Hi emill & enzo,
This is truly a very good performance. It's easy to tell that much work has gone into preparing this piece. I believe that Enzo puts it across to the listener quite well!
Following up on pianisten's comments, he might be right on Enzo being too close to the keyboard. Here's a simple way to test it: The knees should slide under the piano case beneath the keyboard an inch, or two inches at the very most. If it's actually more than that, then he's probably too close. I do notice that Enzo is sitting a bit high too. My guess is that it's a standard piano bench, most of which are made two inches higher than necessary for most people. At some time in the future and when feasible (no rush), an adjustable bench would be beneficial to get the elbow height level with the keyboard and the forearms parallel to the floor for optimal ergonomic positioning at the keyboard which will also better facilitate the use of arm weight in playing.
This "Novellette" No. 1 is marchlike in character with the lyrical sections interspersed. One of the biggest challenges is to avoid is a "squareness" of rhythm. This is best done through flexible phrasing within the boundaries of good taste. Think more of the long line in the piece rather than about the immediate phrase or the period in the piece.
Enzo has a fine handle on the triplets, playing them evenly in rhythm rather than as two 16ths followed by an 8th as sometimes heard in renditions. On page 1 line 3, more could be made of the cresc. there. But on line 4, it needs to come down to mezzo forte. Working up to that, think of this as the difference between speaking loudly at the beginning, increasing it to piu (more) f at the start of line three, then a crescendo building on top of that! So at the start of line 4 that volume must noticeably drop down almost subito to more of a normal speaking level at mf.
By the way it's worth noting here that there is no such thing as a universal forte or a universal mezzo piano or whatever--dynamics are all relative to individual pieces. Dynamic markings can be and are different among pieces. So f in a Beethoven sonata could be different from f in a Debussy prelude or different from f in a Rachmaninoff etude. In other words, the concept and volume of forte takes it's cue from the context of the specific piece in which it appears.
In the march motif, I like the way you're pedaling the 3rd and 4th beats separately given the changing harmonies.
On page two, the challenge is melody and accompaniment simultaneously in the RH. He etches the melody nicely while keeping the accompanying filigree quieter. Work at layering the sound so that the accompaniment is even a bit softer in the background in these lyrical sections if possible.
On the bottom of page three where the main theme reenters, Enzo is playing that more portato than staccato, which is not indicated in the score. That is to say, there is no slur marking over the staccatos thereby converting them to portato. So he needs to attain a sharper detached touch--true staccato--rather than a heavier, pressing portato touch there.
At the top of page 7 marked mf, that is really a melodic peak starting in the RH F# and descending to E, D C#, B.... For that reason, musically Enzo would be justified in playing that at f rather than mf. We want to observe and respect the composers notation and other indicators closely. But we also want to be aware of structural elements including climaxes calling for special attention and interpretation. Sometimes that means taking a small liberty to do it justice. It's interesting listening to composers playing their own works, because sometimes they too deviate from what they wrote in the scores!
In the coda I would aim at less squareness of rhythm there (which has already been securely achieved), I would relax more and realize the exciting flow of the finale. Allow your own feelings to surge through that section to the end--let yourself play with more freedom there.
I hope some of these thoughts will be helpful. Again, Enzo's playing this work very well in my opinion.
Ha! You guys found that recording of mine in the archive, and I appreciate your kind comment on it! I looked it up here and it turns out that I made it in 1992. So it's older than Enzo!
If I were to play the piece today, I might do some things differently. That's one of the great things about playing piano. As your musicianship seasons over the years, you get ever new insights into the music.
Topic: Robert Schumann - Noveletten, Op.21 No.1, F Major - Lorenzo (Read 5359 times)