Recital Recording - Liszt Un Sospiro

[jlh]

Masters recital, 02.20.2007:

Fourth set:

Liszt - Un Sospiro

Comments appreciated! 

Edit: mp3 replaced

[pianistimo]

you have a very 'strong' sound - not bad.  it's very comforting in the sense of confidence. but, the more you play - the more i personally like to hear this piece 'melt.'  like you did at the end.  no brittle treble - but more like ethereal clouds. 

i think the particular piano you are playing on has a very brittle treble.  (hammers aren't felted enough).  you have pretty good control.  sometimes the evenness is a little too much on the side of rubato - but you know what - the 'whole' is there.  the idea that liszt was getting across.  at the end, i though you panicked a little on one of the chords and played it too close to another - but that's minor.  i generally liked the ending - although a bit slow for  my taste on the very last chord arpeggio.  maybe just slightly faster and longer on the last top note?

[jlh]

Yeah, my teacher commented a couple weeks ago that he never hears me play Un Sospiro the same way twice.  He's like, "it's obviously a very personal piece for you and it means something new every time you play it."  I took it as a compliment. 


Yes, that Bosendorfer is bright, but when I get the "official" recording back, I'll compare it to this one (which still needs a bit of "post" work).  I don't think the piano had quite as brittle sound live.  Bosies tend to be bright compared to most other brands anyway.  I chose this piano over the 2 other Steinways at that hall because it was brighter and felt better while playing.  I wanted clarity in tone for all these etudes (and everything else)!! lol


Thanks so much for your comments! 

[jlh]

at the end, i though you panicked a little on one of the chords and played it too close to another - but that's minor. 

Which chord are you talking about?  I'm trying to figure it out but can't...

[pianistimo]

my mistake.  you know what ! i always made the last three arpeggios evenly decelerated so they sounded like three beats (slowed down) instead of four at 8 measures from the last which was an oversight on my part - being that we have a half note on the first measure.  i suppose if one considers this piu lento instead of a lot of lento - it would sound more like yours.  i guess i got dramatic. 

although, i think i took inspiration from the 5th and 4th measure from the last - which is an 'echo' of the arpeggiated stuff - and is EVEN!  half-note half-note half-note half-note.  anyways - you played it very well!  and this is really just an interpretation of mine. 

[pianowelsh]

Need to sleep - will make sure I listen to the recordings tomorrow.  Im really surprised that you get to have copies of exam recordings and even more so that you are allowed to make your own. We were banned from having anything of the kind and even mobiles were to be completely switched off. They recorded all our recitals but we werent allowed to get them they were archived for marking parity and the college had sole rights on any recordings used for promotional work of the students.  I would have loved to have had recordings of my exams...lovely piano lovely hall but we couldnt    Hope you get a fab result for your masters!!

[jlh]

Need to sleep - will make sure I listen to the recordings tomorrow.  Im really surprised that you get to have copies of exam recordings and even more so that you are allowed to make your own. We were banned from having anything of the kind and even mobiles were to be completely switched off. They recorded all our recitals but we werent allowed to get them they were archived for marking parity and the college had sole rights on any recordings used for promotional work of the students.  I would have loved to have had recordings of my exams...lovely piano lovely hall but we couldnt    Hope you get a fab result for your masters!!

Yeah, the college makes archive copies of all faculty and graduate recitals for the library.  I hired a studio to make an additional recording so I could use that for my DVD which is in the making.  My family couldn't make the trip to ASU for my recital so I wanted to make it as authentic for them as if they were actually there.  What is posted here is the raw files with me doing basic mastering (such as compression and normalization).  I will get the finished sound files from the studio in a day or so and then I will make a DVD and put video files on the internet very soon.  Be looking for them as I will announce them on Pianostreet.

[pianowelsh]

Hi Jhl... I had a good listen.  It was very good...im sure you've done very well   Now I didnt have a score handy so im afraid I'll just have to comment from my memory of the piece. 
1. I would caution you becarefull of the Ab's in the first few bars - partic the one just before the melody entry as if you play it with a slight delay as you did it can give the impression of being a melody note, which can be confusing for the ear. Id be tempted to move through the opening a little more so the attention is focussed on the beginning of the melody.
2. Gen point - becarefull that even in the loudest passages you never produce a hard tone. there were just a couple of spots I felt you were in danger of creeping into that. I know recording and a bright piano were against you but for future performances - particularly in octaves guard against banging...try to cushion the sound with your wrist so it floats out of the piano a bit more....tiny detail though really.
3. When the melody is rising up in the LH listen very carefully to it (the right hand is whizzing about) but there was one hole in the melody where a note didnt sound quite enough to be convinclingly part of the rising line.  Listen out for this.  It probably dosent happen in practise, but these things do sometimes happen in stress situations. be on your guard.
4. Somewhere about 3:40 ish where you have the same pattern repeated 3 or 4 times before you place that high note and tumble down. Think of the direction of that passage more.  It felt just a tiny bit static.  Im inclined to think it leads towards that high note. If something is repeated its usually for a reason so work out whether its sitting back or going forward and shape it a little more.  I think forward produces more drama.

Generally you make a wonderfull sound and you crest all the phrases very beautifully and tenderly. Well done

[jlh]

I got the finished recording from the studio so I replaced the mp3 above.

[pianistimo]

i LOVE this one!  some places i wouldn't get quite as loud at the peak of crescendo - but, this one certainly melts.  it's really beautiful.  perhaps you are several degrees ahead of me because when one performs in a big auditorium or concert hall - perhaps you have to use the amount of dynamics necessary for the back of the hall.  but, if you were in a salon setting - definately - my humble advice would be to KEEP your soft dynamics - but tone down the louder ones.  so, in effect you would only be making the dynamics more compact (closer together).

very touching performance!  you were so 'inspired' - and yet i also hear every note.  amazing.  usually with this kind of performance there is some mistakes for having sacrificed technique for feelings.  here, we have both!

[jlh]

Thanks so much for your comments, pianistimo!   

[rachfan]

Hi jlh,

Your recital performance of this concert etude is both very poetic and technically proficient and secure.  You really put this piece over to the listener.  I've been delaying learning this piece for a long time, but now feel inspired to move it up on my "to-do" list.  Thanks for posting it.

 

[donjuan]

Beautiful!  Much more successful than my attempt a number of years ago.  Hearing you play makes me want to pick the piece up again.

No one can touch your interpretation; you know what you're doing.  Personally however, I would like slightly less rubato; phrasing, momentum, and melodic line get kind of lost when you pause at the bottom of almost every arpeggio like you do.  Just a matter of taste I'm sure.. I've heard CD recordings of MUCH worse!

Cadenzas were brilliant! all notes were like magical little pearls.  I'm envious