Chopin Nocturne Db Major op.27 no.2

[sjskb]

Hello! Here is my concert performance of my favourite nocturne. Hope you guys enjoy it!

warm regards,
sjskb

[rachfan]

Hi sjskb,

Your rendition of this nocturne is very refined and poetic, and you make the long cantilena line soar throughout.  It was a pleasure to hear it!  

The Bechstein piano sounded very nice too.  Sometimes Bechstein's tend to be a bit weak in the upper treble, but this one seems to hold its own well.  

Thanks for sharing it.

  

[birba]

That was, indeed, very beautiful playing.  For me, it's a little on the fast side.  I know all editions give this 50=dotted quarter note, but very few observe it literally.   Take Pollini, for example, who I think really carries it off splendidly.  The basis for his interpretation is 50, more or less, but he plays with the tempo, in that, he follows the intention of the melodic line.  When there's filligree work he brings out the direction of the line, and consequently the 50 tempo slows down.  Then, he's back to his basic tempo.  Many play it really slow and it's quite frustrating to listen to.  Your basic tempo is very good and musical.  But don't follow it literally.  For example in the cadenza like section of the final, listen to what you're playing in the r.h. and slow down a bit, accordingly.
I really enjoyed hearing it!

[sjskb]

thank you rachfan and birba for your kind and useful comments...

to be perfectly honest, i did not even notice the metronome marking.... i just played what i felt the melody and the lines should sound... however, i do agree with you wholeheartedly that perhaps a bit more rubato at appropriate places will help the music better.

i have also heard very good performers zoom thru the piece at a faster tempo than i did... i guess it's a matter of taste somehow... (did u watch lang lang's youtube encore of chopin's e major etude?? that is really really too SLOW  )

on a side note, what is "filligree"? never heard of such a word!! does the word mean like cadenza-like passages?

@rachfan: thanks on your compliment on my cantabile... i find that aspect the most difficult to carry off actually, the melodic RH has such long note values, while the semiquaver LH always tends to overpower those lines.

[birba]

fillagree is ornamental work on cloth.  adornment of some kind.  Here I was referring to those ornamental passages.  sort of a dumb way to put it, I suppose.  Because there's nothing ornamental about it at all.  It's all so vital in Chopin's music.

[sjskb]

interesting use of the word to describe music, birba!