And again a Lyric Piece: March of the dwarfs

This is the third piece of book V (Op.54). Maybe it has to be played a bit faster?
Like "Homeward", it has an ABA form with a lyric middle part. Please criticize :wink:
(I'm wondering why nobody has recorded it yet... thought it's quite familiar)

@robert: My teacher is from Sweden, perhaps that's why I interpret Grieg in a Skandinavian manner


edit: and now WITH piece :lol:


Grieg Lyric Pieces Op. 54, No. 3 - March of the Dwarfs

 

Fun piece to play, eh, Nelson?

I love how stuck we are all on Grieg at moment.

I wonder if it would feel a little more sprite-ish if played faster? Of course, are dwarfs sprites? Gimli seemed to be well-grounded and ploddish? Was that a personal characteristic or racial profiling? Stereotypically speaking, I mean, do dwarfs gambol about? or just plod along? All these serious religious posts have got me to thinking!

Anyway, nice piece, Nelson.

 

I think you did a very good job here, especially on those hemi-demi-semi-quavers (or whatever you're used to call them...). They are very even, you're making me a bit jealous. :wink: Did you put any extra work into them?

I must admit I'm not familiar with this piece, but your tempo seemed perfect to me. But it's a shame that the dynamics are hardly audible on the recording though I guess you're aware of this problem. I know this very well, believe me...

 

A very solid performance. Yeah I think it could be a bit more kobold-ish, or troll-ish if you want. I don't think Grieg's dwarfs are meant to be as polite as presented here. They are always a bit ugly and faintly menacing.
I was thinking this was going to be a totally note-perfect performace, but (un)luckily I spotted two very minor slips at 3:06 and 3:12. Still I would be happy with such high level of perfection.
I think you are using too much pedal in parts of the middle section, where it gets rather blurry, losing that Nordic crystalline quality.
And there are two very prominent clicks/pops at 3:06 and 3:12. Page turns or splices ? Either way, you should try to filter/cut them out.

 

OK, thanks for your tips. I'll practise the piece more and will send a better recording later.

What you said about those "clicks/pops" on 3:06 and 3:12... There are no. ? I don't know what you mean with that, I hear nothing but the mistake on 3:12. And on 3:06, I think my score is incorrect, because there is a B and a C flat (of same height) at the same time. Also at 0:28...

 

Oops... Those were the errors I spotted. The clicks are at 1:46 and 2:20. You should hear them too.

 

Yes, you're right. There are some "clicks". And not only there, but also in many other moments. It is just the pedal which creaks. I hope my piano will be refitted as soon as possible, then It'll be OK.

 

I did not mean to imply that you should have practised more. It is very good, and slips will happen. This is a perfectly acceptable recording that can go up the site if you want. But if you want to work a bit more of it, that is ok too. I'd try and make these dwarfs a little bit more persistent and eerie - these are not cute Cinderella-type dwarfs but nasty little trolls from the rugged Norwegian mountains.

 

If it's OK for you, then do it on the site and replace it, when I have uploaded the better recording here.
And yes, I have to practise more because I cannot play the piece faster yet.

 

Sure, we'll put it up. Take your time. It does not even need to be much faster. Just a bit more threatrical.

 

So you're teacher from Sweden. I guess there is very little chance I know him unless he is from around where I live (Gothenburg).

It is slower than what one usually expects but it is very well played. Not a hesitation nor a single key wrong which is very uncommon when you listen to a recording of this piece. Many pianists neglects accuracy in the A-part (and the repeat) as a result of the higher tempo. I listened to your recording twice and find that just a bit higher tempo would do it extremely good. You cannot be far from being able to do that but this is of course good enough for the site!

 

It is now in the list of new recordings, but not in the list of Lyric Pieces...
How I said already, I'll provide you a better recording in a few days or weeks, so that doesn't matter extremely

@robert: His name is Olsson. I don't know exactly where he is from.

 

That is one of the few things that happen automatically on PS :lol: This list is re-generated every night, straight from the mp3 files.

 

It is now also in the list of Lyric Pieces as intended.

 

Very clean and accurate executed, I like it!