Kapustin Concert Etude Op. 40, No. 2

Ornstein · 2025-10-17T00:44:19+00:00

I worked pretty hard to learn this but there are some uneven parts in the middle and moments where my brain skipped and hammered some notes too hard when t...

Jane

Speaking of double notes... 👍

Amazing performance. I'll confess to never having heard anything by Kapustin. Thank you for the lovely introduction.

Very nicely played!

Ornstein

Jane

Thanks so much! When you have a chance give a listen to the composer's own recordings of these etudes on Triton Records:

His whole story is amazing. As the top piano student at Moscow Conservatory at the time he didn't have time to take composition courses. He studied the works of his favorite composers in the library, similarly studied listening to Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and the American jazz pianists over the radio, to create his style.;

My favorite non-etude composition by Kapustin is his Sinfonietta for 4 hands:

pianoloverus

Hesangasong's videos are really impressive, thanks pianoloverus, this is quite a discovery.

Another channel in this vein I admire is smeister: He transcribed a 4-hand performance by Chick Corea and Hiromi Uehara, most of the original compositions of Hayato Sumino (or Cateen on youtube) and made great debut/first ever recordings of Rainy Weather and the 17th and 18th sonatas. Also very intricate arrangements of Pokemon music. I know this individual, one day I'll surprise him with acoustic performances of his works.

Seeker

Thanks very much and you're right that the first time performing something should be the first step in the overall process toward truly grasping it. My thought earlier in the year was I'd gradually acclimate to the piano. I've spent ₆ hrs on it which has helped a lot but the sessions are pretty far apart.

In fact reading this just prompted the idea of me just asking me the studio owner if I could pay to rent the studio for hourly practice. I think I've built some trust with the studio owner so hopefully she says yes. Its odd how these local piano ecosystems work. When I was looking online I see that people were booking practice sessions at state unis/community colleges years ago. But I wonder if Covid changed something, 5 unis/colleges within a reasonable drive all said they had student only policies.

If she says no I'll probably start going to these campuses and try to explain to a music student I need to get in to practice. This may possibly not be the purest ethics but, eventually, love must win out over law.

pianoloverus

Ornstein, In case you're not already familiar with this site
https://www.youtube.com/@hesangasong/videos

It has a large number of performances of pieces by Kapustin and arrangements of other songs in the style of Kapustin. I think the pianist on the site borders on genius level.

Seeker

Ornstein Nicely done. Your next performance will be even better if you use this one as a practice tool. There's something different about coming back to work again on something that you have performed under stress, a deepening of command of the piece, at least that's my experience. So, go for it, and... relax as much as you can. When you feel yourself tightening up, LOOSEN UP - make it a "practice".

Jane

Ornstein In fact reading this just prompted the idea of me just asking me the studio owner if I could pay to rent the studio for hourly practice. I think I've built some trust with the studio owner so hopefully she says yes. Its odd how these local piano ecosystems work. When I was looking online I see that people were booking practice sessions at state unis/community colleges years ago. But I wonder if Covid changed something, 5 unis/colleges within a reasonable drive all said they had student only policies.

Ahhhhh yesssss...
As Bill Clinton famously said, "I feel your pain!"

Music (piano) stores in my area have all closed.
Local university music department says practice rooms are for enrolled students only.
Everybody (including a nice lady at the university music department) suggests I approach local churches to see whether they might allow some access for practicing but I don't seem comfortable doing that.

Getting access to an acoustic piano was why I went to Tonebase piano camp in Vermont for 2 weeks in 2024 and to Tonebase's "intensive" in Los Angeles for 4 days this past May. Costly, but at age 78 I ain't getting any younger 😉

But I'm grateful that my electronic piano with headphones is as good as it is...

Seeker

Ornstein In fact reading this just prompted the idea of me just asking me the studio owner if I could pay to rent the studio for hourly practice.

There's more than trust involved. There's also liability and insurance, complicating factors which have always been there but are certainly bigger issues today in our increasingly litigious society. That said, it's worth asking. Churches and synagogues are other candidates (I can't speak for mosques never having been in one, and I've never seen a piano at a Buddhist or Hindu temple), and... if you combined your use with a small donation, and maybe even offered to play something at a worship service, I bet you'll find somewhere amenable.

Ornstein

Jane I'd say tonebase was worth it with you having captured some quality recordings on the acoustic, and also spending time among other pianists. Would you do it again or attend other events? I was aware of Tonebase during what I'd call their era of highest reach with Ben Laude (getting tons of recommendations in Videos to Watch Next on youtube etc) but hadn't seen too much after he left in 2024. But it sounds like there's something thriving there, a pianist on youtube/PianoWorld forums MarcPlays also sounds like he had a great experience, mentioning he'd just got into a challenge learning the Chopin torrent etude.

Josephine That's a good idea as well. I'll look around at private teachers/studios to see if that's something they'd do.

I actually caught a liquidation event at a local piano store last year but was not in a place to pull the trigger. Crazy deals but it was dead empty, I was only person walking around in there. Do they just store the pianos even going bankrupt, if they can't sell them? Then if so, do they use dehumifiers and do temperature control the whole time and for how long? Till the money completely runs out? I asked the person but he said he wasn't sure if they were being bought out by another store. I guess they're forced to sell them truly pennies on the dollar, possibly. It was a sober thing to see.

