Piano World Home Page Forums Fun Stuff! - Parties, Tours, Projects & More... Member Recordings Liszt - Les jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este (MP3)

Here's my first recording of this wondrous and uplifting masterpiece of Liszt.

Liszt - Les jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este

I'm not sure how many of you out there will have played this piece, but I always appreciate some good feedback on my playing.

Please excuse the relatively poor quality of my microphone, some static will be audible in the climactic passages. Better recording equipment ought to be in my future investments because neither my microphone nor my camcorder are keeping up well with my playing these days!

Thanks for listening!

Hi eric,

Good speed at the beginining. Some people seem to just rush through it like some kind of manic waterfall, but I prefer the slower image of elegant fountains. 0:22 is the most challenging part for me personally. You seem to handle it pretty well. 0:40 around there would be really great if that "melody" to the left of the tremolos was very audible, though I know that it's kind of hard to to do that. Have no complaints with the main phrase at 1:20. However, something is very wrong at 1:28-1:38 and when it repeats at 2:09-2:16. Not sure if you learned the wrong notes or what, but was jarring to my ears. The tremolo at 2:54 is one of the most beautiful parts of the piece in my opinion so I wish you had savored it a bit more, I try to do a kind of mini-climax to it, but that's just personal taste. Very clean repeated notes around 4:00, that part is not my favourite to play but it sure is beautiful. The tumultuous passages at 5:20 were great, lovely emphasis on the left hand notes. I like to really put the power and momentum on the pentatonic rush up the scale at 5:57, you seemed to waver a bit. No complaints with the repeat of the main motif afterwards, it was great. Ending was good.

Overall, A+, great work.

Nicely done. There is a spot I noticed where I think you mistook it to be G natural instead of an A. (there should be a double sharp on your score about a minute, twenty into the piece)

Oh wow....how did I miss that one!? You're right Damon, I did play a G instead of a G double sharp. I have a feeling I may have been half asleep and read it as a F double sharp when I was first learning that part. I think that explains what Theowne heard too! Thanks for the catch.

Many thanks for the detailed breakdown you gave there, Theowne. I agree with your comments. I'll need to become more confident with my technique to pull off some of your suggestions though, such as the pentatonic octaves at 5:57. But I'm sure it'll come with practice.

That rising passage at 0:22 certainly is something. I had to practice that alot too, my left hand had a habit of misbehaving on me and going out of synch until I figured out how to properly use my wrists to help out.

No problem. Now you have to rerecord it so I can liszten again as I never tire of lisztening to Liszt.