pianoloverus The outer sections are quite good but I suggest you work on trying to speed up the middle section which is very slow. Perhaps you are already aware of this?
This is sort of a different thread, since here we're addressing the idea of the "gap" between where we are ability-wise vs. where we want to be. Because ShiroKuro tackled a piece that I worked on, I showed samples of approach to that end.
This here is OT to the topic: interpretation of a piece, a performance - which I'll answer as OT. Everything that follows is OT, and is moot for this thread. (I've not presented a performance as such.)
If I were in my 20s, I'd probably revisit this piece several times in my life, and interpretation decisions would be different and would mature. I'm in my 70s with a late start, so dunno. 😉
The timing throughout was thought out with ideas bounced around with my teacher. I listened to recordings of various kinds as well as forming my own idea. Rachmanoff's timing is especially wild, and we discussed the idea that if he played today incognito his playing may not be accepted according to modern mores.
I also had a "picture" which comes from Rach's dream, and the dream itself might be representative of a young man suddenly realizing his own and human mortality. In the dream, Rachmaninoff finds himself among people in a funeral procession down a country road. That's our A section. The big Bom Bom Bom could be like funeral bells. --- A gust of wind snatches his hat, he's bewildered for a moment, then chases after his hat and suddenly he crashes into the coffin and sees the deceased is himself. Initial bewilderment when the hat is snatched, the chase, to utter heart-stopping shock. That's the B section. Rather than starting literally agitato, I start with a gradual becoming agitated. I chose to have the middle section start at the tempo that I played it, after going back and forth on a lot of things with my teacher. It does not reflect the literal markings in the score (which Rach didn't follow either). ---- He rejoins the funeral march: the A' return of theme. But is it really "a tempo", and like before? Rach doesn't play it that way in his recording. And if a young man has just seen his own body in a casket and realized his mortality, there will be inner agitation and turmoil. The funeral bells, the steady march, will have a different meaning for him. The very end may be peaceful resignation, a quiet acceptance.
This is why I played it in the manner that I did. 🙂
I'm afraid that discussing interpretation will take away from the purpose of this thread which is an important one for any of us learners.