Seeker That's a good point. She's very meticulous, has a dehumidifier/climate control running round the clock, regularly gets it tuned, and has invested a lot so I totally get it.

I'm fully willing to infiltrate campuses and get into the piano rooms (probably the piano majors bring non-music majors to some practice sessions to help them in their preparations by listening. So it should be a simple matter of just getting an official student to provide the cover for the ID/badge scan.)

So in summary at least 4 possible ways of getting regular access (i) asking studio owners ii) asking teachers iii) asking local churches/religious institutions iv) infiltration method. Thanks guys, this place is really the best forum out there.

Josephine

Impressive performance!

I was looking for a grand to practice on as well but couldn't find a place either. Now I bought one, I was lucky to find a grand for a very low price because the family of the owner who passed away wanted to sell to someone who would love the piano as much as he did. But one thing I wanted to try if I didn't find that grand was asking my former teacher if I could rent his studio weekly for the same price as a lesson. Maybe that's something you didn't think of yet.

Jane

Ornstein Jane I'd say tonebase was worth it with you having captured some quality recordings on the acoustic, and also spending time among other pianists. Would you do it again or attend other events? I was aware of Tonebase during what I'd call their era of highest reach with Ben Laude (getting tons of recommendations in Videos to Watch Next on youtube etc) but hadn't seen too much after he left in 2024. But it sounds like there's something thriving there, a pianist on youtube/PianoWorld forums MarcPlays also sounds like he had a great experience, mentioning he'd just got into a challenge learning the Chopin torrent etude.

The two in-person Tonebase events I attended were open to everybody willing to pay, not just to Tonebase members.

I really enjoyed both events.

I work as a contractor for a chain of community health centers. Last winter, the Informatics Director asked whether I'd be disappearing again this summer to Vermont and I told him I wouldn't. So that limited my options. When I saw the shorter 4-day possibility for their "intensive" in Los Angeles, I decided to go to it.

The pianos at Colburn in L.A. were in better shape than those at Adamant in Vermont. But Colburn was limited to certain sign-up hours during the day, whereas Adamant we could sign up for extra hours and play until 9PM.

I live in a hick town in California, so getting to Adamant took several plane changes each way. I decided to visit a friend in D.C., so altogether that meant taking 3 weeks unpaid leave from my contracting work. Plus air fare, a few nights of hotel stay on either end of the Adamant time, and the money for the camp itself. So it wound up being rather costly. But for me to drag myself cross-country, I'd want to do the full 2-week session.

This year, Tonebase raised the price of the piano camp by about $1k (to $4,500 for the two-week session). Whereas I could more easily take time from work to do the L.A. "intensive" for a half session (4 days for $1600). But the prices are a bit different because Adamant includes lodging and board, L.A. does not. I decided to baby myself and splurge for the adjoining Omni hotel in L.A.. (Which charges $65 a day for parking. On top of the $200+ per night room charge).

But I'm 78 and don't have any responsibilities, so I don't mind indulging myself a bit.

The rest of the Tonebase stuff online I've been using less lately. There were several videos on the site that I found quite valuable. Boris Giltburg's lesson on Rachmaninoff Op. 32, No. 5 was very good. I enjoyed Noah's on Beethoven's Op. 111. I have no idea how many times I've rewatched Garrick Ohlsson's lesson on the Barcarolle. (Having 9 minutes at the L.A. "intensive" to ask Garrick about a section of the Barcarolle was definitely a high point of the trip.)

I miss having Ben's energy on Tonebase. There seem to be less new piano videos that previously, but I may be being confused because there were already a number of videos available when I joined.

They offer a number of online things such as the challenge you mention, or paid online tutoring, but I've not participated.

So ... to be determined. If there's a chance at a few days on nice pianos next year, I may very well indulge again.

Ornstein

Jane I've watched all of Garrick's clips for tonebase on youtube, actually getting to meet him and hear his insight sounds incredible.

(fun fact Boris Giltburg provided the fingerings for Henle editions of the Scriabin op 8 and op 42 etudes, I got both of them. Really good fingerings as one would expect from a great pianist like him.)

4 days sounds just right. I went to LA for a one and done show, to see the Eiane Elias jazz quartet at Catalina Jazz Club, a while ago, it was a good experience but didn't spend a lot of time there, I couldn't decide a good place to eat and just walked to In n Out. And ordered something ok at the venue for the other meal. At least the gas prices will be way saner next time I go (it was $6+ a gallon late 2022, completely whack, as was the parking situation).

TheBoringPianist

Ornstein it is my very favorite etude

It's my favorite in the set as well (and the only one I've learned so far)! Happy to hear more people playing it, and congratulations on getting such a challenging piece under your belt!

As someone who has also worked on this piece, if you're open to it I can offer a few points that I think could take your already good playing to the next level.

Looking forward to hearing more of your playing!

Ornstein

TheBoringPianist That'd be very kind of you! I caught a lot of the obvious stuff but I saw your repertoire list a while ago about the next Oberlin competition and that looked quite heavy duty, I'd love to hear some tips.

I'll learn the others at some point. I learned 1 and 3 as well, though they're in a similar place as 2. 4 I realized I need to study some quartal playing before I could learn it in an educated way, one day I'll continue with this quest.