PianoTell Recital #1 Is Now Live!
Sophia
Thanks for the comments. Don't think the score has tempo indication. Made v1 at a slower tempo and decided to record the final version at a faster tempo, just a few beats per second. The final version worked out.
rogerch
Thanks for your comments.
This piece (Air in D minor) was a gem waiting to be discovered. A lot of students would play "Minuet in G" from the "Notebook for Anna M Bach" or Bach "Prelude in C" from WTC-1... anything with the Bach name. By definition "Air" is a piece with singing qualities. However, in the 17th & early 18th century the keyboard instruments were clavichord & harpsichord. Some would play the notes well articulated (more separate) like a harpsichord. My approach is to let the piano sing and the notes connect like piano playing.
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plop_symphony
When making the recording I thought about whether to play the notes detatched or legato. By definition Air is a composition with singing qualities. The keyboard instruments of the day: clavichord & harpsichord were not capable of sustained notes. Since I'm playing piano, I should let the phrases connect the way a singer would than try to make a piano sound like a harpsichord which a lot of people do.
Here the piece sounds like 2 melodic lines (counterpoint) common in Bach's music played on an organ.
20. iternabe β The Trout
Great playing! It looks and sounds like you've got excellent control over the force at which you strike the keys.
23. TheBoringPianist β PrΓ©lude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
I love me a good fugue, especially if it's not by Bach. (Not because I hate Bach fugues - emphatically the opposite - but other than Bach and maybe Shostakovich, standalone fugues seem to be quite rare in the piano repertoire.)
28. twocats β Rustle of Spring
Lovely piece. There's quite a lot of these "one-hit wonders" in the piano literature - you can probably count on your fingers and toes the number of people who've played anything else by Sinding - and the same goes for Marchetti whose "Fascination" Sophia performed. "Spinning Song" by Albert Ellmenreich would be another such one-hit wonder.
thepianoplayer416 Yes, there's so much Baroque music out there beyond Bach that's attainable for students. There's more Purcell where that came from, there's quite a few Scarlatti sonatas or sonata movements that are at the level of the Anna M Bach notebook, there's easy pieces from Handel and Telemann and Rameau as well.. etc.
Rob Thanks! I don't know if the original recital suite is still in print, but the entire suite can also be found in the piano collection "Carol Matz's Favorite Solos, Book 3".
I heard this piece for the first time when I read about it in the thread you mentioned, and I immediately fell in love with it. Especially the variation, beautiful piece. I enjoyed your performance, thanks for sharing!
Josephine actually I love the sweetness of your playing! It really has an elegant waltz feel. In the B section you can add a little drama and intensity on the lines with the percussive repeated chords (I think they happen twice, I hope you know which lines I'm talking about) like what Rubens does but I don't think the whole thing needs to be more intense. I think you have great musical intuition for this piece and you should be true to how you feel the music in your heart 
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20. iternabe β The Trout
You played that piece pretty much perfect! Good rhythm and dynamics. PS Nice video setup!
21. ShiroKuro β Nuvole Bianche
Very pretty! I'm glad you were able to find something to submit! It sounds like a finished recording, not a practice one. Is there more you want to do with it?
22. lilypad β Manhattan 1928
It took me about half the recording to realize this is kind of a variation of Rhapsody in Blue. Cute song, nicely played. Sounds like your fingers had to jump around a lot!
24. Rob β Sunday Morning
It's really lovely. I got tingles. I listened to it a few times. Reminds me of Debussy's Reverie, particularly at 0:40. Debussy makes me think of Degas, so basically we both have the same image in our heads!
25. diretonic β Borrowed Blues
I love Dr. John! He's on my list of artists that I need to do a deep dive on in 2025. I live in Louisiana and I need that New Orleans sound in my repertoire! This little bit you did sounds like perfect study material. Great job with the transcription.
27. Serge88 β Misty
What a nice arrangement, and well played!
29. navindra β Bluebird
Wow, what a production! Three cameras?? Unscheduled and no sheet music? Piped music in the background? Live audience, and therefore only one take??? You did a great job!!
TheBoringPianist
Thank you for posting your performance !
And super cool that you learned this in 7 weeks.
If you would like to share, how did it go with the competition?
ZigZagStory not to derail the PT recital thread too much but I made it to the final round (15-min preliminary round, 20-min semifinal round, 25-min final round) but didn't place in the top 3. My finals program (which included the Franck) was definitely my weakest set, especially Chopin Scherzo No. 3, which was the piece I practiced the least leading up to the competition because I was too busy trying to get all the other music ready! If you're interested in hearing the rest of my program, I recorded myself:
Preliminaries (Kapustin/JanΓ‘Δek/Price/Moszkowski)
Semifinals (Haydn/Russell/Prokofiev)
Finals (Franck-Bauer/Clementi/Chopin) (the clip above is from this)
"You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."
TheBoringPianist not to derail the PT recital thread too much but I made it to the final round
I personally would love it if you started a thread about your experiences participating
i've listened to the first few! loved it!
Player1 - definitely got some of that βenergicoβ feeling, great job to you AND the cat!
rogerch - this is really nice, very relaxing (to listen to, maybe not to play/improvise!) As always, Iβm impressed by your improvisation skills!
@keff - ah i love this song, thank you for sharing!
@Sophia - great to hear your progress - sounds good! I feel you captured the playful dance-y vibe very nicely.
@Sgisela - great to hear this again, and i loved it again!
@pseudonym58 - i really enjoyed listening to this! Iβll have to check out the OG orchestral version, but your piano arrangement sounds really lovely. Have you made other piano arrangements of orchestral music? Sounds fun but challenging!
Sam - iβm glad i inspired you to check out some poulenc! Maybe you and your wife can do the clarinet sonata 
? I enjoyed this, the βperpetual motionβ thing is interesting and your playing sounded suitably mysterious! I hope your leg recovers soon.
hebele - good job with your first legato pedaling piece, it sounds very smoothly played! Always fun playing (and listening to!) something you recognize from the telly!
MarieJ - your delicate playing goes very nicely with the beautiful silk dyes in the video!
@plop_symphony - thank you for sharing this, how interesting - Iβll have to check out the Utah one (where i currently live!). Your playing definitely evoked a stately tribute!
thepianoplayer416 - short but sweet, sounded great! I love that you can just come across something fun and decide to learn and record for us in a short space of time!
Nightowl - I donβt think i noticed any hesitations - it sounded good to me and evoked the love song feeling!
@twocats - thanks for your comment on the shostakovich-ness of my playing - it gives me the confidence to try another one of the preludes!
Sophia - your description of my piece is great! also - i really didn't 'perform' as such - all children in the area were running around shrieking with the excitement of the museum and not paying any attention me at all, and the only person who listened was my sister in law!
@plop_symphony - thanks! the large jumps didn't stress me too much but other things in this piece really did! the LH octave semiquavers especially!
@rogerch - yes there is rather a lot going on, at least it doesn't last for long so that helped speed up the learning process a bit!