Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 interpretation & technique

Hey PW,
I am currently learning the aforementioned prelude, and, without a teacher to go by, am not sure how I should play the first section. Should I play it fast like Kissin, emotional like Gilels, or something else completely? Also, a bit of a recurring problem is that I can't properly play the sixteenths with my left hand. It is always too slow! Should I use lots of wrist motion, or play the section more slowly, or what? Thanks everyone!

I don't think that you should try to emulate Kissin, Gilels, or anyone else. You should study the piece and decide what your interpretation is, not copy someone else's.

The Schirmer edition marks this at MM = 108 to the quarter note; Ruth Laredo in her Peters Edition marks it at 112. Whatever tempo you choose, the sixteenth-notes in the left hand must be in tempo. The piece is marked "Alla marcia", a designation that indicates pretty strict timing for the first section. If you can't play the sixteenth-notes at the same tempo as everything else in the section, then you have to adjust your tempo so that everything is at the same tempo.

If it's still too slow, then perhaps this isn't the time to be working on this Prelude.

Regards,

Ok that's what I've been doing for the interpretation, and the 16th note problems are at around 108, so maybe I can tone it down just a bit. It's like 60% of the time they are fine but then for whatever reason I just can't play them as 3 but instead 2 and it's really annoying.

I agree with Bruce.....live with the piece , listen to different performances, then you will gradually choose what is right for you. This is not an easy piece....If the LH sixteenths are a problem are you ready for this piece??

I believe I am ready, I've been focusing on those sixteenths and they work now. I've worked on it for about a month or so and can play the majority of the first section fairly well. It's just that I don't want to fall into some bad habit of the LH sixteenths, like using too much arm or not enough wrist or something.

I guess my main question is how to play the sixteenths. Should I have my hands flat, or should I bend my wrist and make my hands very floppy? I have tried both ways and I am not sure which is more efficient.

At the risk of trying to poorly describe something which would be so easy to demonstrate (sigh!):

I would suggest that you not use heavy arm weight on those sixteenth-note chords but that you drop down on them fairly lightly* and "spring" off the third one with a distinctly upward motion of the wrist. Let that third chord be a sort of jumping off point. This, if done the way I think (!) I'm trying to describe it, would enable you to play the chords quickly and would help avoid tension.

* In practice (but much less so in performance) aim for and accent the third chord as you spring (bounce?) away from it.

I'm not sure this conveys what I'm trying to convey.

Regards,

Ramzi,

Why don't you post a video that shows any hand/wrist/arm issues you want people to examine.

Actually I've been trying out Bruce's technique and it works really well. I'll post a video when I can, but I've got it down. Thanks Bruce!

Not necessarily something you should do in particular, but Prokofiev has a fairly interesting interpretation, especially in the middle section:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjutQ97DRhw

I had to listen to this piece for some months while eldest son learned it. I could practically recite each note from memory!