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Nocturne in G minor, Op. 37 No. 1 - ElaineAllegro
Well played. I played this a bit slower especially the middle chord section. But that doesn't make yours wrong or anything, I'm just used to it like that.
I liked listening to it. Nice phrasing of the melody. Thanks for sharing!


Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Op. 48 No. 2 - BruceD
What a performance. Brava!
I never gave this nocturne a lot of attention before. Now I will certainly take a look at it. you inspired me

Thanks everyone for the compliments! I was a bit short on time to record so I had to piece that one together.

I didn't mention this, but I recorded that on my Kawai MP11 digital. I think it sounds pretty darn nice for a digital using the on-board sounds (vs. software piano). What do you think?

I was messing around with different recording techniques, and I made another recording here which I think is better quality recording-wise. It's all one take and there are some mistakes in there, but feel free to listen:

https://app.box.com/s/ez90wu4myams9s5ma2vj

There has also been a request to record it on my Petrof for comparison so perhaps I'll give that a go today for anyone who's interested in that sort of thing

Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 - Morodiene

Beautiful playing of the melodic lines in the transparent main part and excellent dynamics in the dramatic middle part made this a real treat for me. You have a deep understanding of this music and the capability of great expression.

Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 - chopinoholic

I was impressed by the way you handled this difficult piece. Great pianistic technique and fine dynamics. Thanks for sharing.

Nocturne in B major, Op. 32 No. 1 - Brad Hoehne

So nice to hear this piece played on the vintage instrument. Very beautiful nocturne!

Nocturne in A-flat major, Op. 32 No. 2 – dynamobt

You bring out the melody line beautifully and your dynamics are great. I greatly enjoyed listening to your performance.

Please, record it on your petrof 9'2". that should be a blast.

Thanks Ganddalf.

Thank you so much, Chopinoholic, for your kind response. This recording is a bit faster than I usually play this Nocturne, but it was the best phrased of several takes. (My Andante becomes Allegro, if not Molto Vivace, due to performance panic. Working on that...)

I have acquired three different versions of the score of Op 32 #1, and the pedal markings in two suggest "lift the pedal" on the note and the third suggests lift on the fermata. That version, strangely, has stacatto/sforzando on both chords. Another has a sforzando on the second with no stacatto on either but the pedal markings "lift" at the note. The third has no interpretive suggestion. In other words >confusion.< (Why is that that Chopin is so prone to such wildly different editions?)


I didn't use any pedal at all to make the previous notes clearer, but held the half-notes g and b to their full length. I thought it provided a nice contrast to the dying "recitative" at the end.

I've never been that much of a Chopin fan, but after the Mazurka e-cital, and now after listening to these first few "sets" of the Nocturnes, I might just turn into a Chopin geek. Such sensitive playing by PW members!

DoctorS, Op. 9, No. 1: Your playing, the sounds you coaxed from the piano with their nuances of tone, put me into a reverie. I have listened to your track a number of times, now, and each time, there are moments where I am so engaged that I forget to breathe! Wow, that's beautiful playing!

ChopinLives81, Op. 9, No. 2: Was that a flawless performance? It seemed like it...

Roland the Beagle, Op. 15, No. 1: You infuse this piece with drama and manage to not overdo it. Beautifully measured in intensity from beginning to end.

Dame Myra, Op. 15, No. 2: Ah, the bell-like tones of "old, out of tune piano," and played inside of an empty tanker, no less! Seriously, though, I've listened to your track a number of times now, and your playing is so fine! Truly graceful and sensitive. This piece has obviously matured with you over time--it seems as though you are old friends, and you know each other well!

FarmGirl, Op. 15, No. 3: Despite the "simple beauty" of it (as you say), it isn't an easy piece, is it? But here is what I noticed: your layering of accompaniment and voice in the opening section, and the relaxed flow of it is, well, simply beautiful! Throughout the piece, you seem to have a great sense of where it's going. In the chordal section, the emotion and flow is there to be had. Very nicely done, FG, especially for a new piece!

