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Welcome to the General Discussion Room for the AB Forum Quarterly Recital #63!

Please use this room for any discussion of the pieces in Recital #63 that is taking place in the Main Recital Thread.

Discussions and replies can be posted at any time. Feel free to comment on any or all individual pieces. Some members offer comments on each submission individually; others offer general congratulations. Either approach is appropriate. Feel free to offer more specific, technical feedback if the participant had indicated that technical feedback was welcome.

For those who wish to comment on all pieces, a copy and paste template for offering feedback can be found here:

Recital 63 Response Template

Please use this thread only to discuss recital performances. If you have any comments or suggestions about ways to make the recital process better, please start a separate thread.

Enjoy the music!

Sam

I wonder if the technical feedback option is defaulting to No? I see a lot more "No" than usual.

Yeah I think it is. I distinctly remember having to select 'Yes' when submitting my recording.

I'm pretty sure I selected "Yes" to technical feedback (which I much appreciate getting), but it appears as "No" in the official listing. I suspect some software glitch.

Yup
I also put a "yes"

01. Qazsedcft - Sneaky A fun piece very well done!

02. ranjit - Fantaisie Impromptu This seems like a very difficult piece (that I have never attempted), but you held it together well.

03. sma55 (Shepherd Abrams) - Sonata in C Major K545 A steadier tempo in some places would help to please the connoisseurs but the one you have is more than adequate for the casual listener. This is really a very clean performance! Well done!

04. Sam S - Etude 2 This is a very interesting almost atmospheric piece and I would like to learn it at some point. The performance was perfection. The slide show is lovely and goes very nicely with the music.

05. wouter79 - Op.45, Over Hill and Dale (24), Ballet (20) Nicely done!

100% agreed on the need for a steadier tempo, Jason. If only I had the chops to do it! 😁 Thanks for listening and for the honest feedback.

I probably screwed something up when I added the csv export. Too late to fix this recital though. I'll track it down before #64.

Sam

I spotted it when I resubmitted. the default is off. Having broad, sloping shoulders, I switched mine on!

I forgot about that.. I forgot to put yes..

I also distinctly remember selecting 'yes' and would definitely appreciate feedback.

I also meant to put "yes." I recall something being weird with that part of the form...

The issue is there since the Great American Songbook recital. Maybe we should leave the preset "no" if we want to say "yes"...

First time giving feedback! Not gonna do it entirely in order, i am gonna start with the more popular selection first.

As some other posters have pointed our technical feedback may have been set to default "no", so i am gonna write with some feedback, hopefully this doesn't come off as too strong for some people :')

02. ranjit - Fantaisie Impromptu
A good moderate and steady speed for this very challenging pieces. You definitely have some shaping and good musical ideas there especially in the middle section. Love your touch and the tone of the piano you are recording on. On a slightly more critical note, i am sure you will clean up the little smudges and hiccups, perhaps the tempo should not fluctuate too much as i feel that some tempo changes can be done in more tasteful places (perhaps corresponding to melodic contours or interesting harmonies?) But that is just me being picky, as said, it really is a good attempt for a very challenging piece. Well done!

03. sma55 (Shepherd Abrams) - Sonata in C Major K545
Personally i am also planning to learn this the following year, pretty excited to hear someone learn this whole sonata. I will break my feedback per movement:

1st Movement, Allegro: The first half of the exposition section (scale passages) was quite well shaped and steady. Past the trill motif in the second half of the, the fingerwork and tempo does get a little unsteady as you pointed out in your recital post. In general as i am hearing this, the tempo seems to become unsteady mainly in the broken chords and the trill motifs (perhaps due to discomfort with the coordination?) causing the tempo to drop below what you started. Perhaps for future pieces you may want to look into more metronome practice? Just a suggestion! But i don't want to take away from the fantastic work you have placed in, i think it is already a fantastic attempt.

2nd Movement, Andante: Good Shaping ideas, very steady. Rather tasteful phrasing. Perhaps a little more direction in certain places? You draw some attention to the interesting harmonies and key changes so your instincts are rather spot on! Well played

3rd Movement, Rondo Allegretto, Good steady tempo for a start, ignoring the small little slip ups. Things were kept rather steady and the piece was more or less there. I like the energy towards the end as well

Overall, i think this was a really good attempt at a piece that you feel you you lack the technical prowess for. In fact, I'd say you may not be that far off the mark from having the technique required to play the piece steady, so really good work on your part. I look forward to hearing more from you

04. Sam S - Etude 2
Really beautiful piece and good playing! Your voicing is rather good in the middle section. I like your dynamic details as well, keeps things nice and interesting. Definitely a good workout for your fifth finger in your right hand haha. Very clean, thoroughly enjoyed it!

