PianoTell Recital #7 Is Now Live!

navindra · 2026-02-15T16:40:00+00:00

Welcome to PianoTell Recital #7 iternabe — Invention No. 6 in E Major, BWV 777, by J.S. Bach Sophia — The Windmills of Your Mind by Michel Legrand Nightowl...

KevinM

rach3master Your Rachmaninoff concerto is great. Your playing is excellent.

I'm impressed that you can even attempt to keep the timing with the orchestra. I don't think the piano and orchestra are wholly disconnected but I do see what you mean. In relation to headphones, have you tried half open ones which should provide you with greater feedback on your piano playing.

I didn't even know this is a thing, but it makes sense.

rach3master

KevinM Thanks for the comment. Yes, I do have open-back headphones that I tried at first, which provide great feedback. Only issue is the orchestral audio from those headphones actually leak in the microphones during recording. I'll probably have to figure out direct monitoring via my audio interface.

KevinM

Cratersmash The Lark is such a lovely piece, thanks for introducing it to me. Your playing of it is beautiful.

I'm just blown away by the quality of music at the tail end of this recital.

KevinM

ShiroKuro Wow this hit me hard. Song for Gavin by Einaudi.

This was so well played with such feeling and empathy. I lost a friend and colleague called Gavin a little over a year ago. An infection of the heart took him way too early, like a life unfinished. Your playing brought tears to my eyes Shiro, thank you.

I am going to try and learn this one for myself and I suspect it will become a reminder to me of a lost friend.

ShiroKuro

KevinM Thank you for these kind comments, Kevin! I'm sorry to hear about the friend you lost, but I'm glad to be able to share something that will help you pay tribute to him.

@pianocat thank you for your kind words!

WieWaldi

pianocat Piano & Cello arrangement of Ave Maria (Gounod) over a lightly adapted Prelude in C (Bach)
What a nice duet you both are! Both talented musicians, but I would give the edge to the pianoplayer as this is my favourite instrument and love its sound. For someone playing "only" 5 years, an almost 5 minute long error free recording is amazing. Kudos! (to you both)

Nightowl

WieWaldi I always look forward to watching you play and this was another treat from our BBK (Bavarian Blues King). 🙂 From the words in brackets against the piano model details I gather that you chose a "mellow" tone setting for this piece - it was a good choice. You played the trills and other embellishments with a light delicate touch that shows real musicality. I would prefer the tempo to be slightly faster, with shorter pauses between the phrases to make the melody sound more cohesive, but that's just down to personal taste. Nice bracelet, by the way. 😉

Nightowl

Sophia That was a lovely rendition of a beautiful piece of music. The piece is so hypnotic that it would be easy to zone out while playing it, but those subtle variations require concentration and care, so I totally understand why this is such a challenging piece. You could work on the piece at some future time if you want to finesse your playing slightly, but there's no real need as you already played the piece very well.
It's also very fitting that this piece relates to your Dutch heritage. We have such an interesting mix of nationalities on this forum, it's a real pleasure chatting with members from all over the world.

Peyton

Sophia I forgot how much I like this song. Such a wonderful melody and really interesting chords.

Nightowl Congrats! Always nice to get to one of those works you have always loved.

keff I didn't realize Paul Desmond wrote this, always figured it was by Dave Brubeck. Good going. I may have to put this on my "gotta try" list.

KevinM Such a lovely piece and you play it so well. Had to listen twice.

rogerch Ha, your pieces are always filled with "mystery". A very dreamy work.

pianocat I love it!! Great playing and I love the Euphonium.

Player1 Very nice. The pauses are obvious but not the tremor. and good for you to keep doing this!!! You are a real hero.

WieWaldi Great playing. I realize you used an online tutorial but do you also have the sheet music? Just seems like a fun piece to learn.

WieWaldi

Peyton I realize you used an online tutorial but do you also have the sheet music?

First, thank you for your nice words. Actually, I use both the tutorial and sheet music. (tutorial contains link) The tutorial is a decider, if I want to learn the piece because of how it sounds, how difficult it looks. While learning, I am using the tutorial to get a feeling for the tricky parts, steal the fingering (or decide to not follow the advice). But the sheet music is important as well, it guides me through the easier parts, where less muscle memory is involved.

WieWaldi

KevinM Erster Verlust Op. 68.16 by Robert Schumann
Wonderful played with a gentle touch. Thanks for sharing.

Nightowl

Peyton OMG that was absolutely AWESOME! I loved it and it's so YOU!!! 😍🤩 That song sounds like it ought to be a hit song, regularly played on the radio and in bars and clubs everywhere. If there was a bowing emoji I'd use it, but this will have to do instead. 👏

WieWaldi

Opal Etude Op 76 No. 2 in A minor by Sibelius
Enjoyed listening to your piece. Seems very tricky to play, and the fast pace isn't exactly making this one easier by any means. Well done.

WieWaldi

lilypad The Rainbow Connection by Paul Williams and Kenneth L. Ascher
Wooowwwww! This one was so lovely played. I like this softer arrangement very much, actually I prefer it over the original. Don't worry about this little flub, the rest of the piece was so lovely that it doesn't count. We are all humans, no machines. I prefer an emotional rendition like yours any time over a perfect but soulless one. Thanks so much for sharing this one.

