iternabe โ O mio babbino caro - Itโs a beautiful aria, and you really make your piano sing it!
PianoTell Recital #2 Is Now Live!
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@lilypad - God Bless the Child. What a beautiful tune! Thatโs a song Iโve always wished I had the voice to pull off. I know what you mean about the rhythmic style. I think it sounds just fine with a steady beat, but you could definitely continue experimenting with some rubato here and there. Cheers!
@BicBic - Prelude. Short and sweet! Thanks for the selection, I admit I donโt know Scriabin at all, so youโve broadened my horizons. You have very good technique, I thought the rolled chords near the end were especially well executed.
@WieWaldi - Quick Five Blues. All right, now this is my kind of music! Though Iโve only messed around with some of Christianโs videos in no particular order, I definitely recognize some of the elements from his lessons. Your left hand shuffle is very nice, youโve really nailed that since the first time I saw you play a Christian lesson on PW a couple of years ago. Keep it up!
Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.
plop_symphony There was some percussion throughout starting in the middle section - was that your foot or something? I thought it actually fit really well and now I'm wondering what this sonata would sound like with a full percussion section.
I think that was my nails, I believe they were just slightly too long and were hitting the keys when I did that recording
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Player1 โ Ashokan Farewell
I'm so very pleased you made it to the recital after all, it wouldn't be the same without you 
I have heard that piece before... I know I have. It's a lovely melody, always liked it. I enjoyed your gentle playing and soft touch.... and you played it well. Your love for the piece and the genre definitely showed through!
Edit: now I simply must know the story with the saddle 
rsl12 I was going to wait until tomorrow to listen to the next batch of recitals, but my curiosity got the better of me and I'm so glad it did - because your performance was ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!! 
The speed of playing was incredible and singing all those complex tongue twisting lyrics at the same time made this even more impressive - my mind is completely blown!!! How do you do that?!? You were absolutely on fire!!! Thanks for the entertainment, I'll be watching this again, that's for sure!
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
rsl12 I think this is my favorite recording of yours so far. Good arrangement--simple and varied. Your singing voice is also really good on this! It sounds relaxed and confident.
You are too kind. No, really! I appreciate my kind words, but I think I have more work to do, especially on my singing. There are still some phrases that come out a little pitchy or strained. I know it'll get better once I have it all under my belt more confidently and I don't have to think about it as much. Thanks for listening!
Rubens I hereby declare TC3 and rsl12 as the twin peaks of piano+singing entertainment here.
High praise indeed! On an unrelated note, I should start learning the soundtrack to Twin Peaks ... 
Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.
keff โ Over the Rainbow - A very interesting and spirited arrangement of an old standard. I like it!
plop_symphony โ The Midnight Ball โ A playful, funny piece. I like the way you bring out the interplay between its two natures - the naughty, grating, dissonant one and the well-behaved, pleasant, harmonious other. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Very well played!
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WieWaldi Thanks so much WW, maybe Blues music growing on me, since I've been following your progress on the Blues thread, and watching you and Sophia continue your never ending Blues Duel, where you are both constantly winners!
As for the length of my piece, I played it a bit too slowly and there were some hesitations, so if those things were sorted out it would be quite a bit shorter! <Maybe I subconsciously stretched it out a bit - just to make it appear more impressive! Not that it worked.> 
I already have my piano bench set at the highest it will go, because I have long legs but a very short body. Maybe it has dropped a little over time - I will check later.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
thepianoplayer416 โ When You Wish Upon a Star
I know Pinocchio since I was a little child. The 1976 TV series was broadcasted a lot in Germany, but this was a Japanese/German co-production and the soundtrack was something very different. Not bad - I was a kid, I liked it back then! And today I have very positive memories about it, especially if I hear the soundtrack, again.
But I must admit, until now, I didn't know When You Wish Upon a Star at all. I guess the 1940 Disney version never made the way to Germany, at least not when I was young.
I liked how you played it. This is indeed a very nice piece, and you got the essence of it perfectly. Now I have listened to the Disney version with the big orchestra, and it sounds likes yours, just with a bigger ensemble. Well played!
Sophia Edit: now I simply must know the story with the saddle
It's a saddle I had custom made a few decades ago when I was actively riding in the mountains. I have a couple of English saddles (dressage & hunt seat) in another room, along with the breeches/boots/and all that other jazz packed away in totes. I haven't ridden in over 20 years because I got old and so did the horses. Now I just keep the saddles and tack for the memories and home decor. The horses are long gone to that big green pasture in the sky. My last horse was a thoroughbred whose pedigree traced back to War Admiral. We lost him at 20.
I thought it would be a good backdrop for the piece. All I had to do was move the camera to get it into the shot since that's where it normally sits under a saddle cover. That particular closet is used for storage so the saddle rarely has to be moved.
Schubertian2 โ Ballade 4
Wow - this one was really impressive. One can literally hear, you invested a lot of time getting this Ballada to this level. The really nice about this is to know, you did everything from the sheet music, and nothing else. Basically this is stepping back in time, when there were no audio recordings existing.
Music was always live played, and every artist made it sound differently, unless one had been teached and could copy his teacher. But for all others, there was some paper, hard work to make it sound and then it was very unique piece of music.
I still wonder how it is possible, to play something difficult like this for 13 minutes, without mistakes. Excellent work!
plop_symphony What a fun piece, I loved that! And you played it very well!
WieWaldi
Thanks so much for your kind words. There is a lot I could say about this piece that I learned just from thinking about the score - but also I had a lot of input from my teacher Alessandro Mazzamuto so it is really a joint effort.
I recorded the piece and sent it in the first day just to get something in thinking I would record something better, but I never did. There are A LOT of errors and lost notes and mushy sounding stuff that I hate. I can play the piece but I still need to polish it. If there is another recital in 3 months I will turn in the final product
I wonder if I could start a separate thread just to go over all that I learned from working on this and my ideas about what a 'ballade' is. It would be much too long here.
