Next set:

13. Nightowl — Plaisir D'Amour. Great job with this! The song has been around since 1784, if you can imagine! And I think it’s remained ever-popular for good reason! I must admit that I’m not a big fan of the Elvis version, though. Anyways, I can tell you really like the piece. Am I correct that you’re self-teaching? If not, ignore this and do what your teacher says! But if you are self-learning, I think you should start working on something new (if you’re not already doing so), as I think this is in very good shape and you will probably learn more if you move ahead, rather than trying to polish this further.

14. bSharp — High Heels. Very enjoyable! I have to say the music doesn’t evoke high heels for me (which I think of as pieces of torture that mangle the natural way one is supposed to walk), but Einaudi must have had his reasons for choosing the title! Thanks for sharing.

16. SalmonJack — Alia. Kudos for both composing this and for writing a book! I did feel like the composition conveyed a sense of both sadness and hope/positive aspirations. I enjoyed the video, too.

17. Calavera — Chrono Cross - Scars of Time. You did a great job with this! You really bring out huge contrasts in the piece, and you do a wonderful job of bringing out the intensity and drive of the music.

18. rsl12 — Always Chew Your Food. This was a hoot! I really enjoyed the piano specific verse. About your playing/singing, I think you’re making a lot of progress. I don’t know anything about singing, but your singing sounded a lot more confident/secure than with Embraceable You, and I also felt that you were able to give the piano its due, let it accompany you when that’s what you needed, but also let the piano itself sing and have a little fun, itself. Thanks for sharing!

19. TC3 — St. James Infirmary. This was very groovy! And I’m glad you opted for the somewhat faster tempo. I’m not sure that I’ve seen many digital grands. It’s a very nice looking instrument and it would be great to hear your story of how you decided on it. If you’ve posted about this elsewhere, I’d love to get a link to that.

                Sgisela St. James Infirmary. This was very groovy! And I’m glad you opted for the somewhat faster tempo. I’m not sure that I’ve seen many digital grands. It’s a very nice looking instrument and it would be great to hear your story of how you decided on it. If you’ve posted about this elsewhere, I’d love to get a link to that.

                Thanks! Yes, 60 bpm seemed a little slow to me; 72 or so seems about right.

                Sure thing, I'll post about my Gp609 in the Roland thread a bit later, happy to discuss how I settled on it.

                Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.

                  rogerch Lots to like. Bravo I liked the descending bass line around 3:00, wish you'd explored that a bit more. Lovely piano - amazing how much growl there is in the bass for a grand under 6' in length. The ZOOM with its built-in mics exceeded expectations.

                    TheBoringPianist I, for one, am glad you came back to the piano. This performance is pro quality IMO. Hard to tell from the recording and the out of tune "D", but from what I can hear, you have a lovely sound. I like the way you voice things; I like the way you use the pedal - sparingly - so as not to obscure or smear things but enhance them. Best of all, your playing SINGS. Thank you for this performance, and may I offer a bit of unsolicited advice - your playing is not boring; why voice something negative about yourself? Figure out another moniker, maybe, TheLyricalPianist, or something like that...

                        diretonic Alas, not my arrangement but a jazz version by Brent Edstom published by Sheet Music Direct.

                          Seeker may I offer a bit of unsolicited advice - your playing is not boring; why voice something negative about yourself? Figure out another moniker, maybe, TheLyricalPianist, or something like that...

                          But then it wouldn't be funny 😉

                            Sam Perpetual Motion #1 - I've always liked the sound of this piece. Your playing looked and sounded effortless, as if you could play it perpetually without getting tired. At the same time you play is expressively and in the moment.

                            hebele Downton Abbey - Great job on that. It sounds just as authentic at the slower tempo.

                            MarieJ Week #7 - What a dreamy reflective piece; and a perfect foil for your fabric painting. Thank you for sharing both.

                            plop_symphony "A Lincoln Tribute" - In your choice of a slower tempo, as befits a tribute, you show a sensitivity to the music beyond your short time playing. Beautifully played. Thank you for information on Alfred's recital suite series. I checked it out briefly, bookmarked it and see some sheet music shopping in my future!

