PianoTell Recital #1 Is Now Live!

8. hebele — Downtown Abbey theme
Very nicely played, you've made great progress in 5 months - keep going!
9. MarieJ — Week #7
Lovely relaxing music with beautiful shots of your artwork. You are a very talented lady.
10. plop_symphony — A Lincoln Tribute
Great performance after 1.5 years - keep going.
11. thepianoplayer416 — Air in D minor
A very competent performance - well done.
12. BicBic — Prelude in B flat minor - No.16 from Op.34
Confident playing of a tricky piece - impressive.
13. Nightowl — Plaisir D'Amour
My own performance is a bit pathetic when compared to the other excellent performances in this recital, but if you increase the playback speed to 1.25 it sounds much better! Apologies for making this pretty piece sound somewhat dirge-like, I defo need to work on increasing the tempo.
14. bSharp — High Heels
Impressive playing.
15. WieWaldi — Rainbow Connection
A delightful piece, played beautifully.
16. SalmonJack — Alia
A beautiful composition, played well, with creative video work. You are clearly very talented in more ways than one.
17. Calavera — Chrono Cross - Scars of Time
A very dramatic and cinematic piece, which seems too good for a video game. You played this piece excellently.
18. rsl12 — Always Chew Your Food
Well played and the lyrics made me smile. I enjoyed the first verse but was less keen on the imagery conjured up by the second verse - it really made me cringe, but no doubt it would make children laugh. Thanks for an entertaining performance.

navindra

Very well played, and such a great video! The filming from different angles and inside the piano, the background noises in the beginning and the end, very creative. I really enjoyed your performance.

rogerch
Thanks for your compliments. I did make quite a few changes as I went along, as I am not a very experienced player on the piano. Most of the changes involved adjusting the voicing and sometimes thinning a texture for better transparency. Obviously I was not going to be able to include everything that was in the full orchestra score, including sometimes as many as 16 (divisi) string parts! I also sometimes had to slightly simplify to make things playable, considering the limitations of my technique. You can find the original score at IMSLP, which is where you can find my arrangements as well. I really hope that others will take an interest and possibly perform and record them.

Player1 Thanks P1, I appreciate your encouragement.

@Sophia thanks for your support, my progress is very slow now but I know I just need to be patient.

twocats

A beautiful piece and beautifully played! I tried to learn it last year but it was too difficult for me. But I have a great teacher now, so maybe I can play it in the future

Nightowl

You're a good player. Your hand and finger dexterity are excellent and let you play wonderfully at your level, you just have to learn to move on instead of trying to perfect one piece to the exclusion of everything else. Once you get more time and experience behind you, you can always revisit these early pieces and play them the way they should be played. At that point it will be easy and simple to do.

Rubens What an exciting project. I couldn't tell who was playing what, but it sounded great!

@bSharp
Wow, played entirely from memory - that's incredible! Very pleasant to listen to, thank you!

@WieWaldi
That was adorable! I want to learn that piece too eventually ^_^ So far I have only heard you play blues licks or easy sight reading exercises, so this was a real treat... obviously you are a rowlf of all trades

@SalmonJack
Your description fit the imagery so well... something that is growing, growing and growing and never ceases paint a complete picture. You just add to it until it's finished... and then you just want more of it

@Calavera
Very pretty! It builds up to a nice climax and then quiets down... only to treat us to a second highlight - with an abrupt finish. Well well done!

@rsl12
WOW!!!! For a moment I thought I had entered the movie Toy Story - I love, LOVE, LOVE that theme. Your singing has improved SO MUCH, wow, a HUGE leap from the previous recital. And the piano complemented it so nicely... I could listen to that type of music for hours! Love the lyrics too, did I mention it should be used in a movie? And who can help but smile back when a performance ends with such a happy smile... loved it from start to finish!

@TC3
Another piece where you just can't help thinking happy thoughts while you listen... wow TC - you DO put the joy in boogie and blues Loved it, thanks so much for your great performance!

@iternabe
I always enjoyed that piece. In fact our washing machine uses that melody each time it finishes the laundry... and I always let it play right to the end because I never get tired of it Yours is a very nice arrangement too. Really impressed with your 7 months of learning - in your case too, your persistence paid off!

@ShiroKuro
We just purchased new speakers for my PC - and they are actually rather high end, meant be used with hifi equipment. So I could admire the music in its full glory and the quality wasn't bad at all! Thanks so much for sharing... what you call "just a practice recording" is probably the summit of what I'll ever be able to reach... if that

twocats
I'm glad I got you out of retirement from your solo performing career.

@lilypad
Another lovely piece, this recital just never stops giving Very well played. I can relate 100% to a not-perfect recording getting from bad to worse... but this one (to my ears) is very well played. Pretty harmonies and a very pleasant melody. Thank you!

@TheBoringPianist
That was ANYTHING BUT BORING How dare you call yourself boring pianist Teasing of course, that was lovely. I'm not surprised you made it to the finals, belated congratulations!

@Rob
What a talent! Both the composition as the way it's played. And such an adorable image which made it really alive. I have a good mind to play this when we have dinner tonight... it's perfect for a quiet and peaceful moment together!

@diretonic
Borrowed by a cat eh? Sounds like you borrowed ours... full of life and mischief I really love blues and you played it well. Very impressed!

