Almost ready...

http://www.box.com/s/ca0ivvdf8acrplbvc8uf

Almost????

Sounds "ready" to me !!!

Bravo !!!!!

Some arpeggios aren't 100% clean. I have about 5 spots to polish then I'll upload another.

Awesome, but I could have sworn you've posted the whole set before.

Well of course I heard that - but for all "practical purposes" the piece sounds "ready" to me.

Wow!! That is very very good indeed.

I am revisiting this (and 10/2) nowadays and I really appreciate your playing. This is one of the etudes that require utmost concentration. And yes some of the arpeggios are really very awkward (with the original fingering of course).

Thanks for sharing.

regards,

Yeah, I'm going to play 10/1 and 10/2 back to back. It is difficult enough to pull off while I'm practicing -- and even more difficult live in front of an audience but I think I'm getting there.

Oh and Damon, the Op. 10 set I posted before was done in a recording studio. More specifically the 10/1 in that set was compiled from 3 different takes (haha). And it was actually slower than this recording.

This recording was done at home on my new Steinway and done in 1 take. I'll post another one where I play 10/1 and 10/2 back to back.

One take played almost perfectly is a quantum leap over three slower renditions pieced together !!! Good luck with this !!

Yes I found the old recording and this is much improved. The older one had every other note accented and this one is much smoother. However, the audio on the old one is much better. What did you use to record this? It sounds muffled in comparison to your old track. (just curious)

I bought a Zoom H4n portable recorder and I have started recording a lot of my practicing. It will sound muffled most likely because the lid on my piano is down and I have a cover over it. Which is okay, I'm not too terribly concerned with audio quality -- I just need to know how I sound like right after I play and the UI on this device is pretty handy for playback.

And here is our benchmark:



regards,

Argerich's version is a bit *too* fast but quite impressive nonetheless. She rushes the 4th beat a lot but I prefer Nicolay -- I think this is probably the best live performance I've ever seen:

I almost knew you would post this. Any of us interested in this etude would not miss it.

Actually Nicolay's video has been on my desktop since the competition.

regards,

Argerich Smargerich.

HERE is THE benchmark.

He smudges a note at around 1:09.

And, as keyboardklutz would say, "Where are the accents?". Also, I really don't like how everyone these days seems to play the bass fortissimo - it's ugly and not very Chopinesque, IMO.

Other than that, it's fine and dandy.

"Our?"

If I really had to choose one, it might be this -

But we are only accepting live performances.

regards,

Yes, faster than Chopin's indicated tempo of 176 MM.
She is averaging close to 182 MM (312 beats in 1 min 43 sec).

regards,

Impressive! I would love to play this some day.

Kissin is also way up there.
He is great in Chopin Etudes, as to be expected (also check out his 10/4, 25/11 from the same session).

i kind of like Ashkenazy.. maybe because i own the recording.. Martha's too. and Fuzzy8balls.. yours is pretty dang good.!

But the pitch on this video is almost half a tone sharp! Does that mean it has been speeded up?

Regards,

Sounds very good indeed Having just practiced this etude for hours this morning, I understand about the awkward passages :-/ The (C7 -> Cm7b5 -> F7 -> Abm) passage stretches my hand in ways I would prefer it not to be stretched.

Hi fuzzy8balls,

Well, first off, congratulations for handling this very difficult Étude. I don't know if you'd mind I'd say something, hoping it might help you, and i have tendency to do this myself. After you accented the first note of each group of 4, your next note is so weak that it's almost none existent and cuts a bit the flow. I know, easy said than done! Especially at a high speed. but just thought i'd mention. My personal preference on YouTube is Kissin's interpretation, love his L.H. Best of luck on your performance!

Guy Bacos

Hi guy, yes I am very much aware of the second note in the group of 16ths. Thanks for pointing it out to me. Going up it's usually ok (because it's the thumb that plays), but coming down is where I have the problems. I think it's because my 4th finger is lazy -- especially where the interval is a major or minor second between 4/5. It seems like the smaller the interval, the harder it is to control between 4 and 5. But if it's larger like a minor/major third or even fourths, the spacing makes it a bit easier for fingers 4 & 5. Still a WIP but I will upload recordings of each round (prelim, semi, final) as we get closer to May.