Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Rach Prelude in Gm - Please advise in choosing a recording

Hi all,

I am a high school senior, currently applying to colleges (eek), and also a passionate pianist . Some colleges are letting me submit a music “supplement,” so I’m preparing a couple of video recordings: Rachmaninoff's Prelude in Gm (Op.23 #5), and Debussy's Clair de Lune. These are two pieces I love to play, and I hope they’ll showcase my varied strengths.

However, I’m having trouble making a Rach recording that I’m 100% happy with. None of them are perfect (notes!). If you have 15 minutes or so to listen to these recordings, I would truly appreciate your input on the matter.
- Which performance would you recommend?
- Which one evokes the most emotion, seems the most genuine/passionate?
- Which has the least jarring note slips?

In no particular order,
No. 1: https://youtu.be/-79LDnCN42M feels a little more sensitive - might be my pick if not for a few too many slipups (especially around 3:25)
No. 2: https://youtu.be/BkXBd3hwtQA perhaps my favorite? the middle section is a little course
No. 3: https://youtu.be/PbPsbUFfH04 never could nail that octave Gm scale-run-thing (this might be my least favorite of 1-3)
No. 4, an older one: https://youtu.be/UpVf8_ushc4

My thoughts: #4 is a bit more controlled and accurate, but the piece hadn’t quite settled into my hands yet, if that makes sense; it feels a little too mechanical. Now I feel like I can play the piece with more gusto, but I’ve lost some accuracy as I’ve been learning other pieces. I’d love to put some hours in to polish up this prelude, but deadlines are looming and I really need finish polishing up the actual writing sections of my applications.

Of the plaid performances, I'm leaning towards #2. I think it has the least slip-ups at the end. I would, however love some outside opinions. My sincere thanks.

Cove

[I’d like to add, this music supplement is purely optional—I’m not applying to any conservatory-level programs. I hope that it will convey that piano is something I am passionate about, I have put time and effort into it, and I have the potential to contribute to the school community … of course, the more meticulous the better … but I am okay with a note slip here and there if it doesn’t define the performance. Again, my thanks ]

At the risk of messing up your life 😀, I'd say . . .

On balance, I would agree that two is the more assured performance. Four has the public-performance-on-a-grand factor going for it, but the admissions people would probably pick up on your being younger, there (and wonder "what lately?"). (I say that having seen the plaid "Claire de lune" vid that YouTube displays--very nice!)

Good luck at this exciting time in your life! Whatever your major, do try to take piano lessons with a prof (such non-major lessons are usually available, although sometimes you have to be a music minor).

Thank you so much for the input, WhoDwaldi! And thank you for the wishes. I certainly intend to intend to keep taking lessons .

My piano instructor agrees that #2 is a better choice than 4. I still haven't quite settled on 1 versus 2—if anyone else has an opinion I would certainly appreciate it—but I'm pretty strongly leaning towards 2.

It is easier for the listener to follow the lines of the inner voices in the middle section of #1, but I'd say #2 starts better.

Make your teacher decide and take any potential blame.

Ya, discuss this with your teacher. Posting here, honestly, makes me feel like you are a typical, hot-shot teenager trying to show off, sorry. Or, just choose one, because when you do a live audition, you aren't going to get seven chances!

Regarding recordings, keep in mind that the pros, even on YouTube, are splicing together several takes, and when I record, well, even "easy" pieces are 10 takes in the making, even if each one is just fine in its own way, but that's for my job; not a college audition.

I would advise you to do another recording with the piano tuned properly, especially since you are not playing for musicians who can filter things like that out.

This forum can be a bit of a "tough room." 😀

I think most of the responders are missing that the OP is not applying to a conservatory program. If you are applying to a conservatory BA program, for a more rounded overall experience versus a strenuous B.Mus performance degree, the audition standards are wildly different. If you are applying to a different program entirely, then you are lucky if they review the material at all, because they get so many applications.

Nice playing! It's definitely worth it to submit these as a music supplement.

I'd go with either 1 or 4. I didn't bother listening to 3 because you didn't like it.
1 shows the musical lines better and is more expressive in the middle section. But you rush a lot in the outer sections and kind of brush by those octave passages instead of enjoying them. I didn't actually hear much in the way of slip-ups. A couple of blurry octaves maybe. In a live performance/unedited video, people know there are going to be a couple of wayward notes here and there, particularly in that kind of passage.
4 is more rhythmic in the outer sections, you don't rush, and you have better transitions. But the middle section is a little more plodding and not as linear.

I don't like 2 because it both rushes and bangs too much. Neither of these things distinguishes you from other teenage players. Musical playing will.

It's too bad you're not considering making another recording. I think that if you don't rush and keep on with the tempo that you start at, those tricky sections will fall right into place and be easier, more fun, and more rhythmic, without really investing that much more practice time. And you'll play the middle section more musically than you did in #4, now that it's more in your ear. But deadlines are what they are and these are certainly good recordings that show your skill and your approach to the piano.


Good luck and I certainly hope you keep playing!