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[video:youtube]yfcyST7q7BQ[/video]

It's me playing Etude op. 25 no 12 by Chopin. I did this recording my last day on a ship on a backstage, it was at 4am (I was only allowed to practice there at night). Unfortunately somebody took piano bench from there that day, so my chair was moving . It was pretty rocky that day, so I didn't unstrap the piano. Of course like every piano on a ship this was also out of tune, sorry for that. Just want to share, because it's a nice memory for me of those sleepless nights.

I love this!!

So funny, because I'm practicing the same piece this afternoon and got totally distracted by a cat. My son has video that he's editing as we speak.

Vevurka, this is wonderful. Your interpretation is so in tune with mine that I thought I was listening to myself. I'll post something for comparison tomorrow.

Meanwhile, well done. Beautiful interpretation. Masterful realization.

Simon Finlow

It must be great fun to play the Ocean Etude on the ocean !!!

It was a little unnerving to watch your chair shift position during the performance.

Good job !!

Good job.

If I were, I'd be careful with not making the loud bits sound too forced. I think you could have even smaller quiet sounds.

For me, I think some bits do sound ever so slightly unrhythmical and I think you must be careful because your thumb really sticks out some times.

OK, I know I promised, but I'm doing this with a bit of trepidation. I did three takes this afternoon. This is the third, but yet it's the one with mistakes. The reason I'm posting it - rather than either of the others - is that it's more "in tune" with my vision of this piece and, not entirely coincidentally, quite close to your interpretation, though your performance, if I may say so, is much better and delivered under much more difficult circumstances. But at least we both were working with out-of-tune pianos! BTW, I have the biggest trouble with the first couple of bars. What's your biggest challenge in this piece? (I'm thinking there are none!)

Anyway, here you go. Hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your post but you look like someone who doesn't mind sharing.

Good lord, I just noticed the middle finger thing on the last chord - both of us!

Thanks Carey, SiFi, Incongruous for your comments.



Yeah, when I was playing last page I thought that I might fall down, it was really hard to keep my balance.



Yeah, I still didn't grow up from playing fast and loud phase, but working on it. Too much rubato I can fix, but what do you mean by "thumb really sticks out sometimes"?



Nice playing, but I think you sometimes loose the melody. BTW there are some Cortot exercises which are great for this etude, they can help you fix accuracy.

Biggest challenge for me in this piece for me is building climax, because I'm impatient and like to play forte. And in this piece it's really easy to play forte, but not so easy to play piano.


I do it on purpose, don't know about you. So many times my third finger slipped on b flat key and it is so sad to finish this etude in C7. Really small hands are really disadvantage in this piece.

When you change hand positions from 5 to 1 your thumb is sometimes too loud which makes your playing sound unrhythmical because all the times the thumb is needed is on a weak beat.

Oh, yes, you're right. I'll practice it more in fourths, that should fix the problem quickly.

It's more a matter of listening to yourself, looking at your hands making sure your fingers aren't doing excessive movements and really feeling it in four.

Yeah, I have a facsimile of the Cortot edition. However I'm a bit put off by just how many exercises there are. I'll take another look to see if there are any that might help me in particular. Thanks for the recommendation.

BTW, I think you build your paragraphs very nicely, avoiding the temptation to think from bar to bar. So you certainly have met that challenge.

The middle finger comment was just me being crudely humorous, though finishing on C7 would not be entirely un-Chopinesque (F major Prelude!).

I'm curious about your music background and current situation. Do you play in competitions? What are your plans for piano? I'd certainly like to hear more recordings from you!

You

Thank you both for sharing videos on these etudes. Both lovely and well done.

@debussychopin: thanks

@SiFi:

Thanks, but still I think I'm too eager with middle section, which causes sound to be forced. It's not even matter of practicing it, but having enough mental strength to not allow myself to reach forte too soon.


I'm too old for competitions ;), but I did some when I was in high school then in college. Now I do everything I can to not teach piano - so I do a lot of comping, work on my solo repertoire and learn jazz piano. Recently I finished contract on a ship as a classical pianist and I'm not sure what next. Probably next contract, but I'm not looking forward to it, because it's a very hard job. Don't want to complain, but performing for 4 hours every day (+ practicing at night...) for a few months without any day off is quite exhausting.

Hey - I'm not sure which melody you're referring to. There's what Czerny, in his School of Practical Composition would have called the "accidental" melody (bars 1-7 and elsewhere). Then there's the explicit melodic lines (bars 7-8 and the repeat). Then there's the part that I think you do better than almost anyone: I've heard: the organic notated contrapuntal lines in bars 16-20 and elsewhere. There's just so much going on in these sections and I love the way you handle them.

In this instance, however, I think you're talking about the "accidental" melody sections, in which case you are correct but it's deliberate on my part. IM me if you want to discuss more. I just wanted to set the record straight.

Your repertoire must be huge! But yeah, it does sound exhausting. I hope they pay well and that the passengers realize what a good deal they're getting with a pianist of your quality!. Ever get seasick?

I certainly understand your reluctance to teach. I taught piano full time for a year back when I was 21/22 - almost all kids - and it was just gruesome. But it doesn't have to be so bad. I had some private adult students when I lived in New York City; they really wanted to learn, so it could even be quite rewarding. But you need a lot of students to make it pay, so I had to have a day job as well.

I hope you find a musical niche that will be satisfying for you. Meanwhile, please share more of your wonderful playing with us!

So what do we all think of this version that I just discovered?

Meh. I prefer her F minor Etude. Specially the climax.

Now THAT'S one heck of a an effective technique !!!

O.M.G.

BTW, how do you guys get the videos to start where you want them (i.e. at the climax)? When I include #t=3m19s or whatever it always still starts at the beginning after I've posted it.

Wondering about that myself !!