Eugene D'Albert op.16 presumably first complete recording

[Steffen Fahl]

I have just put online the wonderful 4 Pianopieces op 16 of Eugene d'Albert.
Meanwhile everybody will know the musical great but acousticly poor recordings by D'Albert himself of the Scherzo op.16 Nr.2 which is thereafter been recorded some times, I guess, the other great pieces might perhaps never been recorded before. Help me if I am wrong but I simply found no recording. All are at least wonderful compositions worth to be listened.
I hope you like them:
Eugene d'Albert 4 Pianopieces op.16
best
fahl5

[retrouvailles]

Piers Lane recorded the second and third piece, actually, so only the first and fourth pieces are unrecorded as far as I know. I can't wait for the day when I actually hear them on a real piano. For that reason, I will abstain from listening to this synthesized recording.

[Steffen Fahl]

Oh! that sounds seriously like severe fundamentalism.
OK I admit, I am quite happy if people like that dont listen to my music 

[retrouvailles]

If the fact that I don't like the sound or notion of listening to a synthesized recording makes me a fundamentalist, then so be it. I am sure many here would agree with me.

[Steffen Fahl]

To state, anything in this recording would be synthezised is sheer technical nonsens. Each single note you hear is recorded from a high quality real grand piano with such care, pianos rarly are recorded. So what you hear is technically a recording as every other recording you are used to hear. The only difference to the recordings of Karajan f.i. is the fact that most classical interprets that recorded in studio the last 50 years patched just several parts of their recordings with multiple takes.
This "recording" is patching every single recorded grandpiano note. If you speak of synthezised music, it is of course because you dont know what you are talking about. But because this missing knowledge rules your thinking and dont allow to listen without prejudice I would call it just ideology. I respect your opinion even if I must not follow it but it is a pity for you that you obviously are therefor no longer able just to listen the music as it is. Since the d'Albert pieces are really quite interesting and in two of them as it seems never recorded before.
best
fahl5

[thalbergmad]

oops

[Steffen Fahl]

oops

Oh, I first misunderstood.
I beg you pardon.
since my musicsite is an absolutly noncomercial site, with no one have to pay for anything, the site itself is build on a ad-free, free-hosting-Server. Which is (not astonishingly) quite popular in germany and has much traffic. So frequently they have some serverproblems.
Here you get some extralinks for each single piece, if the link to my musicsite will be down for longer:
(The Link is fixed now)

[Steffen Fahl]

oops

[prongated]

Well, you asked me to listen to it, so I suppose you should like me to say a word or two also? So in general, I'm afraid I don't think this project is as successful as the Bartok (which, by the way, I wouldn't categorise as one of those pieces that need more exposure the same way these 4 by d'Albert do. Granted, it's hard to find any concert pianist who play them right now, but many students actually do play it. I played all 3 at one stage of my - still - student life, and I know a few others who performed them in concerts and competitions alike).

I only listened to the first one, for which I would like to make a suggestion. Do record yourself playing the piece on an acoustic piano...surely you will not play it the way it sounds in your website! It sounds like a MIDI file, programmed to rhythmic perfection, which is plain wrong in a waltz. It sounds like a crazy carousel music to me! Surely you will agree with me that one cannot hear the ease and elegance of a waltz in this recording!

So...fix this, and maybe this project can be interesting to listen to. Otherwise, perhaps this system of yours can only really work on pieces that demonstrate more of the percussive capabilities of the piano, as is more commonly found in the 20th/21st century repertoire.

[lostinidlewonder]

To state, anything in this recording would be synthezised is sheer technical nonsens. Each single note you hear is recorded from a high quality real grand piano with such care, pianos rarly are recorded.

A digital piano has sound samples taken from a real piano, but this does not make a digital piano a real piano. The same applies for your case, you may have real piano samples but they are not a real piano since a real piano has infinite variation in sound compared to the limitations of what your computer programs can achieve.

