Recent recital including Beethoven 106

[furtwaengler]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=EOo2089jp_Q

Debussy Étude 10 pour les sonorités opposées (opposing sonorities)
Szymanowski Piano sonata no. 3 op. 36
Ravel "La vallée des cloches" ("The Valley of Bells"). from Miroirs
Wagner-Liszt Overture to Tannhäuser
Beethoven Piano sonata in B flat op. 106

Raw livestream data.

[pianoman53]

Wow, that is some program - Congratulations on being alive afterwards!

[furtwaengler]

Haha, it was a bit much for the occasion, but we enjoyed it and ate much cheese and grapes until 2 am. But your program seems no less huge or demanding. That’s empowering (or enabling?j. .

[ted]

Stupendous achievement Dave. To paraphrase Scunner Campbell in Supergran, "Is there nothing he cannae play ?" The music of the immortals ceased to seriously interest me years ago but your interpretive power since you started on this forum has really shot ahead and I salute you. It is so far beyond anything I am capable of that I cannot say much more about it.

[furtwaengler]

Thanks a lot, Ted. When I disappear for stretches it’s nice to come back to familiar people who have always taught and encouraged in ways they may not realize. You are certainly a mainstay who has helped me and countless others.

Lots of life and pain and sickness in these years. Sometimes that can make for better music.

[ted]

...Lots of life and pain and sickness in these years. Sometimes that can make for better music.

So sorry to hear that Dave. I have found my music a dependable solace and source of strength at such times and I am sure it is for you too. Hang in there mate.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Wow, that's a demanding program! Good playing too.

[quantum]

An impressive program!  I've always loved the honesty in your music making.  You are not afraid to create art and put it out there.

The Szymanowski intrigues me.  I need to listen to more of his music. 

Stay strong.  Sometimes life throws us into twists and turns, but music is a place we can turn for meditation and solace.

[furtwaengler]

Thanks a lot. And yes I imagine with the wonders of your improvisational sounds you would be intrigued by Szymanowski. I adore  his music. It is a pity I didn’t nail it in this recital, having a particularly frustrating memory issue at one of the most amazing parts of the slow movement, but that is involved in the risk of a program such as this. I put myself into the exhilarating process of working on it, and offer it up accepting the result.

It is nice to have music as an escape. I found music that way, and it’s made for an interesting relationship. I would like to chronicle that in a composition sometime. It is like the Saul and David narrative in the Bible, where an evil spirit plagues king Saul, and he is subdued and comforted by David’s harp. In this I am my own Saul and my own David. I am not likely to fling a spear at myself, however.

I will reveal that through the last 5 years or so I have been going blind through a series of sudden outbreaks of uveitis and other chronic systemic inflammatory processes which have left a lot of scar tissue on my eyes impeding my vision. I learn music in small bits that I can comprehend and quickly memorize using different lights and magnifiers. It amazes me what I am still able to do with this because of the adaptability of the brain.

[quantum]

So sorry to hear this Dave.  However, if this recital is any indication, I don't think it has dampened your musical spirit.  Hang in there.

I sure would be interested in hearing your compositions.  Though I know it can be tough to manage the work of both performing and composing. 

One of my past teachers suffered an eye injury as a child, leaving him with a visual impairment.  He went on to make a very successful concert, recording and teaching career.  One could tell that playing from scores at the piano had its challenges, but he did not let that stop him.  I was always amazed at how he would fluidly sight read the music I was bringing into lessons for study, despite the impairment.  As an artistic challenge set for himself, he committed to never repeating a recital program - something he was able to maintain for over 10 years.  He was able to achieve an amazing breadth of repertoire.


On a lighter note, I had misread Op 106 as Op 109.  It was a pleasant surprise as I listened to you play those opening bars. 

[georgey]

Hello.  I listened only to the Beethoven op 106.  Even though it was a little rough around the edges in places (1st movement and 4th mostly), I gave your performance a thumbs up.  This is a great accomplishment to perform live at the end of such a demanding program.  Your tempos are quite vigorous (tastefully so) and I get a sense that you greatly understand this monumental Beethoven work.  My ear was able to “fill in” for the occasional rough spot since you kept the music flowing without fail.

I remember hearing a live performance of this (about 40 years ago) from a visiting pianist to our college.  She generally played the work well, but the Scherzo had a problem.  Every single dotted eighth note came out as tied to the previous 16th note, without exception.  I only mention this because you managed to play most every one correctly at a vigorous tempo.  You also nailed the massive ascending scale in this movement.

CONGRATULATIONS and thank you for sharing!