Chopin, Etude op 25 no 1 (Read 5891 times)

kawai_cs · « on: April 28, 2016, 05:25:01 PM »

Comments appreciated! Enjoy

briansaddleback · «Reply #1 on: April 28, 2016, 06:28:39 PM »

Anticipation for a kawai_cs video is akin to waiting for the next Star Wars movie for me.

You play and look absolutely lovely as always.
You play this with so much more flair and aggression , what I am not used to coming from you, and may not be too suitable for this particular etude, but still fun to watch and listen to this edition.
Youre more punchy and your confidence absolutely cuts through all about this video.

Thanks was wonderful to watch.

kawai_cs · «Reply #2 on: April 28, 2016, 08:06:29 PM »

Thank you for your kind words, Brian.
Agression, lol, I don't know about it

I do have a more lyrical (and longer) version of this etude but I still prefer that one.

briansaddleback · «Reply #3 on: April 28, 2016, 08:41:44 PM »

You still have Tom's pinky , if you know what I mean.

adodd81802 · «Reply #4 on: April 28, 2016, 08:44:11 PM »

Good effort the melody came through nicely.

Chopin is my favorite, and many favorites as a composer. Often when somebody performs a piece that belongs to the listeners favorite composer, you often find the listeners are more critical, if not note perfect or performance perfect, I however thoroughly enjoy hearing anybody play or attempt to play these beautiful pieces.

You know it's not perfect yet and you will work at it, but be proud, you've definitely done this piece some justice!

visitor · «Reply #5 on: April 28, 2016, 08:44:35 PM »

fun times on this senpai!

this is off to a decent start. really, fine job, you've done the foundation, now you get to really get into making this yours. you know the notes, so the baubles in the melody are likely a mechanics malfunction likely caused by failure to release some of the tension that tends to accumulate in the RH as the piece progresses.

I get the feeling your pinky for RH is 'pressing' on the key and it looks a bit stiff a lot of the time, would like to see your hand relax a bit and release with the weight of the hand and arm behind it on each strike, i think this would effect dramatic change in a good way on your tone in the melody, as well as ensure it strikes completely into the keybed so would hope it projects through the texture a bit more. I loose it at times.

LH sounds solid, really like your defining the 'base' of each, it allows the harmonic progression to define it self nicely. keep on doing what you doing.

overall i think if you can slow it down and not play it any faster than you can play through the entire piece without missing any melody notes , it will allow you to watch for places that you may not be defining the melody enough and where tone quality suffers.

Overall i thhink you can exaggerate things a bit more, if it goes too far, it's easier to pull back on it later, those F, really play out, and back it way off when P and mp, etc.\

now pacing, did you do a lot of metronome work? it sounds a little too literal, i think you can find places to linger on juicier harmonies, and push through some of the tension spots, a bit of rubato and stretching of beats here or there.

basically this is nice, and pretty, but i get the feeling you have it in you to escalate the drama of the study as you get the kinks in the technical worked out and start pushing on that tempo.\

i also wonder how many times you might have recorded this, if this was one of your first takes, i think sleeping on it and recording a few times over a week or so would yield better and better results.

cool piano, i'm jealous of the padding on that nice bench. i need a comfier one for sure....

kawai_cs · «Reply #6 on: April 28, 2016, 09:25:46 PM »

Brian,

Thank you guys for watching and your comments!

Visitor, thank you so much for taking your time to describe each of the valid points you made:-)
I hardly ever use a metronome. This was one of three takes I recorded within 15 minutes today.
Even though this is not performance ready my teacher told me to move on because it was intended as kind of exercise. Probably I will rework it in several months and will work on the points you mention then. I am very excited to move on to new repertoire today so I really wanted to make a kind of closure on this one today by posting it here and thus starting my Chopin etudes quest lol

Edit: oh, and yes, my piano bench is very comfy.

briansaddleback · «Reply #7 on: April 28, 2016, 10:22:23 PM »

Quote from: visitor on April 28, 2016, 08:44:35 PM

fun times on this senpai!
this is off to a decent start. really, fine job, you've done the foundation, now you get to really get into making this yours. you know the notes, so the baubles in the melody are likely a mechanics malfunction likely caused by failure to release some of the tension that tends to accumulate in the RH as the piece progresses.

I get the feeling your pinky for RH is 'pressing' on the key and it looks a bit stiff a lot of the time, would like to see your hand relax a bit and release with the weight of the hand and arm behind it on each strike, i think this would effect dramatic change in a good way on your tone in the melody, as well as ensure it strikes completely into the keybed so would hope it projects through the texture a bit more. I loose it at times.

