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Op 62 -1 Richard. I thin you nailed the piece good job.
Op 62 -2 my gosh! What a great job. You gotta be a professional.
Op 62 - 3 Richard, my hats off to you. You have managed to produce more than one great performance.
Op 62 - 4 Oleg., I love everything you did here.
Op 62 - 5 Gandalf, this happened to be my favorite piece in SWW. I totally enjoyed it.
Op 62 - 6 Numerian, bravo. Another wonderful performance of yours.


Op 67 - 1 Timmyab, you played it with such ease and sensitivity. Great job. Just on the side note, I did not know you are a man until now.
Op 67 -2 You really played well and sounded great. You definately held your own among those very experienced pianist. you played very musically and deserves huge praise.
Op 67 -3 Timmy, it die not put me to sleep. I think you were tired. It sounds great to me
Op 67 - 4 Morodiene great job for such a short notice. Thank you.
Op 67 -5 Pavel. Love the tone you produce.
Op 67 -Numerian. I love the piece. Make me happy

Hm, sometimes I'm a bit absent- minded. Of course 62/5 was Oleg's second piece, and therefore the whole opus is covered. Oleg plays this piece brilliantly.

Sorry for my mixing up.

I was just thinking how great it is that everyone made this happen. It's such a monumental undertaking for one person to do. I do have to tip my hat to Barenboim, even if I don't appreciate his playing style, he definitely has the chops and to record all of these songs is a great task indeed. But something must be said for volunteers (and I think mostly non-professionals) all coming together, getting their respective music handed in on time and with such obvious effort to make them their best. I know we're not done yet, but I'm really astounded this actually happened. I am delighted to hear everyone's contributions, and I think everyone here has a right to be proud of their work.

I totally agree Morodiene, it feels great to be part of this.

And now:
BERIC has asked me to pass on this comment to DIRE TONIC about his performance of:

Op 67 no 2

'Get yourself another script writer. Your playing of this piece was magic, thank you very much - another piece I must learn. By the way, I would happily settle for your level of fiasco, botch - up, sanity, and foul- up if only .....
and count myself lucky to follow in your footsteps'

Thank you to Recaredo, Ganddalf, Peterws, AimeeO, FarmGirl, Numera, Morodiene, and Jotur for your kind comments on my 53#4. It encourages me to improve and enjoy the process.

I've just spent a delightful part of my morning listening to these wonderful performances that were posted yesterday. OUTSTANDING

Morodiene, I also agree that this entire recital is an amazing achievement. I am looking forward to listening to the upcoming performances.

MENDELSSOHN; -SANDS RUNNING OUT

Mendelssohn's appointment by the new King of Prussia as general musikdirektor brought with it huge responsibility and overwork. There was a constant round of travelling, conducting and composing.
He returned to Berlin where he was to lead the planned Academy of Arts, but his role was ill defined. He complained:
'What in the world do they want with me just now in Berlin? The answer is, on the one side, I really do not know; on the other, ... to give during the winter season some great concerts... some in the church and some in the concert hall, but whether they will ever take place seems very doubtful'
Eventually the situation became too much for him and he resigned. .... a new arrangement was made which seemed more promising... Mendelssohn decided to try again...'
He maintained links with Leipzig. In 1843 the blue print for the conservatory was completed, and the next season ran more smoothly.
The King also asked for a schedule of works to be composed. In 1844 the strain began to tell, and he retired to Frankfurt.. didn't even visit England as he normally did. He said to his sister Rebecca:
'I myself am as you know me, but what you do not know about me is this: I feel the need for outward repose (not travelling, conducting, composing) so strongly that I must yield to it. God willing, I hope to organise my life this way for the whole year. ' This did not last.


Performance at the Great Hall Birmingham where Elijah was premiered
'The strain of completing Elijah and giving the premiere, on top of everything else, drained his energies. It was a desperately busy time, but some words by the Prince Consort in tribute must have rallied his ailing forces:
" To the noble Artist who, surrounded by the Baal worship of debased art, has been able, by his genius and science, like another Eljah, faithfully to preserve the worship of true art and once more to accustom our ear, amid the whirl of empty frivolous sounds, to the pure tones of sympathetic feeling and legitimate harmony: to the Great Master wo brings home to us the unity of his conception through .. soft whispering to the mighty raging of the elements: inscribed in grateful remembrance". Albert'
In 1847 he was back in England with a schedule more crowded than ever.... he left on 9th May, heard of his sister Fanny's death..... went for a rest and was seemingly in better health. It was illusory. He suffered a stroke on 5th October. According to an obituary " he was struck with apoplexy, and although as younger patients usually do, he struggled against the malady, it gradually overcame him by frequent repetition." He died in November.'


Tomorrow's notes will be about Mendelssohn's legacy.

And today we move onto opus 85 and here to play number one is Valencia,

" (As with 30/1, sorry for the poor quality recording).
This pretty piece --Op. 85, No. 1—is sometimes nicknamed “Reverie”. For me it was a LOT harder than it sounds. First, the left hand is constantly on the go with the arpeggios spanning a couple of octaves and so I had to watch it all the time to be sure I was hitting the right notes. This meant memorizing the piece almost from the get-go. This was extremely challenging. Richard (zrtf90) helped me with how to do that (and with dynamics and voicing the melody). The memorization alone took me about 2 months! But it helped immensely with the playing of it.

