And all I can say is WOW!!! I am speechless.
He played a mini-recital for a few family members and friends in the big recital hall at the University (massive Steinway D). Although he said he was nervous, he seemed at ease up on stage, he looked very relaxed and natural while he played. He was AMAZING. First he played Beethoven's Sonata Op 7 (Eb major), next he breezed through two of Chopin's Etudes: Op 25 #1 - Ab major, and Opus 10 #4 (Awesome ) and then he ended with Chopin's Bacca(Ican'tspellit?)rolle Opus 60. Hopefully, he will visit us (and our little Walter) to give a repeat performance on Thursday, where I will also attempt to stumble through the Brahms Intermezzo I have been working on for like my ENTIRE LIFE. I'll let you all know how it goes... Jodi

[ July 01, 2001: Message edited by: jodi ]

wow breezing thru chopin etudes!! wish i could hear u play ryan...=] esp. the 10.4 - my favourite etude!!

How cool! But it doesn't surprise me... there are several on this board you can just "tell" are undoubtedly very acccomplished.

wgh

Thanks for the kind words, Jodi! Thanks for coming.

It pretty much came together at the last minute. I had several people from back home ask me if they could hear me play sometime - it had been 8 or more years since most of them had heard me play last. I looked around for a more medium sized location, but finally it came down to the recital hall. I'm glad I played there now. I think that Steinway D has a beautiful tone, and it's action felt really good, except for the treble C# that stuck when I depressed the una corda pedal. And, it was a good experience to play on a stage after a break of many years.

I had a lot of fun and was pleased with how things went overall. I learned some things about performing these works. For instance, I rushed the Beethoven pretty badly and used too much pedal, which was totally due to nerves. It caused me to miss detail and to have a few slips that I hadn't had before. Laying back just a tad would have really helped. Also, the first section of the Barcarolle needed more rubato to round it out. I was afraid of overdoing it, but wound up underdoing it. These are the kinds of things you find out when you play for other people, which is what makes it such a valuable experience.

Anyway, thanks for coming. It was great to meet you!

Ryan