PianoTell Recital #3 Is Now Live!

My 5 comments of the day:

rogerch Flutter by rogerch - WoW!! What a nice piece, very well put together improv.

Nightowl Frankie and Johnnie - Super well done! I'm amazed at how far you've come in 14 months.

Peyton Peyton - The accompaniment track really makes this one take off. It has a very movie soundtrack feel. If I remember correctly I said the same about one of your other improv's.

Animisha To a wild rose by Edward MacDowell - Sweet. A very lyrical piece inspiring visions of rolling hills and wildflowers everywhere.

keff Summertime, originally from Porgy and Bess by G. Gershwin - Not a bad piece. Maybe a bit slow in tempo but I've done a lot worse than how this turned out. You can certainly be proud of your performance, just don't let it go to your head.

That's all for now. I'll try to listen to more submissions tomorrow and the days to come in between doctor visits and stuff.

rsl12 When Sophia approached me with the idea of doing a duet, I liked the idea but was hesitant. I felt possibly too busy to prepare properly. But I told my 12-yr old about it, and she offered me $5 to see the finished video!

So we have your daughter to thank for this! @Sophia what an amazing idea to create a duet! rsl12 I can definitely hear an improvement in your singing from last year, and I love the showmanship in your body language and the unexpected melodica solo. You were both so great!

Animisha This is one of my favorite pieces that I've ever learned, and from start to finish I thoroughly enjoyed your interpretation. Well done!

BicBic I'm not as familiar with Chopin's mazurkas, but maybe I'll need to look into them because I enjoyed this! Well done on dynamics, both the dynamic range (crescendos and decrescendos), and the appropriate contrast between left and right hands.

WieWaldi I do enjoy my Christian from Berlin! Nice interpretation of his arrangement. Some of these can have tricky interactions between the left and right hands but you made it look easy.

navindra I love this song and it's on my "someday" list to learn a good arrangement. I like this one, and you played it very nicely. Sweet and soothing.

ShiroKuro I'd never heard this piece before, but I really dig it. A little haunting, a little mysterious. Pretty cool! And very nicely played.

rogerch that was absolutely lovely! Very peaceful but also with a nice sense of direction.

First batch of comments, in semi random order for a change:

Nightowl — Frankie and Johnnie
I know you tend to feel a little insecure about your progress, Nightowl. But look at you now, honestly. Playing a complicated tune with ease and flair! That was very well played, confident and fluent. Your hard work is paying off and it shows! I would say I never want to hear you moan again, but that would mean I can't either. We can't have that now, can we, after all, we thrive on it (I know I do) Seriously, that showed a LOT of progress, like night and day compared to your previous recital.

plop_symphony — A Hermit Crab Surfing
Adorable! Very well played, flawless and steady beat, and I loved how the left hand kept jumping across to the other side. I could just see the little crabbies crabbing there ^_^

hebele — Minuet in G
Wow hebele, that was very good! I was very impressed that you even included the trills... very smoothly played too. Yes that piece is basically the rite of passage for classical music... And I agree we need a bit of everything especially in our early days of learning!

navindra — Over The Rainbow
That was lovely! Steady and confident, and I love the sound of your piano too. Or should I say tooned? You are right, Over the Rainbow is definitely one of the nicest arrangements of the Alfred series, and a lot trickier to play than it appears. And you snuck in some improvisations too, you sly devil Ok, I managed to not mention the hat. Should I mention the hat? Naaahhhh.... But oooh, that HAT!

rach3master wow!!! I love this performance!! And your piano sounds glorious!

Did you buy the sheet music online? I think I might need to buy it too…

Musicnotes?

Peyton A Dream of Far Away (part two) by Peyton

Playing the entire band with help of whatever you used to add more instruments. Very impressive an also felicitous. I was always (and still am) a big fan of your storytelling, "Mark Knopfler-as-pianist"-like compositions. But you impressed me again with a totally different style, your eastern. Thank you for sharing, you are setting the bar for the recitals very high.

Animisha To a wild rose by Edward MacDowell

Very nicely played, you had a superb relaxed playstyle. And a very good expression by using dynamic changes very well. You made this piece look easy, but I am quite sure it isn't. Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece with us.

keff Summertime, originally from Porgy and Bess by G. Gershwin et al., jazz arr. from Brent Edstrom.

Oh yes, this one has a nice jazzy feel under the hood. The left hand alone sounds quite tricky because the syncopated rhythm. Not to mention the right hand. You played this one very well without a single mistake. For a 3 minute piece this is very impressive!

iternabe Malagueña (Traditional Spanish folk dance theme, arranged by Faber)

You hit the mark of this dance to the point. Listening to your interpretation I literally see spanish people, dressed as Toreros, playing guitars. (Don't know if this makes any sense, but it is what I see.) You played it really flawless, maybe someone at Faber company puts a link to your version as reference.

A few more randomly:

Animisha — To a Wild Rose
That is an adorable piece, Animisha. I agree that some pieces are so much more pleasant to practise than others... well we talked about that often enough Thanks for your sweet, delicate performance!

Sophia & @rsl12 — Just a "Good Old Tune"
Normally I don't comment on my own pieces, but of course now I have a reason to It was super great fun to work with someone else! It was the first time for me to play a duet this way. It was such a surprise when I received his video that he didn't only sing, but also added a melodica improvisation to the mix! Thanks for agreeing to do this with me, @rsl12! Tell your daughter it was a commission well spent - I just hope you don't squander it all at once.

Player1 — Legend of Madrid
That was lovely Player1. Despite you not having been able to practice a lot, I'm still seeing a huge amount of progress between this and your previous pieces. I loved how the mood changes around the 30s mark from light and fluffy to dark and intense... you caught that moment so well and led up to it by dramatically slowing down just beforehand. Even the page turning was done with flair. And then back to the main theme in the same manner. Very nicely played and I am glad you submitted it after all!

Calavera — Antipyretic
A very spirited performance! Sound quality is very good too, clear and crisp. What you call a "shorter piece" is still longer than anything I have ever learned ^_^ Well played and I agree, the title is very whimsical and fun.

Sophia & @rsl12 Just a "Good Old Tune" by Willard A. Palmer

Ha ha! Oh - my - gosh! Everything about that is brilliant. The idea, the piece, your playing and rsl singing and accompanying. Ok, I knew rsl can sing very good, but I never expected he takes from his 12yr old daughter the melodica, together with the $5. You are a bad dad! Ok, your performance is worth the $5, maybe even more, but the melodica?!? How dare you!
And Sophia, your playing was so flawless, so melodic and free of any mistakes. All this on a three minute piece. With a quite complicated left hand. Actually a mild ragtime left hand, to be honest. You improved a lot! Now I know why you had been a bit silent in the blues&blues&more_blues-thread. No, you must have put some effort into this one to get a video that let this piece seem playable so effortless! Big big respect to you (and bad-dad rsl^^).

Btw: sorry rsl, after Sophia's announcement I thought you'd be a stick or something that runs on batteries. Glad it was you!