Good day!

This is from a piano competition I participated in on the 18th. Just some general feedback would be great as I hope to play this piece some time soon to a much better standard, however I received first place in the competition.

Hi there, B747 -- Overall, I can see why you won the competition; it's a straightforward. sensitive presentation, faithful to the directives in the score. I thought the "B" section was somewhat too aggressive at the outset, although I thought it was consistent with the emotional arc that you developed. I need somewhat more clarity in the "B" section than you provided. Check out a couple of the harmonic "surprises" in the restatement of the "A" theme; I believe I heard a couple of "learned" wrong notes (even in early Debussy, I've almost always misread the harmonic intentions at a few points in his scores.). Finally, I think your rendition would benefit with imparting more of a "dreamlike" quality -- just a slight overall change in mindset. I realize that you're concerned about "getting it right", and that's good; but I need a little more sense of "the magic" that makes this piece so captivating.

Great job, though! Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations on winning the competition.

I think the B section should be less agreessive, less brilliant, softer, and perhaps slower. It sounds like your conception of this part is more like an etude. Also the chordal crescendo in the measures before the B section seems extreme. I think you mistimed the places in measures 3,13 and 14 and where Debussy writes "2". I also think the A section should be played more gently.

I would be more careful about shaping the melody throughout as there seem to be some notes in the melody that are either too soft or too loud for no apparent reason. For example, the A flat on the 7th beat of measure six. The C flat change in the bass harmony on the last page should be much more special and audible.

What they said (about finding some subtlety for the B section and carefully re-studying the post-B sections.)

Still, this was a very satisfying performance to hear, and quite lovely and engaging. You had me by the hand the whole way, and I didn't want to let go when it was over.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing this!

--Andy

Someone managed to also capture some footage or my playing - it's interesting to see how different it sounds from a closer range and with a proper camera - especially in terms of dynamics. I agree with all comments made on this post, the middle section did sound just too brilliant, I understand it should be much calmer, it's just a matter of getting it that way!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA9S3DRqLYk&feature=plcp