Chopin Concerto E minor 1st Mvt

[transcendental]

Thoughts on this performance?

[109natsu]

Hi transcendental,

Wonderful piece, incredible performance! Congratulations! This actually one my favorite Chopin concertos (all of them are my favorite Chopin concertos), but this one is super good!

I loved your performance as much as I love the piece. Your technical virtuosity is amazing, and I am really jealous. (for example, at Rehearsal D / Measure 203, I will probably take months learn that sort of technique on the third Ballade.

Thoughts... so I will give thoughts
-In general, I liked your voicing a lot. I could hear the melody and the harmony. Important.
-I also liked your tempo. It's at the right, comfortable (for listeners) tempo. Also, I think you kept it very well.
-Your cadenzas were very elegant

-I think you could've gave more dynamic difference, or maybe it was the recording device.
-On passages that have decrescendo and the descending notes, you sometimes didn't do the decrescendos, and got louder instead. (example: Measure 201) I don't know if it was on purpose or not
-On calmer sections (con espressione Measure 222) I think you should listen to the balance of the bass harmony and the melody more.
-And finally, I wish you can play on a more tuned, and simply better piano with an orchestra.

I really liked your performance Keep it up!

Natsu

[transcendental]

Thanks a lot! Does anybody else have any comments?

[dw4rn]

Wow,

I think this is great! Congratulations, and I hope you will soon have the opportunity to play this with a good orchestra.

Like Natsu, I like your tempo, and I really admire the way you keep it through all the technical difficulties of this movement. As a listener, you feel that the music is in safe hands.

Perhaps you could take some more time in some of the more lyrical places - experiment with rubato, bigger ritardandos...

Once, at rehearsal mark D, I think you speed up unnecessarily. In my score it says tranquillo there, which I think is correct and musically very satisfying.

Hard to tell through a recording like this, but I think there might also be room for more dynamic shaping of phrases. This is probably also related to the question of rubato and taking time. Somehow I felt that if you gave yourself some more space and places of relaxation, there would have been even more moments of magic.

Well, these are my thoughts, since you asked for them. Again, congratulations to a great recording. Needless to say, I wish I could play it like you do...