Ante Vetma - Frederic Chopin - Etude op.25 no.1

[avetma]

From the same concert as Diabolic Suggestion, hope to hear some comments from you.

p.s. This recording is made 21 day after I started to work on this etude, so don't be so rigid about it.

Thank you,
Ante

[rachfan]

Hi avetma,

You have a nice feel for this etude and articulate it very well and in an expressive way.  You have it up to tempo as well.  Nice achievement!

I would offer just one comment: This so-called Aeolean Harp etude demands evenness of touch and clarity of melody.  You have mastered the evenness very well.  There are, however, a several moments when the cantilena melody in the RH becomes overpowered and buried  by the LH.  For much of this piece, the RH is in the upper tenor and treble, while the LH is in the lower tenor and upper bass.  So they're not far apart, but the LH will always have the advantage of sustaining better (thicker guage and longer strings), while the treble has a thinner sound--no matter how valiantly you fight to voice and etch the cantabile.  I believe the solution to this is NOT to try to be more forceful with the upper line; rather, I would try instead to subdue the LH accompaniment more to enable the RH to be dominant in its own right.  To do so, I would suggest that you always think one dynamic lower in the LH as you balance the hands.  If it's p in the RH, then play at pp in the LH.  If it's f in the RH, then reduce it to mf in the LH.  That way, the imbalance will solve itself, and the RH will naturally prevail. 

Again, nice job!

[pianistimo]

this is literally the best interpretation of this etude i have ever heard.  i love it.  even the bass.

i guess it's all in the ear of the beholder. 

it reminds me of a stream flowing over rocks and things -  it moves so naturally.

really like the slight pause before the highest note near the end.  it was timed to perfection.

perhaps the only picky thing i would say is to loosen up the trill at the end.  must be hard to go from all these arpeggios to trill.

[avetma]

Thank you both! I will work on that LH. Pianistimo, I am flattered. 

Ante

[the_duck]

you play this one very nicely indeed! it all moves along at a great pace and seems to "seize" the listener (at least THIS listener) from the beginning. there's a few things i'd work on though. i didn't feel like the right hand was being OVERPOWERED by the left as others have suggested- rather i felt that BOTH hands could do with being lightened to change the character of the piece- it could do with being a little more delicate. in my experience when both hands are quiet the right hand melody seems to sing out almost on its own without consciously trying to raise it above the left. obviously though the first step would be to work on lightening the left.

you also don't appear to play the ritenuto in the a major bar in the middle of the piece 

and the bit that this leads up to (with the low LH notes) could do with a bit of rubato since it's the climax of the piece, and it also gives you more time to nail those top notes in the RH 

final thoughts: the arpeggio at the end could be a lot softer and more "underplayed"- i think it's marked leggiero or leggierissimo. and i agree with pianistimo about the trill at the end. and a FINAL thing: the broken chord at the end could (should?) be played a little faster to preserve the integrity of the chord (i know that many people actually play it unbroken).

anyway, these are just some suggestions which in my humble opinion would take it to the next level. but considering you've only been learning it for 3 weeks it's quite a feat! it took me ages (and 2 bites at the cherry) to get it where i wanted it, so congratulations!

[avetma]

you play this one very nicely indeed! it all moves along at a great pace and seems to "seize" the listener (at least THIS listener) from the beginning. there's a few things i'd work on though. i didn't feel like the right hand was being OVERPOWERED by the left as others have suggested- rather i felt that BOTH hands could do with being lightened to change the character of the piece- it could do with being a little more delicate. in my experience when both hands are quiet the right hand melody seems to sing out almost on its own without consciously trying to raise it above the left. obviously though the first step would be to work on lightening the left.

you also don't appear to play the ritenuto in the a major bar in the middle of the piece 

and the bit that this leads up to (with the low LH notes) could do with a bit of rubato since it's the climax of the piece, and it also gives you more time to nail those top notes in the RH 

final thoughts: the arpeggio at the end could be a lot softer and more "underplayed"- i think it's marked leggiero or leggierissimo. and i agree with pianistimo about the trill at the end. and a FINAL thing: the broken chord at the end could (should?) be played a little faster to preserve the integrity of the chord (i know that many people actually play it unbroken).

anyway, these are just some suggestions which in my humble opinion would take it to the next level. but considering you've only been learning it for 3 weeks it's quite a feat! it took me ages (and 2 bites at the cherry) to get it where i wanted it, so congratulations!

I don't feel like slowing down on A major bar, I just try to make it sound different by tone color. And I worked with that left hand thing, thanks for noticing.
About broken chord at the end, I wanted it to be like smorzando... I don't know if I managed to do it like that.

Thank you very much for your comment, I appreciate it

[piano121]

Thatīs a remarkable job for 21 days.  Congrats, I love the interpretation, it sounds realy gorgeous.