I recorded this (as well as 72/1) for the Chopin nocturne recital. I realize I messed the next to last measure up (left out the ascending notes) but it was one of those things... every recording I made had something in it I wasn't happy with and this one ended up being the one I could live with the most. I would welcome any comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTgYDJu3umY&feature=channel

Damn, you make that look and sound so easy. I know better than that.

Nice job Peyton. Your phrasings are tasty. I really enjoyed your playing.

This is one of my favorite nocturne and after seeing your video, this will have to be the next one to learn =)

I like very much the emphasis on the bass notes at the end of the middle section.A touch of class.

Hi......I'm new here and just discovered this section. You shouldn't worry for a second about the missing measure (which, to tell you the truth, I wouldn't even have noticed, because the shape and flow were so good). Beautiful Chopin playing! Great rubato/flexibility of rhythm, real good dynamic range. And BTW.......I know exactly how it is with not being completely satisfied with any of the takes! There's always some sacrifice we have to make, whichever one we pick, unless we're Horowitz. Or maybe especially if we're Horowitz.
Great job!

P.S. I put a comment on the video too.

BTW......I never knew anything about Kapustin till a couple of people played him at the last Van Cliburn amateur competition ('07). They both had quite a sensation with him.

....yes......and I would add that all the transitions were very good. (Meant to say that before but forgot....)

Many thanks for the great comments. Mark, glad you found this section of the forum. Given your Chopin playing experience I really appreciate your critique.

Most welcome......and glad to make the acquaintance on here. I've seen your posts elsewhere but I'm not sure if we had 'conversed' yet.
I was glad to be able to connect the 'name' with some playing. Very nice performance!

Sublime. Chopin is my favorite composer; thank you for this.

P.S. Peyton -- just realized this had been "yours".....when I first looked at it and did the post, I was a total n00b and had no idea who was who.
Of course after a while the dots on the page become 'real people'.....

Peyton,

Super well done. A joy to my ear.

Glen

Nice job, Peyton! I love this nocturne especially. You play with a lot of passion and I really enjoyed it. Tons of rubato which is great! Thanks for sharing

Thanks. I know I use a lot of rubato and have taken some flak with other works but with Chopin I just feel it works.

Thanks for introducing me to this piece in such a fine way. Sounds beautiful. Very high quality recording.

Hi, it sounds very good! Can you give me tips for recording and how you did it?

Hi Peyton--

A very nice job with this nocturne! Thanks for posting it.

I was wondering about your choice of rhythms in the middle section. I've never heard the right-hand octave melody played like that. It wasn't the usual rubato or slight rhythmic distortion one sometimes hears; this sounded like something completely different to me. The rest of the performance observed the rhythms pretty carefully, so was it a conscious choice to change the rhythm of the middle section's melody? Very curious.

-Jason

Suh-weet!

I'm impressed with the video quality also. If I may ask, what did you use to record?

I take full responsibility... I've played it that way for a while and just really started to like it like that. My old piano teacher, if she were still around, would probably slap me silly.

Da-Risin-Smoke and BlueBKLYN, thanks for the positive comments. I'm no master recorder. Sometimes I just do better than other times. I use two Behringer C-2 mics in a V formation right over the middle of the strings (you can see the layout in the video) . They go to a mixer and then into my computer. I have a Mac and use a program called Metro. I use no reverb. I taped the video on a Canon HV30. I put the video and audio file up on i-movie, strip the audio off the video and then do my best to match the new audio and vid up.