Norton, Albeniz, Liszt, Beethoven & Joplin! URGENT plz have a listen...

[thelittlepianist]

hi everyone,

I have posted up recordings of pieces that i will play for a music performance exam on saturday (oct 21st). each piece was recorded twice, so they are not quite perfect. feel free to be as critical as you like! the pieces (in performance order) are as follows:

1. Latin Prelude VII - C. Norton
2. Malaguena Op. 165 No. 3 - I. Albeniz
3. Consolation No. 3 - F. Liszt
4. Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 3rd Movt. "Pathetique" - L van Beethoven
5. Elite Syncopations - S. Joplin

thanks,

Diana

[thelittlepianist]

attached...

[pianowolfi]

Very beautiful playing! I like to listen to it. As far as I can say your emphasis seems to be on exactness and distinctness. Your pearly nonlegato style is very good. Keep that. Especially for Norton and Joplin its the ideal approach. In Beethoven i would suggest to work a little bit more on legato where it is required, on phrasing and dynamic contrasts. Sometimes your playing gets a bit monotonous, like in the first part of the Albeniz. This endless repeated motif in the treble i wouldn't play always at the same dynamic level, even if there is no dynamic written by the composer.
What piano do you play on? To me it sounds like a digital, but in this case I'm not sure. And what sort of performance exam do you play for? Anyway good luck for Saturday! 

[thelittlepianist]

Very beautiful playing! I like to listen to it. As far as I can say your emphasis seems to be on exactness and distinctness. Your pearly nonlegato style is very good. Keep that. Especially for Norton and Joplin its the ideal approach. In Beethoven i would suggest to work a little bit more on legato where it is required, on phrasing and dynamic contrasts. Sometimes your playing gets a bit monotonous, like in the first part of the Albeniz. This endless repeated motif in the treble i wouldn't play always at the same dynamic level, even if there is no dynamic written by the composer.
What piano do you play on? To me it sounds like a digital, but in this case I'm not sure. And what sort of performance exam do you play for? Anyway good luck for Saturday! 

Thanks for your help! The exam that I will be playing for is the practical section of my end of year exam for VCE Music Solo Performance. The piano that I used for the recordings was my piano teacher's lovely Schimmel (grand). I don't know the exact model, but it sounds brillant when heard live!

Diana

[pianowolfi]

The piano that I used for the recordings was my piano teacher's lovely Schimmel (grand). I don't know the exact model, but it sounds brillant when heard live!

Uh oh, then i was completely wrong!

[sharon_f]

Very nice. You should do well on your exam. 

I only had a chance to listen to the Beethoven and Liszt. In the Beethoven, the triplet figures could be a little more articulated and a little more rythmic. I do love the polyphonic section. It really is wonderful. Take a little extra time and let the music breathe a little more.

The Liszt could be taken a little slower. Once again, let the music breathe and "show" some of those wonderful moments, like the triplet figures going up, they should almost evaporate and that magical change from minor to major in the thirds in the right hand.

Thank you for posting. I really enjoyed your playing and good luck this Saturday.

[wzkit]

Have only heard the Liszt Consolation, given that's the piece I'm most familiar with. It is generally good playing, but now that you've got the notes in your heard, how about experimenting a little, and taking a few more liberties to make it more interesting?   

I think sharon_f pretty much said with regards to the triplet figures and the change from minor to major.

Personally, I would prefer it to to be taken a little slower to let it breathe a little more. At times, I think it is played a little too strictly - there're many places for rubato without having to break the flow of the music.  And there's also scope for employing an even wider dynamic range than you do now - for example the left hand can be literally taken pianissimo. Also pay very very close attention to the arch of the phrase in the right hand. The right hand melodies can be literally "sung" vocally - try that to get an idea of how you might phrase it on the piano. Pay very close attention to the ebb and flow and the phrase, the swelling and tapering off. That, I think, makes the critical difference, between a competent performance, and an excellent one!

Once again, good work, and don't stop trying to improve on it!

[asyncopated]

You are way more advanced than I am, so maybe commenting isn't such a good idea, but your playing is really good and honest, so I'll try to make some constructive comments to try and help you out.

Like i say, in general i loved almost everything i heard.  Lots of good things to say. 

But here I'll just critique, if you don't mind (really sorry about this). Will write about the things i like when I have more time.

