Beethoven: Pathetique

[pianoman53]

Hi again!

Some pianists peak when they record, they play their best, and get new ideas and so on.
I'm not one of them. I get my peak at concerts.

So I though: Lets just record. I take 2 takes, and post it, no matter what. There is no other way than to just get into it, and just do it. If I don't, I wont get better.

So here is the first (the rest with come when I've been brave enough to record them too) movement of Beethoven's Pathetique.

It was recordet by an Edirol R-09HR, a meter from the piano. The sound is, therefore, not so very good. In the loud and fast part, it gets a bit weak (Or it's because of me).

Anyway, tell me what you think!

[williampiano]

Hello pianoman53! I listened to you performance and I was quite impressed! The dynamics were great and it seems you had the notes down very well! I would just say, you might want to accent the first chord in each of the three opening measures more, like where it is marked forte\piano. This might give the opening a little more contrast.  There were also a few sections that sounded a bit unclear note-wise that could possibly use some cleaning up. But then again, that also could have been because of the recording quality, which made it hard to tell in some sections. Either way though, I thought it was a very professional performance and I will look forward to hear the next movements if you post them here! Fantastic Job!

[pianoplayjl]

Hi pianoman53, your performance was really fantastic and it was worth listening to. Shame about the audio quality becuase I'm sure it can bring out more clarity if the quality was better. I just want to say perhaps slow it down a little  but not much so that you have the piece totally under your control i.e. no wrong notes because occasionally here and there I here one. But come to think of that, I think the slowing down part is abit unecessary.  You demonstrated you know this piece really well. I agree with willpiano, the dynamics used were fantastic. I can't wait for the 3rd movement which I recently learnt. Hope to hear more.

JL

[pianoman53]

Thanks for listening.

I'll think about what you said, and see if I like it.

About the wrong notes: It's, for sure, because of the recording. I never play as bad as when I record, so I have to find some way to fix that. But thanks!

[starstruck5]

The last person I listened to playing this was Horowitz on YouTube earlier! Your performance obviously didn't quite measure up to that - but few would.  Having said that I thought your playing had great clarity. I agree that your dynamics were superb -

In this age of the digital recorder, I see no reason why you can't record yourself much of the time - even when you are practising. Take a few moments every now and then to go into 'performance mode'  The idea being that you will get so used to recording yourself it will become second nature. Don't let the microphone be the boss and intimidate you - it has no power. You have a lot of ability -just thrill in letting let it speak -