Prelude in C# minor - rachmaninov Practice

[aslanov]

hey guys, as per my other posts im 10 months self-taught, and i havent had a teacher so i'd like some constructive criticism. i realize that last segment is meant to be played powerfully and accelerating too but rite now im still in the progress of getting it down to accuracy/speed.

[lau]

nice for 10 months. In the beginning with those fff notes i think you held the 3rd one a bit too long before the ppp chords. During the ppp section i would try to bring out the pinky/5th finger in the right hand a bit more.

[aslanov]

ooh, k, i was confused for a sec cuz u said fff and ppp but in my notes its ff and pp. lol. yeah i know im trying to find the optimal pause for effect and just experimenting with different lengths to see which sounds better, any thoughts on that? not in concordance to the technical timing but for effect.

[j.s. bach the 534th]

very good for 10 months. I am self-taught for 6 months, and without even trying I know I would struggle with that. I have to agree with lau that you held out the third chord a bit too long, though. Other than that, awesome!

[alessandro]

For me it is more than very good or nice for 'ten months'...  I should say it is rather unbelievable - you must have played like hours a day to reach this level, a lot of endurance, very intensive studying.
A critique that is often heard on the interpretation of Rachmaninov's prelude, is that they are overdone, that they shouldn't be played with romantic exaggeration...  I do agree with that critic but at the same time, I think it does not apply for this particular one, the overplayed and show-off C-minor.  In this one I'm looking for effect, it is not complicated, there's not much mysterie in this piece, it is exuberant...  In the end for me, it is impossible not to take the aspect of "show" in this piece, and I don't want to exclude that in the interpretation.  Just show, be spectacular, intense, very loud, in some place agressive.  I didn't hear the 'agitato'.  I play it like a tormented 'agitato', like a manic-depressive, or a schizophrenic, everchanging mood, a little tension.
But now for the three notes in the beginning.  Very interesting, a moodsetter.  The first one should definitely be played in the most abrupt and unexpected way, already with a very great deal of intensity.  The second one, more unexpected in timing than the first one, and a little louder and than, finally, the third one with the most possible surprise, determination, a round, growling sound.  I let a very little more space between the second and the third note.  The duration in time will be approximately seven seconds, but as you pointed out, try to feel for yourself what sounds best.  Since I'm pedalling every note, I don't wait for the total fade out of the last one, I just let slip in the "beginning" of the piece when there is still some groaning of that third audible...  Than, another thing, try to find a character and for lefthand and right hand melody, it is indeed some kind of discussion, conversation, question-answer type of thing, but in my view between two different persons.
Keep us informed of your evolution, at that speed, you can post some infernal hard pieces in ten months.

[aslanov]

well yes i have been for ten months, but not for hours daily because, well seeing as how im a beginner my arms get strained very easily, especially when practicing this piece. i started practicing with something as simple as i could that i still enjoyed hearing at that was the nocturne posthumous by chopin, then moved on to stuff from may to september that i never finished and left alone, but had developed my technique and skill quite alot. then in the second week of this september i started on the prelude and liebestraum.

on the agitato i agree completely but so far with my practice i cannot convey fully that kind dynamic because i still have to practice these notes, rite now...i still play about half this piece from the "brain" if you will, my fingers dont know them all yet. although rite AFTER i posted this video i had developed a very beautiful (for me anyway) of playing that second segment with the rite hand triplets. i agree very much with your way of playing the first 3 octaves, and will try to develop my own based on those thoughts.

also, i had the exact same feelings about the first and last segment! my feelings were basically this: the triplets and eight notes (i think they are) is some subordinate questioning, and the bass octaves are some higher power responding, and each time with slightly more power in his voice, and those. to me its as if some negotiation is going on between the two, until finally the treble melody gets tired of the dogmatic answers and just goes on a rant. but the bass line does not take this lightly, oh no. for at the end, wat started as a negotiation ends in a violent argument till finally someone gets hurt, which i think those finaly diminishing half notes/whole notes and the ppp chords at the end are for. i know its kind of a weird interpretation but this helps me to put some emotion and feeling into my playing.