VIDEO Rachmaninov Etude Tableaux op.33 (complete)

[sjskb]

Recorded live in concert at Bechstein Centrum, Hamburg, Germany.

Do excuse some of the finger mistakes! The complete set is about 25 mins long, so i do appreciate your patience in watching, and comments and criticisms are welcome!

op.33 no.1 - 4:

op.33 no.5 - 8:

Cheers!

regards,
sjskb

[pianist1976]

It's incredible to me that in the last days there were posted some high quality interpretations here at Aud. Room and none got a single comment!

Talking about yours, it's very valuable that you managed to play in public this great (and difficult) Rachmaninoff cycle. I enjoyed it a lot (my favourites has been the first and second ones but the rest is also very good).

By the way, the sound of a Bechtein piano is inimitable and unmistakable.

[sjskb]

thank you, pianist1976, for commenting...

i am not that surprised with the lack of comments... firstly the work is very long to watch on youtube, unless the listener knows the music well...

you are right that not many people attempt the entire set, mostly i hear two or three etudes being performed, but never as an entire cycle... that was my main motivation actually!

for this performance, i think i played no.2 and perhaps no.7 best, but musically, no.4 and no.6 are my favourites!

[rachfan]

Hi sjskb,

Bravo!!  Congratulations on completing the entire set of etudes.  It's is a very important achievement for you.  Your performances of these pieces show musicianship and artistry throughout.  And your mastery of technique helps to puts them over the listener very effectively.  I would always go out of my way to hear this set performed.

For as long as I can remember, I've always loved the lyrical, nocturne-like No. 3 the most.  I call this "the forbidden etude" because during his lifetime Rachmaninoff refused to publish it with the others. The reason, of course, is that he used the same material in his Concerto No. 4, and he didn't want to seem redundant.  But for me, the piece has always stood on its own very well.  

Rachmaninoff is my favorite composer.  These Etudes-Tableaux, I believe, rank with the concert etudes of Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin and Liapunoff.  Yet when I compare Rachmaninoff to Rachmaninoff, I've always believed that the Op. 33 (and Op. 39) Etudes, as compositions, despite their challenge and complexities, somehow don't seem to have as much musical content as the Preludes, Op. 23 and 32 and the Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 in which the thematic elements seem more substantive, focused and developed.  The etudes strike me more as tone poems.  But that's just my opinion.

Again, your playing of these etudes is wonderful!

P.S. Will you be doing Op. 39 too?

  

[nanabush]

I'm envious of #5 and 6 (not to mention the rest of the set!)

I've done the G- and the Eb+ from this set, and the Op 39 #8; this makes me want to go and learn so many more!!

[sjskb]

@rachfan: thank you... i enjoyed playing the 3rd etude as well, but more of the dramatic C minor than the lyrical C major section. I find the former so full of expression and hidden feelings, (a bit like his famous B minor prelude), and the C major gives me a slight "pop music" feel. what do you think? 

i don't really have a favourite composer growing up, but at the moment, Rachmaninoff is my favourite! i have learnt quite a few of his preludes as well, the two main concertos, paganini rhapsody, etc... but somehow, i find the op 33 etudes particularly attractive.. interesting that you thought the non etudes are more substantive and developed.. i remembered reading somewhere that rachmaninoff called the op.33 and op.39 etudes, not because of their challenges in terms of technique, but rather etudes in composition!

no, i do not think i will take up the op.39 challenge... mainly because i don't really like them as a set. I have learnt no.6 in A minor and of course the last one in D major, but that's about it...

@nanabush: thank you. there's nothing to be envious about. just go on and learn as many of them as you can! 

[birba]

I've only listened to the first four, but I wanted to comment while they're still fresh in my mind.
Very impressive playing - you have mastery of the keyboard and your playing flows and is very musical.  Sometimes your forte is brittle and doesn't ring - but in general you have a beautiful sound.  I think you have to look at no. 3 again and take care to count carefully, especially the first page.  You rush it, when, in fact, you have to draw back.  Those quarter notes tied to a dotted eighth are longer then you play them.  Look how Rachmaninov puts a decrescendo in the first two - you have to hear that natural dying away of the sound.  This rhythmic motif comes later on and we have to be made aware of this.
The cantabile was beautiful.  Soooooo luscious!  bravo.

[furtwaengler]

Very impressive, sjskb. I have been interested in both op. 33 and op. 39 recently. They are my favorite Rachmaninov save the 1st Sonata...deep, deep, deeply personal pieces for the composer, and it is as you say a more musical study (hence, "Tableaux"). Op. 33 does work very well as a set, and I deeply admire hearing live performances of it from many different angles. Yours is lighter in more ways than one and more fleet. I don't mind at all...there are many ways to look at a piece. I hear the brittle forte's Birba mentioned, but I wonder if we're getting the full picture - are the camera and mic's separate? It sounds kind of close but that could be the room (I am NO expert at sound!). As for Birba's comments on no. 3...I think it is key to let it breath. There's a lot of running, and here's a chance to breath, but all Rachmaninov's music breathes, and must be breathed.

I listened also to your phenomenal La Valse, which surprised me because you seemed even more picturesque and free here than in the Rachmaninov. It seems all your talents came together in a perfect storm. But I don't know what else to say, except I truly enjoy listening to you, and to thank you specifically for tackling op. 33 and sharing it with us!

[scottmcc]

regrettably I am late for work as usual and only had the time to listen to the first two etudes, but I must say that so far I am very impressed at your performance of these very challenging works.  bravo!  hopefully i'll have some time later to finish so that I can provide more valuable feedback.

[sjskb]

thank you all for your wonderful and useful comments! 

@birba: thank you for your reminder.. i will certainly take more care next time.. i guess i went with the flow of the music a bit too much and forgot what was specifically written...

@furtwaengler: the recording was done by my piano professor, who happens to be quite professional in terms of recordings.... he used two separate mics, one right beside the piano, and one placed about 20 metres away closer to the audience... i guess he must have mixed the sounds when producing the video.

on a separate note, the bechstein that i played on is extremely bright and unfortunately, too pointed for my liking. it's freaking hard to play soft (with full tone) on that piano. i suppose the accents of the first two etudes did come across sounding overly harsh..

[birba]

wonderful playing!