Brahms Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2

[maisoui123]

Hi there,

I'm playing this in a competition in a couple of weeks and I realized I won't be seeing my teacher as many times as I would like before then.  So I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts/suggestions for improvement. 

Thanks!

[faulty_damper]

The music isn't as sweet as the tempo you're playing it at.  It should be much faster.
You are also breaking up the phrases into parts which gives it a start-stop quality.  The melody is in the RH, not left.
B section should be much more emotionally tumultuous.

[cbreemer]

The music isn't as sweet as the tempo you're playing it at.  It should be much faster.

Haha, how predictable. And no discussion possible of course. Anyone on this forum is well familiar with the damper's credo, and he wastes no time to notify newcomers. You'd be wise to ignore it.

My two cents then. There is nothing wrong with the tempo even if it may be a little leisurely for some tastes. I have some concerns about your touch, some notes go awol as they are played too softly. The hands often don't play together (maybe intentional ?), pedaling is a bit too lavish in places, and there is an occasional tendency to micro-manage the speed and dynamics, creating
little rushes that would seem more appropriate in Chopin than in Brahms. I'd think more of the
long singing line.  I thought I heard one or two read errors (they could be my read errors too)
but apart from that this seems a good and considered performance.

[maisoui123]

Thank you!  Now that I listen to it I completely agree.  I will work on the long phrases and try to sort out my pedalling.  The touch problem is a recurring problem I have; I'll have to work on that too.
Thanks again for your feedback!