rachmaninov prelude

[ravel]

i am currently working on rachmaninovs prelude in c sharp minor,
so i am in the middle of the piece,  i dont find it that hard till now, but what bothers me is this
 i saw a video of hoffman playing it , ( the art of piano ) and , howwwwwwwwwww in this world does he play the way he does, his hand movements were sooooo different from mine, it was like he was throwing his hands,( like letting them go off , where as my hands seem to be aiming at the keys before they land on them, ( OFCOURSE, I DARE NOT COMPARE MYSELF TO HIM, HAHA, CUZ THAT WOULD BE THE FUNNIEST THING TO DO ON THIS EARTH, BUT STILL),  like how slow do i really have to practise to get it with taht ease,  i really think the way he played that prelude, is something supernatural, or maybe i know nothing about pianism, haha
i dont really have a question here, as in i cant frame it, but hope u guys got whats bothering me??

[shatteringpulse]

I saw the video of Hoffman when I was playing this prelude, too. It's very...dismaying! jk  

But I did get my playing very close to his in its "naturalness"...

In the first section, the only solution is slow practice, concentrating on the almost "dragging" from one chord to the next. Just let your hands slip from one chord to the next with no tension, just a little drop--how else could a relative ppp be achieved?

The second section is not as bad as it seems. There are generous unmarked repeats. Just practice the various patterns, one at a time, until you no longer think about the next note, and your hand drives from one note to the other on its own. This is the only way to get up to Hoffman's supple playing--a lack of thought! But just remember to bring out the "melody" of downward steps as you work the pattern into your subconscious. Eventually, with careful practice, you'll find yourself going too fast--from agitato to appassionato! In this section, I think slow practice is a killer. Practice a measure at a time at tempo, and then connect them. You will never get up to speed with slow practice in this section--well, it will just take substantially longer. Once you grasp all the patterns at speed, just connect them, and the section is complete.

The third section (9 seconds and 225 notes) is undoubtedly the most difficult part. The shifts from chord, however, are so natural after your practice of the previous section--they are derived from the same chords! Practice a block of these to tempo, and then connect them--over the course of a month. And be wary of bringing out the "motif" in this section, too. This section took me as long to learn as the other three sections combined! Haha...

The titanic recapitulation--apply the same rules as the first section, but don't slide from chord to chord--crush the keyboard under your hands in maniacal staccato! (But make sure to make the sound "beautiful" at the same time!) The most difficult part of this piece may well be making the ffff convincing right next to a ppp--it requires a complete conception. But don't sugar-coat the ffff--and this isn't another composer's ffff, this is RACHMANINOFF's ffff! Play the leaps with wilder and wilder abandon as you speed up the section's tempo--until you are tossing your hands. The most critical part of the last two sections is maintaining the energy from the chord cascades right into the finale--even if Rach puts two fermata chords before the finale, I think it's better to fly through them and maintain the musical line.

The ending--well, you take care of the ending...

Good luck!

[ravel]

thanksssss a lotttt
not having a teacher, i really need some one to tell me these things,  right now i am in the central section, but as i said, the i am not playing the first section with the ease i want to, so yaa i gues practise it isss, that will do the trick , as alwaz,
thanks a lot once again

[steinway88]

I also saw the art of piano Hoffman plays that piece faster than I ever heard,im not studying the piece now im studying the g flat minor though but the Ch minor is one of my favorite preludes.