LH sounds solid, really like your defining the 'base' of each, it allows the harmonic progression to define it self nicely. keep on doing what you doing.

overall i think if you can slow it down and not play it any faster than you can play through the entire piece without missing any melody notes , it will allow you to watch for places that you may not be defining the melody enough and where tone quality suffers.

Overall i thhink you can exaggerate things a bit more, if it goes too far, it's easier to pull back on it later, those F, really play out, and back it way off when P and mp, etc.\

now pacing, did you do a lot of metronome work? it sounds a little too literal, i think you can find places to linger on juicier harmonies, and push through some of the tension spots, a bit of rubato and stretching of beats here or there.

basically this is nice, and pretty, but i get the feeling you have it in you to escalate the drama of the study as you get the kinks in the technical worked out and start pushing on that tempo.\

i also wonder how many times you might have recorded this, if this was one of your first takes, i think sleeping on it and recording a few times over a week or so would yield better and better results.

cool piano, i'm jealous of the padding on that nice bench. i need a comfier one for sure....

visitor, you have over-stayed your visiting..

as a chinese proverb goes:

"If an invited man stays a day at your home, give him a feast,
If he stays a second day, give him a broom."

chopinlover01 · «Reply #8 on: April 28, 2016, 10:43:31 PM »

Visitor has been using that broom in the way of critique, repertoire recommendations, and score scans since the time he/she's been here.

briansaddleback · «Reply #9 on: April 28, 2016, 11:09:27 PM »

Quote from: chopinlover01 on April 28, 2016, 10:43:31 PM

Visitor has been using that broom in the way of critique, repertoire recommendations, and score scans since the time he/she's been here.

I need to give you a scouring pad. And some Comet.

chopinlover01 · «Reply #10 on: April 29, 2016, 01:31:36 AM »

Quote from: briansaddleback on April 28, 2016, 11:09:27 PM

I need to give you a scouring pad. And some Comet.

Come now. It's a sassy 15 year old talking to you over an internet forum. Either everything gets your knickers in a twist, or some external factor motivates this

briansaddleback · «Reply #11 on: April 29, 2016, 02:34:52 AM »

Quote from: chopinlover01 on April 29, 2016, 01:31:36 AM

Come now. It's a sassy 15 year old talking to you over an internet forum. Either everything gets your knickers in a twist, or some external factor motivates this

And a toothbrush for the grout.

emill · «Reply #12 on: April 29, 2016, 05:02:04 AM »

Forgive me for only being able to say, NICE playing..enjoyed it ... since I do not play the piano. And besides, Visitor has said already a handful. THANKS!

ahoffmann · «Reply #13 on: April 29, 2016, 06:35:45 AM »

Well done.
I happening to be working on this one at the moment too

I think you've sufficiently mastered this piece to allow yourself more freedom to be yourself with it. Enjoy!

kawai_cs · «Reply #14 on: April 29, 2016, 09:21:38 AM »

emil, thank you for kind words.

ahoffmann, thank you! And looking forward to your next etude in the quest!

As addod mentioned above expectations for pieces like this, everybody's favorites, are very high. Everybody here knows every bar of each of the etudes as played by most famous pianists.

visitor · «Reply #15 on: April 29, 2016, 10:18:52 AM »

Quote from: emill on April 29, 2016, 05:02:04 AM

Forgive me for only being able to say, NICE playing..enjoyed it ... since I do not play the piano. And besides, Visitor has said already a handful. THANKS!

Play the piano or not, its nice playing. You always bring a refreshing candor to your remakrs on AR uploads and i for one, though i highly doubt i am the only, am thakful for your presence.

kawai_cs's playing here is definately nice, and achievent is relative, what is the starting point, standard, and goal.

given she more than solved the central technical puzzle and did it in the midst of creating a enjoyable performance, she should be commended. I felt her achievement deserved time effort and consideration for a congratz and hopefully helpful critique. The remarks i gave are along the lines of what i say in studio critique or judging panel and in mock masterclass prep for peers of mine in the past.

It takes a certain special courage to record and upload .that in itself has merit, so i for one applaud her on that as well.

@kawai_cs
i hate working in etudes , they take me forever, and i never am happy w the result personally. I am little by little finding ways to like what i can accomplish but i always torn when i set one down, yay and good ridence! I get move on , finally.... and yet i have the desire to keep refining, even if im sick of the darn thing!

i think you will surprise yourself on how some things will improve on their own. A piano mentor of mine, someone that has a presence on this board taught me that the brain can subconciously continue to process things over time so that when you do pick it up again. This has proven true for me again and again, the more you worked on it, the better this tends to unfold, you may surprise yourself on how much less you struggle with places that were sticking points in the past.

