Group 5

Grace thanks for asking this in the meet-up on Zoom! Glad to have answered it there. I hope all is clear. 

Natalie Peh Beautiful playing! You bring out a very pretty kind of sadness that I love in these Mazurkas. 

Vidhya Bashyam Thanks very much, Vidhya! Can't put my finger on it, but there is always a sense of forlorn in many of the mazurkas.

Natalie Peh good work pitting the two parts together! Tempo is lively and articulation mostly resonate as optimistic, with the exception of phrase endings which shouldn’t be clipped. Second theme needs a bit more shape in repeating notes - be careful about having the same sound on a short and long note of the same pitch. In the mazurek (A-major/F-sharp minor) dotted rhythms need to be more precise compared to the triplets. Good octave jump! Wait longer here to listen for the dancers screeching proudly. You’re in the right direction with the general sense of each section (first optimistic, then saddened, finally rowdy), work remains in terms of details in sound, rhythm, phrasing specific moments to have a real Polish feel. Dobra robota!

Jarred Dunn appreciate your comments, and will continue to work on this mazurka with the feedback in mind! Dziękuję bardzo, Jarred! 

Natalie Peh Great playing, Natalie! It sounds with a beautiful mixture of sadness and innocence, lovely mazurka and interpretation.

Juan Carlos Olite thank you for your kind comment, Juan Carlos!

Natalie Peh I love how you really mark the beat in the dotted rhythms.  It creates a very colorful picture where I can imagine the male dancers exhibiting their footwork!

Gail Starr thank you, Gail! Glad you liked it :)

Juan Carlos Olite Very beautiful and poetic, Juan Carlos! 

Juan Carlos Olite Love both of these! Didn’t think it could get much better than your last recording but somehow it is even more beautiful! 

Juan Carlos Olite you have such beautiful phrasing, Juan Carlos. The melody really does sing! I also marvel at how you memorise everything, very inspiring.

Andrea Buckland Vidhya Bashyam Natalie Peh Thank you so much, my dear friends! It has been a pleasure to share this wonderful intensive with you!

Juan Carlos Tak szybko się uczysz, brawo! Op. 63 nr. 3: The cadence refrains can be more varied, each of them sounds almost the same (mm. 23-24; 31-32; 63-64). The resolute way you play them is not wrong, but I hear some of them as lyrical and sad. Any repeated phrase in Chopin needs contrast and recurrence with variety, the mazurkas are often repeating things. Nevertheless, your ornaments are good. The real mazurek in D-flat major you have improved in your sense of mazurka emphasis. I suggest highlighting the atmosphere of the tenor and bass, they are part of the melodic motion and dance gestures. Good crescendo to the return of the main theme. Use fermatas to create atmospheric silences in different types (sudden, fading, long, short). Op. 17 nr. 2: more bass motion and presence is needed to ensure the singing line is secure. There is no ritenuto at m. 23 - this is in contrast with the final gesture of the mazurka. The swing (kołysać się) of a Kujawiak could be more obvious here if you use more legato touches in the melody even when it leaps - lines under slurs like mm. 1-4, 19-11, 12-16 can be smoother. Kujawiak tends to sway on the second beat. Mazur from m. 25: your more forthright dance style here is good (if the previous material were softer, more nostalgic and less direct the new material in C major would contrast more). In dotted rhythms, you can articulate clearly without sounding risoluto, this section is more a memory of countryside dancing in fields of swaying grain stalks. Mind the articulations of m. 34! Good bass grace notes. M. 41-42 good effort showing the repeating soprano notes aren't all the same, this could be more legato and graceful. Chopin's favourite thing: a long stretto leading to the main theme = become more agitato as if the beautiful picture of countryside dancing is fading from the memory and being replaced by a more present tense bitter reality.  

Jarred Dunn Thank you so much, Jarred! It has been the best intensive in which I've participated. Great, detailed and inspiring feedback... I hope you teach more intensive courses like this. Bardzo dziękuję!

Juan Carlos Olite Listening to you play is the highlight of my day!

Vidhya Bashyam I agree 100%! Such beautiful understanding of the personality of each section.

Gail Starr that's beautiful, Gail! You make playing with 1 hand sound like 2 hands playing :)

Gail Starr Beautiful playing Gail! I love this Mazurka!