Chopin Prelude in F# Major, Op. 28, 13

[goldentone]

This is one of my favorite of the Chopin preludes, so beautiful and touching.
Enjoy.


Yamaha M302 with the Edirol R-09 HR.

[rachfan]

Hi goldentone,

I think this is a fine and sensitive rendition of the Prelude No. 13.  The tempo is in character, you voice the melodic notes of the chords in the right hand well, pedaling is clean, there is a good balance between the hands, and the piece flows along beautifully.  Part B of the piece has nice atmospherics. Working toward the coda, all the right hand rolls come in on the beats as they should.  The one suggestion I would make is this: In the left hand figuration, sometimes the second 8th note in a measure slightly lags or hesitates in sounding after the downbeat, such that the downbeat sounds just a bit detached from the rest of the five notes in the figure, whereas the six notes together in the figure are actually equal in value and need to be played evenly within the meter; and the second eighth notes always need to be quieter than the downbeats so as to blend in and not compete.  But that's a nitpick. You have an obvious affinity to this music and play it very well in my opinion. It's a pleasure to hear you play it.  Good work!    

[goldentone]

Hi Rachfan,

Thank you for your comments!  I appreciate the detailed feedback.  I feel this prelude demands a technical finesse from the pianist.  The beauty is densely constructed in the second part.  Listening afterwards, I became worried that the left hand was too loud, so I was glad to hear you give a thumbs-up on the balance.    

[ronde_des_sylphes]

It's basically a fine performance, but what would make it magical is improving the left hand. The accompaniment figures are slightly too loud and it feels like you have concentrated so much on getting the finesse in the right and neglected the left. The left hand sounds a bit literal and clunky. It's a harsh comparison to make, but for the purposes of illustrating my point, here's Rosenthal:

(From 5.10)

I don't mean to sound negative, because there's much of merit in your performance and what your right hand does is done well.

[goldentone]

Hi Ronde,

As I mentioned to Rachfan, the left hand stood out to me also when listening after I recorded, and I started to have cold feet.  I appreciate your feedback and the criticism.  Thanks for listening.  

[pianowolfi]

I think it's one of Chopin's particular characteristics that he's able to write "accompaniments" that are way more interesting and beautiful than the "melody" (the latter being here in the right hand ) and though they have to stay in the background.

I find this prelude very difficult to play, not only for this reason. And so far I like your interpretation a lot. I think it's one of the most floating and delicate pieces of the repertoire and there can never be an "ultimate" interpretation but many valid ones. It's a piece that requires of us to make decisions every time we play it.

[goldentone]

Hi Wolfi,

I agree with you, it's not an easy piece to play.  And a few points along the way were interpretively elusive.  They remain open roads.  I'm glad you like my interpretation.   I enjoyed your comments and appreciate them.