Piano playing: what is truly difficult

just one thing.... Perahia's "marvelous" Wander doesn't please me much....

It doesn't seem to me that this text says much. There is no doubt that the Wanderer is extremely difficult. I will post one of my recordings of the Wanderer, with Simone's help. It dates back to an interpretation of mine from the 80s. There is no doubt that the emotional state of the pianist is important... in Schubert... as in music in general. I remember working quite a bit on the "simultaneity" of movement, especially in the scherzo where the passage to measure 580 of the RH triplets and LH octaves requires a perfect launch of the "movement" into the extreme parts of the keyboard. As for the octave passage in measure 161 at the end of the first tempo, it requires, in my opinion, perfect synchronicity and... independence of the shoulder, which participates to prevent the arm and wrist from tiring. Another fragment I am fond of is the variation at measure 227 of the wonderful second tempo, where the left hand enunciates the "Wanderer's" song, under a golden rain of notes in the right hand. I have an indelible memory of this piece nonetheless... which in reality I haven't performed in concert anymore, but which I promise myself to propose again soon. At that time, I was gaining new knowledge about piano technique and acquiring awareness of how important muscular coordination and the participation of the entire apparatus are. Schubert's Wanderer also showed me, in its great dimension, how phrasing must exist limited to the phrase, one to the period... but also one relative to an entire tempo and even to the entire work. When I finished performing it, I had the sensation of having enunciated one very long, large phrase. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to remember all this. I promise myself to make some observations after having posted it and submitted it to your listening.

I have a commission for two CDs of Paolo's live recordings to undergo restoration and mastering. I should have finished them by Christmas as I was hoping to give him a nice gift, but the limited time available did not allow me to fulfill what I had intended, so the gift will have to be delayed by a few weeks, also because it is a truly very long process... Each track requires half a day to a full day of work. As soon as everything is ready, you will know...

Thank you Simone, these words are already a gift! I know you are very busy right now. Anyway, I look forward to it with great interest. We will also soon resume some videos that I have in mind for our loyal subscribers. Naturally, the third movement of Mozart's Sonata K330. Then two technical videos: one on scheduled piano maintenance and another on custom adjustments. Thank you

antares86 wrote:

just one thing.... Perahia's "miraculous" Wander doesn't really please me much....

Ok Antares, my question was slightly different and to which Maestro Ferrarelli gave an excellent answer... thanks again to everyone.