Schumann Carnaval and some short pieces...

Mostly done in one take on the 28th on my University's Concert Steinway in their recital hall. Hope you enjoy it.

Schumann - Carnaval no 1 "Preambule"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 2 "Pierrot

Schumann - Carnaval no. 3 "Arlequin

Schumann - Carnaval no. 4 "Valse noble

Schumann - Carnaval no. 5 "Eusebius"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 6 "Florestan

Schumann - Carnaval no. 7 "Coquette

Schumann - Carnaval no. 8 "Replique"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 9 "Papillons"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 10 "A.S.C.H. - S.C.H.A."

Schumann - Carnaval no. 11 "Chiarina"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 12 "Chopin"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 13 "Estrella"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 14 "Reconnaissance"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 15 "Pantalon et Colombine"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 16 "Valse Allemande"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 17 "Aveu"

Schumann - Carnaval no. 18 "Promenade"

Schumann - Carnaval nos. 19 and 20 "Pause" and "March des Davidsbundler contre les Philistins"


Debussy - Reflets dans l'eau

Debussy - Prelude book 1 no. 8 "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair"

Chopin - Etude Op. 10, no. 12

Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 32, no. 12

 

And the rest of Carnaval...

 

sublime Debussy! rockin' Rachmaninoff ... and that Chopin was fierce! (in spite of a few gaffs that I only mention to make myself feel superior)

I can't wait to listen to the Schumann, but I've got to order pizza now, er, I mean, cook slavishly for the kids. :lol:

 

Thanks, wow, things go FAST around here!!

 

Only since Monica's doing all or most of the uploading

So far I listened to the outer movements of Carnaval. Very accomplished playing though your youthful elan gets the better of you at times, and you then take more risk than necessary. It could just be the recording, but your LH often drowns out the RH. Great Schumann playing all the same, with only very few tiny slips. You are going from strength to strength.

Great job of the Paganini ! I can never quite get the hang of hat, but you blaze through it as if it is a mere joke. The silent chord at the end is not really audible - I wonder if that idea works in a concert hall.

 

Bravo! I listened to much of the Schumann (it is a pity to have to click each piece individually - there should be some way to download the whole suite in cases like this).

In some of the faster ones you get a bit carried away. For example the Papillons sounds like something much more heavy and threatening than butterflies. Some of the articulation is lost but this does not detract very much from the performance since you really capture the Schumann idiom and sound excellently, and I never associated that with high precision anyway. But if you rush things just a little bit less you might achieve a lighter touch in some places.

In all highly enjoyable! Thanks for posting!

 

Thanks. I see what you mean about the muddiness/heaviness. Part of it might be the hall and i'm sure part of it was my own fault. It's easy to hammer out the LH in papillons!

 

I should mention that these were all recorded using my brand-spanking-new Edirol R-09 I got for Christmas...I love that thing!!!!!!

 

I have painted the ceiling of my sons room today and had your recordings looping while doing so. That made work a lot easier.

You do a fabulous work and you certainly don't hold back. That is some of the fastest version I have ever heard of the Chopin etude and so is the Debussy Reflect Dance. The Chopin etude is done in 2:10 and from first to last key at about 2:06. Pollini has a timing of 2:30 for example, Cziffra at about 2:20 (of course he could do faster). Still I do not feel you miss the essence in the music. Some wrong notes and some inaudible but who cares? You completes the mission and tells the revolutionary story! A touching story is also told with Debussy recordings but I have too little experience with Schumann. The Rach prelude is one of my favorites and is known as "the return" of Rach's exil and I like it too.

Overall, extremely impressing!

 

Thanks for your generous comments, Robert!

 

Awwww... no Sphinxes?

I wish I could comment more on the Carnival recording... but unfortunatly I'm not terribly familiar with this work... all I know is that I liked you recording of it... but I missed the Sphinxes...
Yeah... I know they're not technically supposed to be played :shock: ... but they're just SO COOL!

The Rachmaninoff prelude was a little fast for my tastes... I perfer it to be a bit calmer, and more introspective, because it helps to bring out the tragedy of the work. Also, I think it could have been played a bit more lightly... but those are my only complaints. I think it was overall a marvelous recording, and you did a great job with it.

... Holy crap with the revolutionary etude ...

I would kill to have a left hand that can do that... :evil:

wow... amazing!

 

What's wrong with Schumann?

I usually go and listen to 'Estrella' & 'Chopin' movements of his Carnival to judge a performer. The 'Chopin" piece here, I felt was a bit too rushed in places and lacked that very romantic & gentle touch.

However, I have a bigger question: Many of my pianist friends when comparing Chopin [the composer] to Schumann seem to always go for Chopin, why? Generally, they tell me bec. Schumann never developed those "themes" (like in Carnival) into full-fledge pieces, whereas Chopin did. I personally love Chopin (as most do), however strictly based on "quality" and "depth", I'll go with Schumann every time. Comments?

 

Chopin pwns Schumann, every day of the week...

 

Word!


I have a love/hate relationship with your Revolutionary etude, Joe. It is extremely fast, violent, with an overwhelming roil to it; for that, I love it. If you could just hit more notes at that insane tempo...or you could take it down just one notch. :lol:

Reflets dans l'eau is really sublime. But I don't know the piece, so I can't tell what notes you missed! :lol: Just kidding! It was profoundly beautiful.

Can't wait to go to the Carnival!

Thanks for sharing.
Pete

 

Re: What's wrong with Schumann?

Schumman does have some lovely "full-fledged" pieces... most notably in my mind, the 2nd piano sonata. But I'll probably always perfer Chopin myself. His music is so expressive, full of depth, and beautiful in every way.

HOWEVER... he still in no way matches up to Scriabin or Rachmaninoff in my book...