Brahms - Intermezzo Op. 117 no. 2

Hi!

Due to my master degree studies on Brahms' musical forms, yesterday I played two Brahms' miniatures in sonata form in my college. They were the Rhapsody Op. 79 no. 2 and Intermezzo Op. 117 no. 2.

The performance was not recorded, and that's good because the piano was awful. =D

So today I recorded the Intermezzo at home, since the Rhapsody is already on the site.
Here it is for evaluation.

And here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qyuOaovi5I&feature=plcp


Brahms - Intermezzo Op. 117 no. 2

 

Very good, Luis. Your new grand sounds so much better than your previous piano. Overall I find this recording a bit literal, but the climax is truly splendid.

 

Hi Luis,

Very fine playing, virtually flawless. So much of the melody is contained in the two-note slurs which you carefully articulate. As you discovered, for these slurs the emphasis is on the second note of each which is what gets pedaled for clarity. Playing the rests is so important too, and you do observe them. Your phrasing is very smooth throughout. On the last page two lines up from the coda, there are pedal points in the left hand bass. All of them fall on the F's on the second beats. I took all those in the middle sostenuto pedal through the third beat of each measure. It sounds like you do likewise? In the coda I might use the portato touch even more dramatically to underscore the winding down of the piece.

For anyone who has not played this Intermezzo, it's harder than it sounds!

David

 

No problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris. I have a C1, which I'll soon exchange for a C2. Yamaha's pianos got much better recently after the technical developments of CFX.

hi, David!

you mean this passage below?


I don't find need for middle pedal here. I can reach the tenth chords, so I only use sustain pedal "normally".
since you're a "Rach fan", aren't you talking about Rachmaninov's 3rd prelude? that's one of the few pieces which I use middle pedal (that coda has a tonic pedal, in D, remember? =D)

about the dramatically ending of the piece... I made a mistake: I should play more FORTE, according to the score itself. My recording sounds like a mF...

 

Hello, Luis,

I have listened also and I can only comment positively on your good work and yes, your piano sounds much better than some other Yamahas I have heard (and tested).

 

thank you, Richard!

and I've been told that there will be some more improvements on the Yamaha pianos, since Yamaha bought Bösendorfer.