Hi quasimodo,
You do a very nice job with this piece! Many people who listen to this Moment Musical never realize that the piece is actually in the form of a barcarolle. Although most barcarolles are in 6/8, this one is in common time, which makes it an exception in that regard. But a barcarolle it is nevertheless. Here are a few thoughts:
First, you might want to quiet the LH significantly. Then when you voice the RH melody, which you do very well, it will be with even greater clarity.
You blend the volume of phrase endings and new phrase beginnings very well.
In measure 9, fourth beat triplet in the RH, the C natural underlying the tie is harmonic only, not melodic in function. I'd suggest that you quiet that note down to a mere whisper to keep it noninterruptive. Notice too in 10, the C natural there IS melodic and is sounded as such, presenting a differentiation in the treatment of that same note in a short space of time.
12-13: You bring out the important RH scale very nicely, voicing the upper notes. On the G flat-B flat double note tie in the RH there, don't be afraid to linger on that. It produces a really nice effect. Try it.
Yes! In 18, you recognized the C natural in the RH as being harmonic, and deemphasized it in favor of the tenuto G flat in the LH. Great!
29: Fine preparation for the contrary motion roll between the hands! That roll is the climax of the piece, so try to bring out the top B flat more to make the roll brilliant. It needs to be at ff as written.
36: Note the voice leading: The G#, first note in the LH in that measure leads to the A natural in the RH in the second beat. I would suggest that you make that even more apparent for the listener.
39: I would suggest that you make the RH triplet in the second beat (see also 41 and 48) way quieter! If you aim for ppp on those, you'll at least attain the pp as marked. They are intended as mere whispers.
44: The B flat whole note in the RH has to have some omphhh to it in order to sustain throughout the measure. I cannot hear you playing the note at all. Did you omit it, or is it the recording?
49: Nice! You noticed that despite Rach's tenuto accents on the lower notes of the RH chords, that in fact you must also naturally voice the top notes which are actually the melody, producing a duet there. It's the middle line that's unobtrusive. You play that well.
50: A voice leading trick: In the RH fourth beat triplet, put enough energy into playing the intial A flat, and hold onto it (despite the fact that Rach wrote it as an eighth note) so that it will sustain over the tie. It's important, because the A flat is the dominant pointing toward the resolution to the D flat tonic. Try it, I think you'll like it.
At this stage of getting comfortable with this piece, your playing tends to be somewhat metronomic. I think the reason is the polyrhythms. You're very conscious and particular about the twos against threes, notes in the RH that fall between the triplet notes of the LH, etc. This rigorous approach, while correct, detracts a bit from the leisurely adagio sostenuto character that you need to achieve. To mitigate that, I would suggest that you relax and loosen it up a little. Also, feel free to introduce more rubato as appropriate.
Finally, in the last measure (where this is audio, not video) I wonder if you "play" the rests there? That is, once the rests begin, you need to keep your hands over the keyboard while you gaze down at them until the end of the final rest's value; and only then withdraw your hands. That signals to the audience that the spell is not to be broken until you say it is to be broken. Do you do that in performance?
Very nice job! Again, I liked your rendition a lot. I hope you'll find these suggestions helpful.
Topic: Rachmaninov - Moment musical N.5