Thanks for sharing your journey with this magnificent work. It's absolutely one of my favorites and I appreciate it quite a bit more thanks to you sharing your process of preparing it for this workshop performance.

I'm sure it's much too late for this now but I wonder if you considered moderating the tempo in that first movement. I don't mean below performance tempo, but my favorite version of this piece takes that first movement a bit slower than in your complete playthrough that you did before traveling.

It's by Domus for the album of Brahms piano quartets 1-3. After you're done with all of this and assuming you're not entirely sick of the piece by then, I wonder what you think of this version and the tempo in that first movement. I didn't do any kind of granular analysis so I can't say for sure that the tempo is much slower throughout but it seems like it is to me.

Your playing in all of the videos you have shared is quite excellent at least in terms of your approach and the sound and expression that you're able to achieve is quite admirable. At this point you should be proud of where you are with this piece and just do what you've been doing when it's time to perform it.

    Pathbreaker I have heard the first movement slower but it's marked allegro so Brahms intended it to go at a decent clip! I have also heard it start slower and then slowly speed up. I probably won't go listen to the Domus recording right away but I'll let you know if I do! The violinist suggested finding a violist and cellist and performing at a house concert but I said no. I don't think I'll ever be ready for a real performance of this piece and after tomorrow it's time to put it behind me, even though it wasn't really "done" (there is page in each of the first and third movements that were just not ready at all, and thankfully we're not performing them). I really appreciate your compliments, especially as someone who knows the piece ๐Ÿ™‚

    Our coach is having us take huge breaths between sections of the Gypsy Rondo which are not marked at all so I guess it's stylistic choice! In the recordings I've heard, they just play it as written with no breaks. He told me to go as fast as possible leading into the Molto Presto at the end and then I'm literally playing as fast as I can go! Today I made so many mistakes because I was tired but he said it doesn't matter, at least it sounds exciting ๐Ÿ˜‚

    I don't know if I had mentioned this but our coach is playing the viola part! Having our coach in the group elevates our playing immediately and that's why I'm traveling all the way to Europe to take part in this workshop. There's a section in the first movement where piano and viola play together and I take a little time to add drama in that section and he hears it the exact same way and we're perfectly together! It is so magical. And the violin is supposed to lead at entry points but in the fourth movement she's not giving a good signal and is not in my sightline on the cramped stage platform, so our coach is going to lead. He adds so much direction and momentum to our playing in a way that telling us wouldn't.

    Anyway, hopefully my nerves make me play better and not worse tomorrow! I brought my little Zoom video camera and hopefully the recording turns out. I can blur out the faces and share the video when I get home ๐Ÿ™‚

      Day 7: Performance Day!!

      I didn't sleep well at all. I was so itchy and had music running through my head all night, the Brahms as well as other stuff. I think maybe it was nerves? ๐Ÿ™

      This might be of interest: we did a tour at the castle yesterday and they had a fortepiano that Mozart played regularly during his visits (not at this castle though)! But I took a photo because Mozart played this piano!!

      Good luck with today's performance!!

      I warmed up for less than an hour late this morning, and we did the run-through and it was ok. 1h20min until the concert starts and we're the last group. I'm also page-turning for the gentleman in the group before us.

      Just took a small power nap after we had lunch, not really sleeping but I closed my eyes for a while. At the end of the fourth movement my heart was pounding during the run-through! So at least I don't think I will be tired during the performance, haha.

      So much of the piece is in my finger memory now compared to a week ago! It's amazing, I can just play and I'm not thinking too much or struggling. The fourth movement doesn't even seem that hard anymore, which is truly mind boggling to me ๐Ÿ˜‚

        twocats You are unstoppable after a power nap. Happy music-making!

          People are arriving from next week's group to listen to our final concert! I'm meeting new people and look forward to seeing my friends from last year ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

          It's done!! The violinist and I bombed a bunch of our entrances but the playing was very exciting and at least we all ended together!! People loved it and keep coming to congratulate me ๐Ÿ™‚

            Congratulations! I'm guessing you'll sleep well tonight. ๐Ÿ˜ƒ Would love to see a video of the performance if you find the time + hear your thoughts on these piano intensives.

              Condragulations. Time to try the local drinks!

              Thank you all!

              @Rubens I am not a beer drinker but I was told I absolutely had to try the local beer. I said "just a little for taste" and they poured me almost a full cup haha. I was definitely tipsy!!

