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Liszt - La Leggierezza - I recorded recently. Would you please provide some feedback to improve my performance. Thank you very much.

Can

When I saw the title and the performer my immediate thought was this is going to be great, and my expectation was honored with a brilliant performance. I’m on my second listen and it is absolutely sublime. It’s more than the fact it’s near flawless playing, but its very well controlled, balanced in forward momentum without being rushed, a great harmonic understanding, structural understanding; you internalized the imagination of the piece as if you are yourself the wind. And that ending was just perfect. I’m sorry you asked for criticism, but all you all I have is praises. Remarkable job.

Great stuff. 2nd half of 1st page and top of second could be more legato. Left hand rests are abrupt (more pedal?), right hand sounds a bit stiff, but softens up nicely with the sixths which are remarkably fluid. Fine leggiero and use of pedal (prefer more prominent and connected base line, but you're probably playing it as written). High broken chords and trill bass: more melody, less trill (but awfully good so far!) Thirds section could be more dramatic, with more crescendo to a peak. Recapitulation nicely contrasted rubato. I like more passion if not forte in the final sixths last page (last peak before the coda). Nice coda.

Most of my dynamics criticism might disappear with a separate audio recording synced to video (no limiter or compression). To convince the majority (if not judges) my bet would be on something close to Lipatti: very long lines and shaped phrases, effortless right hand passage work emphasizing the left hand "melody". Nothing gained from excess speed (even Argerich veers into choppiness). IMHO.

Dear D.S.F.,
Thank you very much for your kind words! It made me very happy after having worked for this recording for a long, long time!

Dear doctor S,

Thank you very much for your insights! To the question of the recording method: it was recorded with a Roland R-05 device seperately. The piano was a Hamburg Steinway B and the place I recorded had almost no acoustics (consciously so, otherwise this recording device records lots of "air"). I agree completely on your critics about the first two pages. Actually I had a take which was better on these aspects but it had other problems. May be youtube somehow compresses the sound while uploading (I don't know). Maybe thats the reason for the narrow dynamics. I will have to listen again to the passagework, concerning left hand. I think the 'snakes' are more than decorative notes but by itself a free variation. So not as in ornamentation in Baroque or Classic where the 'small notes' only fill space and make the music agreeable. I was actively listening to those as not to let fingers run by itself.

The pauses betwees sections come from the Italian singing tradition; take time at the cadences. I am not sure, i might drop it next time i record it...

Lately I have grown quite fond of Jörg Demus' playing style. Never put pedal unless it is necessary. Unless there is a delibrate need for pedal (as later in the piece) I chose not to blur the sound.

Again thank you very much for your detailed critic.

Dear Can,

Not sure why you would want our opinions, other than to get the "Aunt Minnie" reaction. Your teacher(s) in Weimar and elsewhere should sweep away all our dross. And your erudite thoughts are way ahead of my imitative taste. Another competitor in my first amateur contest counseled me that it is not wise to open with a familiar piece that the judges play, for if you don't play it their way you won't advance. I would be interested to know how a colleague here might react; he has a Phd from Cambridge with his final oral exam analyzing a piece by Liszt (?). (I'm assuming he has not played this particular piece.)

I learned the piece in my teens (late 1960's) from a teacher who had studied with A. Siloti, a student of Liszt. Reexamining the music my teacher marked, I see that he crossed out all the pedal markings under the "snakes" starting page 4; the pedal changes on each triplet automatically emphasizing the descending bass scale even if the first note of the triplet is not accented. Cross-outs continue through the first 4 lines; pedal is penciled in to confirm score as written in both measures bottom of line 5, beginning with the the first triplet with pedal continuing through the two rests (oddly, as written) . No pedal on page 5, except a dash of pedal 1st triplet line 2, and then none until last 2 measures bottom page 5, again as written, pedal through 2 of the 3 beats of rests. Reassaulting the piece after 45 years away from the piano, 2 masterclassers have now steered me to emphasize the bass line. So, assuming the "less pedal" preferences are from earlier than my teacher, you may have rediscovered something more originally Lisztian. Now all you have to do is sell it to those who've heard it before. And again, your playing now is certainly comparable to all those old guys on Youtube.

