Prokofiev Op.4 No.4

Hello,

Juries are coming up again for university, so I figured I'd get at least one recording up here.
I'm mainly looking for ideas, so if you don't feel this is good enough for the site, that's cool (I personally think it's quite bad; the random rushing and overall crappiness of the recording was a bit discouraging to listen back to).
I recorded 3 other pieces today, but I'm really not happy with any of those either, so I don't think I'll post them.
But yes, criticisms are entirely welcome here; I'm certainly looking for new ideas with this piece.

 

Long time no see .

I think you are on your way with this little devil . One thing you should consider is to use more pedal. If you listen back to the two other recordings we already have, you will notice a much more liberal use of pedal in both of them which I believe is the correct way to do it. And also, it will smooth up the impression of the fast chords passages.
Another thing you should work on is speed and tempo. It is a bit slow but I understand how difficult it can be to raise this one up to suggested tempo.

I can put this up if you wish but will wait until you give me a direct order.

 

It may not be the ultimate in diablerie yet, but I think it is well and convincingly played - even if there is more work to do. I did not hear any random rushing or overall crappiness :wink:
Not sure if this needs more pedal, Prokofiev can be played quite drily I think, but it certainly needs more tempo. Very good job already though !

 

Alright, I re-recorded this today.
It's recorded in a practice room on a Yamaha that's a bit past its prime (with the nice sound of the heater vent in the background, as a plus! (thought it's not noticeable once the playing starts)).
It's a good deal faster. I think I need to shape the motive better; it's pretty 'flat.'
Any suggestions on this one? (try and play more right notes, haha?)

Prokofiev - Op.4 no.4, Diabolic Suggestions from Four Pieces

 

I think that you used a good amount of pedal in your second recording. I personally can't stand it when too much pedal is used in this piece... it's supposed to be short, clipped, and diabolical. Not all wishy-washy like so many people play it...

However... your piano has a rather tinny sound to it. I think if it had a richer sound to it, the piece would sound better.

I think one of the problems I noticed were that some of your lines were actually a bit too clipped for my tastes. For example, that little motif at 1:09 that the whole song is essentially built around... I feel that you could have sustained the notes just a hair longer.

Also... sometimes, I felt that what I would see as the seconday voice was coming in a bit too loud. For example, 2:07 - 2:13.

There were a few points where you slowed down when you really shouldn't have... but I can understand why. It's a very difficult piece to play... very few recordings out there satisfy me. I'm not even thouroughly impressed with the recording by Benno Mosiewitch that I have... and he normally satisfies all my pianistic needs...

I personally like the recording by Ruslan Sviridov. I think it's the best I've ever heard. If you haven't already heard it, you should google him and listen to it. It's simply amazing.

So I feel there is incredible potentional here. You play it better than a lot of people. I think that if you could just clean it up a bit... perhaps on a better piano... you would have a great recording.

Thanks for sharing!

 

I think recordings is better than the previous in many aspects but most important, it is up to tempo. Perhaps I am used to more pedals from the recordings I have heard and I rest my case on the subject . I understand how less pedal would make it more crispy and diabolic.

I put this one up on the site.

 

Thanks for the comments!

I can definitely understand where you'd be used to more pedal on this, Robert. I actually started it with substantially more pedal, because every recording I'd heard had quite a bit, but my instructor pushed me the opposite way.

Yes, the piano doesn't have the nicest sound, and it was in a very small room, compounding the recording problem... I do need to do more with the motive and stuff. I worked on contrast a lot today; such as when the motive first shows up, playing it pianissimo, and when it is repeated in octaves a couple bars later, fortissimo. As of now it's pretty much FFF all the way through, and there just isn't much shape to anything. I'll look into that recording of Ruslan Sviridov!

I'll probably end up continuing to work on this after juries, or revisiting this piece later on as I progress, as it's certainly a fun piece to play, and I would like to come back to it as a stronger pianist, to really play this how I want.

Thanks again for giving your opinions; it's greatly appreciated!

 

You played this rather difficult piece very nice, I enjoyed listening! I agree with the points the others have already mentioned. Just make it a bit more biting here and there, and then it will be great!