<p>Liu Pinxin<br />Liszt: Concert Etude “Waldesrauschen”<br />Excellent control of all the technical difficulties and beautiful display of colors. Your delicate playing of the accompaniment set the mood for the whole work. You should aim for longer phrases in the melodic line as this paints an image of an expansive picture. This is also the case when the right hand takes over the melody line. With lot more experience you will get to know how Liszt uses dynamics as he builds his structure. Make the “agitato” and “crescendo” meaningful as you lead to the climax of the piece. And then keep the tension displaying the turbulent side of the theme. Bring out the lower part of the octave (the thumb) as this would allow a deeper more resonating sound that the subject needs at this point. And again in the coda make the phrases longer, in fact try to make the coda simply one long phrase. The smoother it sounds the more it resembles the title of the étude.</p><p>Beethoven: Sonata No.3 in C major, Op.2 No.3<br />You give a very competent and comfortable performance of this Sonata. But Beethoven is not a watercolorist, he is a large sculptor often with rough edges. The precise articulation of the first subject clearly demonstrates how a string quartet would bow it and certainly would have to be taken a slower tempo. You need to understand the humor that is inherent in the music.  Do not forget, rests are at times more important than actual notes and here Beethoven stresses silence to achieve the question, perhaps hesitation that gives the theme such a character. You must bring out much more contrast between the solo instruments (like a string quartet) and the whole orchestra. This occurs right throughout the movement. Make much more effort to orchestrate, think which instruments would play the melody and accompaniment. There many accents, the roughness that is so appealing of Beethoven’s music, unfortunately you smooth these out. It is most unusual to have a cadenza in a piano sonata of the period, but here Beethoven has two – one in the development section in which he moves from B-flat major to D major and the other one is just before the coda. Play these with an individual approach. Make this sonata a big event in a similar way how Beethoven wanted his listeners to experience.</p><p>Chopin: Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op.31<br />Obviously this repertoire is more suited to your present development as a musician. I enjoyed your performance, it has freshness and a direct approach that I admire. And further you have a well developed technique to handle all the difficulties posed by this work. You need to communicate the structure of the scherzo, that it is based on groups of four measures. How Chopin changes the emphasis within this group is the magic behind really successful performances. When asked about the introduction, Chopin said “it is a question”, make your first sounds much more subtle. Look carefully the flexibility of dynamics built in the main theme, Chopin is extremely detailed in his instructions. In the middle “sostenuto” section you have far too many different tempos, again Chopin clearly does not want fast, hurried passage work, he wants everything to be melodious, and full of surprises.  Be mindful how you use the pedal all the time, but especially in the Coda and constantly keep in mind that clarity is essential for beautiful sound which is the essence of Chopin’s compositions.</p><p>Liu Pinxin, you are wonderful performer and have potential for making music your future. Keep working on understanding and communicating the essence of music that you are playing. </p>