Beethoven's 8th piano sonata (complete, video recording)

[thesixthsensemusic]

Hi everyone,

Been polishing up some of my old repertoire, and decided to record the famous 'Pathétique' sonata today.

So, here's the end result:

Curious to what you think about them, as usual.

[j_menz]

My feedback, FWIW:

1st Movement - Runs need to be accented with the pulse - you tend to blur them, which means the music loses strtucture and direction. A few wrong notes to my ears, too.  Nicely structured, good pace and building/release of tension. Great job.

2nd movement. Accents off right at the beginning (comes right after two bars, but gets it off on the wrong foot). A bit flakey at the end of the first B section. On the whole, needs to sing more. Good balance between hands. This is, IMO the hardest of the tree movements to pull off well, and yours seems a little underdone.

3rd Movement. Loved that first page turn  . Not good for the book though. For my money, should be a little faster with more drama - more light and shade. Again, don't forget the accents in those runs.

Nice job.

[senanserat]

-1 for using a cap indoor.

+10 for being a beast!

[emill]

-1 for using a cap indoor.
+10 for being a beast!  

hehee    I'll give a +10 for wearing a cap indoors. With his growing beard and glasses, his cap makes his disguise so much better.

Personally, I miss that aggressiveness, flair and ummph characteristic of many Beethoven Sonatas. Sometimes it sounds so placid and gentle. Nevertheless, it is a good start for polishing old repertoire and the fact you are able to reasonably play the "Pathetique" is definitely an accomplishment.

[theholygideons]

Hello the6thsensemusic.

Concerning the Grave introduction of the 1st movement, the rhythm is slightly too liberal, since you elongate the demisemiquavers following the dotted notes too much. In my opinion, this makes it sounds too melodramatic. I remember Andras Schiff saying in 1 of his lectures that it should be like a grand opening, similar to the symphonia in bach's partita no.2. Also, the shorter notes should always be played softer than the proceeding dotted notes.

Also, from the way you play chords, it seems that you are using too much arm movement. It might be of benefit and efficiency if you used less arms and more from the wrist. This applies to the chords which you play that are not even fortissimo yet and may help decrease the harshness of your playing. 

1 thing that pisses me off is at the section at 2:15, before you make the jump with the right hand from the soprano to the bass, you should practise finishing off the previous phrase properly, i.e. softly, because the accent on the last note of the phrase is disconcerting.

P.s. i love your cap. leelllll

[awesom_o]

Ok, it isn't too bad. But I think you need to find ways of uplifting the tone. I'm always hearing downward accents in your playing. It's partly the digital piano. You really need need to get a real piano if you want to make real progress at some point with this style of music.

I'm always hearing vertical accents, when the music wants to go forward smoothly. It's not too bad though. I think you were perhaps in a bit of a rush to perform it.