Chopin's Etude op 10 no 12 "Revolutionary"

[raph_a_el]

  Hello,
I recently made a recording of this etude while my piano is still in a good tuning condition:

I would be interested to hear any opinions/comments/criticism, etc...
Thanks,

Cheers,
R.

[pianisten1989]

Good job! This etude is much harder than what people says
It's a good tempo, and you don't sound tired in the end.

My biggest problem is that you don't give yourself any time at all.

From the beginning:
Don't make an accent on the g. It's the high chord that should have an accent. And take tiiiime. Not like stopping in tempo, but so you don't miss the chord.
When the theme comes, make a small accent on the c. Then it doesn't sound so very regular, which is kind of cool.
Then, when the sotto voce comes, take more time, he wrote pp and sotto voce for a reason. Not only should it be quiet, but a new emotion...

Then it's kind of the same. Don't only play what he wrote, but think why he wrote it.

[prongated]

Not bad! This tempo can be fine indeed (I personally like, and play, it faster). I would love to hear more creativity in the LH - find gestures and colours so that the waves swell appropriately. Do whatever it is that you feel appropriate, and avoid making them sound like exercises from Czerny.

Don't make an accent on the g. It's the high chord that should have an accent. And take tiiiime. Not like stopping in tempo, but so you don't miss the chord.

But also extremely important is, don't be late for that high chord, and don't play the 16th (or semiquaver) note early either! I find the rhythm in the RH melody to be inconsistent, and it really affects the intensity of this piece.

My biggest problem is that you don't give yourself any time at all.

Agreed. May I suggest doing so when the piece arrives unexpectedly to the chord of G-flat major (D-flat bass)

[gyzzzmo]

You'll have to focus less on the less hand, so you can put more melody in the right. Its kinda sloppy there, in rythmics, no clear sound and musically.
Technically the left hand is good, but you'll have to work on the musical part there too. Little crescendo when going op and dim. when going down.

And on the whole, put some attention on where you want the music to go. Where to put the climaxes, and where to hold back.

Keep on the good work, now the finetuning to finish it

[mussels_with_nutella]

raph_a_el, i am now learning this piece, so i cannot give you much advice. Mine is just listening to what these users say, because I agree them when I hear your recording, and take it calmly when you start. It seems that you are in a hurry after you hit the three chords and go down. After this, control yourself. It's my opinion.

However, you have done a great job! I wish i could play it right now as you do. Like gyzzmo says,

Keep on the good work, now the finetuning to finish it

[raph_a_el]

Thanks all for your comments/advice! I appreciate the time you took to listen and write down your opinion! I agree with most of them. Indeed, fine tuning never ends, which is a good thing.

The only possible disagreement I have would be about the "take time" aspect.
In fact, the "rush" aspect takes a big place in my vision of this piece.
I have a (somewhat stupid    ) vision of a soldier that keeps running and running around a devastated city, with gunshots all around, with no time to rest. No peace. Even the sotto voce section at the end serves the purpose of making the final descent more fatal (because the poor soldier dies at the end. Or does he ?).
 
Also just one thing surprised me:

tiiiime. Not like stopping in tempo, but so you don't miss the chord.

I'm pretty sure I didn't miss any RH chords in those sections!? (right hand chords with the left hand descends).
But it's really not a big deal anyways.

Thanks again,
Cheers,
R.

[pianisten1989]

You missed something, and yes, it's a big deal to miss any of the first notes in this piece.
Well, you can think whatever you want - the important thing is that the listener gets kind of the same idea, and I don't. I just get "Hmm, he obviously misinterpret the word etude here".

And this one of his most melodic etudes, and you just miss out plenty of cool things he wrote when you just rush it like this... But whatever you want...

And I think the last 2 chords are too short.

[gyzzzmo]

A bit of rushing in a piece like this can be good indeed, as long as you put them on the right spots ofcourse. But you have to realise that this is still a musical piece, so you will have get a grip on yourself now and then to hold back abit, with the purpose to let other parts come out stronger and make the effect more impressive.

 And about the chords mentioned before, its probably not that you miss entire chords, but just that you dont play them clearly. And by doing that you loose quite some of the strength and expression this piece has. So watch those carefully too

Gyzzzmo