Fauré - Barcarolles 4 and 6

My contribution to our Fauré renaissance here on pianosociety ^-^
These are my two favorite Barcarolles. Chris says they are the easy ones. I don't find them easy. Those of you who have recorded them recently will be able to spot my wrong notes, I'm sure! Both of these are single unedited takes (though I did record a few and choose my favorite.) I confess I have little to no interest in editing for note accuracy, plus I am not particularly good at editing, so most of my attempts result in ugly clicks that must then be re-done. However, if anyone is sufficiently annoyed by note issues that they wish to edit these for me, I do have several other takes that have wrong notes in different places and I could give them to you to splice...

An interesting note about the piano. It is my third-favorite practice-room Steinway. I saw the technician tuning it last week, so that's all I can say about the tuning :roll: When I was playing, it sounded like I just couldn't get a good dynamic range. The fortes sounded dead and the pianos sounded too loud. But then when I listened to the recording there is quite a good dynamic range. So perhaps the dynamics can't be heard well from the "cockpit" but they come out well from the right-hand side? Anyway, I was definitely overdoing the dynamics as much as I could because I didn't think they were coming across, so the result was surprising. Now I think maybe I should overdo my dynamics more often!

By the way, my teacher is working with me these days on finding ways to be expressive that don't involve just pushing ahead to the goal of the phrase (I love Haydn) and she's trying to get me to be more laid-back especially in French music. I think these recordings show a step along the journey, but I know I am not there yet.

Faure - Barcarolle no. 4 in A flat major (4:34)
Faure - Barcarolle no. 6 in E flat major (4:27)

 

Good playing, Heather. Worthy additions to the Faure boom we seem to he having recently. I'm not done with him yet either, his music having been a life-long love. A couple more Nocturnes to come and maybe some Barcarolles too (have had my eye on no.6 for years).

Did I say/suggest these were easy ? Nothing in Faure is ever easy. I just meant these two are more straightforward than nos. 1-3 and 5 or even the later Barcarolles which (though less glittering) have their own dark challenges.

Though they are good and contain many nice personal touches, I do have some reservations about these recordings. The piano sound is not what I'd expect from a freshly tuned Steinway. It sounds a little muffled and swimmy (a word I like using even though I can't explain what exactly I mean by it). I think you are either using too much pedal or have applied too much reverb. Also I find the rubato just a little too much, especially in no.6 where it often halts the rocking flow of the music. In no. 4 you apply two distinctly different tempi which I find a bit jarring. As for dynamics, I think you are trying to play too softly, causing notes to be inaudible. This I especially noted in the beginning of no.4, not sure if it happened much afterwards. There is a read error in no.4, let me know if you want the exact place. The couple of little fluffs did not disturb much - although I'd have edited them out ;-)

Sorry to be a bit critical here... I know these pieces so well, and am a sucker for Faure.

 

Thanks Chris.

I would like to know the location of the read error if you don't mind. Of course it may be just a very confidently played mistake. There is a very confident wrong note in no. 6 too if you know where to look -- I just kept playing

Agreed about the sound quality too. I have access to a few pianos through my job that are significantly better than the piano I have at home (an old Cable Nelson baby grand.) But I don't have control over the maintenance and I don't always know which I'll be able to get time on any given day. No reverb added to the recording. It was a small room with many hard surfaces though. I did do a recording of these on my home piano also. Believe me, it is much worse.

Maybe I'm playing the middle section of no. 4 a bit faster than the outer sections? Everything is more turbulent in that section, compared to the static outer sections. I'm not convinced that late Romantic music needs to be unified in tempo. It isn't Beethoven. But it could certainly be done very well at a single tempo, too. In no. 6 I'm definitely taking the middle substantially slower than the outer sections, does that one bug you too or does it seem appropriate to the music? I think it's a bigger difference in no. 6 than in no. 4, and it is very much on purpose in no. 6, I want the middle to sound languid as compared to the sparkling outer sections. But sometimes I think I am doing something other than what is coming across to listeners.

PS I know exactly what you mean by swimmy. Maybe it is good for barcarolles?? :idea: (maybe only if one falls out of the boat)

 

The read error in no.4 is in bar 54, you plat G flat in the RH which should be G natural. It does not sound bad though.
Tempo-wise I did not like you you suddenly shift gear in bar 23, and abruptly shift back in bar 33. I now also hear that your two closing chords are too quick. Long rests should always be counted out, and add some for good measure, especially if they are at the end.
Your read mistake in no.6 is in bars 93 and 97 (if I counted correctly), you twice play D natural in RH which should be D flat. This *does* sound wrong (though I missed it the first time !)
I find the tempo fluctuations here quite logical and not jarring like in no.4. But IMHO at some places you hold back too wiltingly. I would have like a firmer tone and pulse in this piece. Faure's music is very rhythmical and
not too much overt rubato should be used. But that could just be me of course.

 

Thanks for that. The no. 4 error is a note I memorized wrongly, and tempo fluctuation in m. 23-33 is not on purpose, so I appreciate having both issues brought to my attention.
The no. 6 errors you pointed out are just momentary memory lapses. Sorry. There is another take in which different measures have wrong notes
You still didn't notice the most in-your-face note! (in m. 51 of no. 6) I guess I was very convincing about it.

 

I don't hear anything at all wrong there ! It's exactly what I have always played, and I believe it to be correct. However two accidentals in bar 51 of my Hamelle edition are in parentheses. Not for a good reason that I can see (A natural and C sharp which you would play anyway). Perhaps it's different in your edition ?

 

Generally very nice, Heather. Not being a Faure piano music expert, the tempi in #4 did not bother me. What did bother me, was the number of notes that did not sound in my speakers in #4. The volume was probably too low.

The tuner, apparently, was in a rush that day. Maybe the snow?

#4 sounds like a barcarolle. #6 is a wonderful piece, but the label is stretching things a bit.

Hope we hear more of these.

 

I forgot to ask Heather - do you want these to go live on the site ?

 

Stu -- Thanks for commenting. I have been trying to keep the LH arpeggios in no. 4 very, very quiet, but maybe the quiet has gone too far!

Chris -- Sure, go ahead and put them on the site if they pass muster!

 

Ok, I'll work on it.

 

They are on the site.

 

Thanks Chris!

 

I don't Faure well, but these Barcarolles are beatiful. Great playing and great touch. Congratulations!

 

Hello verqueue thanks for the kind words, and nice to see you here!
Heather