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PS , if/when you do circle back to this or you decide you want to take what you learned here and apply it to another piece, you might like this, i read through the first half of this and have been toying w/ the notion of picking this as my next 'just for fun' etude. if you like it, i can get you specifics on the score, i might even have already scanned it, though if it did it was years ago so i would have to look since i play it out of an old book i have laying around .
http://www.youfel.com/bai-hat/Tabidachi-Lisa-Nakazono-678710.html

briansaddleback · «Reply #16 on: April 29, 2016, 03:12:22 PM »

Kawai when will you send us your next video ?
I can't wait till you do one of the one you're working on right now.

kawai_cs · «Reply #17 on: April 29, 2016, 09:06:09 PM »

Visitor, thanks, that is an interesting idea with the other piece. I have currently both hands full but I will bear it in mind in the future. Thank you! :-)
You are right, things seem to improve over time by themselves sometimes. I guess that is why we re-work many pieces after several months with my teacher.

Brian, I will when it is ready. I have just started my quest lol, so I guess I made kind of commitment.
I will make a commitment as to date if you promise to share something too

briansaddleback · «Reply #18 on: April 29, 2016, 09:14:18 PM »

Quote from: kawai_cs on April 29, 2016, 09:06:09 PM

Visitor, thanks, that is an interesting idea with the other piece. I have currently both hands full but I will bear it in mind in the future. Thank you! :-)
You are right, things seem to improve over time by themselves sometimes. I guess that is why we re-work many pieces after several months with my teacher.

Brian, I will when it is ready. I have just started my quest lol, so I guess I made kind of commitment.
I will make a commitment as to date if you promise to share something too

check your pm

briansaddleback · «Reply #19 on: April 29, 2016, 09:16:54 PM »

Actually , dont check your pm. this site won't let me send you a pm for some reason.

kawai_cs · «Reply #20 on: April 29, 2016, 09:39:05 PM »

Quote from: briansaddleback on April 29, 2016, 09:16:54 PM

Actually , dont check your pm. this site won't let me send you a pm for some reason.

Just don't start another thread in Anything but... lol, we don't want to be kicked out hahaha

briansaddleback · «Reply #21 on: April 29, 2016, 09:55:49 PM »

I think I reached my quota on PMs I can send to one person. Probably that is the reason.

briansaddleback · «Reply #22 on: April 29, 2016, 09:57:30 PM »

Quote from: kawai_cs on April 29, 2016, 09:39:05 PM

Just don't start another thread in Anything but... lol, we don't want to be kicked out hahaha

So where should I start one of those? In Repertoire?

I think the most appropriate area is Anything but Piano.

kalospiano · «Reply #23 on: April 30, 2016, 01:55:04 PM »

nice playing, congrats

kawai_cs · «Reply #24 on: April 30, 2016, 05:55:59 PM »

kalospiano, thanks!

ajlongspiano · «Reply #25 on: May 01, 2016, 07:04:40 PM »

Wonderful, Kawai!! Thanks so much for posting.

Best,

AJ

pencilart3 · «Reply #26 on: May 01, 2016, 08:42:03 PM »

Well I can't speak as one who has much authority, because the only Fred etude I uploaded to youtube probably belongs in the "Recycle bin" rather then the internet

But I would like to suggest a few things if that is ok. First, very nice accuracy. I know there are some bad notes in it but we tend to notice those rather than ALL the successful leaps you made. Especially on the second half you really nailed those things. (For example, 1:09+ was fantastic).
I always find that the Bb-C gap is longer then I think. (See 0:30 for an example). I find that I almost never overshoot that leap from Bb to C

You probably already know this, but check the notes at 1:44. I believe the first time is lower and the second time is as you played it.

I felt that throughout, you can have emphasized the left hand more. There are beautiful melody lines tucked into the left hand. Especially the highest notes in some sections, and the lowest notes in other sections. For example, at 1:20, take a bit more time here and really bring out those low bass notes for a triumphant flourish! At 1:51, the top notes of the left hand echo the top notes in the right hand. Bringing out the echo really makes a nice effect

Overall, fantastic! Amazing accuracy playing all the "little notes" and great job musically interpreting this etude and making it more then a technical exercise.

kawai_cs · «Reply #27 on: May 01, 2016, 10:01:51 PM »

AJ, thank you so much

Noah, thank you! I appreciate the detailed analysis you made for me:-)
I will definitely consider your remarks when revisiting the piece.

Edit: wow, almost 500 views on this thread, yay

briansaddleback · «Reply #28 on: May 02, 2016, 06:48:25 AM »

Quote from: kawai_cs on May 01, 2016, 10:01:51 PM

AJ, thank you so much
Noah, thank you! I appreciate the detailed analysis you made for me:-)
I will definitely consider your remarks when revisiting the piece.

