Piano Recital 2013-10

October 5, 2013 9:00 - 17:00 @ Ikebukuro

I had a piano recital the other day. The pieces I performed were the "Aria" from the Goldberg Variations and "La fille aux cheveux de lin." I was pretty nervous. The performance was held in a concert hall, and it had probably been about ten years since I had last stood on a stage like that. My hands were shaking when it was time to play.

This time, though, I had practiced quite a lot, and I think the "Aria" went reasonably well. My hands shook at the beginning, but I settled down partway through.

The Debussy piece was more painful. Right at the most important part I made a mistake with the pedal and broke the musical line, and I made a fair number of other mistakes as well. Fundamentally I had not played it enough. Confidence really does show in a performance.

It was my first time playing in a hall, and I felt that I became at least a little more aware of what it means to make the sound resonate. Listening to the other performances also helped me understand how the sound carries in that kind of space.

There were also vocal students from the same school at the recital, which felt very fresh to me. The vocal teacher performed Cosi fan tutte with one of the students, and the volume was incredible. Hearing that kind of sound directly in the hall, physically hitting the eardrums, was amazing and gave me goosebumps. Professionals really are different.

With piano, everyone plays the same instrument, so the differences probably come out in interpretation and expression. With singing, though, it feels as if the instrument itself is different. One person alone had the volume of three grand pianos. I was honestly surprised that a human voice could do that.

Work was busy and practice was tough, but it was a valuable experience. I want to play even better next year.