My favourite (Chopin) nocturne...

Any comments appreciated!

Chopin - Op.62 no.1

My favourite too, and one of the most beautiful things he ever wrote. A good performance too, although there is the occasional slip or misreading it is pretty solid. If I may say one thing, it's that this sounds a bit literal and impatient. I do not find the rapture, wonder and repose here which makes this such a magic piece.

a very good job. I feel another tempo, very slower, and more rubato, but it is question
of taste. Ten minutes is an adequate duration

all best,
Sandro.

First, thank you for your input. You are actually the first people who can give me serious comments, so you're playing quite an important role at the moment. (I don't want you to be my teachers, of course, and I won't post a piece more than twice within a shorter period.) I'm nowhere near perfect with this performance, but I decided to post it as I felt there are things in this piece I'm overlooking due to the teacher I currently lack.

Second, don't forget it is marked "Andante". I know that a romantic andante might be slower than a Mozartian one, but it still doesn't mean "slow". So you aren't allowed to bore people with it, that's what op.62/2 is for... Serious, I don't see why playing extremely slowly (or extremely fast with fast pieces!) should be more sophisticated than "normal" playing. Just because a piece like this has an enormous musical substance, you cannot make it as slow as you want. Just my two humble cents.

So I'd rather concentrate on musical and technical details if you consider it not good enough; I won't change the tempo much.


Could you explain this a bit?

I think you played this piece well. I can't decide if I like your tempo or not, but perhaps Chris is correct that it could be a little more 'laid-back'.
- You must have large hands to reach those big chords.
- The trills on the Poco piu lento section seemed a bit too loud but I know that is hard to play those softly. At least you were pretty steady with them.
- On the very last chord, and this is just an idea that you may probably discard, but I hear that the B in the right hand should be voiced more, so that the final three quarter notes of the melody go D# to C# to B.
Nice job, overall.

Which score do you refer to? My Peters has D#-C#-D#.

I think you can hear these three notes very well, but the thing that bugs me is how I (partially) murdered the second last chord. But you're just quite excited at this point, when you've played seven minutes and you think it could be good enough.


Thank you.

I mean to bring out the RH B more in the last chord. But this in only a suggestion. It sounds fine going from D#-C#-D#, but I like when it goes D#-C#-B. I don't know if Chopin would even want it this way - I may be totally wrong about it.

OK, I tested your version and it sounds logical. But that's exactly why I think he didn't mean it that way (besides it is in the score). From my humble understanding of his music, I believe especially the late Chopin wouldn't have done it that simple. The whole coda is amazing: it is very relaxed and slow, but it ends in a question (D#-C#-D#). Note that the very last chord is quarter note without a fermata. So it's an open ending. The way how these Op. 62 nocturnes are connected - from dominant (B major) to tonic (E major) is another evidence to this. Yes, I'm quite sure in this case.

Ok. I'll go along with that, as your reasoning is good. (but I'll still play it my way )

Do it so. When will we be listening to your performance?

The recording are pretty well executed while I would like the trills and runs to be more even and overall, I feel some impatience in your playing. You should try to take your time and make sure you do not rush through andything but feel completely relaxed.

But good enough for the site according to my opinion and I have put it up. Also, thanks for ID3-tagging it correctly. I think it is the first time ever I did not need to change it .