TMonk

Really into this nocturne rn. Gives me the chills while listening in headphones at work

TMonk

if you get a spare moment, this is a fantastic performance of once of my favorite waltzes. The dynamics and expression are superb:

TMonk

Found the whole set. Never heard of this guy till now, but he kicks ass. The Scherzo is a knockout; his Kung-Fu is strong. The Berceuse is light, dreamy and just lovely.

Hermes

Continuing work on the Tempest sonata. Progress is about a page every lesson. One could ask and it is a legitimate question, why would I continue to take lessons? We use the first 45 minutes of an hour on the past material and I effectively get a grade. Yeah, nothing changes. Professors cannot help themselves. It is sort of a pass / fail meaning, let's not start any new material until I have learned the techniques in the previous material.

Then we look at new material. I may and should have previewed the new material. We go over the new material and it always has something interesting and tricky to do that is not obvious. For example, the next page moves to where Beethoven writes in 4 voices (two in each hand). That means each voice will get a different treatment. Fortunately, the notes in the right hand and left hand are the same but an octave apart. One voice has to shimmer somewhat muted while the other voice creates a more drama/ emotion. Together, they sound like two pianos / instruments versus one. Not so easy to do. And of course, this is where my Bach training is invaluable. Beethoven uses counterpoint quite often in his sonatas.

This is level one stuff in this sonata and is at best competence and far away from genius.

As my FTP and sprint power waxes and wains, my music theory, technique and knowledge grows with leaps and bounds. At least something is growing.

This video is for TMonk and maybe others. Barenboim hosts a masters class on the Tempest. The student plays and then Barenboim joins him for critique. The student is really good and Barenboim chops him up like so much sushi. Barenboim is the best on Beethoven.

TMonk

Very cool Hermes. The video drew me in right away with the clips from the Waldstein sonata early on. Also, I have seen many videos on Youtube of Barenboim playing music I love, so it is cool to see him in the video. There is a great video of him and Martha Argerich playing Schubert's Rondo in A Major - also an Argentine pianist. I will watch more of the video later.

Glad you are progressing with your music Hermes.