Someone else on this site can't stand the 3rds Ossia starting page 7. Can't say I've really heard the alternative, but I love playing and hearing the Ossia (I like the 3rds seamlessly legato, but my current teacher suggested "staccato technique"). The bass is marked marcato, but I like playing the sixths there (and on the last page) as legato as possible (which is a fingering farrago, but fun).

I've become a troll on recording compression. Could you consider posting your Roland audio on an audio-only site like Soundcloud? I'm really curious. Thanks.

Dear doctor S,

You asked why I want your opinions. I share these videos because I believe everybody has the musical understanding to make remarks and they can lead to extraordinary discoveries. Yes, I have two genius teachers; but they wouldn't conduct a rehearsal or a recording. There the responsibility is mine and I hope I will never be so self indulgent to escape critics (or turn my back to positive feedback).

It is very interesting what Siloti says about the pedalling. What about the sixths? Does he keep the pedal on as some editors do? I have Henle and apparently Liszt wrote only one pedal marking in the piece: the 4 Bars in B Major after the thirds.

By the way it is interesting what your teacher said about the thirds because mine made exactly the same remark: "If you play them entirely legato it won't sound as a nice scale but rather as if you can't play them out. Make sure you are able to play all of them with the same sound quality."

Here is the seperate audio only file you demanded (raw wav format):
https://soundcloud.com/cancakmur/leggierezza

I am curious what you will say about the sound. I am considering if this might be a way of recording if i cant book the recording studio...

Fantastic playing as always!! Please keep sharing your recordings here.

Have you considered playing them with a constant 2-4 fingering? Liszt often wrote that fingering for thirds although I don't think he did in this case.

Hello Damon,

Thank you very much for the comment. Actually this is a novel idea. I will surely try it but I am not very sure if it would work for such long scales.

Completely legato fingering and execution of the 3rds is possible, but I can't imagine what "constant 2-4" is. A little pedal helps, especially with connecting the sixths in the bass. What is essential is that the individual thirds must be perfectly simultaneous.

Excellent performance of this wonderful piece, congratulations!

Some minor remarks:

- Maybe the introduction could come more "from nowhere"? The way how you start the piece sounds a little bit too much like: He already knows exactly where the journey leads him to There could be more mystery, more "what's happening to me?"

- When the main theme starts, you are immediately at "full speed", there is sort of "rupture" – why not trying something more hesitating, a smoother and more organic passage?

- Sometimes I would like to hear a more gradual crescendo, for example after 1:05. There is a sudden forte, and I would like to hear you getting there in a more "generous" way, with less impatience....

- Speaking about "impatience": Your approach to this piece is rather stormy, youthful, impatient. Maybe you can try to discover the more introverted, enigmatic, pensive side of it? Yes, of course, Liszt was a brilliant pianist, but there is also his "dark side of the moon", and in my opinion, this little "gem" offers us lots of occasions to let the "hidden Liszt" come alive....

So, enough criticism You are such a gifted young pianist, I just want to encourage you to try more, to include different points of views into your admirable playing!

Dear All,

Thank you very much for all your wonderful suggestions and criticisms.

Dear Tony007,

I wish I had your suggestions a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately the final recording is already done. Below you can find the video. I hope you like this.

Yesterday I have sent a message but somehow it disappeared and not posted. So, I'm sending the same message again.

Dear All,
Thank you very much for all your comments; they were all very helpful for me.

Dear Tony007,
I wish I had your suggestions a couple of weeks ago; unfortunately the final recording is done.

Below please find the final recording; I hope you like it.

Thank you again.

Oh sorry, I didn't recognize the approval process, I sent the same message twice...

Dear Can!

You obviously didn't need my advice :-) I'm listening to your"final recording", and it sounds much more refined than the first one! For example the introduction: I like it much more now :-) Congratulations and best wishes

Felix (Tony007)