Liszt - Liebesträume No. 3 - When NERVES Can DESTROY Your Performance!

Another throwback to 2001. Brings back memories, both good and bad. Mostly bad, though, I think!
I am a former professional pianist, educator, collaborator, and composer forced into early retirement due to a heart condition.
Now I spend my time researching and recording modern classical piano music that hasn't yet been recorded, and I also enjoy making the best out of "easier" pieces from the canon. I will present showy pieces as my health allows, but my current health and endurance typically limits me to early-advanced literature.
I record for TH-cam simply as an excuse to keep learning music until it's polished and presentable, and if people want to listen and watch, then that is icing on the cake! Outside of TH-cam, I teach intermediate/advanced adult hobbyists at the piano.
1979 Steinway D (NY) with the deepest key depth I had ever played!

[@marcoromanelli6000]

I wish I'd have your big hands when I used to play this...

[@larghedoggo9607]

Very realistic, every pianists experiences this, early or late.
My theory is that we think too much outside of performance, our concentration is not on piano in that very short moment, and that short moment cause you trouble to get back, it also destroys your muscle memory(if you heavily rely on it)
My method is to remind myself "focusing on that performance". Because it is actually what we do while practicing.
And acknowledge that only few amount of people notice your tiny mistakes, so just keep playing your best since you can't change that.

[@seancregomusic]

This is all very good. I have worked hard over the decades since this video to be able to focus on playing in the moment, and when I was a full-time pro, I had it down pretty good.
My jury panel completely destroyed me for the entire recital because they KNEW I could play everything wonderfully and my recital was a huge bust, but they decided to not make me re-do it, thankfully. It would have altered my career. :(
The pros mess up all the time. One of the best things to ever happen to me was hearing Valentina live and she completely blew an entire "easy" section of a Beethoven Sonata. Even she is human, after all.
Muscle memory certainly has its place, but I used to work on not relying on it with my intermediate and advanced students, and it was quite successful. Just have a student start their pieces in the middle of bars in the middle of phrases--it's great. Everyone used to think I was nuts until a famous artist talked about it during a master class. I wanted to scream from the mountain tops "I told you so!" :)
People hardly notice mistakes during a live performance, but they notice everything in a recording, though. But for a recording, even the pros are splicing multiple takes together, because that's just how it's done, no matter who you are.
Thanks for the wonderful comments!

[@Olleg.G]

​@@seancregomusicvery interesting: i always thought that pros just sit & play whole pieces while recording. And if it was not good enough just replay it until getting satisfaction.😂

[@sereadavid7168]

I guess it does sound bad for you, but honestly I think it is pretty delightful, albeit imperfect.

[@myklkay]

This is far more better than 99% of my attempts to play it in public...

[@alainspiteri502]

mykai .if you are a baby of course you have listened a tiny number of pianists of course , j think really what you write on Y T no the best place for classical-music . .

[@ilovebach1010]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🌹🌹🌹

[@katttttt]

I probably wouldn't have noticed that anything was wrong if I didn't know this piece relativity well

[@seancregomusic]

Aww, thank you! I can't believe the positive feedback I am getting about this decades-old recording. It's actually rather inspiring. Thank you!

[@Mullikia]

The out of tune piano threw you off.🤣

[@seancregomusic]

That piano was never in tune. And the key depth was sooooo deep that all of our visiting artists would complain about it, as well. :)

[@jojo212]

Yes! The piano was out of tune. That would throw me off unless you practiced on it. Rick Wakeman once said, "Never perform on a piano you have not played on." I find that to be true. You become a bit disoriented with it. And yes, it's true the audience has to have a tuned ear to detect your mistakes. And at least you did not freeze and walk off! Your stamina and persistence to stay on teach us a lot!

[@seancregomusic]

I had keys and codes to avoid the practice room pianos. I used to practice daily on Steinway Bs in professors' offices and this horrible 1979 Steinway D with the deepest key depth I have ever felt! I remember like it was yesterday, unfortunately. :)

[@alainspiteri502]

two days were necessary when G Gould recorded in 1981 CBS-Studios the Goldberg variations ; all pianists make several recordings in studios before the définitive eecording , all pianists so lovers-music known that however Consolation N-3 is the first Lizst that all biginners students play , easy pièce about technic ; here it's not a calamity about technic but about the,soûl of the Composer ; there is nothing !