Suite 2 (nos 3 and 4)
Litolff - Scherzo from Concerto Symphonique No. 4 (Soloist: Daniel Holding - NOT ME!)
Elgar - Serenade for strings
Tchaikovsky - fantasy Overture from Romeo and Juliet

Solo items from QEGS:
- Me - Beethoven Pathetique Sonata Movt. 2
- Lucy Midgely - Trumpet arrangement of Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
- Phillip Rowbottom - Singing two songs (can't remember names)

Hope you enjoy it.
It's the local amateur orchestra in which our music teacher plays. The piano is really stiff, as some of you may remember me moaning about before, so see if you can hear the soloist get a nasty shock when he starts the Concerto Symphonique! He mustn't have had a rehearsal on it...

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QVCRK5FS

Mainly I just want feedback on my playing as I find it immensely difficult to get the right tempo for this piece.
I've also included just my playing as an attachment for people who do not want to hear the rest of the concert.
Thanks,
Tom

[rachfan]

Hi Tompilk,

Sounds like you have this piece pretty well in your fingers now.  You also show a good control of the various touches.  Your continuity is fine too.  A small mistake does not distract you at all.  Good!

Just a few suggestions:

Look carefully at the way the score is written.  It could very well pass as a piano transcription of a string quartet!  So you need to think of it as a string quartet, and emulate the violin, viola, and deeper cello sounds on the piano as best you can.  It also means that you need to pay a lot of attention to phrasing, which would be like the bowing on stringed instruments.  A singing, smooth legato line is so very, very important in this piece.

Also be aware that while you play that singing melody, there is a great deal of accompaniment going on in both the LH and the RH.  Right now in your performance, often the accompaniment sounds as loud as the melody.  Work at quieting the accompaniment down considerably.  The melody has to be in the foreground, or way out front on stage; the accompaniment should be in the background, or way to the rear of the stage.

Finally, I suggest you take the score away from the piano with a pencil.  Look at all the dynamic markings.  Circle them to call your eye and attention to them.  Fill in crescendo and diminuendo marks with your pencil to make them stand out on the page for you.  Then practice and play them accordingly.  Right now, there is not nearly enough dynamic contrast. 

I think if you can just concentrate on these three things for now, it will raise your performance to a whole new level.  Again, good work!

[instromp]

To add from what from RachFan had said, i made this thread a while ago because i was struggling on bringing out the top notes in this mvmt of the Sonata.

look here form what Steve posted, it helped me a lot.

http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,23048.msg256437.html#msg256437