Greetings,

Here is an mp3 of Chopin's Prelude Op.28 No.1. Only non-commercial distribution of the file is okay. All comments, of praise and also of criticism, are valued and welcomed.

It was recorded June 23, 2002, in Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College. The piano used was a Wapinized U.S. Steinway D.


Best Wishes,
Michael Sayers

that was fast. I mean....Rubenstein fast...

Oh my! Where do I start?

This is quite possibly the most histrionic performance I've ever heard.

The one good thing about your playing is your delicacy of touch. It sounds as though you managed to play pppp. Now all you must do is keep the delicate touch while playing full tempo.

The bad things are the over pedalled first part, the arbitrarily variable tempo and the harsh sound in the bass in the first part. You must play this piece with metronomic eveness, and at full tempo, please! (except where rubato is appropriate.)

To be blunt, I didn't like your alterations. You played an abstraction of the prelude. If you want to play in an abstract style, that's fine. However, it would be far better to post a conventional recording first. A pure concept of the music is prerequisite to artistic performance. Accuracy begets art, this is an inescapable truth.

Please even it out. If you choose not to, that's your prerogative.

P.S. I've played crazy abstractions, too (in error), so I understand your bizzare rendition.



Pete

From what Pete expressed, I have almost same feelings about your recording.
You show that you can play very, very soft (the end) and that you are able to play the piece at "normal" speed (the beginning). And I admit, it is somehow interesting to me to hear a total different approach of a piece.

However it is too far away from the score regarding rhythm, expression, pedal playing (don't see any sense in that pedal blur over several bars) for my taste. The musical content of the piece is overshadowed by showing effects like to play as soft as possible or as slow as possible or pushing the pedal impossible long and so on. I think I prefer that beautiful 1st prelude to be played more plain and even, and if you can manage to remain your soft touch this way, that could sound really great.

It's like two different pieces. I feel the same tempo is required all the way through. Since you are able to play so fast in the beginning, imagine how great the piece would be if you maintained it.

Your interpretation is very original! Never heard anything even close to this. The drop in tempo can be ok at the later part but I cannot really get used to your version dropping so much. But I appreciate your experimenting approach to the piece. The preludes are actually a great subject for experimenting.

Well played. I am not sure either its my computer speaker or not. I can not hear soft tones all the way till the end.

I think the first part(beginning), the LH is a bit too loud and shall be relaxed a bit more......

Technically there is not much wrong with this, but really, to put not too fine a point on it, this is a weird interpretation. After a rather bullish and over-pedalled start why suddenly drop the tempo by about 400% and finish it off like a comatose sleepwalker ? I understand everybody wants to say something different and personal about such well-known repertoir, but this seems to be overstepping the mark by a long stretch.