Edit: wow, almost 500 views on this thread, yay

I tink a hundred of those are mine.

pencilart3 · «Reply #29 on: May 02, 2016, 01:50:24 PM »

What a freak.

reiyza · «Reply #30 on: May 02, 2016, 02:56:01 PM »

Quote from: kawai_cs on April 28, 2016, 05:25:01 PM

Comments appreciated! Enjoy

+1 to kawai cs.

Note: Did you sight read the whole piece?

kawai_cs · «Reply #31 on: May 02, 2016, 07:26:55 PM »

Reyza, of course I did. That's why it has those tiny, very few and insignificant baubles

briansaddleback · «Reply #32 on: May 08, 2016, 09:22:08 PM »

Dear kawai_cs,

You are so... charming.

Regards,

Brian

pencilart3 · «Reply #33 on: May 08, 2016, 09:50:54 PM »

Dear briansaddleback,

You are so... creepy.

Regards,

Noah

briansaddleback · «Reply #34 on: May 08, 2016, 10:29:56 PM »

Dear pencilart

Get to know kawai_cs

And you'll end up becoming things you never knew you would become.

Brian

pencilart3 · «Reply #35 on: May 08, 2016, 10:43:59 PM »

Dear brian

Get to know real life

And you'll end up doing things you never knew you could do.

Noah

briansaddleback · «Reply #36 on: May 08, 2016, 10:44:58 PM »

I guess this is one of those times when i say , "touche" ?

kawai_cs · «Reply #37 on: May 08, 2016, 11:32:11 PM »

Sweet
Guys, get out of my thread! Now!!

visitor · «Reply #38 on: May 10, 2016, 10:03:49 AM »

Quote from: kawai_cs on May 08, 2016, 11:32:11 PM

Sweet
Guys, get out of my thread! Now!!

pencilart3 · «Reply #39 on: May 10, 2016, 02:33:31 PM »

LOL visitor and his gifs, gotta love 'em! XD

briansaddleback · «Reply #40 on: May 10, 2016, 06:47:40 PM »

Sometimes I post something odd just to see what gif visitor would post.

adodd81802 · «Reply #41 on: May 10, 2016, 06:58:35 PM »

Quote from: briansaddleback on May 10, 2016, 06:47:40 PM

Sometimes I post something odd just to see what gif visitor would post.

Don't we all

briansaddleback · «Reply #42 on: May 11, 2016, 05:35:39 AM »

I parked my LaZboy recliner and bag of potato chips in this thread.

visitor · «Reply #43 on: May 11, 2016, 11:49:35 AM »

Quote from: pencilart3 on May 10, 2016, 02:33:31 PM

LOL visitor and his gifs, gotta love 'em! XD

Quote from: briansaddleback on May 10, 2016, 06:47:40 PM

Sometimes I post something odd just to see what gif visitor would post.

Quote from: adodd81802 on May 10, 2016, 06:58:35 PM

Don't we all

briansaddleback · «Reply #44 on: May 11, 2016, 02:18:59 PM »

^that really describes in my mind what I experienced in a nutshell the last few months

briansaddleback · «Reply #45 on: May 11, 2016, 02:57:17 PM »

Quote from: kawai_cs on April 28, 2016, 05:25:01 PM

Comments appreciated! Enjoy

That bit of minor key improvisation is brilliant at the 2:04 mark.

kawai_cs · «Reply #46 on: May 11, 2016, 03:02:22 PM »

Quote from: briansaddleback on May 11, 2016, 02:57:17 PM

That bit of minor key improvisation is brilliant at the 2:04 mark.

lol

Can you now clean up the crumbs and move your recliner to another thread?

pencilart3 · «Reply #47 on: May 11, 2016, 03:03:14 PM »

Quote from: briansaddleback on May 11, 2016, 02:57:17 PM

That bit of minor key improvisation is brilliant at the 2:04 mark.

are-you-dee-eee

briansaddleback · «Reply #48 on: May 12, 2016, 03:38:13 AM »

Kawai_cs did you say once you played the 1012 revolutionary ?
When can we see a re work of that one ?

briansaddleback · «Reply #49 on: May 12, 2016, 03:42:11 AM »

Quote from: ahoffmann on April 29, 2016, 06:35:45 AM

Well done.
I happening to be working on this one at the moment too

I think you've sufficiently mastered this piece to allow yourself more freedom to be yourself with it. Enjoy!

If I can make ahoffmann say I have "sufficiently mastered" one of my etudes then I'm having a good day.