Dante sonata

[pianoman53]

Hi all,

I will play this berserk (and about 2 more hours of music) in a competition later this year. I would like to have some suggestions and comments about it.

I hope you enjoy

[cabbynum]

Hey its sounding really good. There are a few areas i thought you played a little slow to my taste but over all it worked. Really great job, I look forward to hearing future postings! What else are you playing?

[pianoman53]

Thanks. I still play too many wrong notes, and the character is not always clear..
Any other comments?

[cabbynum]

Thanks. I still play too many wrong notes, and the character is not always clear..
Any other comments?

A few of the transitions don't have a clear enough idea of where it is going. It needs a clearer grand picture. Tie everything together better, it's not had at the moment. I still really like it and think you played it well, you just need to tie the lines together.

[pianoman53]

Ya, it's not finished yet, obviously. I put it aside for a month or so, and I jsut started it again. In short, I still have to focus on hitting most of the notes someone right, but thanks, I will think of that.

I didn't answer your first question, so I do that.

My pieces are Chopin op 10/1, Liszt/Paganini no 6, Bach p&f in Bflat minor from the first book. Pastorale sonata or op 101, depends on which I play best in 2 months. Estampes, by Debussy, Messiaen Le courlis cendré (one of the birds), Dante, and some more undecided pieces.

[cabbynum]

That's quite a list!!!
That PF is one of my favorites, if not my favorite of Bach. Including his kids. I'd love to hear that one when you finish it.  Also that liszt etude is hard as heck!!!



Yeah accuracy is very important, you were fairly accurate but too many that it became distracting. You'll get it though!

Have you posted the Bach and I've missed it?

[pianoman53]

I posted the Bach some time ago. Though, at the same level as this one. In this one, it still sounds okay, but when a Bach p&f is at a similar level, it still doesn't sound very good, you know

Estampes, I worked on last semester for a few weeks, and now I will work on it again. The same thing with the other Liszt. The messiaen is actually not so very difficult, technically. Voicing wise, it's more like jazz, the middle voices are just as important as the top. It's going to be quite fun, I think it's a quite interesting program.

[awesom_o]

Bravo! Very solid, exciting playing.

Finding ways of conveying tenderness more with the actual sound itself, rather than by taking time rhythmically, will help the structure to become more clear.

Be careful that lengthy FF passages do not become monotonous. I'm sure it's much better live, and the recording equipment probably doesn't do your playing justice in this regard.

It's easy in this piece to lose sight of musical direction and end up simply beating the heck out of the piano, with all of the huge octave passages. I'm saying this more about the piece in general than about your performance specifically, but be aware of it nonetheless.

Competition judges hear this one quite a bit, and you'd do well to differentiate yourself from the pack by doing something really fresh and original with the interpretation.

Well done and thank you for posting! I look forward to hearing more of your program!