Revolutionary: farewell take

[costicina]

My III and last attempt to perform this piece, before “hibernating” it as Rachfan and Birba wisely suggested.

You have already given me all possible help: every kind of tips, advices, suggestions, verbal and visual explanations: honestly, I couldn’t ask more...it’s not your fault I was not able to play it flawless   I hope at least that some improvement occurred.

Since you are my only audience, and your opinion means a lot to me, I’m eager to have some feedback…
If you want, to avoid the annoyance of writing  an articulate comment (always welcomed, of course!!!), you could simply choose one of the following options, A or  B:
A)   STOP butchering this piece!!!
B)   Still to polish, but it has improved

Thanks a lot  in advance
Marg

[/youtube]

[starstruck5]

I think you are definitely improving with this Allegro con fuoco!  So much about your playing which is fiery and passionate.

I think one of the biggest problems is that when we play a piece like this we are up against the best of the best -pianists like Agerich and Kissin and Berman -who can play flawlessly -every dynamic perfectly executed.  I was playing the Schubert Gb Impromtu earlier -quite well I thought -until I listened to Horowitz and Rubinstein - then I feel I am playing the piece like a klutz.   

Maybe if we set the bar that high -some of the enjoyment goes - Goethe once said 'within his limitations a master finds himself' Now with your Revolutionary I think you don't try to play so fast there is no coherence -you play at a tempo which doesn't come across as a struggle - that is a great positive. There are still dynamic nuances which could be better -but again it's that bar set by the greats -

I enjoyed this particular performance  of yours -it had great conviction and energy. Bravo!

[costicina]

  Thank you, Starstruck, for your encouragement!!! It's the more welcome as I'm expecting a lot of As, or a deadly silence     
I try to compete with myself, to go beyond my present limits. Of course, I'll never be able to play this Etude (or any other piece) like Richter, Kissin, Lisista & co.  Byt I think I've not reached yet MY limits...

Do you remember Bernhard's motto?

"The key resources you need to accomplish anything worthwhile in life:

i. An eye firmly fixed on the goal.
ii. Will power.
iii A high tolerance for pain."

(John Walker)

I've to strenght my will power and my loreance for pain (i.e., hard work)!!!!
Thanks again
marg

[candlelightpiano]

BRAVO, MARGHERITA!  I feel sad that this is your farewell performance of this powerful piece. As a non-expert and a struggling piano student, I can only tell you that it sounds very good to me. I haven't learned this piece but if I did and could play as well as you do, I'd be quite pleased with myself. So don't give it up. Keep it in your repertoire. Impress your family and friends. This friend is most certainly impressed. Good Job!!

[costicina]

           
Thank you, Choo, for the solidarity!!!!
Your kind words are very welcome: maybe you are not an "expert", but you have a fine musicality, and above all, you know how hard is to struggle with difficult pieces with patience and perserverance, even if sometimes you feel like destroy the piano with a hammer and/or hang yourself      
We are waiting for your FI!!!
Mar

[pianoplayjl]

I can't tell you how you improved but you put in a consistent effort in every recording to the best of your ability and has improved over time. I think I heard a few hesitant parts and some were off time. The shaping in the left hand was really great but can do just with a little more. The right hand IMO was brilliant and flowing. With Rachfan telling you to temporarily drop it out of your practice I don't know when you are going to bring this piece again and I can't wait to get stunned.

JL

[costicina]

Thank you, JL!!!
I'm planning to an experiment, resuming another Etude I tried to learn about a year ago, i.e. op 25/1, Aeolian harp. It's considered an "easy" one, but for me it was far easy to play it fluidly and with an expressive melody line. Picking it up again, at first it seemed like I've never seen it before, but gradually it's coming back, and I noticed significant improvement since last year.
As soon as is I have it ready, I'll post it in the Audition room; if you'll find my performance acceptable, it means that the Rev too will benefit from this break time...

So maybe it's not really my  "last" attempt with the Rev (but don't worry, the next one will come at the debt time distance      )

Marg

[johnmar78]

wait up....one more audience from AUSTRALIA.