                            thepianoplayer416 Air in D minor - Baroque music is always a hand independence challenge for me. You made it look easy. Well done!

                            BicBic Prelude in B flat minor - Interesting and dramatic music! Looks like it has a variety of challenges beyond octave playing - leaps, cross hands that look like they're on top of each other and probably more besides. You made it all look effortless.

                                          Seeker Thank you for the kind words! One day I may learn that self-deprecating humor will not fix my self-esteem issues, let alone constitute a personality. Today is not that day! 😆

                                          "You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."

                                            I finally had a chance to listen to all the submissions, sorry I can't comment on all. I'm impressed with the number of self compositions, very nice. There is a wide range of talent here. Looking forward to the next recital!

                                            Sgisela Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I'm self teaching, and I think you're right, I need to move on to fresh pieces now. Sometimes I linger in my comfort zone, replaying pieces I like rather than moving on to the next challenge. I've been hovering on the same few pieces for about a month now, partly because I feel a bit daunted by the next section, which covers the chromatic scale and seems to involve some baffling finger techniques. I think learning to play the piano is the most challenging thing I've ever done, in terms of learning new skills. It's a massive learning curve for me.

                                            "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                                lilypad Thank you Lilypad 😀

                                                I am a master of goofing off! I regret the fact that I am lazy, and didn't put more effort in over the years, but I am just happy to play whatever pleases me these days.
                                                I wish you all success on your journey.

                                                  Nightowl you’re doing great! You can certainly continue to play some pieces that you really like, but I think you’re ready for the next challenge!

                                                    An amazing 1st Recital; I’m glad I was able to be a part of it. I’m a bit slow off the mark with comments - I decided to finish elsewhere first. (I won’t repeat the remarks I made on the duplicate pieces, but that still leaves me with 18 unique submissions … )

                                                    keff — A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
                                                    Recording nerves? Did you know that most of us still have them after years at the piano?

                                                    Sophia — Fascination
                                                    Well done! Good even rhythm, and a smooth, relaxed performance!

                                                    Sgisela — Joropo
                                                    Chock-full of energy! This most certainly gave your fingers a workout - and anyone dancing to it would have exercised more than just their fingers!

                                                    pseudonym58 — Images (5) for orchestra
                                                    What a tremendous double-barrelled project! I can’t imagine how long this composition would have taken to arrange, and as for learning and performing it … I’m in awe.

                                                    plop_symphony — A Lincoln Tribute
                                                    I’d never heard this before. You played it with a confidence and style not always apparent in the earliest years of a piano journey.

                                                              lilypad
                                                              When you get into Bach, you start with 2-part harmony (voice 1 & 2) and work your way up. An piece like Purcell Air in Dm there are places (not many) with overlapping notes on the same hand (voice 3).

                                                                9. MarieJ — Week #7
                                                                A pretty song, prettily played, with a gentle build-up. I like the piano voice you selected--it almost sounds like an electric piano.

                                                                10. plop_symphony — A Lincoln Tribute
                                                                This sounds so familiar to me. Is it based on an Aaron Copland piece? (EDIT: I think I figured out what it reminded me of: this part of Appalachian Spring.) I like the stepwise ascending bass. You played it very cleanly!

                                                                11. thepianoplayer416 — Air in D minor
                                                                Nice job keeping the left hand smooth.

                                                                12. BicBic — Prelude in B flat minor - No.16 from Op.34
                                                                Your work on octaves paid off! It didn't sound hard for you at all. Great piece by the way.

                                                                23. TheBoringPianist — Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
                                                                Thanks for sharing this! It was fun to watch and listen (probably stressful for you though). Great work for 6-7 weeks! Doesn't sound easy--it must be harder to delineate the voices compared to on an organ. Were you comfortable with the piano? I have a little upright at home and when I play those big beasts, I feel like Shaq at a tea party--everything gets played with too much power.

                                                                            rsl12 Great ear! The Alfred music page does point out the "Copland-like harmonies" of the piece.

