Rach 23/5 tempo

[williampiano]

Right now I'm trying to bring Rach Prelude op 23 no 5 to performance level, but I'm struggling to bring it up to speed. In two of the editions I own, the tempo is marked at 108 to the quarter note, but I struggle to play it clean at 92. For those who have played this piece in the past, what was your final tempo?
I realize some performers like Valentina Lisitsa and Horowitz might perform it at around 108, but is that really what I should strive for, or is 84-96 more of a reasonable range? Please share your thoughts.

[michael_c]

Don't concentrate on how fast you can get. Concentrate on how efficiently you can play. The more economical your movements, the easier it will be to increase the speed. Nobody here can tell you how fast you can or should play this piece: it's your own body that will tell you.

Since you say you are working on bringing the piece up to performance level, I presume you can already play it faultlessly at a pace that is comfortable to you. Practice the piece no faster than this pace, concentrating on lightness, rhythmical precision, elasticity and economy. Stop often and ask yourself questions: are any muscles getting tight, am I keeping a good posture, could my movements be more fluid...

Don't push the speed: if you find yourself getting faster, use a metronome to keep you slower! When you really feel you are playing as easily and economically as you can, allow yourself to increase the tempo a bit. Keep concentrating on ease of movement and let your muscles tell you how fast they want to play.

[pianogeek_]

Michael's is very good advice!

If you're searching for a tempo that feels right, my rule of thumb is to find the slowest you can get away with while keeping the suspense (but not by exaggerating beyond good taste) - this will generally force you to think and know about every detail there is and give you a baseline "safe" tempo at which you'll be confident the piece can convey what it's supposed to. And afterwards you'll see whether you still feel the need to speed up. My experience is that probably yes, but maybe not as much as you originally might have thought.

Specifically with this prelude, I remember my teacher's remark which was very helpful in finding a convincing and at the same time technically more accessible, controlled interpretation: "You are standing in a river. Are you playing with the current, or against it?"