Performance by Richard (zrtf90) from Recital #37 - 2015-02-15

• Performer: Richard (zrtf90)
• Location: Ireland
• Experience: Years. And years. Though, sadly, not enough with this submission!
• Composer: Dvorak
• Piece: Silhouettes 1 & 2
• Duration: 248
• Music Link: click to play
• Video Link:
• Music Source:
• Instrument: Kawai CA95 + Pianoteq 5.1
• Recording Method: Audacity
• Info: I learnt these two Silhouettes as a pair from the beginning. I'd like to go on to all twelve, which I think are intended to be played as a set, but I can't see that happening for some time yet. As I'd really intended them for the previous recital I'm a bit disappointed with how they turned out but I can't be too fussy with the Schumann recital hanging over my head like a Damoclean sword and the shortcomings can't be fixed in a couple of weeks. They're not at all bad but they're just not flowing the way I remember them before Christmas. I normally play the 'Allegro feroce' that tops and tails the first silhouette with a bit more bite and a bit more allegro but fear took over after leaving insufficient time to get back up to speed after the Christmas break. It's not supposed to be presto and I think I got a bit of menace there and good contrast with the central section, just nothing ferocious. But I guess that's better than a calamity. The graced chords that decorate the piece are charming and drew me immediately to it. They were difficult to get to an acceptable level and it will be a while before they're really consistent. The second one has a lovely melody and the restatement has a lttle syncopation that's really enjoyable to play but it took me a while to sort out the changeover. The chromatic descent is easy to get carried away with and needs some restraint. I know not why or how but music and smells can have this wonderful ability to associate themselves with times or places and transport us there in an instant. Some of the softer passages in these pieces transport me back half a century to my boyhood in the front room of my gran's house with the muffled sound of passing traffic reverberating through the sash windows and her clock on the mantel ringing out the Westminster Chimes. The Kawai soundboard oozes treacle in the bass register that I notice in pieces like the second silhouette but it isn't captured either in a sound file or through headphones so I'm using Pianoteq for recording. It has a more natural recorded sound although it responds differently to touch and I need to be familiar with that so I'm getting used to using it more often on headphones too, when I use them, but it still doesn't deliver in the bass as well as the Kawai. I was quite overcome with the reception to my last entry, Une Larme. You folks leave me speechless. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure, this time, to introduce Dvorak to the recitals.