To Margrarita, we give you 10/10 for your will power and mind over matter super power.

I am waiting for your "super gold edition" that you promised 4 days ago. ...

Anyway, no farewell yet. 9.9 /10 for your playing

Patience is a virture....

[costicina]

wait up....one more audience from AUSTRALIA.

To Margrarita, we give you 10/10 for your will power and mind over matter super power.

I am waiting for your "super gold edition" that you promised 4 days ago. ...

Anyway, no farewell yet. 9.9 /10 for your playing

Patience is a virture....

             Thank you for the encouragement!!! I need it badly 

[quantum]

I don't think you should be calling this a farewell take.  The fact that there is always something to work on, something we need to improve, something we feel we can do better, is an enormous incentive to keep playing.  For many people the love that is the labour of practice, is what makes them tick.  There are times when we reach an impasse in our work, or at least we are of the perception that no matter what we do no progress is being made.  Often times what really is needed is a step back, a break from the grind of obsessing over the microcosmic.  Hibernation of a piece does not mean we stop studying or thinking about it.  We still continue to work in the subconscious and through our study of other music. 

[costicina]

That's exactly what I've in mind to do... it's a "relative" farewell. After all the time and the effort I profused to learn this opiece, I can't let it disappear from my repertoire. But it needs to "rest" for some time, like a good wine in a barrel.
I've learned a lot in the process of learning it, and this wisdom will work silently in my subconscious...

When I'll reappear with a new Rev in this board, I'm sure it will be better     

marg

[hakki]

I think there are already plenty of encouraging posts so may you please allow me to take the second option:

B)   Still to polish, but it has improved

I still feel that you should not play this at tempo for a while. If you feel visiting it from time to time please consider playing it only at half tempo and with great accuracy. Preferably with less pedal.
It is very hard to reverse some playing habits once they are settled in later on.

It is good to see that you have improved and wish you the best for your future recordings.

regards,

[costicina]

Thank you, Hakki, for your comment.. the more precious as it comes from  a brilliant pianist like you!!!
Your B) is very encouraging: I was afraid to be buried by an avalanche of As     

Marg

[emill]

Hello Marg,

For me, this present version is more deliberate and controlled
and likely in the correct road map to that objective of eventually
injecting it with that energy and fieriness which makes the "revolutionary"
exciting to listen too. I am sure with persistent dedication, this is doable.
Congratulations ... not an easy piece that can be cooked overnight.

stephen

 

[costicina]

Thank you, Stephen!!!
I'll do my best to "revolution" my Revolutionary in order to make it sound full of fire...
You won't be rid of me so easily...    
Marg

P.S. How is doing Enzo? I'm a fervid fan of his talent. Post soon other pieces perfomed by him!!

[rachfan]

Hi Margo,

There is further improvement displayed in this take.  I give you credit for working even harder on this piece.  You're developing a good "sweep" in playing the long line of the piece.  Within the articulation, there is certainly some more polishing needed.  You've got the left thumb more active now--good!  I still see wasted motion in the left wrist though.  A quieter hand will afford more control over accuracy and evenness. At the moment there are sometimes missed notes in the LH part.  In the RH, be more deliberate in your intonation of the highest octave notes in each figure.  The notes leading up to the highest octave aim for it, then claim the peak with finesse.  I believe that birba demonstrated the accenting of those peaks in his video.  So those are some things to keep in mind as the piece hibernates.

I admire your will power and dedication in your practicing to bring the piece this far.  it's very encouraging. 

For your next piece, Margo, I'd suggest an easier one to allow the learning from the etude to gel and become internalized.

Good work!

David

[costicina]

Thank you so much, David!!! I owe to you, Birba and AJ the (alas too few) improvements you found in this last take.
Before tackling my next over-ambitious pieces (Chopin 25/12, "Ocean", and Prokofiev Suggestion Diabolique), I'm resuming another Chop Etude, 25/1 (far from easy, at least for me) that I memorized and tried to learn about a year ago. It  could be a good test to see how and if a "hibernated" piece improves "im Lauf der Zeit"...
At first it was as if I've never seen it before, but now it's coming back surprisingly good.
I hope to post soon a recording of it.

