Nice for sitting down and playing it, but needs work.
The main thing is rhythmic stuff, which I think you could take care of by listening closely, including maybe listening to the recording, which often reveals these things better than even the most concentrated listening while we're playing. A lot of the piece isn't really even, like almost every time there are 16th notes. Also very often you don't 'hold' notes and beats long enough....this kind of comment is often misunderstood; sometimes people think it's about staccato vs. legato or something like that. That's not what I mean; I mean "when the next note comes in" -- often it comes in too soon. Maybe this kind of thing is clearer if we put it just in terms of not holding
beats long enough, and forget about talking about "notes."
Speaking of "staccato"....I think a lot of your short notes are just too short, in view of how you're playing the piece in general. They stick out as too much of a contrast, kind of "clipped." I love contrasts, but that particular kind of thing doesn't work well. I think what's happening is that you're not fully realizing the different kind of impression that is made by pedaled vs. non-pedaled notes and passages. When we have pieces or movements where we're pedaling a lot in some places but not at all in others, it's important to realize the difference in the quality of the sound between the two kinds of places, and make sure that the rest of what we're doing in those places doesn't make it seem like the different parts of the piece don't fit together. I think the way you 'clip' many of the staccato notes keeps those non-pedaled sections from fitting in with the whole of what you're doing. So, I would say you need not to 'clip' those notes so short, or not pedal nearly as much in the piece as a whole. I'm not sure the 'clipping' would work quite that way anyway, but with your pedaling as much as you do, it really doesn't.
And speaking of "contrasts": I think sometimes you're trying too hard, particularly when you suddenly get loud. Some people would say that you shouldn't do that at all; I think you can, but, unless the way it's sounding is a function of how you're doing the recording (I don't think it is), you're pushing it with the
fortes way more than what I think the piece can take. Maybe it's not a thing exactly of loudness per se; maybe it's 'touch,' or balance of the hands or voices, I'm not sure. But the impression is of a forte taken too far.
But even through all of that, it sounds like you're playing it with fun and joy. I'd rather hear the piece played with fun and joy and without fixing all the things I'm talking about, than the opposite.
Congratulations on finishing grading the papers. For mine own part, I just finished some backlogged reports, and I celebrated by listening to your Scarlatti.
Merry Christmas!