Morodiene, Op. 27, No. 1: Wow, I think I have never heard you play so freely or deeply! Obviously, you feel a special connection with this piece, and you use your instrument to full advantage. Excellent musicianship, here, if I may be so bold as to say it.

chopinoholic, Op. 27, No. 2: You've played this piece a few times before, haven't you? This playing is so good that it is difficult to describe my sense of it, other than to say that when I think of "Chopin," this is the kind of playing I think of. I think you have gone beyond to grab the Platonic ideal of "Chopin" to bring forward for us to hear.

Brad Hoehne, Op. 32, No. 1: Brad, I found your March 20 recording on the side bar, and clicked on it. It was much easier to "understand" than the March 22, so that is the performance I am commenting about. So, this piece is about "stop and go," or, "flow and stop." Your flow is beautiful, and in this recording, the intentionality of your dynamics can be heard, and the "stops" make sense because there is that little bit of natural reverberation in the air to soften the blow of "silence," so that, at the end of the piece, where the carry-over note is added, that note has so much meaning! Yours is a very serious and thoughtful rendition, Brad. And, ah, the bell-like tones of "old piano."

dynamobt, Op. 32, No. 2: Wow, you really "get" this one, dynamobt! You've found a touching pulse that beats gently throughout, like quiet rocking to calm the fussy baby. The introduction sounds like, "Shhh. shh-shh-shhush." Then, extended comfort and enfolding security. Safety in a dangerous world is what I hear in your interpretation. Thank you for the shelter of your pinions for these few minutes!

ElaineAllegro, Op. 37, No. 1: Truly a ponderous piece, played on a ponderous instrument, no doubt! This one sounds solidly handled, and you execute the fioritura with such aplomb!

BruceD, Op. 48, No. 2: It sings in your hands, Bruce. Beautiful lines, expertly shaped and phrased. That was a compelling performance.

--Andy

Because Chopin believed in the phrase, "Use your musical judgement."

Or, because no composition is ever truly finished.

Or, because there was a time when editors felt free to "improve" the work of composers.

Or,...?

Ahhhh... what happened to Op. 48 No. 1? I was looking forward to hearing a different take on that one.

doctor S, 9/1
Your consummate skill in interpreting and realizing this gorgeous piece is truly impressive. Its wistful, melancholy character evokes the feeling of homesickness that Chopin felt after he left Poland for Paris. The dynamic nuances you bring to the piece are superb, and your tasteful use of rubato sounds just right to my ear. The ending was absolutely wondrous. If the rest of the recital is on this level, I may not leave my computer for the next several days.

Chopinlives81, 9/2
Nicely done performance of the first nocturne I learned. Your phrasing was beautiful, and I was pleasantly surprised by the dynamic range and clear tone you get out of your digital piano. One small observation: when you played in the lower bass range, there seemed to be more reverb than I heard in the rest of the piece. This may be an unavoidable part of digital sound reproduction or the natural sound of your particular piano. I have almost no experience playing digitals, so this reaction probably isn’t worth much. I especially admired the relaxed, fluid motion of your hands – something I strive for but often don’t get. Overall, this was a very satisfying performance.

Arthur Rubinstein, 9/3
Chopin as it should be played by his master interpreter. I heard Rubinstein play live several times in my youth, but never this piece. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it before now. It’s gorgeous – a musical dream, combining a beguiling simplicity with incomparable grace. The last few measures carry music to an exalted level rarely heard anymore. His long, exuberant life made this world richer.

Ronald the Beagle, 15/1
The opening and closing sections contain one of the sweetest, most tender of Chopin’s melodies, and you’ve done a great job of bringing it to the fore. That con fuoco mid section is a bear. Although the pros play it faster, your approach brought a very nice clarity to these pages that often gets lost in more rapid performances. My only suggestion for this part is that I think it would benefit from a more liberal use of pedal. This could enhance the integrated character of the section without sacrificing clarity. Your apologies for this performance in earlier posts are modest and, in my view, unwarranted. Nicely done.

