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Topic: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)  (Read 1741 times)

Offline ronde_des_sylphes

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Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
on: September 07, 2016, 09:26:01 PM
Studio recording of Thalberg's paraphrase on Dal tuo stellato soglio. It's obviously cleaner than the recent live recording I posted, and the audio is a lot better, though maybe there are still a few little details I can tweak. I'm now in the very final stages of completing the editing process towards a second commercial CD of operatic paraphrases - this extract is from the larger (and rather substantial) entity that is Thalberg's op.33 Moses Fantasy, which will be the fourth track on the CD when released. I hope you enjoy it!
My website - www.andrewwrightpianist.com
Info and samples from my first commercial album - https://youtu.be/IlRtSyPAVNU
My SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35

Offline furtwaengler

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #1 on: September 10, 2016, 07:09:17 AM
This is great. I have never really explored Thalberg but have heard the Moses Fantasy a number of times, perhaps a couple times from you via the wonders of the internet as I recall the trademark arpeggios.  Thalberg strikes me as clean, conservative, but by no means lacking in grandeur and virtuosity...just his virtuosity is in a tasteful context of communicating the scene. Great stuff. Great pianist.

BTW, I don't remember when or what brought me to it, but sometime ago I listened twice through to your own piano concerto on soundcloud sharing in the joy of your labor of love. I hope to hear it all put together some day, 
Don't let anyone know where you tie your goat.

Offline ronde_des_sylphes

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #2 on: September 10, 2016, 02:23:00 PM
Thanks - I may have mentioned it before, but I feel that Thalberg is something of a classical analogue to Liszt: more purity, but (it must be conceded) less harmonic ingenuity.

Re the concerto, I do hope to render it in a fully orchestrated version but do realise it's going to be difficult to get it performed in that form! I would like to present it, in solo form, in recital next year. Certainly it would be nice to record it under more favourable circumstances than the soundcloud recording, which was made one-take in a practice studio directly after spending the day rehearsing the repertoire for the cd Moses is to be part of.
My website - www.andrewwrightpianist.com
Info and samples from my first commercial album - https://youtu.be/IlRtSyPAVNU
My SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35

Offline visitor

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #3 on: September 11, 2016, 12:55:47 PM
Ronde, aplogofies for delay in reply, issues the other day w access and badwidth....
Really enjoyed and re enjoying this over and over
 I am always more than a little blown away by type of this type, hard to wrap my mind around how many irons you have in the fire when performing amd recording these. I dont think i have the attention span to realize anything  remotley this complex to any acceptable stanard and at least you give me something to strive for.
You are a pianist's pianist and the music is so enjoyable to listen to. I hope and wish the albu
 Proves a wild success and leads you to more projects amd recordings.
Hope we can get some video of your playing someday soon too :)
Thanks again for sharing and hopefully others can set aside their chopin worship long enough to enrich themselves w your recordings and comment in as well.

Offline ronde_des_sylphes

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #4 on: September 11, 2016, 09:40:51 PM
Thanks - I will be very relieved when I finally get the CD prepared. It's almost ready now and seems to have taken forever. There is certainly an element of juggling about such music and in that sense I take the point that it would be good to have video. I have old video of me playing this in recital but it's obviously not as accurate as a studio-edited recording. I don't particularly like a lot of my older videos for a variety of reasons and have culled some but I suppose that's a good sign that my standards have (hopefully!) improved. Possibly I should have uploaded more videos of late but have been disinclined to because of the significant level of duplication and in any case the recital performances have been 100% with the aim of preparation for the recording process, so I've barely thought about the video aspect.
 
I do have fond memories of this recital, the majority of which I uploaded. Seems ages ago now. It was purely paraphrases:

The highpoint was playing Cziffra's Il Trovatore and getting away with it ;D (undoubtedly the most stupidly foolhardy thing I have done at a professional, audience paying recital) the low point is probably the Brassin which I made a bit of a mess of but uploaded due to its rarity value (especially when there wasn't very obscure stuff on YT at the time of the concert).

lol@ Chopin worship. I still believe his fourth Ballade is the greatest thing written for the piano, but I can take or leave so much of his other stuff (usually leave) and I think there's a tendency to focus disproportionately on him.
My website - www.andrewwrightpianist.com
Info and samples from my first commercial album - https://youtu.be/IlRtSyPAVNU
My SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35

Offline pianist1976

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #5 on: September 29, 2016, 09:07:55 PM
Congrats! Great playing, and a very good sound take. Very nice. I'm looking forward to listen your new album.

