Hello there , I'm auditioning at the local conservatory here in Caen, France. I'm in a kind of uncanny situation : I'm 22 and have no degree in music whatsoever, I started playing the piano in July 2006 and have been taking lessons. I'm graduating from university now and I'm willing to take a year off and study music actively. Long story short , I'll be playing two pieces on monday : the 1st mvt of the sonatine by Ravel (compulsory) and The C Minor nocturne op.48 n0.1 by Chopin (which I chose).
I'd like some advice on the nocturne, I've been playing it for a while but I'm really polishing it at the moment, so your help is welcomed ! here is a recording I made this afternoon, there are some obvious mistakes in the middle part, I lost my focus for a moment, and in the descending octaves just before the doppio movimento section, I find it hard to be accurate on those octaves. http://www.box.net/shared/vjkgu5vwoo Thank you all, I hope you will enjoy my playing despite the silly mistakes. EDIT : I just made a new video, enjoy : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P5cqIi3TQQ

Hi Ranec, I'm not experienced enough to give any kind of advice but I did very much enjoy your playing. You are right about the middle section... it did sound like you lost your focus (maybe too much pedal too?) but I thought the beginning was beautiful and you built a fine cresendo there at the end. How did the audition go?

Hey! thanks for your kind comment! the audition was kinda stressful, I played on a yamaha c7 I think in front of at least 8 judges and I was not sure I played very well but I got accepted ! I'm glad I'll be able to take time to fully study music next year

Congratulations!! I can't even imagine playing in front of 8 judges.

Welcome to the forums Ranec.

I saw several of your videos on YouTube. Besides complementing you for a great effort, I learned something from watching you play. I make plenty of mistakes when playing piano, and will try some of the fingerings that you use when practicing other pieces.

- Mark

I love this piece!

A few things, though :

- A lot of wrong notes. Do yourself a huge favor and check out the proper ones fast or else it'll be a much bigger hurdle to try to unlearn what then been deeply integrated into your brain. Trust me on this!

- The 1st section could use more rubato and dynamics.

- Congrats on tackling the 2nd section as I struggle like crazy when I get to it.

I second the wrong note comment.

Thanks for the advices, unfortunatly most of the wrong notes are more performance related rather than reading problems, I really lose focus while playing when recording or in recital. This piece is also pretty hard technically in some passages so I slip to wrong notes. I'll work on it