Gottschalk-Souvenir's d'andalousie

[jinfiesto]

This is a pretty cool piece in my opinion.... Not too difficult, it's totally a right handed piece... Anyways, it sounds hard, and it's really not. So yeah here you go.

[pianistimo]

this piece is a good choice for you!  you have lots of control and precision to your playing.  so cool!  don't know why - but i like your playing once you have gotten 'into' the piece.  the beginnings seem 'stiff.'  but, when you are already only 2 measures in - i start relaxing.  love your humor with this piece.

[jinfiesto]

Hahaha yeah... You're right... I think the whole thing sounds stiff actually. It has something to do with my mics, something i rectified when i recorded the mendelssohn. My mics were set to drop anything below a certain volume, which makes this piece sound really dry... It also renders the damper pedal completely ineffectual... I fixed it in the mendelssohn, I'm probably gonna go back and re-record this though. Thanks for your comment!

[bench warmer]

Very nice!  Good control for the quick tempo you played it at.
Makes me want to get the Gottschalk album out again.

......I think this piece is the one Gottschalk Improvised on stage as an encore!.... The Latin-American Liszt!

[rachfan]

Nicely done!  You have a fine evenness when playing at velocity.  It's also good that you learn and present lesser known works in the repertoire--refreshing!  This Gottschalk piece is a gem.

[jinfiesto]

Haha Thanks Guys... Yeah... It is lesser known, but it's a lot of fun, and not that hard... The banjo is great too, for those of you familiar... Actually, I think a lot of Gottschalk is great.. haha. And yes bench warmer, this was improvised on stage, I think it was his farewell concert or something or other before he left spain.

[lostinidlewonder]

Not too bad, I first heard this played by David Helfgott and always thought of it as very playful and happy. You should work a little harder on your legato ties and remove the touch of rubato that creeps into the melody sometimes a little distastefully.

[thalbergmad]

Lovely music and very nice playing, but i would take some note of what lostinlittlewonder said.

I am a great admirer of Gottschalk and this little piece is a nice into to his works, as it is not too difficult as you say. The banjo is a step up in difficulty but is well worth the effort. The "tremelo" Etude is a further step up, depending on how fast you want to play it, but it would make a stupendous encore.

Anyone interested in this composer should look for a CD by Ceclile Licad, as the playing is of the highest quality. The series issued by Hyperion did not impress me and i stopped buying them after the 4th issue.

Well done, we could do with more forgotten romantics in here.

Thal

[zheer]

  you have lots of control and precision to your playing. 

     No doubt.

[jinfiesto]

Hahaha. Thanks guys. Yeah. I don't know where that rubato came from.. Lol. I certainly didn't play it hahahahahaha. Thanks for all of the input. I personally didn't think that the banjo was any harder... It's more tiring, but not harder. The tremolo etude is tough, and so is Manchega, the concert etude. But whatever. Cecile licad's recording of this particular piece in my opinion is really bad... hahaha.. But she certainly plays everything else very well. Ivan Davis is another really good Gottschalk player for those of you interested... Cecile licad took a lot of liberties on this piece that I don't agree with... Like adding extra notes and stuff.....

[thalbergmad]

Cecile licad took a lot of liberties on this piece that I don't agree with... Like adding extra notes and stuff.....

Well, that is romanticism for you

Have you ever heard any of Matthew Burnett's recordings?. I have seen him play Gottschalk on a contemporary piano. Splendid stuff.

Hope you post some more.

Thal

[jinfiesto]

Hahaha. I suppose that's true... I don't think Gottschalk would have minded... He was a true romantic, but It just seems distasteful a lot of times is all.. And her playing isn't that clean either, which is something that needs to be there with that piece. I'll have to look into those recordings too... Thanks!