Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Chopin Waltz Op69 #1 recording - Comments please

This is my second recording. I know I made few flubs including the chromatic. Please do not hesitate to tell me the good, the bad and what can be improved. I have a thicker hide now:

http://www.box.net/public/9zq43joynv

I have memorized this piece but the chromatic is sometimes OK but often not. Also there should be less or no distortion of the sound in the recording. Awaiting your comments. Thanks.

From someone who has not played this piece:

You have a nice feel for it, particularly at the beginning.

In the second section, perhaps practice the right hand with a metronome to straighten out some problems with the rhythm.

What's hard about a lot of Chopin is that the left hand is often rhythmic and somewhat staccato, with big leaps, but the right hand is legato and stepwise. Overall, in your performance, the right hand needs to be more legato and singing. Perhaps spend some time practicing it separately to try to develop this more.

The transitions between the sections, especially when returning to the "A" material, could be more thought out.

Good job! I hope some of this is helpful. Maybe someone who knows more than I do will chime in.

Joemoshi, You really played that very very well. It is one that I learned some time ago, and I know what you mean about that chromatic run. I finnaly isolated it, and practiced it until I got it down pat.

I don't have my copy handy, but I too noticed that the rhythm in the second part seemed different from what I am used to hearing. I have a CD of Rubinstein playing it, and his timing seems different---but that may just be his interpretation. Other than that, you really had a nice lilt to the piece.

All in all,congratulations on really doing very well with it. I never did try to memorize it. You are an inspiration. Gaby Tu

Joemoshi: I can't offer any "critical" criticism because I don't think I'm qualified.

From a strictly amateur point of view, I thought you played it wonderfully. It certainly isn't an easy piece to play, but it is so beautiful that it is worth the effort, as you must agree.

Congratulations and continued success.

Kathleen

Joemoshi- Nice work playing this beautiful waltz and recording it. Recording sounds great its very clear and professional. I only know how to record on my lap top using Audacity. How did you record your piece and what type of piano do have that sounds so beautiful. I would love to work on this piece someday. I did work on the OP 69- No 2 a while ago and it was not easy to polish.

I thank you all for your comments. I really appreciate it. I would welcome any other criticism.

Haizel, I have a Yamaha CVP-307 which sounds like a grand piano. I plug a cable from (Auxiliary out) to the laptop (mic in) and record onto Audacity. Once recorded I convert the file to mp3. The first time I recorded I had a lot of distortion but then someone from the Forum suggested that I should check the windows sound. When I did that I found that microphone boost square was checked. Unchecking the mike boost solved the problem. I hope that answers your questions.

Great job Joe, I don't know what it is about Chopin's music but it seems each piece I hear I want to learn, add this one to the list. Same with Joplin, I can't get enough of these guys, from rags to waltzes

nice nice very nice.

just a little more legato (as mentioned above) and your playing it will be entertaining for anyone to hear (if not already).

Vintagefingers, I also enjoy rag music. In fact I play a couple of pieces by Joplin.

Joe, great job on this!

Permit me some literary liberty to set the backdrop, and I'll offer some help.

Remember, in this song you are strolling with your betrothed, a delicate, lovely maiden with light-brown curls and a parasol in a French jardin bathed in Spring sunshine, along a serene pond. Of all Chopin's waltzes this is the the closest to a love song.

You want to bring attention to every subtle detail - every cresc. and decresc. Let the listener hang and drink in her beauty, and the peace.

In measures 90 and 106 (the two sF), hold the eight note a bit - that's the bird's eye you see in the music. That is a critical point in the piece - let the two chords hang in midair and dye away a bit.

I know you'll nail the chromatics with practice (after all, it's taken a good deal of effort for you to learn the music and play it from beginning to end) so don't worry about them, other than to play them delicately.

Your tempo was very consistent throughout. Good work there. :-)

This shows a good deal of promise, and already I think you could perform it for friends.

Please do keep us updated!

Thank you gerg. As you suggested, I held the eight note a bit in measures 90 and 106 (the two sF) and it sounded better.
What is sF? I guess F is for fermata but the s I did not figure out yet.

sF, sforzando, suddenly very loud. Think "sudden forte" :-)

Joemoshi,

Excellent recording quality and solid performance. Now, coming from someone who couldn't even play this song at the moment, but who loves all things Chopin....

There were a couple of spots (Check from 0:50 - 1:20) that I thought sounded a little convoluted. However the overall touch and feel of the piece is great! Congrats!