Rachmaninoff - Romance from Suite no.2 for 2 pianos (alternative version)

[wzkit]

I managed to get some positive comments from my previous version of this piece. I hope to get some comments on this other much more romanticized, spontaneous, but even more poorly executed version (with two bars completely out of sync with each other), recorded 6 months later with a different partner. It was my attempt at experimenting with the different ideas, but perhaps one that was not at all well rehearsed. I'm intending to relearn this piece again some time and come back with some fresh ideas, so I would very much appreciate advice and comments from the forum

[gruffalo]

i think the silence in this post is because it was very good. i certainly thought it was. i dont really know the piece well so i cant give you any advice, nor am i near your standard technique wise. it was lovely to listen to though. i still listen to it now and again for relaxation. very good job.

[wzkit]

i think the silence in this post is because it was very good. i certainly thought it was. i dont really know the piece well so i cant give you any advice, nor am i near your standard technique wise. it was lovely to listen to though. i still listen to it now and again for relaxation. very good job.

Thanks very much. Hopefully there will be more comments coming in. It really does need some fresh ideas!

[zheer]

Am looking out my window as am listining and typing, the music seems to go very well with the sunny day and the sight of birds flying and trees gently swaying, really high quality playing.

[gruffalo]

it is a beatiful piece and beautifully played. Where do you study piano?now i listen to this recording instead of the other ones i have.

[wzkit]

Thanks everyone. I'm rather surprised that no one mentioned the obvious (to me) slips and out of sync playing at certain sections, but chose to focus on the overall "big picture". Maybe I'm a perfectionist, but I personally felt those slips marred what was otherwise a very musically satisfactory interpretation. I wonder though, if sometimes people felt that too many liberties were being taken with respect to rubato or dynamics?

Gruffalo: I am not a music professional, but studied under some private teachers in Singapore when I was a teenager. Though for a large part of my life, I have been self taught, mainly by carefully listening and analyzing recordings. My favourite recordings of this piece would be those by Martha Argerich and Nelson Friere/Alexander Rabinovitch. Fantastic freedom - but impossible to copy! 

[zheer]

Wkzit am amazed that your career is not music, i feel sad to hear that actually. Something i forgot to mention before was haw much i liked the way you creat voulme, its a big sound rather than a bang bang bang, i also love you touch, not a single ugly note, since Rach was russian you know haw much they love a beautaful sound. Am sure you play Chopin very well.

[wzkit]

Wkzit am amazed that your career is not music, i feel sad to hear that actually. Something i forgot to mention before was haw much i liked the way you creat voulme, its a big sound rather than a bang bang bang, i also love you touch, not a single ugly note, since Rach was russian you know haw much they love a beautaful sound. Am sure you play Chopin very well.

My career is not in music simply because I don't have the physical technique to play the flashy music that a professional career demands. I have an injury in the right hand that prevents that. And on top of that, while I do have instincts for certain kinds of Romantic music, I don't find myself talented enough - in the sense that I cannot learn things fast enough and my sight reading is terrible. To make a career in this line, one needs to be truly truly gifted. What I am able to play now was more through hard work rather than pure talent.

Yes, I focused very very much on learning how to create a beautiful sound. Actually for me, I prefer to learn how to play as softly as possible, rather than loudly. That to me, is really the secret of the beautiful sound. I'd prefer to reserve the fortes and fortissimos only for the very very special climaxes.  And I'm still learning how to produce a fuller fortissimo than what you hear in these recordings - trying to use more arm weight in particular. In general, I'm more of a soft than a loud player.

[zheer]

You are too modest, thats a quality, i hate arogance. You know i heard you play the Liszt consolation in D flat, its truly great, it sounds pure and honest and very sensative.
   You said something about not being good enough, thats haw i feel about my own piano playing, but my teacher hates it when i say that. I can only speak for myself but i fell there are as many pianists as there are airline piolits, and unless you are say Lang Lang then its difficult to have a great career in music. Am sorry i didnt know about your hand injury. All the best.

[shasta]

Yes, I focused very very much on learning how to create a beautiful sound. Actually for me, I prefer to learn how to play as softly as possible, rather than loudly. That to me, is really the secret of the beautiful sound...

Wzkit, you and your fellow pianist have certainly achieved the above.  As I listen to your performance now, I would describe it as sensitive, patient, and mature.  Well done!   

[wzkit]

Thanks everyone! Compared to the other version which I recorded (which has quite a different interpretation), which ones do you prefer?

Here's the other version:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,14169.0.html

[gruffalo]

well i can tell you the hard work cerainly paid off. i actually thought that was a professional recording. its a shame about the right hand, but hey at least you make the most of piano and you enjoy it, thats the most important thing. im sure you are just under-estimating yourself but yea, as zheer said, its extremely difficult to get up there in the music world. i bet there are loads of extreme talents out there who dont get recognised.

[wzkit]

Thanks for your kind comments. I do think I have my strengths in playing the piano - the slow stuff works far better for me than the technically demanding ones, and its the recordings of these works that I have dared to post here for comment. But as I mentioned, a decent professional career these days would demand a virtuoso technique which I do not possess. So I'll be content being the dedicated amateur that I am. Its less stressful anyway!

By the way, if you liked the Romance, do feel free to listen and comment on my other recordings of the Barber, Bortkiewicz, Rachmaninoff Prelude, Ravel Pavane, Albeniz and Liszt Consolation. I would love to hear some feedback on those too

[wzkit]

Just listened to the recording of this Romance by the Prague Piano Duo on the Praga label (together with the rest of Suite no.2, Symphonic Dances, and the piano duet version of the Isle of the Dead). and thought I would share my feelings with you.

I am completely overwhelmed - their interpretation is unusually sensitive and comes close to what I would have wanted to achieve had I the ability and talent to do so. Apart from Argerich et al, I have not yet heard another duo who phrase the lines with such freedom, and colour their chords with such sensitivity. Its not uncommon to come across perfunctory readings of two piano works by two often great soloists - that comes with the difficulty of coordinating little inflections of tempo and voicing. The Prague Piano Duo however have achieved that - spontaniety, yet well coordinated playing. More importantly, that freedom allows them to get to the emotional heart of the music, which I've found the vast majority of commercial recordings out there to have missed. This is certainly very refreshing and qualifies as my new favourite recording of this piece.

Highly recoommended listening.