Mauro Giuliani - Le Romarin Op 46 No 5
Here is a piece that I discovered and worked on during the 19th Century Music Challenge with Hannah Murphy. I then performed it in a masterclass with Emmanuel Sowicz.
Below are two videos:
- The first one was recorded on July 29, during the challenge.
- The second one was recorded on August 9, the day after the class with Emmanuel Sowicz. I chose to keep some of the aspects of my interpretation (which was very informed by performances on YT by Raphaella Smits and David Starobin). From Emmanuel, I incorporated a few things, such as: greater contrasts in tone color and articulation to suggest different instruments in an orchestra, greater dynamic contrasts to heighten the drama (especially the sforzandi), and some of Emmanuel's fingering suggestions,
Let me know what you think!
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July 29
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Eric Phillips Great job, Eric. That was a very impressive performance and a huge improvement over your previous performance. It has a lot more drama and the articulation is greatly improved.
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Jack Stewart Thank you, Jack, but you must have only listened to the older one, since I am just posting the newer one now. Sorry for the delay!
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Eric Phillips Well... I actually didn't listen to the previous recordings since they were posted. However, comparing these 2 recordings, I think my comments still apply (more accurately, I suppose).
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Jack Stewart No worries at all, Jack. I was going to post the new video right away, but then I remembered that I hadn't put any reverb on it, so I went back and did that whole thing, then posted it. I'm so sorry for misleading you (or anyone else who happened to listen). I'm just grateful that anyone would take the time to listen to me play,
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August 9
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Eric Phillips Both takes are very good, Eric. I suppose I slightly prefer the second overall, although for certain passages I prefer the first. I’ll point out a few things I notice:
(i) the biggest difference, I find, is that measures 14-19 work much better at the faster tempo of the second take.
(Ii) I like your handling of the Neapolitan chord (measure 11) in the first take, but I agree with Emmanuel that this passage demands something ‘special’ - you could do more still with rubato and dynamics.(iii) measure 19: another dramatic moment that also worked better in the first take.
(iv) measures 20-21: don’t let the pedal ‘E’ overpower the top. Perhaps the reverb is working against you here in the second take.
(v) measure 21b: you change the rhythm of the melody, I presume deliberately, to avoid the dissonance. I notice that David Jacques plays it as written.
(vi) measure 22: the beat seems to get distorted here, especially in the first take.
(vii) metrically, this is a complex piece: sometimes the quarter note carries the beat, at other times the eighth or even the sixteenth! As a listener, I am at times confused by these shifts. The performer, I think, needs to lead the audience through the labyrinth (to use a bad metaphor).
As a general comment, I would say I like the direction the second take is going, but I feel you had a clearer picture of what you wanted to do in the first take. By the way, do you attach any sort of narrative to the music, or do you view it as strictly ‘abstract’.? (I am thinking of the recent livestream about ‘storytelling’.) Does the flower in question (rosemary, I believe) hold any particular meaning for you? Just wondering!
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Eric Phillips Wow, you have great control over this piece, Eric! The dynamic change was really impressive! Bravo!!
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Wai Thank you very much, Wai!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
