VIDEO: Liszt - Transcendental Etude no. 5 (Feux Follets)

[paxxx17]

I'm an amateur pianist who has not had a teacher for 10 years. Any advice on how to further improve is more than welcome!

[furtwaengler]

Wow, great job. Very nice performance. You've cracked the code to what makes this etude go. That in and of itself is quite an accomplishment. There is also a lot of music being made with good articulation and attention to detail. Check the second chord of measure 47, which sounds less like a mistake than a learning error. My hats off to you in measures 69-71, not only doing the extra notes, but doing it with full control in the way you fingered it. I cheat by doing interlocked chords. Same exact notes, but alternating RH,LH all the way down. It's much easier - however you do what you do so well, there is no need to change it. Because you are so good and stable in your tempo, it becomes noticeable when the tempo increases in the knottiness of the A major section, especially around measure 84 and onward.  You are so disciplined, so in the pocket - there is room for more suspense. Granted, room, piano, and recording level play a part in the perception, you could be a whisper for the larger part of the piece, but let loose on measures 92-102. Swell into it and let measure 96 be an awesome climax.  Wind can be an amazingly destructive force.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+29&version=NASB1995

Great to hear you.

[paxxx17]

Check the second chord of measure 47, which sounds less like a mistake than a learning error.

Thanks a lot for your kind words! I knew which chord you were referring to before even checking the score, that one was definitely a mistake 

My hats off to you in measures 69-71, not only doing the extra notes, but doing it with full control in the way you fingered it.

I also find this section very tricky, really frustrating to get the coordination right. I actually wasn't happy how I played the very end, somehow lost the coordination

let loose on measures 92-102. Swell into it and let measure 96 be an awesome climax.

Thanks for the advice! I'll need to practice this section more in order to be able to relax and interpret it like that. I find that to be one of the most difficult sections in the entire piece, the left hand is driving me insane

[furtwaengler]

On the left hand in measures 92f, compare the previous version (the middle of the three) played by Janice Weber (who used the humorous stage name Lily von Ballmoos).

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[skari123]

I'm an amateur pianist who has not had a teacher for 10 years. Any advice on how to further improve is more than welcome!

Certainly not bad for someone that hasn't had a teacher for that long. My comments are mainly technical, as I feel that is where the most improvement needs to be made. It seems to me that you play to much with your fingers and not with your whole arm as a unit. As a result of that there is a bit of clarity lacking in the fast notes in the right hand. Using more rotation would definitely help you a lot. I would suggest freeing up your wrists and shoulders, as they seemed to fixed in my opinion and not as free as they could be. Otherwise just have fun working on this piece!