Rachmaninoff - Prelude Op 32 No. 12

[welltemperedpianist]

I performed this for a student recital recently. Constructive comments are welcome!

The recording quality isn't very good though.

[teresa_b]

Hi welltemp--

I really enjoyed your playing!  You have a nice feel for this piece.  I thought the melody was not quite clear enough around 23-25 sec, and you could exaggerate  the lushness of that gorgeous passage around 40-55 sec--maybe a bit more rubato on those rich LH arpeggios and chords.  Those are minor quibbles, you play it with wonderful agility and beauty.

Teresa

[iheartpiano]

I agree with Teresa on the rubato, but overall I thought you did excellent.  I enjoyed listening to this very much. 

[a-sharp]

Wow that was really nice. Lovely to listen to... not much to pick on at all - maybe more of the inner melody around 1:25 or so (or before?) - but very nicely done - thanks for sharing.

[lostinidlewonder]

Lack of volume dynamics at the start of this piece, later on (0:47 onwards) you move into that gear though. There where some wrong notes but they don't need pointing out, however some  tempo effects which I didn't think was best might be interesting: moving into new part at 1:00, 1:12 the first RH figure is way to slow, 1:40 LH melody perhaps wants to be broadened? then contrast this with a whipping arpeggio at 1:45, don't slow down at the end with that RH pattern. There where some lovely parts in this, well done.

[ramseytheii]

Starting the piece with rubato = cheesy!  It should just shimmer into view, like a veil being lifted.  The beauty comes not from melodic rubati, but from the sound quality.

In the left hand, pay more attention to the long line, not just isolated bits.

I actually like the large amount of time you take before the second theme area.

I don't think your interpretation is totally consistent.  You play it in a generally subdued, intimate way, which works, but then towards the end you add some low octaves, which cancels out the effect.  It just doesn't go along with what you have been doing.

Sounds like you have good fingers!

Walter Ramsey