Tachaikovsky, P - Taneyev, S-WIP-Excerpt from full transcription of Nutcracker

[49410enrique]

From 12/2010 this is from my very first semester back at piano after a 5 year or so break so I was just a few months back into taking piano lessons and practicing again. One could call it some of my catch up work.

It is a 'less substantial' non performance old practice/rehearsal recording of mine. Many times I am my own worst and strongest critic and in fits of artistic rage, my sensibilities take over, then against my better judgement, I destroy recordings (sometimes the only record of my attempt at certain pieces).

This was the case with the practice session I am uploading. This was a rehearsal recording at under tempo with a less than great microphone for the purposes of just diagnosing where the piece was at the time. (I was not happy with my performance of it and I deleted/destroyed my video of the performance.  So this is the only recording I have of my time with it. Needelss to say, I have much unfinished business with this work and will revisit it and other excerpts of it in the future, there is after all close to two hours worth of incredible music in that ballet, much of it is on my 'bucket list').

One reason for wanting to post this 'non - perfomance' of it is just that with  the holidays coming up, hopefully it will help anyone that hits this w/ a google that is looking for a reference recording as to my knowledge there are no commercial recordings of this version/excerpt (at least none that can be found easily). This is not the standard arrangement (from the Suite or a solo in the traditional sense) of this but is from the horrendously difficult Sergei Taneyev transcription of the full ballet (that for many years was used as a ballet company rehearsal score as it is is the full ballet with original orchestral lines and textures preserved/copied as closely as possibe-which makes many parts of it insanely difficult to play).

This actually contains the presto (though here not played presto, let's call it prestante or andesto lol) which is omitted in many (make that all) the piano recordings and other solo versions I have seen/heard. In the future I will continue into the oh so beautiful coda that follows the scene.

Again hopefully parts of what I was trying to accomplish came through somewhat here and at the least if anyone in the future working out of the score I used is looking for an example of this section, they can at least get an idea of the 'sound' from this.

program/background notes
https://www.scribd.com/doc/110754047/Tchaikovsky-Program-Notes
score:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/54493465/Taneyev-Tchaikovsky-Op-71-Nutcracker-Ballet-Full-Piano-Transcription
this secction begins on page 154 of the score or 153 of 171 of the file/upload for anyone that wants to see the music. you're welcome to download it, also on imslp.

[starstruck5]

Practise session playing this may have been, but there are still some magical moments -which  I am glad you didn't destroy -in some parts you make the piano sound as if it is physically alive -definitely some magic dust sprinkled over the keys!  The finale wasn't technically as assured -as if you are still trying to work it out -but nothing repetition and analysis won't solve -look forward to a performance version some day!

[49410enrique]

Practise session playing this may have been, but there are still some magical moments -which  I am glad you didn't destroy -in some parts you make the piano sound as if it is physically alive -definitely some magic dust sprinkled over the keys!  The finale wasn't technically as assured -as if you are still trying to work it out -but nothing repetition and analysis won't solve -look forward to a performance version some day!

thanks! yes, this was still very much a 'discovery' phase. i had not yet (and still there is a lot of money left on the table on this) completely figured out what that 'presto' section that leads into the coda is/was trying to do. it is so pretty in the ballet, and the challenge is trying to 'recreate' a musically interesting version of that texture at the keyboard.

i do sincerely appreciate your listening to this. i was afraid this would be a 'tumbleweed' post. this was early into my return to the instrument and i did not choose wisely as the excerpt was well beyond my technical and musical capabilities at the time but it 'stretched' me a bit and it was very good as a 'learner' to help me gain momentum on my rate of improvement with many aspects of my playing.

i hope people will consider the incredible transcription taneyev gave us. it includes some of the best music of the ballet that is not often heard as part of the the more commonly played 'suites' and more popular solo versions (this is after all a 'note for note copy' and many of the most magical momments i do not believe exist anywhere else for the piano but here). definate plans to revisit this and other sections in the future and hope to post improved and more polished studies of them.
 

[costicina]

I love so much Tchaikovsky ballet's compositions, they are all masterpieces. This transcription is unusually beautiful, preserving all the enchantment of the original oerchestral score. And IMO you caught so well the spirit of this particular section of the ballet: your performance is really  'prestante' in the meaning this word has in Italian, i.e.: handsome!!!!    Thank you so much for sharing it!

P.S. From now on, you are formally  forbidden to destroy the video/audio recordings of your performances