Chopin Prelude in B minor

pianocat

I am working on this piece to play at a piano meetup group later this month. Here's where I am right now.

If you know the piece, you know I have a flub at measure 12 but whatevs. I think I also sped up on measure 7 but that's my least favorite measure so maybe I was just itching to get through it. 😄

Feedback/critique welcome!

Recorded on my phone with the MoviePro app and Zoom H1essential mic. Piano is a Kawai K200.

alex-plays

Well done, Dan, and nice sounding piano.

You play with feeling :-)

alex-plays.org

pianoloverus

Here are some suggestions:

When the left hand has the melody like in the beginning and most of the time in the piece, I think the Dynamic contrast between the left hand and right hand has to be more pronounced. You do make some contrast but I think it needs a lot more.
In the repeated note pattern appearing in the right hand most of the time, I think the contrast between the first accented chord and the note afterwards has to be greater. Even though the accent on the first chord may only appear in the first few bars depending on your edition, that pattern continues in the whole piece. Here is a fantastic video that discusses a technical approach to achieving that in the right hand and some other terrific ideas for this piece:
Try to follow the dynamic markings more closely so that the melodies shaped more. For example, The first phrase is two measures long with a crescendo Up to the C sharp or B natural followed by a decrescendo.

I think this piece is quite a bit more difficult than it might look on the page, so it may benefit from some hands separate practice even though you don't have any trouble with the notes and rhythms when playing hands together.

pianocat

Thank you for the detailed reply and link to the video! My teacher has pointed out #1 (dynamic contrast of LH v. RH), so clearly I need to put some more effort on that.