Wikipedia:Featured sound candidates/Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 14

Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 14.ogg

Recorded the same day as the Chopin nomination below. Unfortunately the second and third movements are lost - I recorded those in a separate session. Hopefully a single movement from the work still has a shot at FS.

• Nominate and support. —La Pianista ^{♫ ♪} 06:07, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
• Strong oppose—Sorry, there are some very good things about this performance, and it's probably good enough to include in an article for the time being. Good tempo. Some nice articulation. Pedal almost too much in a few fast passages. But why don't you re-record it? It's so close. Here are some points.

1. 5 s: why is the subsequent diminished 7th chord softer (much softer) than the opening tonic chord in the previous part of the bar? The dim 7 chord is the first departure, more unstable harmonically. Just because it ends a phrase doesn't mean it should be softer; I'd be inclined to treat it similarly to i. This issue is repeated at the end of the second phrase, where there's actually a return to i. Lower volume is counter to the circular harmonic scheme here, I believe. (In the recap, this dynamic issue is less obvious; in the same places, though, you hold onto the last chord of each phrase, where I think your initial treatment of effortlessly clipping them was more natural.) More generally, in a few places your dynamic control zooms in and out in a distracting way. Perhaps it's that I'm used to hearing music of this period played without dynamic fuss.
2. Around 18–22 s: more rhythmic control needed in the placement of the chords. And more generally, sometimes you start a new phrase/idea just a little prematurely, which gives a nervous feel to it (2:34.5 s is one obvious example: we trip over it).
3. 24.5 s: wrong note. (Just a tech. point: is it nowadays easy to graft the right note on from a different take?)
4. Some lovely lyrical bits in the recap before 3 m.
5. The ending, after 4 m, is lovely. Except that IMO your second-last chord could have been given appropriate weight by coming just a teensy weensy later.

Finally, I'm going to be very rude and make a specific technical suggestion, since I'd really like you to make us proud by being able to showcase WPians' work. Your left hand is weaker than your right hand; in particular, you need to focus on avoiding the occasional lack of coordination between the hands (I've noticed this elsewhere, too). One good exercise is to play a C major contrary motion scale, but not the usual way: instead, make the hands ever so slightly out of phase with each other (try right-hand notes coming a little before, and make the disjuncture exactly the same throughout). Record it after a while and look at the fine control on the ogg diagram. PS ensure that you have a high degree of muscular relaxation as you play such an exercise: the brain must lead, not the muscles.

Admirable and promising, all the same. Tony (talk) 07:47, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

I respect your opinion, Tony. And I also anticipated such comments - I wasn't all too sure that this was FS material, either. But I've at the same time felt the impulse to at least respond to your comments.

I'm not capable of re-recording these because the hall is tightly scheduled, and I don't really have the time to polish up old rep, since I have lots of new repertoire and competitions coming up this semester.

1. As much as I respect your personal opinion, how does this point relate to FS? I understand your issue with pedaling and coordination, but don't you think dynamic treatment in Mozart is more up to personal taste? I would better accept your argument if, for example, I had made some huge stylistic error, like using exaggerated rubato or pedaling. But this style of Classicism isn't quite as unorthodox; imho, it makes for a more colorful and lively Mozart.

I see no difference between this and exaggerated rubato or pedalling. To me, it's a matter of harmonic and periodic logic. The departure from the tonic requires at least as much emphasis as the stable tonic itself. This is the reasoning behind giving greater emphasis to a suspension than to its resolution (which at first seemed counterintuitive to me). Tony (talk) 09:22, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

1. I completely agree. I cringe every time I hear them.
2. I know it's easy, but I have an ethical issue with it. I refrain from any post-recording editing, period. I love the audience and hate the sterility of recording; this is one of the few times that I've uploaded a recording that wasn't live.
3. Again, how does this relate to FS? From my perspective, playing the chord in time only emphasizes the suddenness of the last c minor chord, like the last twitches of a freshly dead corpse well, it's descriptive :p.

Withdrawing my comment about the second-last chord, on relistening. Tony (talk) 09:22, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

My technique has improved since then - or, at least, I hope it has. I was fifteen years old at the time and very nervous. If you listen to the Beethoven, which is a little more recent, you'll hear that the quality of coordination has improved. I am familiar with relaxation and basic piano technique and do make use of them regularly. Unfortunately, I'm only human. —La Pianista ^{♫ ♪} 08:49, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

Responses on La Pianista's talk page. Tony (talk) 09:15, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

• Hmmm. I've read the comments above and while I can hear the odd mis-phrase I'm not convinced that this is enough to prevent it from being FS. I don't think the fact it's only one movement affects that either, at least for the moment. Very well played (especially given La Pianista's age when recording it) and a great demonstration of a piece by a very well-known composer. Therefore Support. Major Bloodnok (talk) 21:09, 21 February 2011 (UTC)
  • Just fyi, I don't think my age should be taken into consideration here, though I'm highly flattered. :) A sound file is a sound file, and it should be reviewed based on its merit alone. —La Pianista ^{♫ ♪} 00:39, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
• My focus is a bit different from Tony's - his is on perfection, but, coming at this from a singing background, I've known far too many recordings that are note-perfect, and completely lacking in any life or understanding of the feel of the piece. While there are flaws, I think that they're minor and do not detract unduly, but the expression and feel of the piece are there. While I can sense a bit of nervousness in the performance, it fits the piece's mood. Hence, I feel I can Support. Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 01:29, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
  • I will withdraw support from the main page thing if we are going to keep promoting clearly flawed musical recordings. You cast my objections in terms of wrong notes. That is only one issue. Tony (talk) 09:16, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
    • Come now, no need to do that. I'm withdrawing this FSC. —La Pianista ^{♫ ♪} 15:31, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Withdrawn —La Pianista ^{♫ ♪} 15:31, 23 February 2011 (UTC)