Video: Debussy, Rêverie - Live Concert

[masterraro]

Hey everyone,

I have mixed feelings that most of the world only now knows Debussy's Rêverie because of the tv show Westworld, but hey... at least they had the sense to choose some good music!

This piece is surprisingly difficult to get right, and I would say it would be wise to play it as an encore rather than walk out on stage and begin a 75 minute program with it, as I did here >< lol

I've seen this work designated as a "beginner piece" once or twice, but I think the proof is in the pudding that there is no such thing as great music being "beginner."

Comments and discussion are welcome and appreciated!

M

[lelle]

Hey man, very nice playing! I think your tempo is good, people often play this too slowly so you lose the line, but you are able to keep it well.

My main points of feedback would be that occasionally, you use a slightly "aggressive" touch in the melody, which I don't think is suitable for the dream world of this piece. The other thing is that it feels slightly restless or anxious at times - a certain "busy-ness" that I don't think is necessary. (Maybe you were nervous when performing and it affected the character?) I think you need to put yourself in a really meditative state when playing it and ask yourself - do I even need to do anything here, other than play? It sometimes feels like you are "doing" when the piece would benefit from just "being". But these items go into a fundamental question of what character you think the piece should have. Let me know your thoughts regarding this.

[pcaraganis]

Beautiful!

[frodo1]

This is a very beautiful performance!  The tempo was quicker than I am used to hearing, but your tempo is great.

You made the comment “This piece is surprisingly difficult to get right, and I would say it would be wise to play it as an encore rather than walk out on stage and begin”.  This implies to me that you must not be totally happy with how this performance went, OR you had problems with other performances in the past by beginning with this work.  Would you care to share any issues that you see with your performance here of this piece?

I’m going to get extremely picky here.  Just some possible very small things relating to tone control and rhythm that maybe were the result of your walking on stage and playing this piece cold.  You say “Comments and discussion are welcome and appreciated!”. 

You chose to NOT play the B-flat at the beginning of measure 2 and 3 contrary to that notated by Debussy.  I actually prefer this and I think most pianists do the same.  Please correct me here if this is not true.  As such, I feel the left hand should EXACTLY match in measures 3, 4, 5 and 6 how it sounds in measures 1 and 2 since they are the exact same notes with no indicated changes in dynamics.  Measures 1 and 2 of your performance have the LH notes sounding clear with each note at the same volume.  For measures 3, 4, 5, and 6, some of the LH C’s and D’s are not coming out clearly.  Also, the RH (Right hand) rhythm in measures 4 and 5 is not quite correct to my ear. There may be a couple other very small issues of this type.  EDIT: Maybe the RH rhythm in meas 4 and 5 is ok but the RH is not in sync with LH?  Maybe problem comes from the LH C's and D's not being clear?  PLEASE CORRECT ME IF YOU OR OTHERS FEEL OTHERWISE.

Lelle made the comment: “You use a slightly "aggressive" touch in the melody, which I don't think is suitable for the dream world of this piece”.  This is a valid observation.  I think that the slightly aggressive touch is fine.  Lelle also says “It feels slightly restless or anxious at times - a certain "busy-ness" that I don't think is necessary”.  This is also a valid observation.  I found this to not to be the case for me personally.

Having said this, your performance was quite lovely and very enjoyable to me.  The build-up to minute maker 1:00 and sudden decrescendo gave me goose bumps.

P.S.  Lelle and I look forward to hearing from you, Masterraro.  But we understand if you are too busy! 

[frodo1]

Having slept on the comments I made last night:  I hear some tonal control issues in this performance, especially at the beginning of this piece.  Even the first 2 measures with LH alone do not show complete control of tones.  Was this due to starting off with this piece?  Were you not familiar with the action of this piano?  Was lack of tonal control aggravated by Debussy's pianissimo dynamics?

Each note in the left hand should be identical in loudness at the beginning of this piece.  Each note a perfect pearl. Since it is such a simple passage, every imperfection can readily be detected.

