This is my recording of Chopin Nocturne in Bflat minor, on my school's grand Kawai in the rehearsal room at Rhode Island College (unfortunately they have one Steinway, and no one can play it).


Chopin - Nocturne in Bflat minor

What's with the magic top-secret Steinways? I have the same problem (Columbia, NY).

To me this sounds like Chopin rubato done right: left hand consistent, right hand free. Well played!

Very well done indeed! I couldn't hear any wrong note (after listening to it once) and your rubato is how it should be with Chopin. In some places even too much though, but that's just a matter of taste, I guess.

The only thing I don't like is how you played bar 18 and the same one in the reprise. It is marked "con forza" respectively ff, but you play it p or even pp. I think Chopin meant this measure to be the climax of the A section.

But this is minor, of course. Your playing is very clear and enjoyable. Please upload more of it!

Btw, you should change your signature...

Hello.
You played this well. Your touch, phrasing, and dynamics were all nice. Most of the time I liked your rubato. But sometimes I, too, felt it was slightly too much. I like a little more forward motion throughout, unless there are that many rit. markings. I don't have the score in front of me so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. Interpretation is so subjective so please don't take this in anyway negative. The overall recording was beautiful.

A beautiful performance ! Easily as good as any we have on the site (and we have some already). I agree with other posters that your rubato sometimes gets the better of you, in that there are rushed passages here and there, but it's not so bad that it can't still be attributed to artistic freedom
The only thing that perked my ear (and the only real error I think) was the RH in bar 56 where you play a D flat instead of a C flat (could edition difference, I have the Paderewski).

And yes, you do underplay the few moments marked 'con forza' and fortissimo. That pivotal ff bar 79 sounds rather wimpy, and some of the triplet notes don't sound here and in the preceding bar. Don't be afraid to put in the drama ! The baby Kawai sounds good except that some of the high notes are a bit unpleasant.

But these are all very small niggles. This is a very good and sensitive performance. As we should expect from you with a name like that If you send me your bio (and photo if you have it) I will put it on the site.

Peters and the SMA edition have C flat, too.

good work Pal, I liked your slow version of b flat. Yes, more FF in deed.
Welcome to the club.

Thanks for you kind words and criticisms, they are well taken. It's nice to be part of a group of pianists...it's what I've been needing.
hehe..in response to that quote, my friend and I were talking about a miserable kinda famous composer at our school---I basically put into my own words the thoughts of this composer as bluntly as possible...I mean no offense.
-Rich

A very very good performance!!! Reminds me a lot of Arrau and you should take that as a compliment as I hold his Chopin Nocturnes as the best (perhaps the much neglected Barenboim beats him). I have nothing to say but for Congratulation!

Very nice playing! For my taste it was not too much rubato, rather a very (but not overly) emotional interpretation. Tiny bit more dynamic contrast, e.g. the smorzando in bar 7; start a bit louder the descening line in bar 11 so you can do a real decreascendo. In some places there's a "heavy->light" missing, for example in the Db->Bb and Db->C in bars 12 and 15, respectively, the second note is a bit too loud for my taste (the corresponding notes in bar 16 are nicer). But these are all minor things, and it was a very good performance! Tell the college guys people from all over the world want to hear you one a Steinway, rather than a Kawai

THis one is up the site too.