PianoTell Recital #9 Is Now Live!

navindra · 2026-08-15T16:11:09+00:00

Welcome to PianoTell Recital #9! rsl12 & Sophia — The Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson Simonb — Honky Tonk Train Blues by Meade Lux Lewis Nightowl — Nocturne in Eb, Op. 9, No. 2 by Chopin KevinM — Sonatine 36,3 by Clementi Peyton — Chelsea Hotel by Leonard Cohen MarieJ — 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen ShiroKuro — September Song, by Alexis Ffrench thepianoplayer416 — "March pour la Cérémonie des Turcs" by Jean-Baptiste Lully TulipAcid — Il Etáit Une Fois by Stephan Moccio rogerch — Magnetic Rag by Scott Joplin WieWaldi — Summertime by George Gershwin rach3master — Ninelie, by Hiroyuki Sawano, arr. by Animenz Blakifer92 — Sonata Minacciosa (excerpt) by Medtner navindra — Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Gary Portnoy + Judy Hart-Angelo You can reply to each performance directly. Enjoy! This is an archive of the recital announcement. Don't miss out on PianoTell Recital #9! 🎹 This is an opportunity to share your music if you are a seasoned player, showcase your progress milestone by milestone if you're an active learner, stay motivated and on track, or simply contribute to the community fun! One might even argue that performing is truly what it's all about. For inspiration and a general idea of the recital format, just take a look at past Quarterly Recitals: PianoTell Recital #8 PianoTell Recital #7 PianoTell Recital #6 PianoTell Recital #5 PianoTell Recital #4 PianoTell Recital #3 PianoTell Recital #2 PianoTell Recital #1 Everyone is welcome and what you submit is up to you. For questions or comments or updates on the recital, please go here instead. Submit your performance now! To submit your performance, simply reply to this post and fill in the details. If you don't yet have an account on PianoTell, the sign up process is very easy and completely free. Just look for "Sign Up" at the top of the site or "Log In to Reply". Your submission will only be visible to yourself and the recital coordinators until the recital goes live on 15 August 2026. Template **Performer:** Name or Alias, Location, Experience. **Piece:** Title by Composer **Comment Policy:** (See below) Replace this line with the link to your performance. **Source of music:** ... **Instrument:** ... **Recording method:** ... **Additional info:** ... if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } You may use the following template to specify the Comment Policy: No Comments Please! Positive comments only (no criticism or suggestions for improvement please). Positive comments and suggestions for improvement (no direct criticism please). All comments; anything goes! Link To Your Performance: If you have a video, that's great! Otherwise, audio-only is fine. Upload your performance to YouTube, Vimeo, Gumlet, SproutVideo, Rumble, SoundCloud, or Google Drive. Your media may be public or unlisted but private will not work. The direct link needs to be posted so that the performance is embedded on PT. Ask for help! Dropbox option: If hosting your performance using YouTube or another service is not possible, then you may submit your audio or video file via the upload link the coordinator provides. In your recital submission, you can just say you uploaded your performance to Dropbox. Submitters are requested to keep their performances up for at least a period of 90 days and as long as possible after that. Do you want to host your performance elsewhere? Please let me know so that it can be tested. Example I hope Tom doesn't mind that I used his video purely for illustrative purposes with some fictional details. **Performer:** Tom from California, USA. I've been playing piano on and off since I was a kitten! **Piece:** Serious Piece No. 1 in C# by Jerry **Comment Policy:** All comments; anything goes! https://youtu.be/QpEfHVFilRc **Source of music:** This was composed and shared with me by my friend Jerry. **Instrument:** NY Steinway D **Recording method:** iPhone X with large condenser microphones. **Additional info:** This wasn't the performance I had exactly planned. A lot went wrong, but I dealt with it in the best way I could. Regardless, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out and I believe the audience enjoyed it. Thanks for listening! if(window.hljsLoader && !document.currentScript.parentNode.hasAttribute('data-s9e-livepreview-onupdate')) { window.hljsLoader.highlightBlocks(document.currentScript.parentNode); } Performer: Tom from California, USA. I've been playing piano on and off since I was a kitten! Piece: Serious Piece No. 1 in C# by Jerry Comment Policy: All comments; anything goes! Source of music: This was composed and shared with me by my friend Jerry. Instrument: NY Steinway D Recording method: iPhone X with large condenser microphones. Additional info: This wasn't the performance I had exactly planned. A lot went wrong, but I dealt with it in the best way I could. Regardless, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out and I believe the audience enjoyed it. Thanks for listening! Have fun!