Dame Myra, 15/2
A wonderfully evocative rendition of this deceptively tricky piece. Your fluid passage work and highly musical phrasing, tempos and dynamics bring Chopin’s genius to the fore. The funky sound of the piano puts me in mind of the closing scene in “The Pianist”, where he plays Chopin for the German soldier on an old instrument in a bombed-out building. I enjoyed it thoroughly and would love to hear it again under different acoustic conditions. This is terrific work.

Farm Girl, 15/3
I’m not very familiar with this piece, but I was charmed by your playing of it. Your playing of the bass line was particularly satisfying. I thought the apologetic tone of your earlier posts was endearing but unnecessary. You get a very nice sound out of the piano, and I look forward to hearing more in the future.

Morodiene, 27/1
This is masterful – a great performance of one of the great nocturnes. I was mesmerized by the sounds you made and astonished afterwards to discover this had been done on a digital piano. The beginning is shrouded in a mysterious fog, the treacherous middle section has a great heroic character, and the end section is drop dead gorgeous. Your playing of the last page took me off to some other place. Five stars!

Chopinholic, 27/2
A wonderful performance of the most difficult nocturne and one of the most musically demanding pieces Chopin composed. The balance between your right and left hands was perfect; all the notes were there in both hands, but the melody always sang out (here and there, a bit louder than I would like, but your way still works very nicely). The RH finger work was as fine and clear as any live performance I’ve heard by a professional, and the ending was heavenly. Please post more!

Brad Hoehne, 32/1
You’ve done a nice job with this piece. The simplicity of its melodic lines masks the difficulty in getting a musical sound from it. Throughout the piece, as you’ve noted yourself, the quality of your sound was a bit forward. This may have been the product of aggressive mike settings or the voicing of the piano. If you think your own finger weight had anything to do with that, you might try a trick that works for me in similar circumstances. Practicing the entire piece at ppp dynamics, then gradually turning up the volume and increasing the emphasis where needed without getting too far from the quiet baseline the piece needs, might prove helpful. I enjoyed your playing.

Dynamobt, 32/2
Another nice discovery for me from this recital – can’t recall hearing this nocturne before either. You really made the piano sing – gorgeous tone in your melodies, nicely balanced with a firm yet well subordinated left hand. Your flexible tempo, the lilt of your phrasing, exceptional pedaling – everything about this performance makes it worth repeated listening.

ElaineAllegro, 37/1
This performance reflects lots of hard work and thoughtful analysis. Right hand finger work is unfailingly clean, and you hold a basic tempo throughout with nice rubato in appropriate doses. The tone and sustain at the end of the piece were wonderful. Here and there, the sound can seem a little muddy. This could be the piano you were playing, a little lateness in pedal changes, or some of both. If you think pedal technique is an issue here, you might consider practicing this with no pedal at all, then reintroducing it gradually with careful attention to the pedal release markings in the score. This is a small issue with an otherwise fine performance.

Rubinstein, 37/2 and 48/1
See above. Enough said.

BruceD, 48/2
A glorious sound from someone who obviously knows his stuff. The bass on your Estonia is among the nicest I’ve heard anywhere, and you let it sing without overwhelming the upper melodies. I especially liked the rich, chorale-like quality of the middle chordal section. Your understanding of the music’s architecture is evident in your fine rendition of a long phrasing line, and the dynamic range of your playing is truly impressive.

chopinoholic, Andy, and Phil :

Thank you for your generously kind, and encouraging words! The Op. 48, No. 2, like so many of the Nocturnes with a predominantly single-note and unharmonized right hand shows, in my view, Chopin's predilection for the 'bel canto' style of singing that was so prominent in opera in Paris during his time there. To talk about being able to make the line 'sing' and to succeed in realizing the long phrasing line is, indeed, high praise for which I am most grateful.

