Bach Prelude and Fugue No. 21 BWV 866 in B flat Major

[rachmanny]

I realize when I heard the recording that the dynamics sound rather flat. Could be the the piano is too loud for that small room, but I will post it here anyways because I would like to hear some suggestions.

Now that I think of it, I could buy an external microphone and plug it into the canon I recorded this with, but a good question would be placement.

Here goes:

Thanks for listening!

Manny

[awesom_o]

Good work, Manny. 

To my ears, it sounds a little bit mechanical, and lacking in the dance-like character that the music seems to crave.

Your pedaling is in pretty good taste, however, I think the interpretation would be better off without any sustain pedal whatsoever. Your quality of articulation could be improved, and each voice could sing with more care and charm.

In the prelude, I hear a 'flat' texture, rather than the LH and RH really  talking to each other in an animated, lively manner.

[rachmanny]

Hi Awesom o,

Thanks again for sharing your insights! This is exactly what I felt when I saw the recording. I will try to emphasize dynamics a little more and upload another recording next week.

One of the problems I feel hinder the dynamics is that the piano just fills the room with sound so easily so I'll try an external mic and move it away (Like into the hallway).

LH on the prelude definitely needs to stand out while the RH is slightly quieter. It just sounds like a machine gun right now. I'll address this on my next recording run.

The fugue I feel I did not finish the phrases smoothly enough. I was too pushy on the final notes of the melodic lines, maybe thinking about the Scherzando intended for it. I'd be better off finishing the lines with softer short notes.