Chopin Preludes Nos 4, 10 and 21

Just to round out my posts for today here are three more Chopin Preludes (to add to my No 12 previously submitted). My personal goal for now is to work up half of the Preludes... we'll see how long that takes! :shock:

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback - as always it is very much appreciated.

Prelude No 4 - I know, I know, I'm asking for trouble with this one. In my "quest for 1/2" I will likely have to play several of the [perhaps] tired selections. I hope to soften the blow by scattering them in with other less familiar preludes. :wink: When I play the No 4, personally, I try to focus on making sure the many repeated notes are not monotonous and are part of some kind of bigger phrase. I purposely chose not to increase the tempo into the climax (as it seems so many players choose to do), but instead attempt to be more expressive. I expect this won't sit well with some perhaps, and I am certainly open to feedback!

Prelude No 10 - My kids love me to play this one - they think the fluttering fingerwork is cool. 8) I had never played this one until the past few months, and am interested to hear thoughts.

Prelude No 21 - My personal favorite prelude, and the one I think I have the clearest picture of in my mind regarding how I want to play it. However, I never seem to be satisfied with the results and for me this may be one I come back to occasionally over time to improve incrementally. I try to play the left hand as legato as I can for the most part, but focus my attention on the melody line.

Best Regards!

Chopin - Prelude in E minor Op. 28, No. 4
Chopin - Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 28, No. 10
Chopin - Prelude in G sharp minor Op. 28, No. 12
Chopin - Prelude in B flat major Op. 28, No. 21

 

Good playing. In no.4 the evenness of the chords is still an issue, though less so than before. In no.11 I'm not sure about the rythm of the 'slow' bars
but I did not check with score.

 

Matthew,
Fine playing throughout. I really like what you did in all of them and look forward to your coming submissions. I have no problem with "evenness" of chords in No.4, however, I think you should re-record for practical absence of the high note at 55". Additionally, isn't there supposed to be an appoggiatura at 1'30", or is that just some dream I'm having?

Best,
Eddy

 

Thanks Monica for reviewing all three of these!

Do you mean uneven depression of the entire cord, or my "expressive" shaping of the cords over all? If the former, I'll have to listen back closer to identify where this happens... unless you happen to remember where you heard the unevenness. :wink:

I'll take a look at number 21 tonight or tomorrow as soon as I can. I tried to be very careful of the notes on this one, given the unusual progressions and large number of accidentals. But it's certainly possible I hit something wrong, and will check my edition!

That's great - I'm happy to join and appreciate the invitation. I will put something together and forward to you.

 

Hello Monica. I just emailed you my bio and photo. Thanks again for the invitation, and I look forward to making a contribution to Piano Society!

 

Thanks Monica - everything looks great and links are working. Of course, my wife is mad at me about the quick photo I took of myself. :? I believe her exact words were "you look like a grumpy serial killer." I get such wonderful support here at home, eh? Anyway, I'll live with it for a few months and then she'll probably make me take another picture with a better smile. 8)

 

Congratulations Matthew and welcome aboard!

 

I think you made a very good job and I enjoyed listening to every one of them. I also made some advertising on Twitter about you and the recordings.

 

Thanks Robert for the kind comments and the tweet. I'm glad you liked them.