here is a recording of me playing the c-minor fantasia at a mozart competition 6 months ago
there are some sloppy passages, especially in the "piu allegro" part

comments welcome

warmest regards
gregor

A splendid preformance Gregor ! No sloppy passages to be heard, well perhaps one or two real tiny slips in the Agitato section but you need a very keen ear to even notice these.

I found the opening tempo a bit too slow, but in the reprise you take it even slower, and I like that a lot. A real feeling of resignation after all the drama that has passed. The closing bar is perfect.

From what I remember about your earlier recordings on the site, you seem to have grown a lot, your sound is far more assertive and sonorous. Been taking lessons I guess ? That would explain. So how did you do on that competition ?

Only thing I would say about this performance is that you seem to be very 'close to the keys'. A bit more air and bounce would make it sound even more Mozartian. Then again this is a very tragic piece so, there could be a point in not doing so. It is a matter of taste.

Anyway it's very good and I will put this up the site if you want. It should be a popular download - they just love Mozart out there !

That was really nice! I haven't listened to this piece in a long time, and now I want to get out my Mozart book, again, and play it.

Going off topic a bit, do you ever wonder what Mozart, Chopin, and all the rest were thinking when they composed these dramatic pieces? I always wish I could go back in time and ask them.

Often a dark and dramatic work was a response to some tragic event in personal life. I know this was the case with Mozart sometimes (like with his famous stormy A minor sonata) but not sure if it applies to this Fantasie.

Good recording! I enjoyed it. I agree with that the opening was rather slow, but it sounded good. The middle sections in particular were very nice. One of the runs before the Andantino sounded a bit rushed through, but that's very little detail . Furtheron some little mistakes I thought, but very solid playing, good job!

Btw, did you add reverb? I can't really hear, it sounds very living room-like .

EDIT: And btw, interesting to hear that you played the end, when the beginning theme comes again, somewhat "different" than the begin, I thought.

[/quote]Often a dark and dramatic work was a response to some tragic event in personal life. I know this was the case with Mozart sometimes (like with his famous stormy A minor sonata) but not sure if it applies to this Fantasie.
[quote]

I don't know if fantasies follow a certain structure, but maybe composers are just fantasizing when they compose a fantasie? Who knows, right? I do wonder what they would have fantasized about. Guess I'll just have to get my time machine going.

Well if you see ole Wolfgang, say hi from me

And lets get back on topic now....

A fantasy has less rules than a sonata, as far as I know, and yeah, concerns the fantasies of the composer I guess . They tend to have more sections of different tempi.

Btw, my father sells time machines for 3000 US dollars, want to buy one ?

thank you all for the warm comments


that is exactely the same thing my teacher said to me after the competition. and i am of the same opinion... i was a bit scared and nervous, because this was my first piece at this competition, and i did not want to risk something... the liszt etude i played after the fantasia (yes a liszt etude at a mozart competition^^) was very free and with much more risk and fun


i changed my teacher. now i get my lessons from a concert pianist. i think that explains, why i have developed so well. it is a huge difference between my new teacher and my old one
and yeah,i did very well at this competition. i won the first prize, which might also have something to do with the liszt etude (sounded very impressing i guess)


this would be great. it will make me very proud to see my interpretation of mozart among so many other brilliant mozart-recordings
thanks a lot.

best regards
gregor

PS:

i did not add anything to this recording. should i?
and, actually, the room, where the competition took place, was living- room-sized. it was very small, but the piano was quite good

May I ask which liszt etude?

gr,

robert

the preludio of the etudes d'execution transcendante. i know it is the first and the easiest, but quite an impressing piece, if you treat it as a prelude and not an encore piece^^

best regards
gregor[/quote]

Ah yes, a great little piece. Where's that recording then ? We want it !

Ok, your recording is up !
As for reverb - some light reverb like 'Light Concert Hall' makes it marginally more impressive, but the natural reverb here is really quite good, and there is no need to add anything to it.

well, i have not got any recording of it from the competition, because it was not so important as the mozart fantasia for me.
but i will record it soon at home, maybe tomorrow. my piano sounds, unforntunately a little bit metallic. do you have any idea how to change that?
are there possibilities to edit it digitally??

regards
gregor

Metallic, hm. Could be it needs voicing. The felt on the hammers is then needled to make them softer and provide a better contact with the strings. You should ask your tuner/technician. For a Liszt etude it may not be a problem.

There's programs like Audacity and CoolEdit that let you do anything at all to a recording. Not sure if they can cure a metallic sound though.