05. wouter79 - Op.45, Over Hill and Dale (24), Ballet (20)
Some Heller etudes yay
No 24, Over Hill and Dale: This etude is surprisingly challenging a good attempt at it, your voicing is coming through and dynamic ideas are there I'll leave a few more critical comments in a spoiler tag:

No 20, Ballet: Quite clean! good use of the pedal as there is very minimal (if any) mushing of the harmonies. You have a good touch on this piece and nice phrasing ideas are coming through, a very enjoyable listen.


14. AndresVel - Two-Part Inventions, No. 8 in F major (BWV 779)
Coincidentally i just started learning this as well! Fun little piece. You choose a very suitable tempo for you and its very steady and clean. I like that. I think you should be rightly proud of your recording. If i am being nitpicky (since you have technical feedback on), the imitation between the voices could be brought out more and perhaps more energy could be in the playing, maybe when you get even better, a faster tempo may serve in that pursuit? But overall this is really good!

I'll continue posting more feedback tomorrow, hope this is helpful in some way to the fantastic players

Not sure how many I'm going to be able to listen to overall. But I'll try as many as my time permits. Here are the first five:

01. Qazsedcft - Sneaky
Love the blues-y feel! So relaxing and pleasing!

02. ranjit - Fantaisie Impromptu
I think it's quite impressive that you achieved this level of playing in just 5 years while being mostly self taught. I wouldn't dare reach out for this particular piece until I had about 10 years of piano *with* a teacher. Very well done!

03. sma55 (Shepherd Abrams) - Sonata in C Major K545
This one is on my radar because I really want to learn it. Funny it's called "sonata facile" because it's not "facile" at all :-) Enjoyed your playing very much! Lively, delicate, crisp fast passages, etc.

04. Sam S - Etude 2
I like Philip Glass's music in general. Did not know about his etudes before today. I think you made it very Philip Glass-y, as in, made me feel the exact sensations I associate with listening to his music. I love when the intensity picks up at around 4:50. Great playing!

05. wouter79 - Op.45, Over Hill and Dale (24), Ballet (20)
I didn't think I had ever listened to Stephen Heller pieces before. The very first impression I got at the beginning of Hill and Dale was that the notes were "on top of each other." I'm sure it's by design, but it was new to me to hear something like this. Maybe there's a technical term for this? Almost "disorganized," if you know what I mean. Not that your playing was disorganized; I'm sure it's challenging to play and you sounded perfectly in control of what was happening. It's the composer's intention, I guess, to make it sound that way. The Ballet piece was *gorgeous* and then I realized I *had* heard it before :-)

Yes I'd also like to get technical feedback. Sam, can you fix these settings?

Talão thanks for the detailed comments! Glad that you liked it.

>The very first impression I got at the beginning of Hill and Dale was that the notes were "on top of each other."

Yes the first 3 notes are a bit crushed. They should be separate.

>I'm sure it's challenging to play and you sounded perfectly in control of what was happening.

There are some hiccups through most of my recordings. These first notes here are one of them :-) It's hard for me to get the first notes right in a fast piece like this. I think the problem is that the hand does not get to the right depth before I start playing but I'm still not sure.

<The Ballet piece was *gorgeous* and then I realized I *had* heard it before :-)

Really? Here on PW ?

I requested technical feedback as well. I think we'd do best to assume that everyone requested it, there's clearly something messed up with the form.

Thank you!


Thanks for listening! I wanted the second iteration of the theme to be faster than the first one, and it's much closer to the tempo I've seen most performers use. I'm glad you found the middle section interesting; yes, I was trying to get the melody to sound really evocative. I've been working very hard on my touch and tone production because a lot of people have told me that it is one of my main weaknesses. When it comes to the tempo, I agree that there needs to be a bit more thought put into it. Right now, it's often a bit rough and the effects are exaggerated a bit too much.

Thank you so much! I've often been challenged to post my performances over here because I tend to post some strong opinions, lol. Reading this forum (and others like it) nearly made me give up on my hope of being able to play the piano well starting as an adult (or at least, late adolescent). I finally feel like I'm making some headway. That said, I despair at ever being able to play this piece at a level my teacher would approve of. Which is partly why I find it hard to weigh in on matters, I don't truly know where I stand when it comes to my piano playing, so I'm a bit hesitant guiding beginners. (And some pianists have even called me a beginner!) I've been told that I still don't have good technique, and it's turning out to be an uphill battle to acquire it.

I didn't mean just 3 notes and I didn't mean to say *you* messed it up. I meant that the piece itself sounds disorganized in a melodic way (to my inexperienced ears, which are accustomed to a certain kind of music). I can't explain this better in words :-) As I said, I'm sure this was the composer's intention.

As for where I've heard it, I can't tell. It's just that feeling you get when a piece sounds familiar and you're like "oh yeah, I know this from somewhere." :-)