                                                                              Ok I have a few more comments to share, I have really be enjoying listening to everyone!!

                                                                              @pseudonym58 Wow! My first thought listening to these as a group was, what interesting colors! I didn't know any of the pieces, so thank you for sharing them!! Beautifully played!

                                                                              @Sam Wonderful as always! This was another piece I didn't know, but it was very enjoyable! It's very cool when you can hear something in a movie, go find the score and then play it! I hope your leg it better!

                                                                              @hebele e great job! Esp for playing such a short time! Congratulations!

                                                                              @MarieJ I also didn’t know this piece, but it was lovely and your playing was beautiful as always! I found the piece to be sort of pensive, in the best of ways! Also, the audio sounded quite nice.

                                                                              @plop_symphony Very nice! I like the interesting chords in this piece.

                                                                              @thepianoplayer416 Very nice! I agree, that's an interesting piece.

                                                                              @BicBic Nicely done!! It sounds like so much fun to play, and it sounds like you're really enjoying it!

                                                                              @Nightowl Great job! And congratulations on your first recording attempt! You had a consistent tempo, which is super important. My only advice is don’t be too hard on yourself. 🙂

                                                                              @bSharp Ahhh High Heels! This has been on my list of pieces to play for a long time, but I've never started it. Maybe I will soon. You've done a really really nice job with it. The momentum is there where needed, the peaks and valleys of Einaudi are there, the musical intention… Since it's about high heels, maybe next add some pleasure and pain? 😅 (this coming from someone who doesn't like high heels and refuses to wear them I wore Keds under my wedding dress!)
                                                                              So, I have some questions for you, because your video was wonderful to watch with the score and your hands. How did you make this video w the score? Where is your camera? Did you record audio w same camera? Is it on cellphone? (Does it feel like I'm interrogating you? 😃

                                                                              @WieWaldi This was absolutely charming! And so nostalgic!! Loved it!!

                                                                                @Calavera So, at first I was thinking, ooh, this sounds like something I would play. But then it suddenly got very intense and hard! Wow! Don't think I'll be trying it any time soon! 😅 You did a great job with it, very well played and you really nailed the ending!!!

                                                                                @rsl12 Ok, that was soooo good!! The lyrics are hysterical but the bigger thing is your really solid playing through out. I really, really enjoyed your playing, both when you're accompanying your singing and when you're playing the solo parts
                                                                                Re the lyrics — I didn’t think it could get better than the first verse but then the second verse started … 😁

                                                                                  @Sgisela thank you for your kind remarks about my piece! As I mentioned, this was a practice recording that I wasn't expecting to share, so I kind of wrapped up at the end too quickly. I generally don't do that because I agree, then end of Einaudi pieces is often quite significant.

                                                                                  @WieWaldi thank you so much for listening and for the nice compliments! Getting the essence is always hard, so if I came even close, I'm quite pleased!

                                                                                  @Rob thank you for listening!! I'm pretty much my laptop has the worst speakers ever, so I'm glad it sounded ok to you!

                                                                                  @rsl12

                                                                                  Dynamic shading can keep you busy forever if you let it.

                                                                                  Yes, yes indeed!

                                                                                  BicBic — Prelude in B flat minor - No.16 from Op.34
                                                                                  I enjoyed this new-to-me piece. You must have achieved a high performance level in earlier years, to have regained so much capability in only 10 months.

                                                                                  Nightowl — Plaisir D'Amour
                                                                                  I’m impressed that you’ve managed to video your earliest challenges, and then participate in an online Recital - I wasn’t as brave, and hesitated for years before ‘going public’. Well-deserved applause 👏! And I checked out your Donner DP (I’d never heard of that brand before). It looks really good, and as it apparently can also act as a MIDI controller, you’re not likely to grow out of it in a hurry!

                                                                                  rsl12 — Always Chew Your Food
                                                                                  You’ve clearly had a lot fun making this, and I had a lot of fun listening. Thank you! (I didn’t notice sniffles … 🤧)