Hello all,

Many thanks for your recent postings for the latest recordings I have made. (i'll comment on the threads individually but as always i do enjoy your feedback. it's going to help me immensely in the coming weeks as i continue to work!) x

here's a go at the chopin revolutionary etude. i do concede there are a couple of flubs, but that day was the end of a big week and i was a bit exhausted.

nevertheless, i hope you enjoy and please feel free to let the comments fly

love and success to you all!

Luke, I have to tell you that you're sending mixed messages here. Your other posts tell us that you're enrolled in a master's degree and planning to enter some competitions, and you're interested in receiving feedback. This give the impression that you're serious about working hard and improving your playing. But when you make a comment like:

it sounds as though you're not so serious after all.

i do appreicate getting feedback, and i'm a bit confused by your posting as well.

even serious musicians can acknowledge they are not perfect. i had to learn a 90-minute program in two weeks, on top of working (which also involves playing piano)...so with an extensive workload (i am not sure if you read my message about returning from tendinitis) my hands were tired. you don't know what your limits are as a human being coming back from serious injuries until you push yourself, and that's exactly what i did (and recorded it).

for example, i just saw the wonderous nikolai lugansky play live last week and immediately after the show he had no problem conceding that by the time he was at the end of the recital (which involved the last 3 liszt transcendental etudes), that he "didn't care" as much as in the beginning of the concert about being nervous, technical accuracy, etc. do these comments make him a less-than-serious pianist? i hope not! he is just confessing his inner secrets and personal criticism, and i personally don't believe there's anything wrong with that.

i have already completed the masters degree as of june 2010.

if i wasn't serious about being a musician, i wouldn't have flown half way across the world from canada to holland to live alone.. leave my friends, and family behind and attempt to become the best musician i can be.... nor would i be willing to post these recordings on this site, because theoretically "i wouldn't care".... no???

My apologies for any misunderstanding. I do realise that not every performance is going to be the best. But if you're aware that you're tired, why choose to record and post that particular performance? Why not wait for a better occasion? It's different for Nikolai Lugansky: he would have signed a contract to play a concert on that date, so he had no choice but to walk on to the stage and do his best in the circumstances.

My comment wasn't intended to cause offence. I didn't realise you were working under such pressure.

Congratulations on finishing the masters degree, and best wishes for whatever you have coming up next.

hey, thanks alexander!

ultimately you are right, i should/will make a re-recording of these works. essentially the situation with this work, and the brahms i posted a few days ago (along with some other works of chopin, bach) was i had to learn quickly because of the requirements for an application with a deadline. some of the required pieces i had already worked on but a few (such as this etude and bach, etc) i didn't have readily available so i had to learn quickly.

because i had to make a DVD on short notice, you will hear that i also didn't have access to the best pianos.. so the recording quality suffered greatly. and as you have also made recordings you know the task can be quite taxing physically/mentally.. but i figured why not pop them into the audition room for fun?

nevertheless, continued success to you as well and look forward to hearing you again soon!

This etude is probably my favorite. You got the spirit right which is a hard thing to do. I won't stand on individual flubs because you seem to have the technique and method to overcome those. I liked your playing even if it's far from a finished performance.

Yes, there are a few wrong notes, but they don't really bother me. Obviously allowances should be made for what sounds like far from ideal recording circumstances, but you could do with more nuance and shaping of the rh (it's all a bit lacking in dynamic gradation), keep the lh a little more in the background, and think about pedalling as it currently sounds rather muddy. You've clearly got sufficient technique to play it, so all that's required is some polishing.

Maybe not the ultimate in finesse, but great drive and technique - especially considering your situation. No problems that really bothered me, except the error in bar 4, I believe the first top note should be F, not G (and the same occurs in the reprise).
My real criticism is that this is rather relentless and monochrome. You need to find the music behind all the notes, and make the listener forget this is a technical etude. Easier said then done, I know
As with your other submissions, the foundations seem to be solid, and you can build something good on top of them.

Hello Luke,

I think you did a nice job on this take. Certainly you can do better, but it's an honest version. You're not playing faster than your fingers can go. The first suggestion I'd have to give is to make more contrasts in the dynamics. I can only listen to mf in the whole piece.

Best,
Alexandre