Chopin op 48 no 1

[faa2010]

Greetings,

I have another video with a piece I have been studying and working for a year.  I started to look the piece a year ago, but in a non priority way, just because I like it. Then I took the study more seriously since June of the last year, with another pieces of my repertoire. It was until October when I dedicated more of my time to it with the help and support of my teacher and with other two more pieces.

I was expecting to get all the piece in less than a year, but due to priorities with repertoire, it took me more time, and I know I still have to work more in the piece.

I am trying to play it by heart. Feedback is welcome.

[anacrusis]

Good job with this difficult piece!

Here's some feedback:
- In the opening sections, be careful to keep the 16th notes in the melody steady. You are sometimes rushing them a bit. Sometimes it is because you are starting them a bit late, and sometimes they just become quicker. You are good at keeping the left hand steady so pay some more attention to the right hand and you'll get it!
- The middle section could be played a little faster. Dont push the tempo if it feels hard to do right now, but you can have it as a goal and keep in the back of your mind that Chopin liked opera very much, and his nocturnes are inspired by opera and singing; if its very slow, it becomes difficult to sing.
- The return of the theme (doppio movimento). You know the other parts well by now, so I'd put my main focus on this part now, and practise it slowly so you can make sure you can everything right. It's nearly there!

A general tip that I think will help you feel more comfortable playing this is to work a bit on seeing to it that when your hands are not in use, or when some fingers are not pressing down a key, they are relaxed, just like your hands are when you are not doing anything with them away from they piano.

[getsiegs]

Very nice performance!
I have some feedback too:
-I would agree that the middle section feels a little too slow; the contrast is a bit jarring compared to the first section. Those large ripples are tricky though, so just work through making them smooth and the section will get better as a whole. Also, the octave section could have a bit more weight. Try slightly speeding up and getting louder during the ascending chromatic octaves and making more of a change each time; the feeling will really build and the C Major climax will be all the more impactful.
-I did notice that your fingers seem to be quite flat during the octaves; your hands look a bit tense. Between the large stretches and octaves, keeping your hands and wrists more relaxed and flowing will sound better and be more comfortable.
-Lastly the doppio movimento needs to go faster (which I'm sure you know) but that's definitely the trickiest part so take your time and keep practicing and I'm sure soon it'll sound much better!

[quantum]

It is a difficult piece, more so that it sounds, so you should be congratulated for making it through beginning to end. 

The one thing you could work at, and this goes for all sections of the piece, is phrase direction and a singing melody.  Practise the melody line in isolation.  Work out which notes are more important and which are less important, this will give you a better idea of how to direct the phrase.  Think about how a singer would shape phrases.  There are many sections in this piece where the pianistic technique is demanding of attention that one tends to forget about the melody, but keep in mind the melody should be the foreground element.  One should not sacrifice shaping melodic phrasing because pianistic effects become difficult. 

In the A section, try to think of the moving subdivisions between the notes.  Direct the phrasing.  Try to create movement rather than a statically even 1, 2, 3, 4 on the beats.  Not all notes are of equal importance. 

For the B section chorale, work on presenting an elegant arpeggiation of the LH chords and voicing for the top note of the RH melody. 

For B1 section octaves, try to keep the hand from shifting to the edge of the white keys.  If you keep your hand close to the line at which the black keys end, you will be able to play the alternating black and white octaves under the hand, with much less in and out movement. 

For doppio movimento, again voice for the top RH notes.  Practice RH alone for melodic shaping. 

Bar 73, (8:02 in video) why use 5 on B-natural here, then jump of diminished 7th to another 5 on the following A-flat?  Can you find a better finger to use on B-natural. 

Work on achieving a more flexible palm throughout the piece.  There are many times when your hand, especially inactive fingers, appears tense. 

[faa2010]

Hi,

I have an update,

I hope I have improved, I will try to continue practising till October (a personal goal).

[dw4rn]

Not bad, it really is a big and difficult piece.

I agree with much of what has been said, but I am also a bit surprised that nobody so far has pointed out the "mezza voce" marking right at the beginning.

It might be that the placement of your recording device is playing tricks here, but the general impression - especially in the second version - is that you are playing a continuous fortissimo, which gets quite overwhelming. I was only able to listen to parts of your video because of this.

Consequently, I think my main feedback would be that you need to practice playing softly - not so much the right hand melody, which of course needs to sing, but especially the chords in the middle register.