              The coaches all came to tell me how much they loved my playing ๐Ÿ˜ญ I told the cello coach I'm done because it's too hard and she said no, I am just starting, I have to keep playing it! Maybe I need to keep it fresh every month and then I'll finally get those two tough pages? I feel like putting it behind me but it's also a shame if I lose it by not playing it anymore!

              @Ithaca I will post the performance video once I get home and on my computer where I can figure out the face blurring on YouTube again ๐Ÿ™‚

              Ithaca hear your thoughts on these piano intensives

              I love it so much! I came for the first time last year and I plan to come every year (probably spring) while it exists. I met people who have been coming for 15 years or more. I'm making friends (some of whom are excellent musicians) who are passionate about chamber music, but too bad most of them live in Europe.

              It really suits my personality to have a serious project where I work really hard, make it the best it can be at a coached workshop, but then also have a final ending point where I can put it behind me and not just work on it indefinitely.

              I also like having something to look forward to. I was telling the organizer today that this chamber music workshop adds so much to my life ๐Ÿ™‚

                Future Plans

                I was trying to decide last night if I will stress myself out to learn a challenging chamber work in 6 months. I feel like it takes me so long to learn anything new-- I mean getting it so familiar that it's in my finger memory and I don't have to think and it just "plays itself". I did learn the Schumann Piano Quintet to performance level (we didn't perform the third movement, but I learned it) in one semester in college, which seems insane! I must have practiced a lot.

                The other thing is that I am sick a lot during the spring with allergies and am tired all the time. I could hardly play for months this spring which is why I felt underprepared with the Brahms.

                If I play the "easy" Dvoล™รกk piano quartet for next February but sign up for an Arensky trio for next July in California with my friend (we'll have to find a good cellist to make it happen, I know one in Portland but will have to see if she's interested), then I'll only have 6 months until the following February in Europe. And all the quartets and quintets that are high on my list are hard! But if I already know what I want to play, maybe I should just get a head start and start working on both Dvoล™รกk quartets. Having 1.5 years of it in my brain is much better than just 6 months!

                So when I go home, maybe:

                • start on the Dvoล™รกk quartet in D major (the easy one) using strict Dr. Molly schedule
                • start on the Dvoล™รกk quartet in E-flat major (the hard one) by slowly reading through it often
                • run through the Beethoven cello sonatas in G minor and A major once a week. They should magically get learned if I read them enough.

                I noticed when I was cramming for the Brahms that I started doing good practice techniques like actually paying attention to what I was playing instead of just reading the score and counting on my muscle memory. I would practice separate hands, pay attention to chord sequences, break large phrases into smaller groups to make it mentally easier. And I thought, why didn't I do all this earlier?! ๐Ÿ˜† But hopefully I can apply these new learnings going forward!

                It is really rewarding to see myself becoming a better pianist! I remember my big weakness as a teenager was that I couldn't play a convincing left hand trill. And then one day in my 20's, I could do an ok one. And now I can play a respectable left hand trill. I'm really hoping that everything will just get easier as I keep signing up for difficult works.

                6 days later

                I got the recordings on my computer and listened. The video has really bad audio quality and I'm trying to merge it with the .wav file using software. I'll see if it works.

                But wow, the performance was a bomb. So many missed entrances, wrong notes all over the place, it was generally terrible! After the performance I was so emotionally exhausted that I felt like I was going to collapse. The violinist said we should have recorded the rehearsal and now I have that learning for next year. I'll share it anyway, even though it's not good ๐Ÿ˜‚

                  I ended up using Microsoft Clipchamp and it was easy to merge the files after a bit of learning curve! I just dragged and dropped the .mov and .wav files in and then moved them both to the left to start at the beginning of both files. And then (learned this the hard way) right-clicked on the video and muted the audio for it. Then exported at 720p. Documenting this for next time!

                  twocats I think no one is a good judge of their own recordings. I'm always harsh with my own, but my opinion mellows with time. Even if yours is full of mistakes, it will be fun for me to hear the result of all your hard work.

                      rsl12 thank you ๐Ÿ™‚ Some of the missed entrances where we got off track from each other are probably less obvious if you don't know the piece. Luckily we recovered well whenever we did (i.e. no one just stopped in their tracks and needed a do-over).