Still though, when I play it, it feels like I’m really moving along, yet in the recording it sounds so slow!

Another thing I got a lot of practice on with this piece was finger switching (and also with the 30/1). This skill has already helped me with some of my other pieces.

My playing of this needs a metronome, and I don’t quite have all the dynamics down. There are wrong notes and hesitations. If nothing else you can turn down the audio and watch the beautiful images go by and that will hopefully give you enjoyment. LimeFriday put together the video for me and chose the images which I LOVE! Thank you to my good friend (((LimeFriday)))! smile"

Opus 85.no2 is played here by the dude who did most of the legwork for this recital: Wayne33yrs!!

Wayne had this to say: "When taking on Op.85 No.2 I didn't quite realise just how hard the piece was. It has taken me forever to learn, and is far off from finished, but this is the best I can do in the given time. It has however been a pleasure taking part in this excellent recital. Cheers to everyone, Looking forward to the next one, "

Moving onto Opus 85.no.3 we have Morodiene,

"This one could be a bit more polished, but considering the time put into it, I'm happy with the musicality if not the technique."

Opus 85 no.4 is half played here by Rupak.

A word of explanation: Rupak seriously was into doing this and then came many unexpected commitments and demands upon his time, so much so that he told both wayne and I that he wouldnt be able to do it.

neither wayne nor myself accepted this , we knew how much Rupak loves mendelssohn, and besides it was because of Rupaks rendition of mendelssohn's venetian gondola song done on just a computer keyboard that we first got acquainted....

So, Rupak agreed that we could use what he had got down allready,
hence it not being finished, but we know it will be just as soon as he can , and we will repost the finished version.

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6k9Og9Y6bRU[/video]

Opus 85 no.5 is played by Ganddalf,

And to finish off our penultimate opus with no6 is Numerian.

OPUS 62 a professional sounding set. Enjoyed each one.

*ZRTF90 #1: you created a poignant melody with almost a haunting sound.

* Oleg: Exciting and professional performance. The stage setting helps that too.

* ZRTF90 #3: How do you do it? This majesty of sound must be resulting from your clean presentation of the chords. Really nice.

* Oleg: Wow again. sensitive performance of this lovely piece.

* Ganddalf: Beautiful expression as always. Thank you.

* Numerian: thank you for the narrative on playing this unique piece. Nicely done.

wayne33years - Opus 85 no. 2 - this was great, very musical, and nice dynamics. Congratulations, both on this submission and the recital as a whole.

Cathy

Performances that bring out the expressiveness of these pieces, what a pleasure it has been to listen to them.

Thanks so much Valencia, Wayne, Rupak, Morodiene, Ganddalf and Numeriam for your submissions on the Op 85.

OP 85, 1 - 6; Didn`t know there were so many . . .

1 Valencia; You might not`ve been happy, lass but it still captured the mood. Worry not! It spoke clearly from your fingers!

2 Wayne; This`ll be only your second recording? Wow - I reckon you`ve surprised us all here! Bloody Good Job!

3 Morodiene; Confident and bright as befits the piece you play. I enjoy all you do here. Good stuff indeed!

4 Rupak; Sounds pro. Wonderful light and shade, you need a really good instrument for that, not to mention technique. Will look out for the last bit . .

5 Ganddalf; Lovely! Polished indeed and testimony to the hard work you`ve put in.

6 Numerian; Lively as a kitten. Flowed sweetly like a river winding it`s way to the sea.

So many have done multiple pieces; really dunno how you find the time . . .

OPUS 67. All nicely done. Bravo to each of you.

* Timmyab: your tempo choice was beautiful. I'm so impressed with the ease you show in moving the left hand all over the keyboard.

*Dire tonic (what does that mean BTW? I've wondered) This was a joyful piece and if you fell apart somewhere I didn't feel it. Nice job.

*Timmyab: This sounds like a hymm to me (and I like most hymms). It was beautiful.

* Morodiene: My nod to your excellence. Only 4 hours and you bring a delightful flow to this spinning wheel piece. Enjoyed it.

*pavelK: Wow...only 16months? Very impressive. I didn't hear fury but maybe some gentle nagging.

*Numerian: What a fun piece. Sounds like a polka at first but happy and energetic all through. As ususal you do a great job.

Thank you everyone. This is such a fun way to be involved with Mendelssohn.

Another fine performance from everyone participated. Personally it kind of makes me ashamed that I did not put more work in. I hope no one listen to mine. I would like to thank Rissy for his write up on Mendelssohn - I did not know so much about the composer. Appreciate it.

85-1 Valencia - I thought it was excellent. The piano sounds beautiful too.

85-2 Wayne - it was a seriously good job. Bravo!

85-3 Morodiene - as always you play wonderfully. I'm impressed with your control on the left hand. You said you did not have time to perfect but it is really good. I heard sensitively shaped melody line singing over the steady beat which did not sound metronomish or overwhelming.

85-4 Rupak - it was beautiful sensitive and everything I want for this piece. It will be great when you put things together.

85-5 Gandalf - you are a fine performer.

85-6 Numerian - love the piece. You are an incredible performer too.

I just went through these pieces and was blown away at the great playing and hard work everyone put into this...congrats to all.