Chopin Berceuse

I noticed that the main site does not the Berceuse by Chopin, so I made a recording of it. Hopefully it is good enough to be included in the discography. Any comments/feedback/(constructive) criticism welcome!

Thanks.

Chopin - Op.57, Berceuse

 

That's very well played, calm and soft as it should be, excellent!
Did also not hear any mistakes. On the faster variations you slowed down but that seems common practise to do so on the Berceuse. On some places you could apply more pedal in my opinion, but that all is only personal taste.

For my old piano teacher, the Berceuse was the most beautiful piece Chopin ever wrote. It is a pleasure to hear it in your interpretation!

 

Very good of this Chopin lullaby. I have played it myself and know that it is actually more difficult to produce well than it sounds. The left hands static pattern is difficult to play rhythmically steady all the way through and it must sound calm and relaxed to produce the right feeling and to achieve the beauty. Also, some right hand passages are really fast and must too sound very relaxed.

There are a couple of passages where you sound a bit stressed and you slow down, as Olaf already pointed out, but overall, a very good performance and I have put it up on the site.

 

Very good technically. You are completely at ease with the piece and play it with complete authority and virtually without any mistakes. Well done ! And good to have the Berceuse on record at last.

The sudden downshift in tempo, when the complicated bits start, and the sudden upshift when they end, is a bit jarring though. Had you played the outer parts in the same slower tempo it would have been just fine ! As it is, I find you just a bit too fast here, too briskly stepping along instead of lulling your subject into sleep. Next to a more relaxes tempo from the start, some more pedaling would help to create that wondrous and dreamlike atmosphere that make this piece so very special.

But these are not meant as criticism, just as tips to make it even better.

 

Chopin

Very nicely done. Perhaps a little more pedal in spots would make it even better for me. Just personal opinion, of course.

 

> Any comments/feedback/(constructive) criticism welcome!

Very good job, but there is a thing I do not realize and another I do not like.
1) The right pedal? Maybe a problem of recording, I think.
If it's a your choice, I disagree at 100%.
2) Nothing against changes of tempo (but with this hypnotic atmosphere, my idea is: tons of
pedal and fixed tempo), but here you play faster when the RH plays few notes and slower
when the RH has to play more notes. I think that each change of tempo must have a
poetic, retoric meaning. The problem is probably mine, but I do not understand the meanings
of your changes.

All best,
Sandro