Evocación by Isaac Albéniz from Suite IBERIA - Enzo (2 vids, practice & recital)

[emill]

"What a difference a day makes" and audience too!!! We posted the same piece by Albeniz which Enzo played during practice a day before this recital .... and the difference is clear to see and hear at least to me. We are happy with the final result of the "EVOCACION". We hope you agree.  We would be most grateful for any comment....

This was Enzo's encore piece during a performance sponsored by the Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation on March 3, 2011 held at the Filipinas Heritage Library.. in Manila



the PRACTICE video:

wow!!!  so many good posts here in Pianostreet lately that I just wish some
would give this practice session a listen and a comment.  SO MANY THANKS!!

[becky8898]

Hi Enzo. YOU know so many pieces  - how do you do that ? Hey a couple of things. First I really like this piece . It is so full of feeling.  I love music like this. It just makes me all dreamy and makes my nose tickle. Like drinking a glass of sierra mist.  I know im a strange girl. What can I say.  OK a couple of things.   First Birba in a nice way  corrected me when I told him I looked at the Jury when I tried out for the conservatory . He told me that was a big no no. I noticed at the start Enzo turned his head away from the piano for a second.  Dont know if thats a big deal or not.  but thought I would mention it.  Second. At the very end of the piece I totally dont get those last two notes.  If thats how its supposed to be , alright  but I dont get it.  Third .  one of the things my teacher tells me all the time is prepare my fortes and prepare my Pianissimo's. I just got the feeling a couple of times that Enzo ran out of room to get even quieter.  Of course what do I know. He is such a fine pianist maybe its just me seeing things wrong. 

Anyway I hope other people will comment on this besides me and Birba. 

Thats it for now. catch you soon

Cheers, Becky

[ladypianist]

Such delightful music. I would like to know what Enzo is thinking as he plays this? what is his vision of this song?  does he know anything about the composer? I am so interested in Enzo the artist. When you present a piece tell us something, give it context.

from one artistic pianist to another,  Lady Pianist

[emill]

Dear ladypianist (Nina Vaskova) ,

Let me start by saying ... you FLOORED us with the musicality you
enriched the piece Islamy ... It suddenly became wonderful to listen to!
Thank you for finding Enzo's practice video of  Evocacion, "delightful";
coming from an accomplished pianist makes it so much more meaningful.

Enzo is at school, but as soon as he arrives I will ask him the question you posted.
But let me just tell you how they handle new pieces.  His teacher gives him aside
from the technical aspects of the piece, the historical background, the circumstances
which led to the composition if any.  I can see the difficulties that his teacher faced
especially when he was younger ... talking about love .... romance ... jealousy.. 
to an 11 year old; however nowadays, since he is much older, the difficulties are so much less!!   I do not know exactly their conversations about Evocacion or about Albeniz since this is his 2nd piece by Albeniz, having played the Tango before.  So I will get back later and better still request him to send you a private message.  THANKS AGAIN !!!!

Dear Becky,
Ahh the practice was so full of distractions .... there was so much background noise, so I am not surprised about his turning of head.  There practically was little or no differences in the volume of the notes as I had to place the microphone practically kissing the piano strings in order not to pick up the background noise....a lot of talking.... yet despite ... you still here the talking... the ringing of cellphone.... and the quietest notes will still be relatively loud ... it is really a compromise between noise and sacrificing the expression.  The last 2 notes are really meant that way.... the very last note should even be softer and shorter ... like a short strum or pick of a single guitar note. Thanks so much for the advice ... will ask Enzo to read later all once his home.

Keep up the practice ..... never give up ..... you are such a wonderful talent .... really glad you will be entering a music conservatory next year ... hope someday Enzo can study in your country!
till later...

[lostinidlewonder]

Played very gentle and soft which is nice. It is slightly slow for my taste, also the LH phrasing seems to still need time to fully understand, it seems to merely support a RH melody but there is a whole lot of subtle style effects to add to the support. The layers need individuality. There are phrases which are being blurred too much pedal almost, this recording seems to take a western classical interpretation of the Spanish style piece if you get what I'm trying to say. Good progress as usual!

[emill]

Hi lostinidlewonder,

Thanks so much for the observations ..... I do not know if they were able to correct
those, but the following day during Enzo's performance I noticed that the tempo
picked up a bit and it feels more a little bit more Spanish than western.  The points
you raised were similar to those of his teacher.

Again so many thanks for the constructive comments ... and here is the link:

BTW: all comments above this post were directed for the practice video which
we posted earlier on March 2, 2011.

[birba]

Very mature playing for one so young!  This is not easy.  It's deceivingly easy - to sustain that "mood" from beginning to end takes a seasoned artist, I feel.  I don't want to give you any hints.  I think ladypianist is right - you have to find this out for yourself.  I was always instructed to put into words what I wanted to convey.  And that was NEVER easy for me.  But it forces you to find a palpable interpretation - one that really has meaning and is convincing. 
Just one little bit of advice:  look at those mordents at the beginning.  Then look where that melody changes slightly after a few pages:  there's a triplet, isn't there?  you continue to play it as an acciaccatura, almost.   It has another flavor.  What does it mean?  What is the difference in the two melodies?  And I mean the interpretive meaning as well as the actual notes.  How do they feel different?

But that's all I'm going to say.

[rachfan]

Hi Enzo and emill,

I really enjoyed this rendition of "Evocacion".  The piece has always suggested to me a quiet Spanish village in the heat of a sultry summer day, although others probably hear it differently. You play it beautifully!

For years I've been meaning to get to this piece, but is seems that my "to do" list changes so frequently, that "Evocacion" never actually makes it out of the sheet music cabinet!  

David

[emill]

To Birba - thanks so much for your generous and encouraging comments.
and despite that ladypianist turned out to be a dud, your and her suggestion
that a vision should be created in one's mind for each piece is so appropriate.
I know that enzo and his teacher discusses the circumstances surrounding the
composer and the piece, but i have never asked enzo what he sees and feels
for the pieces he plays.  After school winds down in 2 weeks, i think I will start
asking him these, learn from his thoughts and increase the father-son dialogue
which often is in the realm of 2 or 3 words and in monosyllables...   THANKS!!

To rachfan (David) -  you always find the time to give encouraging and constructive
comments,  and for those, we are ever so thankful.  Yes !!!  you should finally play
Evocacion with its 7 sharps...hehheee .... it took me a little while to appreciate it,
but its flow is slowly addictive.  I know you will be able to do better justice to it. 
THANKS.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

Excellent, as always. I'm so happy that Enzo is continuing to pursue music that he loves to play. But I have not heard any Chopin etude from him and I hope he begins these soon enough. I know he has the capacity to do ALL of them, I believe in him. But it really has to happen first. His talent has so much potential, and I believe that learning a lot of Chopin etudes will maximize it. It is my wish that Enzo's teacher does teach him these etudes.