My first thoughts were that it was very good! I don't know the piece, but it was enjoyable. However, I did notice that I was shocked when you got up to turn off the camera. I didn't realize the piece was over. I looked up the sheet music and here's what I suggest for the ending, the last 2 measures, specifically.
You start by playing the A, then the A-sharp, and those are both fine. They feel like a melody is starting. But then you play the next chord and it feels lost, like you went from playing a melody to just hitting some keys (no offense, of course!). However, three things tell you that you really should be playing that B louder, and the other notes much quieter, almost imperceptible, even. First, the chromatic line appears and sounds as if it should go to B. Second, there is a B played an octave lower by your left hand to accent this. And, if that wasn't enough, finally, the score I'm looking at has the B written as part of a separate voice, attached to the A and A-sharp! Now, you're playing A, A-sharp, B....and then where is it supposed to go? Well, your ear tells you it should go down to an E...and then if you look at the key, you realize you're in E minor, so you start on the dominant and it resolves on the tonic...and, not-coincidentally, the final chord starts with two Es. So on that final chord, I think you need to make sure you take more time on those two Es, especially the first one. Give the listener a little time to hear that the melody ends there before you start on the rest of the chord. Even a little time where they don't realize that there are going to be other notes. Take a little time before the last chord too...let the listener ponder the dominant before resolving, just a hair longer...it felt a tiny bit rushed when you played it, I think. Then, in that final chord, don't play the other notes too loudly. The 3 Es are the most important notes in it, I think.
I don't mean to talk to you like you're an idiot, and I'm sure you've probably thought about all this stuff before and maybe were even trying to do it there, but perhaps in your effort to play very quietly at the end, it didn't quite come out. I think that final line there is extremely important, however, so I'd be sure to bring it out as much as you can without leaving the dynamic range of that area.
The other thing I noticed while looking at the score that I couldn't hear very well is the chromaticism in the left hand. I think that progression should help drive the piece, but it sounded almost like background. Starting in the first measure, E, D-sharp, D, C-sharp, C, B, B, A-sharp, A, then starting in measure 4, G, F-sharp...down to G. At measure 9, all this starts again. You can find all this stuff for yourself easily, but I think you need to make sure that the left hand comes out more when it has these progressions as they give this nice impression of the piece sort of falling. Make sure, when you do this, that these important notes stick out in chords when they don't get the natural accent. For instance, in measure 17, the D finishes the chromatic progression and should be more audible than the F-sharp.
In measure 19/20 (you can decide for yourself if you think those top notes in 19 in the left hand are part of that melody...I think they are) same thing as the beginning with voicing that one melody. You do great with it until it ends in a chord in measure 21, at which point the F-sharp is hard to hear.
Now in measures 21-22, you work that right-hand chromaticism very nicely, but again, it gets lost almost completely once the chords start in measure 23. Measure 25, the F-sharp in the left hand doesn't come out enough to end the melody started in 24. Same story in measure 29.
Measure 33, you actually did the chromatic progression in the left hand starting on the C very very well, I think. It helps drive the piece forward.
Measure 52, that same melody that appears in the last two measures of the piece, but this first time, it sticks on the 5. You did let that 5 stick out a bit in the chord in 53, but I think it still could have been a bit more. Really, that melody needs to be something the listener remembers. They should hear "A, A-sharp, B, B, B.....A, A-sharp, B, B, E". Play just those two parts alone and hear how you would play them if there weren't any other notes around, and then try applying that to how you play them in the context of the piece. That 3rd B in the first progression is really longing. It wants to resolve, but you won't let it. And then, you do let it, which is why it's so important in those last 2 measures to bring those notes out, because it's what the listener has been waiting for.
Basically, that whole thing can be summarized in the following:
Bring out the voices! Especially in chords!
Despite all that stuff I said, I thought the piece sounded just beautiful! But I also think it could sound a ton better if you did what I suggest above.
David
Topic: update[Video]=Scriabin Mazurka E minor, Op. 25 No. 3 -performance recording 8/18 (Read 3407 times)