Again, thank you for your support; you don't know how much it motivates me strenghtening my will power!!!!
Marg

[robpina]

I am by no means someone who has the pianistic abilities to comment on your playing of this piece. However, I am a well versed listener (especially of this piece) and I have been keeping tabs on your improvements. If I heard this played I would say it was a very good rendition of the piece. Obviously it lacks some dynamic components and speed but overall I think you have perfected it to a point where you should feel pretty good about playing it. You certainly do it justice.

[costicina]

  Thank you for your nice words, Robpina!!!

[m1469]

i. An eye firmly fixed on the goal.
ii. Will power.
iii A high tolerance for pain."

(John Walker)

hmmm ... I think of another way:

i.  The ability to define clearly what is the precise goal in the first place, and see the necessity for adjustments of that goal, as on the path you go.
ii.  The ability to adjust one's actions accordingly and let go of a false will power.
iii.  The ability to question pain and if in fact it's indicating to you in a different, better direction.

[costicina]

Sure, m1469, you are right!  Your remarks are very wise....
  But that dictum was meant as an aphorism, not as a ponderous treatise on pshychology ....

[m1469]

But that dictum was meant as an aphorism, not as a ponderous treatise on pshychology ....

 

[ajspiano]

dictum.... aphorism....  treatise....

What I find amusing here is that you often say your english is weak.

Bet if I surveyed 1000 people my age maybe 1% would know what those words mean.

EDIT: i mean specifically people whose first language is english..

[costicina]

What I find amusing here is that you often say your english is weak.

Bet if I surveyed 1000 people my age maybe 1% would know what those words mean.

EDIT: i mean specifically people whose first language is english..

I konw, I talk like a pompous old bag        
m1469 could reply: sure, Marg, you're right, but mine was supposed to be and advice, not a treatise on literary genres!!!      

m1469: I hope you dind't find rude my reply. If so, please, forgive me...

[johnmar78]

Guess what, Marita has an ENGLISH blood.... , so either I understand that pharse....

[costicina]

Guess what, Marita has an ENGLISH blood.... , so either I understand that pharse....

       

[goldentone]

Costicina, did you notice that your LH alone from :20 to :23 is much weaker than with hands together after :23, where your LH is much more agile and smooth?  That's very interesting.

[costicina]

Costicina, did you notice that your LH alone from :20 to :23 is much weaker than with hands together after :23, where your LH is much more agile and smooth?  That's very interesting.

Thank you for the remark... You're right,  and that's indeed what  David (Rachfan) meant suggesting to use RH to "teach" LH... I still need a lot of slow work, paying attention to the detailles...As Flaubert used to say: "God is in the detail" (I can't help, I have to pontificate...       )
Marg

[49410enrique]

it's good now, don't fret. consider taking it up again in several weeks, keep it in rotation, that is try to give it a good solid and musical go at it everytime you sit down to play (consider it a revolutionary warm up), don't really practice it if you are going to take it out of the your foucsed practice time just play through it and have fun with it, enjoy it, let your ear get used to guiding what you want to play(i.e. hear it in your head right before or as you play it), your hands will follow.

learn that prokofiev already.  i'm tired of waiting for it.

[costicina]

learn that prokofiev already.  i'm tired of waiting for it.

I'm a slow learner       ; : you competent audience have to wait. At the moment, I prefer torturating my family+cat's ears than yours        

[49410enrique]

prefer torturating my family+cat's ears than yours        

lol

[costicina]

lol

Both me and my daughter are crazy for your videos/photos Costanza keeps asking me to check for new funny things from you....

[49410enrique]

Both me and my daughter are crazy for your videos/photos Costanza keeps asking me to check for new funny things from you....

ok off topic but still relevant to the quote so i guess it slides\

lol that's what he gets for leaving the house in those shorts. such a tool...

[costicina]

Lol,  Costanza will love it, as I did!!! I'lle transalte for her your comment. The video wouldn't be as funny witohut this complement