PianoTell Recital #2 Is Now Live!

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 ...

keff — Over the Rainbow - A very interesting and spirited arrangement of an old standard. I like it!

plop_symphony — The Midnight Ball – 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!

thepianoplayer416 — 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 — 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!

iternabe Very nicely played！And I love how you have the video set up!

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.

Sam that was great! It sounds finished to me

Also, I have to mention those lovely flowers and vase you have by the piano! Almost as beautiful as your playing!

navindra That was great!!! Very well played. And you piano sounds great too!

Also, I love your pumpkin shirt!

ShiroKuro I made that vase. My other hobby is woodworking. That is a segmented vase - cherry, maple, and walnut - hundreds of segments, turned on a lathe.

rsl12 That was AWESOME!! And yes, it was very entertaining! (Somehow, I think your nursing home performances will be a lot more fun than my retirement center concert...

Anyway, I loved it! I didn't hear any flubs either.

BTW did you memorize the music and the lyrcis?? That's quite a feat!

Sam I made that vase. My other hobby is woodworking.

I wondered if you'd made it (I have seen some of your other beautiful creations).

It's lovely, and complements the piano so nicely!

TC3 thank you, I think ideally the chords wouldn’t be rolled but my hands are quite small

Rob
This is a heartbreakingly beautiful composition. Reminds me a bit of Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla, perhaps because it is in the same mood and key. Your playing is expressive and captivating, and your piano has an exquisite tone, but that's not surprising considering that it's s Kawai ES920, which I used for my own performance .