Thank you @"rogerch", @"KevinM", @"rsl12", @"ShiroKuro", @"MarieJ", @"smithac345" for listening! I really appreciate your very kind and encouraging words.
rogerch Very nice playing, with nice contrasting dynamics and good phrasing. The hand crossings are very smooth. Well done!
The hand crossing was a challenge at first. Then my teacher showed me a few tricks: play each hand as blocked chords, and move the free hand quickly to next position well ahead of the beat on which it needs to play. The latter is even more important and necessary as the tempo increases, and I still need to do it better.
KevinM So very impressed with how you have played this. The different voices coming through. Well done. At some point I'm going to have to accept learning some pieces like this to improve my finger and hand independence and I know I'm going to find it difficult.
The finger and hand independence came to me only gradually in small doses, and it took time (e.g. 30 minutes a day) that won't accelerate even if I practice more. And it's not really "independence" per se, but rather my teacher continually tweaking the movement of my wrist (and arm) so that they help the finger. I am delighted to find what was initially awkward become natural and fluid in the end. Having a teacher that shows that the technique will work and assures I can eventually do it is the real driving force that pushes me to put in the work.
rsl12 Ambitious choice! It's clear you spent some time thinking about the phrasing, and your execution of your ideas keeps improving. Your rate of progress is pretty amazing.
I wrote in plenty of articulation markings on my printed score as my lesson progress. As I was preparing for the recital recording, I found Ricordi published copy edited by Alessandro Longo who added his dynamics and articulations. Comparing it to my own notes really solidify the ideas. Having studied the piece in detail, listening to various performances on YouTube become even more revealing and enjoyable.
ShiroKuro Fantastic playing! I can see that this is a piece with a lot of pedagogical value, but you’ve demonstrated that it’s also just really compelling music. Well done! (As an aside, I could have sworn I bought a book of Scarlatti sonatas, but my bookshelf says otherwise…)
@Seeker chooses good music for me! We both get delighted the music often during the lessons and that really makes working on the difficult (for me) part challenges I am eager to tackle.
MarieJ Very impressive! You’ve clearly put an enormous amount of work and time into this, and it has paid off in spades.
Enormous amount of work indeed. I am feeling what I learn from this piece will benefit me in the long run. Thanks for your encouragement!
smithac345 Greetings from another NC resident and well done! You have good fluidity and as an adult learner you are making fast progress, it seems to me. Your must have a good teacher too. Have you played another instrument besides piano?
One thing I see is that your elbows/forearms are lower than the keyboard. Some excellent concert pianists have this position (Rebecca Pennys and of course Glenn Gould, and sometimes Horowitz), but for most, that can lead to strain once one starts playing faster more technically demanding music. So maybe mention that to your teacher and see about sitting a tad higher? Anyway, congrats again on good playing.
I was given a trombone in high school band and played one semester. Tried to pick up guitar to impress a girl in college and gave up soon after. Then nothing for decades until I decided to learn piano a couple of years ago. So all credits goes to my piano teacher.
Good observation on my sitting position! It is indeed lower that commonly seen. But it's specifically required as an integral part of the Peter Feuchtwanger Piano Exercises I am learning from my teacher, who studied with Peter and cured his tension-related problems. Sitting low is part of Peter's entire system of how to manipulate the piano keys efficiently, so it's difficult to explain in a few sentences. It did work miracles for my teacher, and has been working very well so far for me. One point Peter makes is that sitting low does not have to lead to tension (especially in raised shoulders like Gould) if one learns how to move the playing apparatus properly. In my lessons, my teacher constantly monitors and corrects me to have relaxes shoulders, free wrists, and using gestures that helps the fingers and the sound.
A side note: I have two benches, a cheap X bench that has 4 heights, and a nicer continuously adjustable one. But only the cheap bench gets low enough to what I desired. And I actually raised the stand of my digital piano up one notch, too. Luckily the cheap bench turned out to be quite comfortable. Should it fail one day, I am really tempted to have the legs on my nicer bench chopped by a couple of inches.