The submissions I've been able to audition thus far are all impressive in so many ways. Such august musical company here!

Thank you!

Regards,

I can't say how satisfying the comments are about Op 32 no 2. I cheated a bit as I learned this piece last year. But it needed a full resurrection as I had lost most of it. And in re-discovering it, my understanding of it matured. I think I finally "got" the middle section and the importance of a "singing line". I did used to make that section sort of "scream" at you. It is much nicer to listen to with softer and wider range of dynamics.

Thank you all who have listened and commented so far. I'm not the most confident pianist. So, it doesn't hurt to hear nice comments about my playing. Besides, this Nocturne has become very near and dear to me as I spent so much time with it. It's not the most familiar. But, quite beautiful none the less. I've grown to love it very much.

The quality of submissions is very high in this recital. I feel less than qualified to comment. In truth, I'm speechless. Morodiene, BruceD., chopinoholic, just to name a few that I liked very much. They are all the result of much sweat and tears. I can tell. I thank all for participating. So much love went into these recordings.

Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 - Morodiene : One of my favorite Nocturnes, I just love all of the contrasts in emotion and the overall drama of the piece.

Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 - chopinoholic : Beautiful! I love your fioritura, and such a tender ending!

Nocturne in B major, Op. 32 No. 1 - Brad Hoehne : I can tell that you play this with a lot more tenderness than what comes out in the recording. It's unfortunate because the mic position and kind really obscures this musicality. Perhaps try re-recording it if you can with the mic in different positions until you find the right spot. Each mic is different, too, and so what might work best as a totally different mic. Personally, I prefer to set my mic from the player's perspective, I seem to get the best sound that way. I found close micing of the strings resulted in too much hammer/percussive noise. Apart form that you obviously have a good grasp of what you wanted to do in this piece with it's quirky ending.

Nocturne in A-flat major, Op. 32 No. 2 - dynamobt
: Lovely playing! I appreciate how you shaped this whole piece...that middle section really builds for quite a while but I think you paced yourself well, and then rounded everything off with the last two pages. Congrats!

Almost, it was a good take, but not perfect. Thank you for looking at it that way though.



Thank you for those kind words. To answer the reverb question; it's more to do with my recording equipment than with the digital. I'm still not 100% familiar with the best settings for my Linear PCM Recorder, but this is about as good as I can get it at the moment.

Set 5

Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 - Damon

Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 55 No. 2 - jeffreyjones

Nocturne in B major, Op. 62 No. 1 - Emanuel Ravelli

Nocturne in E major, Op. 62 No. 2 - dire tonic

Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1 - Morodiene

I didn't really know this nocturne before, but your lovely performance made me look it up in my book. What wonderful rubato and placement of beats! The well-voiced melody line had really good vocal quality. The climax section was sensational. I loved every second of it.

Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 - chopinoholic

This is one of my favorite nocturnes, and you certainly did it justice. Your tone is beautiful, and the atmosphere you created is one of calm serenity. I particularly liked the warm bass sound. Most people just keep the L.H. lurking in the background, but you brought out its lyrical element.

Some really exceptionally good performances so far.
That last batch in particular made me think "what was I thinking submitting a piece to this recital?"

Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1 - Damon

Damon, Wow...that is all.

Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1 - doctor S

Very nice, I'm not familiar with this, or most nocturnes, but I very much like your sense of rubato and your dynamics.

Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 - ChopinLives81
Actually, I had to turn my subs down for this one! Great job with what is probably the most familiar nocturne.


Nocturne in B major, Op. 9 No. 3 - Artur Rubinstein

This sounds pretty good.

Andy, Phil, dynamobt, morodiene, AZNpiano, thank you for those complimentary comments.

This really gives me boost. Thanks again.