Offline rachfan

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #6 on: September 30, 2016, 03:51:02 AM
Hi rondo,
 
I just listened to you Moses' Prayer by Thalberg.  The pianist faces challenges given the huge and frequent arpeggios in the accompaniment.  And they're all played so evenly with a smooth capability throughout all the passage work, while featuring the melodic line .  Great playing!

You've developed a solid relationship with the studio, and you've mentioned how much they help on technical issues when needed.  Having a fine concert piano is also a help. 

Re videos: To me the video question comes down to two verdicts: Yes or no. I believe that the sound  is more important. That is to say, video might be a nice thing, or it might not be a true essential.  It's really the audio that really counts most.  (Just my opinion.) I have 46 of my recordings on YouTube, and all are audio only.

You mention the fourth Ballade of Chopin and Chopin worship.  Amen!  I haven't play standard repertoire for years, and have focused instead on obscure, unknown, and forgotten repertoire to perform.  As for that ballade, I won't be studying it. Would I want to be the pianist who next records it for the 2,473,888th playing? No.

Well, again, rondo, I believe you you did a magnificent recording in your latest endeavor.  Thanks for sharing it here with us.

David
 


     
Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities.

Offline ronde_des_sylphes

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #7 on: September 30, 2016, 06:32:43 PM
Congrats! Great playing, and a very good sound take. Very nice. I'm looking forward to listen your new album.

Thanks! I have had concerns about the sound. I'm looking forward to finally getting it released  :)
My website - www.andrewwrightpianist.com
Info and samples from my first commercial album - https://youtu.be/IlRtSyPAVNU
My SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35

Offline ronde_des_sylphes

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #8 on: September 30, 2016, 06:40:17 PM

You've developed a solid relationship with the studio, and you've mentioned how much they help on technical issues when needed.  Having a fine concert piano is also a help. 

Re videos: To me the video question comes down to two verdicts: Yes or no. I believe that the sound  is more important. That is to say, video might be a nice thing, or it might not be a true essential.  It's really the audio that really counts most.  (Just my opinion.) I have 46 of my recordings on YouTube, and all are audio only.

You mention the fourth Ballade of Chopin and Chopin worship.  Amen!  I haven't play standard repertoire for years, and have focused instead on obscure, unknown, and forgotten repertoire to perform.  As for that ballade, I won't be studying it. Would I want to be the pianist who next records it for the 2,473,888th playing? No.

     


It has been useful that I don't feel obligated to rush through editing. I might well do so if I was doing that process with a large corporate entity.

Video isn't essential, but I would quite like extracts that correspond directly with the edited audio. It can be done, for example, by using multiple camera angles and switching cameras at edit points. Or you can play super-accurately first time! I didn't wish to involve myself overly with this here, as by far the most important aspect was getting decent takes to work with. I didn't want to be worrying about extra details.

And yes indeed. I happen to find playing the relatively or completely unknown far more rewarding and less constrained by convention.
My website - www.andrewwrightpianist.com
Info and samples from my first commercial album - https://youtu.be/IlRtSyPAVNU
My SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35

Offline emill

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #9 on: October 12, 2016, 05:53:10 PM
hi Ronde,

What a lovely piece ... first time I have heard this .... and if you were trying to convey something floating on clouds or waves or fluidity and smoothness .... eventually ending in a burst of sunlight and joy ... then you have succeeded.   Definitely quite a challenging piece even for an accomplished pianist.  BEAUTIFUL ! !

emill
member on behalf of my son, Lorenzo

Offline ronde_des_sylphes

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Re: Thalberg - Moses' Prayer (studio this time)
Reply #10 on: October 14, 2016, 01:21:09 AM
Thanks emill. It's a very effective piece but not terribly common. I've now finished all my work on this and its cd companions - exciting to have everything complete!
My website - www.andrewwrightpianist.com
Info and samples from my first commercial album - https://youtu.be/IlRtSyPAVNU
My SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35
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