Chopin op 25 n 1: a little step further (?)

[costicina]

Will I ever be able to play this piece as I whish?  I’ve such a clear idea in my mind of how it should sound….but my stupid hands  refuse to comply     

Anyway, it helps me so much  to play for an audience, even if a “virtual one”, so  I’m afraid I’ll keep plaguing  you with my (vain?) attempts to improve this Etude.

Thanks a lot  you for your patience. Any word of encouragement, but also any frank, straightforward criticism/rebuke will make me happy….

[birba]

Ma veramente, sempre meglio!  Davvero!  And those good-looking legs didn't hurt in the least...

[costicina]

Urrah!!!!! 

Mi hai messo le ali ai piedi, sono FELICE!!!!!

I swear: next time I'll play it perfectly (well, the level of perfection I can hope to attain), and I'll wear a lushious  evening dress, like in a real live concert 

[cbreemer]

Birba, concentrate ! Stop looking at the lady's legs !!! 

Costicina, it is already much more confident than the previous time. The stupid hands are not doing all too badly (though now and then you may need to tell them who's the boss). It's the feet you need to be more worried about, especially the right one which IMO pushes the pedal a bit too eagerly and makes it all too wishy-washy. Couple of slips that you are probably aware of. You could try work on a bit firmer touch, because you seem to drop some notes or play them too softly. All in all, coming along nicely I'd say.

[costicina]

Thank you, cbreemer!!! You are right: still too much pedal, still 'voids' in the accompainment part. This time I focuessed mostly on the melody line, and I'm having a hard time trying not to hit the keys too harsh with the pinky, 'accompanying' it instead when it lands on the notes.

Anyway (am I deluding myself?)  somehow I feel that I can master this piece. It's only matter of patience and of the utmost care for the detail. If nothing else, I've learned a lot practicing this piece, last but not least how complex and multilayered is a piano masterpiece. Hitting the right notes at the right time is only the tip of the iceberg  

[cbreemer]

No you are not deluding yourself, I am sure you can and will master it. Love for the music, dedication, hard work, and will power is all there is to it.

[rachfan]

Hi Marg,

Good progress has been made.  You play more confidently with reliable articulation and touch.  There is more musicality present with some nice nuances.  I'm impressed with the improvements you've made!

But... still too many big washes of pedal.  I took out the score (Paderewski Edition). The Editorial Committee for the Paderewski Edition elected to print the pedal markings as found in the original manuscripts, while recognizing that pedal effects will vary by the instrument, touch, tempo, and room acoustics, especially for the more resonant modern pianos.  Given that, they mention that the pedal becomes an "individual matter" (that is, not a Chopin matter).  Don't forget--you're co-creating this piece with Chopin.  He's the composer but you're the interpreter.  Recall in my last response, I mentioned that your own ears are the "high court"?  That's what the Paderewski editorial board meant--you must use your own discretion on the pedal to attain clarity.  I don't have an urtext edition here; however, I would imagine that they take the exact same approach--leaving Chopin's pedal markings as they are.  Here's a suggestion:

Full measure 1 and 2: In the melody played with the RH 5th finger, at the bar line the melody goes from E flat to F, an interval of a 2nd within the same pedal as marked by Chopin. It probably worked famously on this 1840-ish Pleyel, but not so famously on today's Steinway pianos due to far improved volume and resonance.  So I would release the pedal just before the bar line, take the new F tonality in a new pedal at the beginning of measure 2.  At that point you have two options: hold the pedal down for that group of notes and change the pedal for the on-coming group; or, slowly release it as a half-pedal as you play that figure, then depress it for all the ensuing E flat tonality in the next group.  There are many situations exactly like that in this piece. So if the next approaching group of notes is consonant, I would keep the pedal down just as Chopin indicated.  But if there is dissonance approaching, I'd do either a separate new pedal or a half-pedal release lifting the pedal through the figure to spill out overtones before they begin clashing with one another like Roman gladiators.  Experiment both ways to see which works best with your piano.  As you do that be ever mindful of the overarching legato phrasing.

There are many principles and kinds of pedaling as you know.   When it comes to avoiding blurring, here are two important principles to remember: 1) The higher in treble you a playing, the more forgiving the piano will be.  And, 2) the softer you are playing, the piano will likewise be more forgiving.  In this etude you're not playing in the high treble--no ledger lines to speak of really.  The exception is the coda played leggierissimo where dynamics are pp to ppp with some crescendo-diminuendo in between.  So the piano will help you there, but not through the greater part of the piece.  (Well, a little is better than nothing, yes?)  Wherever the dynamics are marked in gradations of soft, the piano will cut you some slack there even though you're in the low treble register.

Note that oftentimes the filigree (the accompaniment within the right hand) also changes in tonality. Chopin foresaw that issue and added more pedal changes to accommodate that particular problem.  Look at measure 6 for example.  So there you need only to pedal as indicated in the score.

I hope this is helpful.

David

[costicina]

Thank you so much, David!!!!
Your lesson about pedalling is the more precious, as only now I'm discovering its crucial role. So far, I've had he tendency to use it like a sort o 'make-up', to cover  blemishes  .  Now I'm realizing how, if mastered, it's essential to the shape of  phrasing, to the structure of the musical thought itself.

You are a wonderful teacher, David, I'm so lucky to benefit of your guidance and your insights!!!   
   

[flyinfingers]

Your technique looks great!  I hope to play so relaxed like you one day!  Thanks for posting!

[costicina]

Thank you for your kind comment!!!
I'm sure your fingers will fly on the keyboard sooner than you think. It's such a rewarding feeling when they 'work', it repays fully the hours of hard work, the many moments of frustration and dispair... 

[flyinfingers]

Hi, I think I'm finally making some great progress on the technique.  It's been a struggle since I have not had good teachers and having to learn it on my own via videos.  I think it's finally coming together, wrists forward, circle motions, etc...
Hopefully, one day I can post, but I'm too computer challenged at this point to do so.   Ciao!