I really like the norton piece.  Great classical jazz piece.  I think at the start there could be more contrasts between the dynamics of the left and right hands. The accents in the left hand come out very well.  The contrast into the legato is excellent.  I think that when the melody goes down into the middle voices at about 0:50, you can try bringing it out a bit more.  Apart from that I think that you can afford to take more risks with the expression of this piece.  You will need to be ultimately cool  and relaxed.  Perhaps wearing a pair or shades and having pina colada before playing the piece might help

This is great classical albeniz writing in ABA form.  Again difficult because of the character -- classical spanish sounding; require heaps of passion and sweat.  I think that you do the sound effects excellently.  In my opnion, the legato bit that starts at about 1:00 is the most important part of the piece (although it is the arguably the easiest).  It sort of encapsulates the soul of the piece.  The rest of the stuff around it is dancing and like a flamenco dancer on full display.  In the middle, she looks in introspectively, and that's where all the source of the passion is.   The legato line needs to just sing... everything else is just secondary -- the appegios are really just a side note and an ornamentation.

The consolation.  I agree with what has been said before.  Also, I think lightening up the touch slightly will actually help bring out the serenity in the piece.

Also for the Beethoven, I won't comment, cos there is enough said and I am no Beethoven expert.

I really enjoyed the Joplin.  Again, the only thing is that I think you could like more risks with dynamic contrasts.  Make the pianos really piano and the fortes really forte.   Don't treat this piece seriously -- the dynamic contrasts are one way to inject fun and cheekyness into the piece.  Let loose and have fun!  You really need to smile a big smile when you play this piece.  Believe or not, one can hear a smile in your playing.

One point on your teacher's piano.  Actually I don't know if it's the piano or the compression, or my lousy set of speakers.  But from here the schimmel sounds very bright.  Just be aware that if you play on a differnent piano in the exam, the piano might be different and you might have to adjust your sound accordingly.

Hope this helps some. 

Lastly, good work! I think you are certainly ready!  Good luck on saturday!

[thelittlepianist]

Thank you guys so much for your help! I really appreciate your time and careful and considered judgements. Your feedback has been extremely helpful and I now have some idea of what I need to touch up on before the big day!

Diana 

[pianistimo]

are you also a percussionist?  you have an excellent sense of rhythm!  i'd like to hear more undulation in the lh of the liszt consolation - and more of a feeling that it is an underpinning .  there is a slight 'struggle' of the left hand to maintain itself when the rh plays.  too much concentration on it.  but, with time and practice which usually helps most things - you won't be focusing on the technicalities of the left hand - but of the slight 'kite-pull' from the beginning of each phrase to the end of the phrase.  kind of magnetic.  you already have this in the right hand.  i don't mean to make the left hand uneven,per se - but more dramatically able to stand on it's own without noticing it much. 

momentum sometimes fights itself.  like trying to maintain an average speed of 65 mph.  when you get to recital, do 70 when you feel like it.

do you think playing liszt is like playing an accordian?  you have these 'tail' sections that are very very fast - and then suddenly you have to start over with a sail full of wind.  must be a quick transition to begin again.

[piano121]

You already got very good advices here. I can only say you did great. love your playing, very good to know that you play very distict stiles and all very well. The piano sounds beautifull to. By any chance u have the norton piece on pdf? thanks for sharing!

[zheer]

   I agree with piano121 you can play in different styles, Beethovens Rondo was very good.

[kelly_kelly]

Only had time to listen to the Beethoven, but it was quite good. I agree that the riplets could be a bit more even, and I would take it the tiniest bit faster (if possible), but other than that you're set! Good job!

[ted]

You play Joplin very well. The only thing I can suggest is to experiment with different and more marked accents in various places. To a certain extent it is opinion but I tend to accent such things as the syncopated Bb in bar 2, strain 3, the F7 chord in bar 8, strain 3, and similar positions throughout. Most ragtime benefits by strongly bringing out the little off-beat octave phrases in the left hand, for instance things like the C#-D pair, bars 3-4, final strain. In ragtime, classical players tend to emphasise regular beats and jazz players tend to emphasise irregular ones, but it seems to me that a counterpoint of both is the ideal.

In connection with the phrasing, have a listen to the Houston Grand Opera version of Joplin's Treemonisha, the "ring-play" in act one and "Aunt Dinah has Blowed the Horn" at the end of act two. These to me are beautiful ragtime. The phrasing of "ring-play", in particular, demonstrates a remarkable relevance to the playing of strains two and three in Elite Syncopations, or so it has always seemed to me. Once heard, never forgotten.

[thelittlepianist]

Thank you ALL so much for your help! I'm very pleased to inform you that I got an A for the perfomance exam! I'm wrapped! I couldn't have done it without everyone's help! 

Thanks again,

Diana