Piano World Home Page Forums Fun Stuff! - Parties, Tours, Projects & More... Member Recordings Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum (but have been posting on the Piano forum for a few months). I posted some of my old recordings on Pianostreet's Audition room and got a few comments there. Just thought that I might solicit a few more comments and suggestions from those here who don't frequent Pianostreet.
Anyway, for a start, here's the Pianostreet link my recording of Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess. I apologise that I've not been able to host it on a seperate site...but anyway, here goes!

http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11691.0.html

Very nice!

Your playing is very smooth and technically perfect (at least to my ears, I haven't played this piece). And that Ibach is one nice piano!

Promise to record something on your new Sauter when you get it, please!

Thank you! You bet I will record something on my Sauter when it arrives...but I'll have to acoustically treat the room to get satisfactory results first

One of my favorite piano pieces Wzkit - and you play it marvelously!

Thanks for sharing.

John

Thanks! Its nice to know someone actually enjoys this "romanticised" Pavane!

This piece is on my list of to-do's in the not-too-distant future I hope. You did a very good job, in control, confident. Keep up the good work.

Yea, I find that people are more likely to comment on this forum. I don't know what the problem is at PianoStreet. Gary, "gaer", was complaining about the fact that only like one out of ten people who listen make comments.

Welcome to this forum and keep the good work coming.
Mike White

On the contrary, I find this forum even more quiet as far as comments are concerned, compared to Pianostreet. Whereas I would get a comment around once in 3-4 days for a recording when it is first put up on Pianostreet, here I would be lucky to get a comment once a week. It just seems to me that the "Member's Recording" forum is not the most active forum here on Piano World. There's definitely a lot more activity in the Piano forum and the Pianist's Corner.

One thing I find particularly challenging in the Pavane is bringing out the multitude of colours convincingly, yet without sounding too contrived and mannered. This takes very careful work on touch, pedalling and phrasing. And it does sound deceptively easy, but it is not. The last 2 pages for example, can be quite a challenge, at least for me.

I'll be putting up more recordings soon, as soon as I can get them in order!

good job

what did u use to make the quality so good?? :p tell me tell me tell me

im desperate to begin recording!

2 AKG 4000s and 2 AKG 451s,
a TASCAM DAT recorder,
and an analog mixer (can't remember the name)

Well done! The piece is a bit too romantic for my taste, but you do the only right thing in bringing that out all the way! Really great control of tone and dynamics. I have a feeling it could go just a little bit faster, but that's just my view.

If you want some nitpicking criticism, I have the same issue here as with the Liszt Consolation you posted at pianostreet's: the rubato is sometimes a bit of a mannerism and interrupts the line rather than strengthens it. Beware particularly of hesitating before a downbeat that ends a phrase - not that you should never do it, but perhaps less often.

Your nitpicking criticism is certainly well taken! I think you may be right about hesitating too much before the downbeat.Certainly something worth exploring/rectifying the next time I revisit the piece. Thanks!

I know this is 5 years later but you play this really well! This is the best piano recording I have found so far

This is one of my favorite pieces. You evoke so much emotion- Bravo!!!

After an absence of six years from Pianoworld, its nice to see someone actually looking at this recording again. Its probably time to re-examine the Pavane once more, see if there's anything new to bring to the table, and perhaps re-record it on my SK-6!

I downloaded this Ravel Pavane back in 2006 and still listen to it VERY often. I have enjoyed some other piano versions, but I think this 'romanticized' version is excellent. In my opinion, this type of coloring, tempo, dynamics and emotion is what makes this piece stand out among many other renditions. I am trying now to learn it myself, and so I find myself online looking for advice on how to tackle the difficulty of playing these three parts on top of each other with just two hands, (heh heh, I'm a drummer, not a pianist), and so now I am back where I started: finding wzkit's posts!

So I just had to post again and say thanks to you wzkit!!! Back in 2006 I also very much liked your Debussy Reverie recording on the Sauter--the beginning is such a light touch that the piano sounds like a harp -- to me this sounds amazing! The clear and pure and strong fundamental tone of the Sauter is very alluring in comparison to more Western piano sounds with lush overtones, that can at times sound too busy. And I have always wanted a Sauter since, even though I don't deserve one, because I've never practiced enough.

Have you revisited the Pavane lately? How do you like the sound of it on the Sauter?

Oh, and one pianist who I think very nicely plays Ravel's Pavane is Laura Mikkola, who can be seen on youtube.

wow great recording!


I hope to play like this one day!

Wow, after an absence of two years, I was surprised to see a response to this recording two years ago

deadndeblock and Rob_Ee, thanks very much for your kind comments. I have been playing the Pavane a little more recently, though I suspect I take a slightly faster tempo these days, depending on mood. I'm also finding that without constant practice, isn't quite as easy to reproduce as wide a dynamic range as on the earlier recording. The Sauter is great for the Reverie, but I personally find its mid range less ringing for the Pavane. Where it really excels is in the upper treble and bass, which you can hear in my other recordings of the Liszt Consolation, and the Ginastera. My Bosendorfer probably works better for this piece, I think.

For a benchmark (and heavily romanticized) recording of this piece, try Shura Cherkassky, whose recording can be found on youtube. For me, the range of colours and emotion he brings to this piece are simply unrivalled.