Piano World Home Page Forums Fun Stuff! - Parties, Tours, Projects & More... Member Recordings G. Catoire, Op. 12, No. 4, "Etude Fantastique"

Continuing with Catoire's Op. 12 from 1901, here is No. 4, the "Etude Fantastique". I hope you enjoy it. Link:

http://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=37224.0

Downloading now...

Hi Horowitzian,

Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

Roger that! Haven't gotten around to listening to it just yet. I will in a bit.

I've been playing 33/9. it's very romantic and I'm surprised I like it so much... I'm not a romantic type.

this piece sounds very difficult.. but it's easy to listen to. I am really drawn to the music that you happen to like David.

Hi apple*

On Sergei B's 33/9, I think the piece straddles a line between late romanticism and impressionism. Therein lies its magic.

Yes, this Catoire etude is difficult indeed. It definitely taxed me! I haven't declared victory yet. I'm going to let it simmer and re-engage it in the future. There are some things I'd like to polish more and also to include some more nuances in my playing. It's an extraordinary piece though, isn't it?

Thanks for listening!

David

Very much enjoyed this. I do feel that it is stretching your technical resources more than the previous pieces in this set, but nevertheless you managed to bring it off nicely. Let us know if you re-record it at any point, once you declare 'victory'.

[edit] I was familiar with this piece already thanks to Koji's recording.

Thanks for listening and commenting. Yes, it's certainly a difficult piece to play, and as you point out, definitely the hardest of Op. 12. Nevertheless, I believe I was able to put it over convincingly to the listeners. That's always the final test.

Koji's live performance is excellent. Hamelin also made an earlier fine recording of the etude.

Hmmm, ya know I happen to have some iTunes gift cards left over... Would you happen to know the album?

Yes--it's on Hyperion CDA67090 "Catoire Piano Music". Hamelin makes it all sound so effortless, of course, which I admire. While the amateur might, naturally, envy the professional's "big technique", he actually has one advantage over the professional in a piece such as this forbidding etude. In his playing the amateur reveals the edge of the dark struggle which adds an element of excitement to the unedited performance. Nothing there can be assumed to be effortless. Just my own perception and opinion though.

Thanks! Normally, I prefer to buy CD's for my classical music library, and only use iTunes for popular music, but I think I'm going to make an exception here.

Thank you, very much, for making this composer's music known more widely.

Hi elecmuse3,

The pleasure is all mine. I feel a strong affinity to this wonderful music of Catoire, so really enjoy sharing it with others. I'm delighted to know that you enjoy hearing it. Thanks!

Just downloaded the Catoire 'Piano Music' title from iTunes. Great stuff, I think I shall purchase this on CD as well.

Hi Horowitzian,

You're a true Catoire fan! I'm glad you enjoy this music so much.

Hehe, I love it! And I can't help but marvel at the ease with which Hamelin throws this music off. I wish more pros would play this kind of thing.

Hi RachFan,

Well, I finally had enough free time in one sitting to give this the listen it deserves. (In fact, all your recordings deserve my full attention.)

The complexity and difficulty of this piece makes it clear why you haven't been posting stuff lately.

You perform this quite well, I think. Yes, I caught the few passages where there was a little flubbing, but I don't think those are particularly important because, when you revisit this piece, you'll iron that out. You controlled the dynamics well, but even more importantly I think you controlled the melody lines very nicely. With all the interleaving arpeggios, emphasizing the melody without being harsh is a real accomplishment. For all its soaring major harmonies, this piece has a kind of shadow haunting its background, surfacing in its augmented intervals like the recurring "sigh" and the similar arpeggio passage. I like the play between the two moods, and I think I got that readily from your performance.

This was certainly a major undertaking and accomplishment on your part. Contrary to your comment on the other web site, I think you're quite up to the athletics of this piece in spite of your age.

Congratulations!

Thanks Chris!

You're right--this is a piece that one could revisit many times in the future, finding ways to enhance performance even more. And I love the piece so much, I'm positive I'll be doing that when time allows.

In playing the piece, it almost seems as though it requires three hands. The RH contains melody and its own busy accompaniment, while the LH adds accompaniment and some strategic harmonies. But there are frequent melodic hand-offs between the hands as well. Thus, as you point out, etching the melody at all times is paramount. There are a few places where I think I could have brought that out even more. But the good news is, I know exactly where, so when I revisit the piece, those situations could be focal points of improvement.

Ah, that persistent sigh motif... do you know, as I listen even now to the recording I discover sighs in the textures that I missed? They're buried all over the place in that score!!!

You make an interesting point about that shadow lingering in the background. There is another composer who does something quite similar, Frank Bridge. In his piano pieces, on the surface things always seem quite normal, yet there is often a feeling of something more sinister lurking just out of sight.

Age, ha-ha! My final motivation, actually, was to show the younger pianists that I still have the grit and spunk to play a piece like this. :-)

Thanks for listening, Chris, and for your perceptive and very kind comments too. I appreciate that from a fine pianist like yourself as well as someone who shares the Baldwin piano passion.

P.S. In addition to Piano Street, the recording is also hosted at Piano Society.

David

I know what you mean. Occasionally I have the urge to revisit the Chopin Scherzo in B minor for the same reason.

Hi Chris,

You should probably do it. As Anton Rubinstein used to say, "Just will it!" There's actually a lot of power in that.

David