Rachmaninoff Prelude Op 32 No 12

[bellywelly]

This recording is made in my room on an upright yamaha. Not recorded profressionally or anything, and has background noise etc etc.

I'm going to perform this peice in less than two weeks for my music class, then again for a mini-concert run by my ex-piano teacher. i dont want to make a fool of myself, so any comments on my playing would be appreciated! both good and bad comments are welcome! (i want more bad comments to be honest, so i can try and improve the piece.)

it's my first time posting up a recording of me playing, so please bare with me~<3

 

[pianowolfi]

Well, certainly you are on a good way at learning this piece but it's far away from being fully mastered, and I would'nt recommend to play it in a concert at this stage. You haven't overcome the technical difficulties, every time you encounter one you are slowing down. Do you practice by yourself or do you have a teacher? 

[bellywelly]

i do have a piano teacher, and we've been working on this peice for 2 weeks now. she said that she wouldn't recommend me playing this peice, because it was difficult, but i chose it already, and i cant change my peice because my music teacher(a different teacher) would not allow it.

yeah, i know im slowing down at some places, but, i thought that's what im supposed to do? like, there's a lot of tempo change written on the score...but i do admit i have lots of technical difficulties, especially with those arpeggios/string of notes, and it's really hard to control it. any suggestions?

does anyone have t comment on my dynamics? i'm not sure if they're ok or not.

[pianowolfi]

Well what can I say then?   If you decide to schedule a concert with a piece of which you have just started to learn the notes,- and there are many errors in your reading!- and not asking your teacher before? It's really good for only 2 weeks of practice, but it's not yet the piece, it's not the Rachmaninoff Prelude, it's just a practice run-through at a very early stage!! And really, a Rachmaninoff Prelude needs months and not only weeks.

[pianowolfi]

Here is my own interpretation, (it's from long ago and I haven't listened again), just to show you that I know what I'm talking about, and to give you an opportunity to shred it to pieces if you like 

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=27381.0

[pianisten1989]

Okay, so in two weeks... But since you've got this far in 2 weeks, you'll probably be somewhat ready in another 2 weeks. I don't know this piece very well, so I'll make general comments

First:
Pick a tempo you can handle (it should go quite a lot faster in finishing stage). There should be some tempo changes, but not that much. Go down in tempo, then kind of accelerando up to tempo again. But don't slow down as much as you do.

Second:
Don't lose the right hand. Even though the melody is in the left, the right hand has an important role. Focus on every note in right hand atm, but then you should basically make the pinky the loudest one.

Third: There are some arpeggios with the top note as the melody. Don't take too long on the arpeggio, it ruins the line of the melody.

But the tempo is probably the main thing. You're, as I said, going down waaay too much.

You'll have to practise like crazy, but I think you could manage to finish.
Good luck

[bellywelly]

ah, i didnt expect this many replies! thanks wolfi and 1989

yes, i do realise i'm rushing for time, a month is hardly enough to polish a peice for performance, but i just somehow ended up in this sticky situation. 

many errors with reading?? as in note errors or speed/dynamics/expression? or just simply everything?

ahh, yes, i'll work more with my right hand then. my right hand needs to flow more, i think, right?

ok, tempo wise, im putting too much rubato, yeah? i read from another forum that one should practise in strict time (as much as possible) until everything flows well, and then rubato should be added...i'll make sure i dont put too much rubato next time.

i will probably post up a second recording in a week's time, and hopefully it will become better!

[pianowolfi]

many errors with reading?? as in note errors or speed/dynamics/expression? or just simply everything?

I'm talking about things like in measure 6 where the left hand should play a duplet, but you play a quarter and an eighth note instead. The f# shoud come together with the fourth note of the right hand sixteenth pattern, not together with the fifth one. M.7: you omit the whole first count! (I count the 12/8 on 4 because of the fast tempo). In M.8 you omit the whole second half of the measure! In M. 12 there's a bass note B which I also don't hear but perhaps that was by accident.
In M. 26: from the second count onwards the right hand should play e, not D#. There are more errors like this, I can't point them all out here, but I recommend you to read again very carefully the whole piece. I know it's a beast to read, I have played a wrong note for months until someone pointed it out to me  

[bellywelly]

  oh my god. thanks so much for pointing out all my mistakes specifically! you're the best! i seriously never realised that in the 6th measure the note shold be played like this, until you pointed it out!  and all the other mistakes you pointed out, i will work on it! and, as you suggested, i should check if im playing everything correctly.

i heard your recording of this piece, you have a very nice touch =] it sounded as though you were playing effortlessly (especailly the difficult parts like the arpeggios) how do you make the accompanying sixteenths so controlled?

[pianowolfi]

I am glad it helped! Argh I can't listen to my rec, I tried but it makes me cringe and wanting to rerecord it, LOL. One thing that definitely helped me to control the right hand was a lot of experience with other pieces where the melody is partly in the left hand, so when I came to this one it was nothing entirely new to me.

[mike_lang]

It's very beautiful, but as pianowolfi said, the technical challenges are not quite yet overcome.  If I could make one observation, it would be that the RH seems to be in command of the melody; i.e., the technical challenges posed by the sixteenth-note figuration, not yet conquered, are distorting the shaping, direction, and intention of the melody, rather than supporting it.

This does not contradict what pianisten1989 said, however -- you just need to learn to have control of both, hear both, and then put the LH in the driver's seat.

All best,
Mike