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Deborah:

There's some good advice here. The Waldstein was the most difficult piano piece I ever studied; I managed to bring it to performance level, but in hindsight... well you know how it goes.

The measures you cite I took with 4/2. In practicing I played them as block chords, then later added the tremolo. In measures 16-17 and 20-22, the melodic importance is in the right hand, and the phrasing there must be mastered first before worrying about what the left hand is doing.

Same with the Pathetique. People fuss about the left hand broken octaves -which, IMO should never be an issue- but this is all because what the right hand is doing has not been properly prepared.

Thank you for clarifying Mark.

Jason, thanks for the alternate perspective. I actually hear no problem with the right hand and haven't focused on it. I will now.

I never had a problem with the broken octaves in the Pathetique. I did have problems with the hand crossing at the tempo I wanted because...well...there are two anatomical obstructions that make it difficult to execute quickly.

It is a quiet passage, so try to use as compact and contained a motion as you can - quiet arm, quiet wrist, just gently rotating hand with light pedal. Curling your fingers in closer to your hand will help you keep everything under control in a small space - the more extended they are, the more difficult it will be to do rapid repetitive motions. So it's different than the technique you would use in the Pathetique, in which your thumb is extended as a matter of course because you are playing octaves.

Thank you Jeffrey. I'm going to have to print out this entire page so I can bring all this great advice to the piano.