Peyton

Marie, a beautiful version of a wonderful song. I really love the left hand work, just so lovely.

WieWaldi

ShiroKuro — September Song, by Alexis Ffrench

The entire performance was very dreamy. You set up a very intense mood for the listener. I don't know this piece, your version is the first one I ever heard in my life. So don't worry, even if there were "distracting mistakes", someone like me won't hear them. I think the more important aspect is to make the piece shine or "sing". This is what makes up for emotions, and you nailed it.

Peyton

Simonb — Honky Tonk Train Blues by Meade Lux Lewis

Wow.... that is awesome playing! Jerry Lee Lewis lives on.

Peyton

Nightowl — Nocturne in Eb, Op. 9, No. 2 by Chopin

That was the first Chopin I ever learned. Such a beautiful piece. I hope you keep going with it, it's rewarding from start to finish (well... there really is no "finish"...🙂 )

WieWaldi

rogerch — Magnetic Rag by Scott Joplin

Doesn't count Magnetic Rag to one of Joplin's harder rags? Yours was truly in a relaxed mood, it seemed very effortlessly. You had a great control over the tempo, not to slow and even more important as Joplin himself famously stated: ragtime should never be played fast. I think you did it just right. Coming back to the difficulty of this: I see your left hand constantly jumping over the keyboard, that alone is enough to deal for one piece. But yours is on top of it over 5 minutes of playing, without a mistake, or at least a noticable mistake. And all of that just form memory. I am deeply impressed.
I want to add, I have heard a lot of good ragtime interpretations on YouTube and yours is among the best of them. I am double impressed.

Nightowl

MarieJ — 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen

That was beautifully played and it's impressive that you also created your own arrangement - good work. Many songs don't work well when played as piano solo pieces, but I actually prefer this version because the lyrics never fully made sense to me anyway.

Thanks for your nice comment on my piece.

ShiroKuro

WieWaldi thank you!!
“Dreamy” — that’s a nice effect to be able to create 😊

Nightowl

MarieJ — 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen

I enjoyed this very much, the music is relaxing and you played it well. I identified fragments from two other songs - Fantasy and Autumn Leaves. I hope that Mr Ffrench credited the composers of those songs, because otherwise it seems to be a case of plagiarism.

Thanks for your nice comments on my piece. Also I appreciate your tips, especially that the LH needs softening.

ShiroKuro

Nightowl I identified fragments from two other songs - Fantasy and Autumn Leaves.

Simon also mentioned Autumn Leaves, but I am not finding it in September Song... I'll have to listen around to some other versions, I'm quite curious!

I hope that Mr Ffrench credited the composers of those songs, because otherwise it seems to be a case of plagiarism.

This is an interesting question, to me anyway, maybe it's not a question for others. Or maybe it's not interesting to them! 😃

Anyway, I don't know what the definition of musical plagerism is. With regard to Last Song, also by Mr. Ffrench, people mentioned how it made them think of some Disney music, which I wouldn't have noticed but can hear it a bit now. But it's not a direct melody line, and could just as easily be unintentional as intentional or specific to a specific song.

With the EWF part, that's a direct melody line (to my ear anyway), or maybe one verse. But it's also barely a few seconds. I suspect that it's within the "fair use" concept ... Does he have to specifically label it? That I don't know. Although Mr Ffrench is British and I think British laws are somewhat different from American laws. I'm out of my depth here! But I should say that I absolutely adore his music, and I am inclined not to be critical! So not the best perspective to consider this issue! 😅

Thanks for your nice comments on my piece. Also I appreciate your tips

I'm happy thy were helpful! You've done great work with the piece!

WieWaldi

TulipAcid — Il Etáit Une Fois by Stephan Moccio

Very delicately played, loved the gentle touch. You put a lot of calm feelings into your performance. Only the audio recording itself could be a tad louder.

Simonb

Hi ShiroKuro

Just around 2mins 42secs into September Song is almost a direct quote from Autumn Leaves. Quite possibly deliberate, who knows.

Cheers

WieWaldi

rogerch Thanks a lot, roger. Even if it is regarded as a Jazz standard, the blues school will never go away, especially if the arranger is a blues teacher as well. Glad you liked the blue glowing keys. I am just afraid, there are too many hands in the video. Maybe I shoud change something in my camera setup.

ShiroKuro Thanks a lot. I think the greater part of the work was done by the arranger — actually the same I always play, and very likely the exact same person I'll take the arrangement for Don't know Why.