Sophia

navindra Very nice, nav! Laura brings back many memories... I had a hate-hate relationship with it and still do 🙂 I think I spent months complaining about how hard it is - it doesn't seem to belong in Alfred 1 at all. But you play it like it wasn't any deal at all, well done! In fact it's been great fun listening to pieces I actually played (or tried to, anyway) as well. Thanks for your lovely rendition of Laura!

navindra

Nightowl That was very nicely played and the quality of the recording is excellent - professional level. There's no need to apologise for playing another piece from Alfred's book 1 - those pieces may be simpler than some, but the final pieces in that book are better than many beginner pieces and can be more challenging than they first seem.

Thank you so much for that boost of confidence! I've been feeling lately that perhaps I haven't been challenging myself as much as I did at the beginning of my piano journey but I just really wanted to get past Book 1 now since I've been working at it for so long. Much appreciated! 🙂

Sophia Very nice, nav! Laura brings back many memories... I had a hate-hate relationship with it and still do 🙂 I think I spent months complaining about how hard it is - it doesn't seem to belong in Alfred 1 at all. But you play it like it wasn't any deal at all, well done! In fact it's been great fun listening to pieces I actually played (or tried to, anyway) as well. Thanks for your lovely rendition of Laura!

Thank you! It was an interesting piece for sure and took some time to learn the notes... it's good to know now that it wasn't just me. I'm so looking forward to being done with Book 1! 😂

pianocat I'm impressed with the sound quality and video editing. It's like a professional music video! The song is lovely, too.

Thanks very much for the kind words!

pianoloverus

iternabe EXCELLENT musically and technically!

WieWaldi

plop_symphony Waltz in A minor, B. 150 by Frédéric Chopin
This doesn't sound like someone playing only 3 years of playing. Nor does this piece belong to the repertoire to someone with that little playing time. Not sure, if I had mentioned this anywhere else, but Chopin ain't never easy. But you made it look easy. Especially the run-up is that part that impresses me the most. (ok, I see, you told this was the main part of your practicing - no wonder about that). I like the piece, I like how you played it, it sounded wonderful.

pianoloverus

plop_symphony I think you play the piece technically well but even though the pedaling was a conscious choice, I don't think it's the best choice. It sounds to me like you take the pedal off on the second beat of each measure and put back on on the third beat. I think this waltz and all of Chopin's Waltzes would normally be pedaled by depressing the pedal at the beginning of each measure and releasing it at or near the end of each measure. Since I think virtually every professional performance of this piece is pedaled in that fashion, I think that should make you somewhat wary of pedaling it and articulating the melody differently. It's also generally considered that Chopin's waltzes are not meant to be danced to.

plop_symphony

pianoloverus Thanks! Yep, that's certainly true of the performances I've listened to. I will approach Chopin's other waltzes more conventionally, so to speak, but I figured I'd try something different for this one since it's a technically easier piece and posthumous.

Nightowl

Sophia Thanks so much for your detailed feedback and focusing on the highlights - I really appreciate all the encouragement you give me. However, I'm slightly concerned that you said "most conversations boiled down to your (my) desire to learn Moonlight Sonata" though - please tell me that I've not been a total bore over the past 2 years! 😄

Thanks for not mentioning the low points... there were a couple of blips and I'm aware I played the piece slightly too fast. This wasn't a deliberate choice, it was a side effect of playing the piece repeatedly in an effort to get a decent recording - I was getting impatient to get the job done! Ideally the piece should be around 2:44 long, but my final recording was 15 seconds shorter - so ironic as I normally struggle to get any piece up to tempo. Also, I played the final chord too heavily. But anyway I'm very pleased that I finally played a version of this milestone piece.

pianocat

More comments now that I can watch mode videos.

WieWaldi So much progress between this and your last recital submission! Great tremolos, nice bass line, good hand coordination. This is a beautiful tune as a slow jam.

Opal Great work! I admit to not doing many etudes because they can require so much effort. That you can play this and keep your hands/wrists/arms loose and without tension means you are doing very well indeed.

MarieJ This is indeed a magnificent piece. It's been a while since I've listened to the whole thing. Everyone knows the first minute, but boy there is a lot going on here.

lilypad I don't believe I've heard this arrangement. It's lovely. No such thing as a perfect take; you did it and it sounds good!

plop_symphony I really like this interpretation. It's not overly fussy as some people can be with Chopin. You can actually waltz to it!

rsl12 Solid stride in the left hand there! The solo is great. The musical phrases you put together go really well together, and the little tag at the end is perfect.

ShiroKuro Played very well and it does sound like you're floating in that winter wonderland we got a few weeks ago (at least the first part, before it all turned to ice!)

rach3master I aspire to play piano this well! Loved the orchestral background.

navindra I'm impressed with the sound quality and video editing. It's like a professional music video! The song is lovely, too.

rogerch

iternabe Very well played! I like the clear separation of voices and the smooth, clean, clearly articulated playing. Your playing is nicely expressive throughout. I particularly like the crescendos and decrescendos when the two voices alternate notes.

rogerch

Sophia This is a great selection. I like the repeated notes and the melancholy mood. But the best part is the way you play it. I love the dynamics! The way you shape the music brings it to life with so much feeling. Outstanding!

I was also impressed by the page turns. You make it look so easy!

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