Chopin Op. 10, No. 3

[gvans]

The opening theme of this etude has often appeared in movies and songs. Chopin thought it the most lovely melody he ever wrote. The virtuosic center of the piece balances the aching sweetness of the beginning and end.

This is a nice Steinway B in a rather echoic hall.

[rachfan]

Hi gvans,

A very expressive rendition which I enjoyed hearing.  Fine playing!  I thought the Steinway was voiced well too, which gave you some help with the "live" room acoustics.  Although I always enjoy the ensemble performances you do, it's nice to hear you play the solo repertoire too.  Thanks for sharing your recording.

David

[perfect_pitch]

Okay - Generally, the only thing I'm concerned with is your rubato in the A section. Sometimes the micro-tempo changes are a little too sudden for me.

The beginning to me felt like you were almost changing the rhythm from steady semiquavers to something else. Sure the middle section is a little more frantic, but the A section has to be a little more stable and flow a little more peacefully.

Apart from that, it's quite a nice performance.

[gvans]

Thanks for your kind and instructive comments, rachfan and perfect_pitch (do you really have it? I hear it can cause trouble when playing poorly-tuned pianos).

Re the tempo changes: Chopin, of course, marked stretto and ritardando here and there in the A sections. I tried to keep these subtle, but, in the end, of course, it's a matter of taste. The piece came right after playing a Beethoven sonata, and I fear my adrenalin was still flowing a bit much for such a lyric work. But thanks for your thoughts, subtlety re rubato is almost always better.

[perfect_pitch]

Thanks for your kind and instructive comments, rachfan and perfect_pitch (do you really have it? I hear it can cause trouble when playing poorly-tuned pianos).

Hey Gvans... yes, I have perfect pitch, but no it doesn't cause any pain when hearing out of tune people singing or pianos that aren't regulated.

It's ANNOYING AS BUGGERY, but you just learn to live with it.