So what you hear is technically a recording as every other recording you are used to hear.

You have been posting the wrong files then if this statement is to be true.

[Steffen Fahl]

I only listened to the first one

Meanwhile i can perhaps imagine a bit what you told about the first piece for someone who like you presumably dont know it, it's still a pity that you seem to judge for the most part (the other pieces) recordings you never heard. Allow me not having that much respect nor interest in this kind of musical judgement.

So...fix this, and maybe this project can be interesting to listen to. Otherwise, perhaps this system of yours can only really work on pieces that demonstrate more of the percussive capabilities of the piano, as is more commonly found in the 20th/21st century repertoire.

If you are interested or not - is your own problem. I have interest enough for about 200 hits daily on my page and several of my recordings especially of romantic music has been already chosen as sound examples even from academic institiutions mainly occupied with music. 

@ lostindlewonder, meanwhile I am a bit tired to discuss the way you seem to prefer to comunicate. Allow me just little hint: before you think, you might say anything about the alleged "limitations" you better confess, that you dont know at all the samplesets I am working with, that you have no Idea at all which variety the allow and that even your  personal judgment of my recordings is nothing more than the voice of one single human in this universe.

That might help you to make it easier to comuincate reasonable with you those themes.
best
fahl

[lostinidlewonder]

I'll keep it simple:

real piano > piano sample.
real piano can create more variation in sound with more control than piano samples.

Your examples fail to provide us with the variation of tone and color a real piano can create. Your sound samples do not sound like a real piano when they are pasted together. Sorry it just doesn't this is not being cruel to you just telling you the truth.

[Steffen Fahl]

OK, I have heard your opinion, as I told earlier often enough I respect your opinion and as far you dont have anything more substantial to say about the pieces this thread is all about I think it is not necessary that you should give me any further response to this posting, since I dont think I will be interested in any longer. 
best
fahl5

[prongated]

If you are interested or not - is your own problem. I have interest enough for about 200 hits daily on my page and several of my recordings especially of romantic music has been already chosen as sound examples even from academic institiutions mainly occupied with music. 

If you get success out of this project, good for you. When I commented, I'm only interested in the music, and as such attempted to provide a serious suggestion to help improve something that I think has the potential to be a promising project. As such, I have absolutely no interest in whatever accolades and achievements you may have. Let's put it this way: if a recording doesn't sound good, I won't buy it, even though it says "Sviatoslav Richter".

Meanwhile i can perhaps imagine a bit what you told about the first piece for someone who like you presumably dont know it, it's still a pity that you seem to judge for the most part (the other pieces) recordings you never heard. Allow me not having that much respect nor interest in this kind of musical judgement.

There is no need to know a specific piece when you know the musical genre very well. I have heard enough waltzes (more than enough, and certainly don't need Andre Rieu) to know that the first one does not sound like a waltz.

Out of curiousity (so no, I'm not about to have a full-blown argument with you about what a waltz should be like - I just want to know what you think here), do tell me: do you really think it sounds like a waltz? If so (and I expect you to say it does), do tell me what makes it sound like a waltz.

[Steffen Fahl]

There is no need to know a specific piece when you know the musical genre very well. I have heard enough waltzes (more than enough, and certainly don't need Andre Rieu) to know that the first one does not sound like a waltz.

Out of curiousity (so no, I'm not about to have a full-blown argument with you about what a waltz should be like - I just want to know what you think here), do tell me: do you really think it sounds like a waltz? If so (and I expect you to say it does), do tell me what makes it sound like a waltz.

I dont agree with you in this point, since if you would know this "walz" yourself, you would know that it is as composition in many way not what you may expect thinking on walzes by Chopin or the Strauss-Family. So just try it yourself and I am quite curious if you are able to post another "more walzlike" interpretation. At least I would be much more interested to learn from your concret example how to play this piece more "walzlike" than from your theoretical pretentions.
best
fahl5