Sophia Odd harmonies? Welllllllllll.... if you play it for some week, you'll get used to them and they seem not that odd. But I agree, some harmonies were odd. Probably I added some more odd ones, but those got buried in the arrangement and nobody noticed. Thanks for commenting.

Nightowl Thanks Nightowl, you know Jazz has some distinct advantages over classical music. There are often some strange harmonies and if you play those even stranger, just make sure you play them loud. People will think, wow - how creative. With classical on the other hand, people will wrinkle their noses and say, well - that was wrong.

Simonb

Hi > thepianoplayer416 — "March pour la Cérémonie des Turcs" by Jean-Baptiste Lully

I'd never heard of the piece or the composer - well found and chosen.
Your playing has improved a lot.
That was an assured and confident performance.

Cheers

Simonb

Hi > TulipAcid — Il Etáit Une Fois by Stephan Moccio

Firstly well done. If you haven't recorded or played for other people in a long time it must have been a very difficult recording to do.

However as for your performance (which I'm sure was fine) I can't really comment much, as even with my laptop turned up to full volume I could only just hear the piece. If I have time I may try connecting my laptop to some external speakers which I think may work in conjunction with it.

You should know my hearing isn't good, and I use hearing aids, but for most of the performances prior to yours volume wasn't an issue. BTW what I could hear sounded good.

Cheers

Simonb

Hi > rogerch — Magnetic Rag by Scott Joplin

I've probably only heard this rag a few times in the past, so it was a pleasure to hear it again.
As always your playing was lovely, you didn't just bash the piece out, which is what I tend to do with Scott Joplin :-)

What make is your Piano? It's lovely to see someone else with a Piano that isn't black!

Cheers

ShiroKuro

Simonb Just around 2mins 42secs into September Song is almost a direct quote from Autumn Leaves.

oh interesting! thanks for the time stamp, now I'll see if I can find it in an Autumn Leaves recording. (I listened to one by Jacob Koller but i think that was a bad choice! 😃

Simonb

Hi > WieWaldi — Summertime by George Gershwin

All that practise is paying off.
I liked the arrangement, and your playing has definitely improved since I've been listening to your submissions, specifically
your timing and touch. Well done.

Cheers

Sophia

Ok, I'll listen to more performances later today. For once I managed to reign in my enthusiasm and succeeded in pacing myself 😃

But first: thanks so much to everyone who commented on our duet so far 🙂

ShiroKuro ’m sorry @rsl12 , the prize has to go to Sophia here for not only playing the piece expertly, but playing it with a cat on her head! Ok shoulder, but it sounds better this way. Were you moving his tail out of the way so you could see the score? That’s like a next level up from page turning! (Tail-turning?)

Haha, the truth is, this piece was too difficult for me to both read and play at the same time. The only option was to play it entirely from memory. Which actually leads to a thought I meant to share all along: honestly, the real praise should go to @rsl12. He is staying a little in the shadows here, but I can't empathize enough how much he contributed to this duet. I don't even know where to start... his endless patience, because he had to sit through my first painful efforts (and my relentless moaning) to the point where he could finally say "ok... I <think> you should be able to learn this after all...".

Of course he was a true slave driver (as he should be): any time I nodded in satisfaction pfff, finally, I can play this smoothly at 50bpm now! Boom! A new practice recording was already waiting for me at a higher speed 🤣

He also gave me pointers where I didn't play the syncopations quite correctly. I said it before: I learned sooo much from him! It's just such a pleasure and inspiration to play along with someone who is so much better than me. Playing duets is so much fun! 😃

Peyton

ShiroKuro — September Song, by Alexis Ffrench

Wonderful playing and...no, I can't find the hidden melody. Dang, and I hate losing a challenge.

TulipAcid

Simonb

Thanks for the feedback and the information regarding volume. I was today years old when I realized that the VSL pianos aren’t unpredictably loud at surprising moments … that it was my unpredictable playing a few short months ago. I cranked it up today and entered a new world of dynamics and I still elicit the unfortunately loud strike but not nearly as often.

Moccio’s own recording is on the soft side and, aside from the notes of the melody and a bit of the bass, the middle voice is almost undetectable. For the longest time I was thinking there was another instrument involved. A guitar? A harp?

And yes. Nerve-wracking indeed. Somewhat abated by being at home in my own music space instead of on a stage. That would be worse!!!

The last time I played for an audience was my senior recital. I was eighteen. I’m 67 now. Long break from music. getting my career moving, then fell for another instrument (the mandolin and its siblings) and have spent 20 years with them. The piano came back briefly in the midst of that, but not seriously.

Now it’s back. Permanently!

« Previous Page Next Page »