My performance of Rachmaninoff Prelude in G minor Op.23 No.5

[emmasommerv]

I've posted a video of my performance of Rachmaninoff's G minor prelude that I played for my college recital last May. I had been practicing the piece for about 4 months when this was taken.
I was happy with my progress but there's still a lot I feel I need to fix and smooth out. I'm thinking of getting back into this piece and playing it for my LCTL diploma in a few months time, so I've decided to post it here to see if anyone can offer any advice or practice tips?
Thanks, Emma.

[mjames]

@PS

This is what I mean by going around to nitpick performances by 5yr olds and starting 5 page debates against weirdos when there are genuine honest people like OP looking for actual advice.

@OP

Well I'm no expert and you're definitely above my level but I'll comment anyways, you can take it as a difference in interpretation.

0:39 -1:02 I think it could use more intensity and energy, I don't think it makes much musical sense to restrain yourself there as that it is what the build up leads to.

Middle section: The left hand notes are too loud, both due to dynamics and the pedal. Either try pressing the damper even less or if that's what you're already doing then be more precise with it. One thing I noticed by following a score's pedaling marks is that it's often "incorrect" for me. For example Godowsky's edition for Rach's prelude op. 3, he suggests to hold the pedal down for the entire motif, but on the piano I was using it came off way too muddy and as a consequence horrible as hell. I only managed to sort of fix that by deviating from the score's markings. This might be the same case for you, not sure but just giving some input. I would personally lift up and press down several times in each measure during the middle section. Again, that might just be a preference, take it with a grain of salt xD

Thirdly, the right hand notes come off too harshly (still talking about the middle section) and it would work better if you were a little more gentle and cantabile with it. This is where your passiveness might come in handy. AND be more mindful of the the second/middle voice, it needs to be more nuanced.

Third section: Again, the passiveness doesn't really do much justice to the material and because of the previous section, there isn't that much of a contrast; I would personally try to avoid that.


Yup that's pretty much it. I'm no expert so just take what i say with a grain of salt, hopefully some more experienced members will give you a better answer...

Good luck with your auditions!

Edit: I almost forgot. Since it is a march, it would benefit from a slightly more upbeat tempo!

[lateromantic]

I love that prelude and have practiced it quite a bit, but I finally decided that I was physically incapable of playing bar 23 at a reasonably fast tempo.  (Your tempo seemed to me a little slow, but still faster than I could have managed at bar 23.)  So first let me congratulate you on having the technique to handle that part!

You seemed to me to be struggling with the middle part (which from my practicing seemed to be the easiest technically).  I wasn't getting the sense of a nice singing melody.  For example, in the first measure and the third measure of that section (Un poco meno mosso), I would avoid pouncing on the fourth beat.  The general principle, as you probably know, is that when you're conveying a legato melody on the piano and a long note is followed by several short notes, the first short note will need to back off in intensity so there isn't a sudden jump in volume.

Anyway, I envy you for being able to play the piece at all.

[thejeev]

Thanks for posting, though most people don't seem to agree with my "approach" to this piece, I'll offer it anyway.

Tempo: Rachmaninoff marked it 108, you're hovering in at around 80, it needs to be picked up. A good way to do this is to play lighter and with meticulous attention to where downbeats fall. Now 108 is a very "specific" tempo, Rachmaninoff must have something specific in mind. While your rendition is coherent, it "sounds" somewhat slow and at times tentative, especially for a "march".

Pedal: You seem to be overusing the pedal, especially in the opening "march". Though this isn't a real march, I would stay away from the pedal until the accented main theme comes in. I would instead get a metronome, practice at 108 with no pedal, and land all the notes exactly on time, as marked. Once you have the "feel" down, then begin to shape it. This idea with the pedal applies to other sections in your rendition I feel.

Articulation: There is a lot of very specific articulation that I feel you could be bringing out more, and it's hard to do that with so much pedal being used. By easing off the pedal and playing a bit "lighter", it'll be so much easier to really bring out the accents and crescendos. For example, the first occurence of the theme is supposed to be (p), at measure 23 there is a fortissimo double octave, but then returns to (p) for the high chords. I'd contrast this a lot more. When the theme repeats, it's all in fortissimo, your rendition shows little increase in volume and intensity compared to the first time that theme appears. There's a whole range of dynamics you need to jump yet. Backing off from the start will help this greatly.

More generally:
-Rach was 16 when he wrote this, and he said he was overcome with emotion. Don't be afraid to put more emotion into it - he explicitly marks huge and sudden dynamical contrast in this piece.
-The transition into Un Poco Meno Mosso seemed a bit rushed and not entirely coherent. If playing a proper fortissimo, it'll take a lot to wind down from that, so I'd stretch out the dim. even more, get really quiet, as the meno mosso section is really lyrical and is infused with the essence of a 16-year-old's despair. Force the listener to enter his world.
-The Meno Mosso section itself is a good speed compared to your opening tempo, but when you apply a 108 tempo to the march, "slightly slower" would in fact end up being faster than what you played. This section is highly lyrical.

For me if you can nail the tempo and work on the expression, you'll have one fine rendition in my opinion. You've made it this far already, this piece is much harder than people realize. Not because of the notes, but having the "courage" to assume the identity of a 16-year-old who is overcome with emotion is no easy task. For example Gilels' performance, did you see the rage in the fortissimo march? I think he slightly slightly overdoes it, but that's exactly the courage I'm talking about, to go all out.

I did post an example of what I think this piece is about (I use "think" here but what I really mean to say is, it is obvious to me) in the repertoire forum. If you happen by it, try applying that idea to the piece, think of the specific word (it's Russian, listen to its pronunciation) and the tone Rach is imbuing it with. If it helps you, great, if it doesn't, then disregard, it is not my place to tell people how to interpret, but that won't stop me from making a case for why certain interpretations are more likely.

Please post another recording if you do happen to work on the expression and dynamics, I'd really love to hear what you do with it!