Lelle felt that there was a “slightly ‘aggressive’ touch in the melody”.  I might now agree with Lelle on this.  I assume Lelle means “slightly too aggressive”. Perhaps this accounts for the LH breaking down in measures 3 to 6.  Too much focus on bringing out the melody made you forget the LH?

Am I being too picky here?

[masterraro]

Thanks for your detailed comments!  Yes - this was the opening of a very big program, there was a Bach partita follow, the entire Brahms 3rd sonata, and a bunch of virtuoso show pieces.  My hands were cold, and frankly, the piano was crap.  So I thought this piece, which was hastily learned, would be a good warm-up and sort of cast a spell on the audience to get them in the mood for active listening.  Alas, Debussy is tough This was the only time I performed it actually.

About the unevenness, both in terms of the line and the timing... I chose to bring a more individualist and rubato-infused approach to this piece than most do or would.  Impressionist music is often thought to require a detachment, a third-person perspective, often cold.  Not the emotions-on-the-sleeve kind of stuff you get with the Romantic period... I get the merit in this, and I think that approach would have made so much more "sense" for this piece, but when Debussy writes such vocal, lyrical melodies, well it's easy to want to inject an individualist's spirit.  To say it in another way, I feel right at home listening to Cortot or Horowitz, no matter what it is 

[frodo1]

Thanks for your detailed comments!  Yes - this was the opening of a very big program, there was a Bach partita follow, the entire Brahms 3rd sonata, and a bunch of virtuoso show pieces.  My hands were cold, and frankly, the piano was crap.  So I thought this piece, which was hastily learned, would be a good warm-up and sort of cast a spell on the audience to get them in the mood for active listening.  Alas, Debussy is tough This was the only time I performed it actually.

About the unevenness, both in terms of the line and the timing... I chose to bring a more individualist and rubato-infused approach to this piece than most do or would.  Impressionist music is often thought to require a detachment, a third-person perspective, often cold.  Not the emotions-on-the-sleeve kind of stuff you get with the Romantic period... I get the merit in this, and I think that approach would have made so much more "sense" for this piece, but when Debussy writes such vocal, lyrical melodies, well it's easy to want to inject an individualist's spirit.  To say it in another way, I feel right at home listening to Cortot or Horowitz, no matter what it is 

Haha - Are we being too picky?   

Entire Brahms op 5!  Fantastic!  2nd mvt is gorgeous - I think Wagner was especially impressed (unusual for Wagner) about the great coda of this mvt.  Clara Schumann often performed the 2nd and 3rm Mvt as pair soon after Brahms wrote this after meeting the Schumans in 1853 at age 20.  Look forward to hearing more!

[anacrusis]

Thanks for your detailed comments!  Yes - this was the opening of a very big program, there was a Bach partita follow, the entire Brahms 3rd sonata, and a bunch of virtuoso show pieces.  My hands were cold, and frankly, the piano was crap.  So I thought this piece, which was hastily learned, would be a good warm-up and sort of cast a spell on the audience to get them in the mood for active listening.  Alas, Debussy is tough This was the only time I performed it actually.

About the unevenness, both in terms of the line and the timing... I chose to bring a more individualist and rubato-infused approach to this piece than most do or would.  Impressionist music is often thought to require a detachment, a third-person perspective, often cold.  Not the emotions-on-the-sleeve kind of stuff you get with the Romantic period... I get the merit in this, and I think that approach would have made so much more "sense" for this piece, but when Debussy writes such vocal, lyrical melodies, well it's easy to want to inject an individualist's spirit.  To say it in another way, I feel right at home listening to Cortot or Horowitz, no matter what it is 

Hey, very nice playing! I read this post as you saying that if you are not individualist or rubato infused you are detached, cold, not emotional. I think impressionist music can be highly emotional but there are many ways to express emotion. Having a great sense of calm like lelle seems to suggest (I kinda agree with their feedback) IS a strong emotion too. Something being calm and without a lot of small rubatos is not the same as being detached and cold. Something to think about