Liszt Concert Etude No. 3 ("Un sospiro")

[pianissima]

I have been working on this piece since last September, and I'm fully aware it's not at all ready for prime time. This was a practice recording I made a couple of days ago on my iPad with the Memo app. Any comments would be interesting (but please be kind).

[thorn]

It sounds like it's coming along well. The voicing/shaping of the melody is always nice. You said in your other thread that you struggle with flourishes of notes but I actually thought both the cadenzas were good.

The accompaniment would benefit from the same care you've clearly given to the melody. It sounds a little lumpy in places like the opening when it should be fluid. Also notice which bass notes are part of the arpeggio washes and which are separate (downward stems, tenuto/accent marks) and need voicing accordingly.

But overall as I said it's sounding good

[lelle]

I agree with thorn! It's coming along nicely, you have the right character going, and you handle the melody well. I would concentrate on the arpeggio figures a bit. Check how well you can play the arpeggios in the opening pages completely without pedal. Can you play them extremely soft and evenly?

[pianissima]

@lelle and @thorn - thank you for listening and commenting. I agree that the arpeggios are one of the problems (perhaps the main one?). I have practiced this without pedal, staccato, soft, loud, etc., but not much of it seems to stick under pressure - things start veering out of control. I've put this piece aside for a week or so but might try a fresh start just to keep it under my fingers while I learn some new music.