Chopin - Etude Op. 25 no. 10 (Xmas post also)

this is one of the very few Chopin etudes I can play someway.

I also did a video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcALyfc88G0

Monica... this is my new recording setting, with no curtains. Did you notice any difference? I think it is slightly more aired.

Merry Christmas!


Chopin - Etude in B minor, Op. 25, no. 10

 

Nice job, Felipe. I have thought about playing this one. Octaves are not too difficult for me, so it's within my technical range, but it's just not one of my favorite Chopin etudes.

One thing that caught my ear was in m. 28, where I thought you had a read error. But then I pulled out my mom's Schirmer Mikuli edition, and it's written as you play it. But it seems that most recordings I hear of this have an E-natural in the left hand rather than E#. :?:

 

no, I didn't.
the only difference from the Grieg transcription is the period of the day. I recorded the Grieg in the afternoon, while the Chopin was at night. I thought at night would be better... but it was not :x

I also had a much better take of the first part...
I was very happy, but then I discovered I simply hadn't pressed the REC button of my Zoom... :roll:

yes! Mine is Mikuli's!

I also don't find octaves too difficult... but pianists of nowadays are completely crazy! A lot of them can play octaves twice as fast as me!

 

Beautiful! Without a doubt, one of my top 3 favorite Chopin Etudes!

I personally think you did a marvelous job with it. Excellent tempo, great dynamics, and wonderful accuracy.

Only comment I could possibly make would be regarding the phrasing. There were definitely a few spots where you would briefly pause on a beat in order to hit a chord and then return to the open octaves, and the small pauses occasionally distracted me. But it's just a minor nit-pick. But also, when you slowed down near the end, it felt a bit unsettling. If anything, I feel as if though the pianist should (attempt to) rush even faster into the ending, blasting it out as quickly as humanly possible, as if trying to finally overcome this great monstrosity that is being faced, and completely demolish it in every sense of the word. I know of course, that is rather difficult when you consider how much more complicated the coda is than the rest of the work... but I feel as if though it could have at least remained constant with the tempo you had already set up prior in the recording.

Aside from those minor issues with tempo... it was a brilliant performance. You really did great justice to one of my favorite pieces in Chopin's repertoire. Bravo sir!

 

Well done, and reasonably accurate. The middle section could perhaps have been a bit more yearning yet. I agree that the pauses at the start of each phrase are a bit distracting.

Good for you ! Maybe you can try Kapustin's etude Op.68 no.5, "the octave etude to end all other octave etudes"
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8633528/Kapus ... -Intervals

 

thanks, "Demonic Advent"!

I think most of these pauses are tenuto which I did consciously, for musical reasons. not for hiting a chord. I don't like when people play this etude too metronomically...

ok. the reason for this one is technique. hehe

there is also Alkan's Le Preux, which is far beyond my technique... :cry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jNbI__2-DY

 

That Alkan etude actually doesn't look that bad... or at least in the octave passagework. And in the section near the middle with the rapid repeated chords, it doesn't look bad either... it's just those passages between the octave sections where the left and right hands both kinda go insane that I get concerned.

Actually, when I think of octave pieces that terrify me, I think of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2_nkWF7 ... re=related (Scriabin Sonata #1, Mvmt. 3)

Well.. really the piece in general scares me too... but the left hand for some reason, I just can't work up to where I'd want it to be.

 

Monica, me too! (well, you and I are SPPC :wink: ) Actually such octave pieces are never taken into my consideration. Terez, Felipe, you guys are really blessed.

Anyway, I enjoyed your nice performance very much, Felipe. You a blessed virtuoso guy!

Chris-demonic, nice to see you again!

 

that's true. the problem with the Alkan piece is stamina, not speed. and when you're completely tired... there is that insane CODA. I've tried many times to play this Le Preux... it's just too tiresome right from the first page!

I may be wrong, but I find this Scriabin left hand not too difficult, something like Chopin's Op. 53. Hamelin is also taking it too fast, because he can.

well... you already played some difficult octaves passages, like that one:

 

hahaha, well, I have plenty of other technique problems that make up for it. When my high school teacher discovered that I have little problem with octaves, she tried to get me to play Chopin's A-flat polonaise, but the rest of the polonaise was too difficult for me. :cry:

 

Hi Felipe,

I very much enjoyed your playing of this etude. Not only have you met the technical demands well, but you've polished the piece too, playing it with both drama and expression. From the way you communicate it to the listener, it's easy to tell that you love playing it.

David

 

I really wouldn't consider Hamelin's recording to be too fast... Whenever I hear somebody play it much slower than that, I find myself getting rather annoyed with it. The piece really just does have that very urgent drive to it that makes you want to blast it out as fast as possible... almost like it's trying to race ahead to escape the horrors chasing after it...

That is very true. The other day, I was brushing up on a -much- easier piece (Chopin's G Minor Prelude), and after about 20 minutes of running through it, I was starting to get tired. Must be even worse with something huge like the Alkan etude.

Nice to see you too! Gotta go check up on what you've been up to recording in my absence. I've particularly missed your very emotionally descriptive recordings.

 

thanks, David!

in fact I have a strange way of practicing... I remember when I first read this etude (it was one or two years ago), though I hadn't polished technique, I was already (trying to) playing with drama. I usually study this way, which is good for musical reasons, but it's terrible from the technique point of view. Sometimes I simply don't have patience to take a few measures and practice them technically... slowly... changing rhythms...

but I'm becoming a little more disciplined nowadays.

 

Well, that passage was certainly difficult, but when a piece has only some difficult octave passages and I mess up with them, I could be forgiven, if I manage to do other parts justice :wink:

 

Did you already find that I recorded nothing in your absence? :lol: I got my first baby and Taking care of her has eaten up all of my time. However, at the excuse of her I could buy me a digital piano and now I can practice at home.

 

Well, a hearty congratulations is in order on your first baby then! Are you going to train her to be a great musician just like her mommy is?

I am sad to see no new recordings though. But at least you have a valid excuse (unlike me :shock, so I shall just have to live with the few gems that you have already provided us with!