@Serge88
Misty is a gorgeous piece.... loved your introduction and the way it's played. And another happy smile towards the end... perfect finish to a perfect piece

@Rubens
Wow Rubens and @Josephine, that was gorgeous! You got yourself a prodigee there Only FIVE YEARS of experience? You are so multi talented - not only restoring pianos, but obviously you play them too. I can't even tell where Rubens stepped in, but let's just say the entire piece was lovely. Compliments to you both - a real surprise indeed. I should have made two happy dances

@twocats
So bubbly and happy! Your playing is so beautiful - and when I realize you just recorded that on the last day or so I'm actually turning green with envy Great performance!

@navindra
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh last... but not least. Not only a lovely performance, but obviously you are able to just stoically play in front of the most beautiful background in the world and in a busy hotel. RESPECT! And your hat makes you look like such a cool cat - I bet some asked for autographs thinking you were a visiting celebrity, lol!

Wow, can't believe how fast that went by. I honestly didn't plan to listen to everything in a single day, but once I got going, it became a marathon session. @navindra a special thanks to you for your impeccable organization of this first recital!

So many great recordings, everyone! A few stuck out in my mind and I'd like to give you my compliments before my thoughts fly away as they're prone to do (hence my inability to memorize anything on the piano):

@BicBic I really enjoyed your Shostakovich, it really had the feel of his music

@Rob your composition was so lovely and I'm looking forward to hearing more of your pieces in the future. If you put it to sheet music I'm sure it would be very popular!

@rsl12 you made me laugh out loud with your special lyrics! But seriously, I'm so impressed that you improvised all that AND sang along.

Sophia And your hat makes you look like such a cool cat

Agreed, @navindra was looking pretty cool over there!

Sophia I can't even tell where Rubens stepped in

I only played the part from 1:07 to 1:51 in the track. You can hear the shift between musical personalities. I actually prefer her musicality to mine. My Chopin is often too heavy-handed and overt, maybe too "Russian"? (That's what a Polish professor once told me, which makes sense considering my training background.)

navindra

19. TC3 — St. James Infirmary
That was a great performance, perfectly executed. You are quite a player!
20. iternabe — The Trout
You absolutely nailed it there! Amazing playing, for a player who only began 7 months ago.
21. ShiroKuro — Nuvole Bianche
A beautiful piece, played well, which was a real pleasure to listen to. The sound quality was fine.
22. lilypad — Manhattan 1928
Nicely played.
I think that many of us experience similar things when trying to get a decent recording - red button syndrome is very annoying.
23. TheBoringPianist — Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
That was a very professional recital, even more impressive as you were playing in a competition, to an audience. I can't imagine the nerves involved in doing that. Well done.
24. Rob — Sunday Morning
That was absolutely lovely. You have immense talent. You are mind blowingly good.

Rubens now that you mention it, it does feel very Russian! I can't even tell you what I think Russian style sounds like, but maybe more intense and muscular? I also had a Russian teacher, and then later a Polish teacher (tempered by a very mellow American professor in between).

Josephine A beautiful piece and beautifully played! I tried to learn it last year but it was too difficult for me. But I have a great teacher now, so maybe I can play it in the future

Thank you! Once you're feeling confident with arpeggios and chromatic scales I'm sure you'll be able to play this piece

Sophia Your playing is so beautiful - and when I realize you just recorded that on the last day or so I'm actually turning green with envy

I did re-learn it recently (in March, so actually seasonally appropriate) so I'm glad it didn't take very long to get it back. With all the talk of neuroscience techniques it turns out that "learning stuff in your formative years" sticks around better than any works I learned in the past couple of decades. Thank you for your kind words!!

Thanks to those who helped put this together! I’m not very clear on who the recital coordinators are, but this is a great inaugural recital, and it’s wonderful to see so many submissions! It’s really exciting that this became a reality!

For submissions that were made both here and on PW, I’m thinking I’ll alternate where I post my comments, but I will try to get to everyone! I decided to start at the end for this set of responses.

25. diretonic — Borrowed Blues. I’m not familiar with Dr John, but I enjoyed this tremendously, and I appreciated the story of how you came across the music. Thanks for sharing!

26. Rubens @Josephine — Waltz Op.70 no.2. What a fantastic story of how this submission came to be! Also lovely and sensitive playing by both Rubens and Josephine. I thought the contrast in character worked very well, in the context of the piece.

27. Serge88 — Misty. A wonderful performance of this great standard! You seem more and more confident with each new submission.

28. twocats — Rustle of Spring. In my neck of the woods, it’s high summer, but the Rustle of Spring is most welcome! I’ve heard this piece a few times before, and it’s definitely a crowd pleaser. I’m very impressed that you were able to whip up the recording without much recent practice. I really enjoyed the contrasts, and you did a great job with the dramatic moments.

29. navindra — Bluebird (in Mauritius). What a great story and fun video! I’m so glad you felt comfortable playing (and recording) there. This was a fantastic ending to the recital. The music felt like it was perfect for the setting of the bright blue sky and sandy beaches. It did, however, look like the piano strings were suffering from the humidity .

More comments to come, and thanks to all who have commented and/or listened to my submission!