Her is my first audio-only recording. Especialy made for the piano societue. I chose a Waltz of Chopin. Op. 34 No 2

Please enjoy and give me feedback if you feel like it.

Yours,
-- Peter Schuttevaar

For me, that is not bad played - but to be honest, also not very good played. I like that you bring the melody line whether it's in the right or left hand. But there are some notes missed here and there, especially in the first pages (it is also not so nice if the page turn delays the groove), and some rubato places in the RH passages did sound more technical than musical driven to me. I would prefer a bit slower and more relaxed, dreamery playing of this (also softer in some passages), but that's just a matter of taste.

Beside this however it is no bad start here, and it sounded better and better to me as you progressed through the piece.

It's appreciated that you make audio recordintg especially for PS now Your first attempt is not bad indeed, as Olaf says. But IMO, this is flawed in too many ways. It is clear (particularly from your Folia footage) that you are a capable pianist but it seems to me like too little preparation and polishing has gone into this recording.

Your performance of this gentle nostalgic waltz is very rushed and impatient. Generally, your touch is firm and your playing assured, but there is too little dynamic contrast and too little attention to phrasing and rubato. As a rule, impatience kills expression... There's a number of slips and some missing/inaudible notes but these are not really disturbing. However you should have taken care of the following more serius issues :

- The strange moments at 0:09 and 4:17 where you seem to hesitate and apparently decide to leave out the RH altogether in favour of a heavy LH accent.

- The very audible page turns at 0:47 and 2:35.

- The unfortunate fumble at 3:22.

I think you also use way too much pedal, in places things get really blurred. The piano could do with a tuning, the sound is not really bad but not real pleasant either.

Chopin deserves better.... and with a bit more patience and careful preparation, I am sure you can do much better than this !

I think you just need to relax more. Obviously you can play all the notes, but it is rushed and nervous-sounding. Have a glass of wine, light a candle and try again.

I thought it sounded good. It is a hard choice of music to play in public. I play it myself. There are a few places were it sounded like your fingers lost control of the keyboard. The jumps in this piece are small but I think they need to be confident. It would help if you slowed down a bit. There is no reason to play this piece fast.

Once thing my piano teacher told me (and I was doing the same mistake.) The trills at 48 seconds need to start with a stronger accent on the down beat (the 1 of the 1 2 3). It's a waltz so it is really suppose to sit on the first note. It will give it that waltz feeling. You do it better at 2:18. I admit it is chopin, but it sounds a bit funny if you don't do it at 48 sec. Also you could slow it down a bit.

I did enjoy it though and thought it sounded great!

Stan

Good start! You seem to understand this waltz and did a nice reading. It sounds to me like you just need to let the piece grow on you more before you record it. I have the same problem (impatience) which often results in my recording a work before I play it as well as I should and can.

I agree with pianolady---a little candlelight and a nice merlot may relax you a little more.

Thank you all for the feedback.

I appreciate it very much.

I just re-listened my own recording and i must conclude that the performance is just to "sloppy". It is not bad in a musical sense, but it needs more polishing. And those who argued about a lack of preparation are right. I took a piece of Chopin out of the bookcase, played it a few times and then i hit the recording button of my fancy recording set.

I will make it up to you. With a better recording (probably next week, as i will have some time then). A recording without an audible (or disturbing) page turn.

- Peter Schuttevaar

PS: pianolady was not right. Lack of Merlot was not the problem.

Hehe, this is what I used to do in the beginning. It does NOT work.... I believe now that any piece at all, even an apparently easy one, needs a couple of weeks of preparation so that at the very least, you get thoroughly familiar with it. I am sure your next take will be very much better.