Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Members Recordings - Pianist Corner Rachmaninov sonata no. 1 live in concert

Recently performed Rachmaninov sonata no. 1 - here are the second and third movements (first is coming later, there was a little problem.) With this being my first time with the entire piece in public, some things were awful but I was mostly happy to survive. I'll be keeping it in my repertoire and hope to one day do justice to the work.


Oh yeah and this is the recital that was rescheduled to be 10 days earlier than the original date.. long story... ha...ha...

Hope you like the piece!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4397rm1RBY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0JVsKdpmqo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You have wrestled with the spirit of Rachmaninoff and forced him to tell you his secrets. Phenomenal playing.

--Andy

i think you play with great beauty and clarity of expression(you make what the composer is saying and you are saying clear to the listener).

Nice! You bring out the lyricism of the 3rd movement nicely - few do!

Do you guys think the video looks too weird? I didn't want the light to be too bright during the recital so it turned out kind of dark...

I think it looks elegant!

Second movement :

This is absolutely stunning playing! The overall structure of the movement is beautifully conceived through a strong sense of direction; there is on-going movement to, and ultimate arrival at, the goal. I have the feeling that accomplishing this is sometimes more difficult in Rachmaninoff than in many other composers. The tempo of this movement seems just so right.

The articulation, voicing, balance, dynamics (not to mention the overall apparent ease in the playing) make the technical and musical challenges of this movement seem non-existent; it is all music-making of the highest order.

I don't think the video image is too dark; I rather like how the low(er) lighting contributes to the overall mood of the movement.

I'm eagerly looking forward to listening to the third movement.

In the meantime: thank you!

Regards,

Petya -

I'm completely in awe. Your playing has come a long way in the past three years - and you have an incredibly bright future ahead of you.

By all means keep this sonata in your repertoire. It is definitely YOUR piece !!!!!

I listened to both movements - twice !!!!

So looking forward to the 1st Movement.

It just looks there is not enough light. The piano case cannot even be seen except for the lid.

Yeah there wasnt enough of it.. For some reason I was extra sensitive to light that day and demanded minimal light and wouldn't listen to my recording engineer haha... oops ..

Thanks for the generous comments, guys!

Outstanding performance--

To be honest, I wonder why a pianist of your caliber would bother posting performances on a forum where 99% of the members are vastly inferior pianists. But I'm glad you did, because I wouldn't have heard it otherwise! The second movement was truly beautiful. I've always found the 3rd movement to be far too long, but maybe you'll be the first to convince me...

Does a superior drama critic have to be a Shakespearean actor to know good acting? Does an art connoisseur have to be a world-class artist to appreciate fine art?

Many a music critic and many a music historian - and I'm talking about the good ones - are astute judges of performance without ever having been on stage themselves.

Many of us have spent much of our lives listening critically and appreciatively to music, going to performances, studying scores and recordings. Even if we may be "vastly inferior pianists" - a remark I take exception to - we can still be good judges of performances in areas to which we have devoted much of our passion.

PERFORM IT AT A CONCERT SOON SO I CAN SEE YOU LIVE!

This is a great performance (a few technical slips can't change that impression). When I listen to this, I an tell that you've taken your own approach to the score, and you've put a lot of thought into it. I love how you've shaped all of the small details! Bringing out those small little bits that we found hidden in the score...

It's also great because it sounds like you're totally in control, musically, and technically....contrary to how you're always saying how you're freaking out...I wish I had that sort of composure when I perform.

Only gripe would be that I wish you took the march a bit faster...and it's heresy, but that A in double octaves (second last bar) would be cool if it's taken an octave lower. Just my bad taste...hahaa :P

I'm really excited for the first movement, please post when it's ready!

Plus, now I really want to learn this piece...

A wise response, as always, from Bruce, who has provided excellent critiques himself on numerous occasions, even though he may not be a world-class pianist.

"Vastly inferior pianists" is going to be totally subjective, unless we're talking about raw technique, so I don't like this remark either.

It's true that critics don't necessarily have to be proficient in the art they are criticizing, but it certainly helps. I'm new here so I may be wrong, but it seems to me that there aren't many regular posters who would be confident enough to critique a performance of this quality, regardless of their own playing ability. Meanwhile, Pogorelich stated that she was "happy to have survived it", which would seem to imply that she sees a lot of room for improvement. If the gap between her perception of her own performance and the perception of everyone else who has posted so far is so great, it doesn't seem likely that she could stand to gain much by posting, except a confidence booster. I don't play for a group of (musically average) 9-year-olds and expect to receive anything valuable from their comments. It could happen of course, but it would be unlikely.

EDIT: Though in hindsight, I do regret the "vastly inferior" remark. It was definitely an exaggeration. I made the mistake of assuming I was a "typical" poster and comparing to my own abilities, but I had no right to do so.

She may be posting just to share her performance, rather than to try and take any valuable advice away from the comments on the thread (which is why I haven't provided any).

I am pretty much just sharing

And yes, Kuan - I took that significantly slower than usual because I got so tired at that point that I didn't want to risk too too many wrong notes... Need more sleep next time!

I love this piece and I think it should be played more.. I really really want to make a difference and if possible get more people to learn it..... I think it is one o the best works he wrote. My personal favorite.

In some ways it's good that it's underplayed - everybody who touches it brings something fresh and undiscovered to the work...much like what you've done here! Totally different than how I've conceptualized it (same with OSK I think....), but it still works.

I'm glad to be part of the camp that thinks that the first sonata definitely stands up equally to (and IMO, is better than) the second sonata. Love it so much!