Chopin Fantaisie Impromptu op 66, Polonaise in A major op40 no1 'military'

[jehangircama]

I'm flooding the audition room today!
here's my FI rec. it's decent imo, except for a slip at 4.06.
this is a polonaise i like. i can't get it much grander on my yamaha upright. 2 slight smudges towards the end in this rec. and there's a blip at abt 5.05 which i suspect is due to the laptop screen going off.
how are these two pieces? are they in decent shape?
jc

[jehangircama]

the FI didn't come in the 1st post. here it is

[gyzzzmo]

Might be the recording, but your FI sounds like you played it on a clavichord. I hear technique only, no musicality.

[jehangircama]

did you feel the same abt the polonaise? sometimes, the sound is a little sharper than most pianos (certainly compared to any of the grands i've played).

[gyzzzmo]

did you feel the same abt the polonaise? sometimes, the sound is a little sharper than most pianos (certainly compared to any of the grands i've played).

Not the same feeling, but a polonaise like chopin's have a complete different playingstyle anyway. FI is a very legato and light, polonaises are heroic/bombastic, maybe even abit 'wild'. Maybe you could almost say that you play FI abit like a polonaise (but who knows, it might be the recording).

But since your polonaise sounds like a polonaise, i'll give some comment
In general its good, you should have a look on your pedalling, some places could use some half-pedalling to keep the chords hanging and making it a bigger whole instead of many lose notes. By the way, youre consequently grabbing the wrong chord with your left hand, for example in 0.15s and 0.33s.

gyzzz

[jehangircama]

i take it you mean the pedal is grabbing the wrong chord at 0.15 and 0.33? could you elaborate on that a bit?
will try the half pedalling out. actually, i'm pedalling more than what the book marks. in a couple of places, it just cuts the pedal suddenly, so you'd have staccato chords in the LH. but that sounds out of place in this piece. i'm still trying to give it the feel of a dance, as a polonaise is meant to be a processional dance at the end of the day...
the trouble with the FI is that if i play any lighter (at least atm, a couple of the keys are weak due to the moisture), the notes won't sound at all, it'll end up sounding half-baked. it does sound much better on a grand though (everything does,i guess!).

thanks btw, for the comments. much appreciated.
jc

[samjohnson]

I share the same view on the pedaling in the military polonaise, especially for the sections with the double c-sharp octaves.  One recommendation I would make is to have a more dramatic crescendo in the second bar (and all others like it throughout).  That is what grabs the audience and makes them feel the audacity of the piece.  I've never played the FI so I'm not as familiar with it.  So to one who doesn't really know the piece, your performance seemed fine.

-sj

[gyzzzmo]

i take it you mean the pedal is grabbing the wrong chord at 0.15 and 0.33? could you elaborate on that a bit?

jc

Nope, i ment you keep pressing the wrong notes in that same chord . My library is abit of a mess atm (cant find my polonaises book), else i could have told you wich note exactly was the wrong one. Might be youre playing a G what should be a G#.

About FI.... If you dont have the touche for playing light and fast, its a problem of technique or your piano. Maybe you should invest in a proper piano if its the second thing, you dont want to ruin your touche.

[jehangircama]

@samjohnson: thanks will try it out.
@gyzzmo: nope, just checked it i am playing the right chord (g# octave). but i can understand your confusion, i first noticed it when i tried to use a music minus one CD- my tuner tunes the whole piano a semitone flat! and always has! i don't know why, (he refutes the fact btw) but as he is the only tuner in the city, making too much fuss is not a good idea...
and i am thinking abt a new piano, a baby grand. however, i'm off to cambridge next month and am unlikely to be at home for long periods, so am biding my time. space is also a bit of an issue, unfortunately..

[gyzzzmo]

@samjohnson: thanks will try it out.
@gyzzmo: nope, just checked it i am playing the right chord (g# octave). but i can understand your confusion, i first noticed it when i tried to use a music minus one CD- my tuner tunes the whole piano a semitone flat! and always has! i don't know why, (he refutes the fact btw) but as he is the only tuner in the city, making too much fuss is not a good idea...
and i am thinking abt a new piano, a baby grand. however, i'm off to cambridge next month and am unlikely to be at home for long periods, so am biding my time. space is also a bit of an issue, unfortunately..

If you listen to other recordings, you'll hear that people play another chord there with there with the left hand, i learned to play it with a different chord than yours too. Maybe you got some weird edition of that piece?

PS, i finally found a copy of that piece online. You're playing E-G-C# with your left hand ( for example in 0.15s and 0.33s) every time, while it should be E-G#-C#.

[jehangircama]

no, the chord i am playing is g#, not g. i am playing E-G#-C# correctly, it just sounds off due to the piano.

[gyzzzmo]

no, the chord i am playing is g#, not g. i am playing E-G#-C# correctly, it just sounds off due to the piano.

Damn you, you should be playing E-A-C# on your type of piano then!!!

[jehangircama]

i am sticking to the notes as given in my edition, i have to play it in a concert, and that piano should be ok.