Very nice! Great job!

Im currently working on this piece too, I love it, sounds great.

Thanks for the compliments.

This is a great piece to learn. Its not terribly difficult to play and allows you to "show-off" wherever you are! Good luck with it.

-Paul

Paul,

My daughter and I were fishing around on PW and we found your recording. She is a pianist, younger than you (11 yo), and we both love Chopin. The Fantasie Impromptu is Rachael's favorite single Chopin piece.

Excellent job! Beautifully done, we both enjoyed your performance.

Warren

I wondered why my recordings got pushed to the bottom of the forum...then I listened to this. Now I know why. Well played.

Thankyou for your kind words Warren. Your daughter should give this piece a shot! How long has she been studying piano?

Your Rach 2 was amazing! Orchestra aside, your playing was very very musical! Congrats, you are brave to take on such hard pieces like this and the Liszt Mephisto waltz.

Your Rach 2 was amazing! Orchestra aside, your playing was very very musical! Congrats, you are brave to take on such hard pieces like this and the Liszt Mephisto waltz.[/b]
Thank you. I don't know about "brave", but I certainly had fun trying.

What else can you post a recording of? I'd like to hear some more...

Great stuff! I like your fluidity, and really wish I had those fingers - mine can't ever move fast enough. Also I liked the way you played the middle section, with natural phrasing and a sensible tempo to my ears. Well done!

Excellent performance, and excellent recording too. It all sounds very proffessional.

Excellent performance. Loved it!

Can you give us detail on how it was recorded?

The recording is equally good.

All I know is that it was recorded with 2 $800 microphones. lol. I can find out more and let you know. I also know that the student that was in charge of recording does not know how to properly edit the sound so this actually is not the best quality that it can be

Appreciate the reply and input!

Can you share a few technical details?

What type of piano? How big?
Was it recorded in a studio sized room [i.e., about 50 people] or a recital hall of [about 500]?

It was a Yamaha baby grand (about 6 ft?). It was recorded in an auditorium with about 160 seats and a pretty high ceiling so the sound really gets out there. Unfortunately, only about half of the seats were taken for my recital.

If there is anything else that you would like to know, don't hesitate to ask.

-Paul

Thanks! if you could find the recording equipment it would be great: A DAT player? A minidisk? A reel player? The name of the microphones and positions placed for the recording.

The Yamaha piano, can you find the serial number? Its located, facing the piano, on the right of the frame above the highest key, it will tell me the exact size and how old it is.

Um, wow.

I don't know why it took me so long to get around to listening to this. Wonderful performance. This is one of those pieces one is accustomed to hearing played badly, so much so that it becomes magical when it's played well.

If you don't mind, I'd like to have a crack at mastering your recording, just for kicks. I'll repost it when I'm finished.

thanks I'd love to hear how it sounds after mastered. I'll definitely be looking forward to that.

Sorry for the late post.

First, nice job on this piece!

One thing that occurs to me - the ornament at the beginning of the 'famous' melody in the middle section... It seems to call attention to itself, perhaps because you play it rather slowly, almost like a triplet.

I think if it is a bit faster, the focal point remains on the melody rather than the ornament. Perhaps I'm just used to doing it differently?

Other times, it almost sounds like you are including an extra note below the trill, sort of like a "turn". Is that true, or am I just hearing things? I think that extra note (if it exists) should be weeded out.

And then there is the age old question of putting the ornament before or on the beat. I know that it is said that Romantic ornaments go before the beat, but I am used to putting them on the beat for this particular piece. In my mind, it helps set up a more rubato effect for the melody - it delays it against the bass line.

When I heard the before-the-beat ornaments, I did a double-take!

Hope you don't mind my "picking a few nits" - especially since you play so well...

Sounds wonderful!!!!!
You sound like a professional.
Maybe the middle sounded just 5% dragged. Also, really reach for those high notes tonally speaking.

This piece has a particular nostalgia for me. About 50 years ago, it was the first recording I ever heard using the then new "LP" technology - it was a 45 rpm, and I think the artist was Artur Rubinstein. Of course it got thrashed being for a while the only LP in the house, so I really got to know it well.

Like others, I found the middle section slower than I am used to, and interesting for that. I'd probably go for the "5%" faster too. I thought the overall performance was up to full professional standard. (Did the re-mastering happen?).

Sadly, my own performing skills are not (yet) up to playing more than a few excerpts. "Easy to play" must be a subjective evaluation!

Thank you for the pleasure.

Bruce

Thank you, thank you, for sharing. What talent and hard work to be able to perform at this level.
Mike White

BRAVO BRAVO on your FI

thanks again to all.

I agree that my tempo of the middle section is usually played faster in most recordings. However, I strongly feel that in order to capture the extremely lyrical mood of this slow section, it must be played slightly slower. Again, this is just my personal interpretation-to each thier own.

Also-about the trill in the slow section--I play it that way simply to make it more lyrical. It may draw attention upon itself but once again, my interpretation here. My teacher seemed to like it so I just stuck with it.

One recording i really enjoy listening to is from my teacher, Balazs Szokolay on Naxos. He plays it a tad bid quicker than I do but with such accuracy and sensitivity. Although, I would never play the slow section the way he does, it is tastefull in its own way. It just reminds me of how lucky I am to be studying with him!

-Paul

Paul,

This is one of the best performances I have heard of this. I don't care what the others say, I really like the slower tempo you chose for the lyrical and sweet middle section. I feel that many people blast through this, and don't savor the quiet moment here.

I've worked on this piece over the past two years, and I don't have it anywhere near what I would say is playable.

John

Good job