Casta diva arranged for left hand only (Bellini-Fumagalli)

[ronde_des_sylphes]

A while back a pianist friend berated me for not having very well-developed left hand technique, so I've been trying to improve my left hand. Being into transcriptions, this was a fun place to start (as well as being a serious rarity). It still needs a little work but earlier this week I made an impulse visit to a piano shop and tried the piece out on a decent grand.

Just to make my life harder, I videoed my left hand with my right hand holding a camera phone For the most part I managed to keep my hand in shot.

video with lower quality sound (phone mic capture)

Better audio quality in the attached file below.

[rachfan]

Hi ronde,

Wow, that is a rare arrangement!  I listened to the file, then watched the video.  You did a very good job with it.  From the looks of it, this piece for left hand demands a fully mobile torso and upper-arm, free-floating elbow, vertically and laterally flexible wrist, and fine dexterity too.  Some of those leaps looked particularly daunting too.  For a work still in progress, you've certainly got it to a fully playable level and play it expressively as well.  As you continue to work on it, my only thought would be, in a few places, to keep the accompaniment within the hand in background rather than competing with the melody in foreground.  In any piece for one hand alone like this, it has to be one of the most difficult challenges.  By and large though, I believe you're mastering it.  I admire your determination to take on this "self-improvement project", given all of your other repertoire requirements and time constraints.  Nice job!

P.S.  When the phone rang in the piano shop, did you notice it was pretty much in tune with the piece's tonality just then?     

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks for your comments, rachfan. I've got to agree with you that there are points where there could be more differentiation between the melody and accompaniment - it was one of the things that struck me when I listened to the recording (the other being that the passagework was somewhat untidy in places). I think the piece is an interesting study for the left hand, nicely constructed with many varied difficulties. I'm glad that big jumps are something I'm normally ok with!

I didn't notice the key of the shop phone at the time; I just thought to myself "someone please answer it" 

[thalbergmad]

I say old chap, thanks for recording this gem and sharing it.

I thought your playing improved throughout the piece and the last couple of pages were exquisite. Some of the lower notes sounded a little harsh, but i expect the recording situation did not help.

Damned fine show.

Thal

[naturlaut]

That was great, sylphes!  Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks for the comments. I'm working towards including this work in a recital later this year, so your feedback is much appreciated.

[pianovirus]

Another discovery of a rare gem from you, ronde. Very nice! You might want to discuss with koji the logistics of filming from 1st-person perspective while playing... 
Best wishes for your new recital. Btw, did you check out the Wittgenstein School for the left hand. There are some nice transcriptions in the last volume (although I'm not sure if any of them is of operatic origin).

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Hehe, it was actually that video of Koji's which made me think of the idea of filming myself. I thought (as I had one hand free  ) I would opt for a moving camera position.

I've looked a little at the Wittgenstein Isolde's Liebestod transcription (not easy) but it is hard for anything to supplant the Liszt version in my affections. I was looking at the Fumagalli Robert le Diable for left hand only last night - good heavens, it is insane.

[franzliszt2]

I think you need to listen to a lot more opera. Do you go to the opera much?

You need to shape the whole thing a lot more, especially the melody, it's dynamically very samey. Listen to a great singer like Callas sing this and you should see that there is actually a musical life to the song.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

I think you need to listen to a lot more opera. Do you go to the opera much?

You need to shape the whole thing a lot more, especially the melody, it's dynamically very samey. Listen to a great singer like Callas sing this and you should see that there is actually a musical life to the song.

In fairness I think there's more dynamic variety in the mp3 than the video (hardly surprisingly). Some parts probably are a little glib, however.