Rachmaninoff playing the big works by Chopin and Schumann…I think if we want to qualify a single album, it would be the Rachy GPOC volume.
def this rec
youtube.com/watch?v=Nkgezt05MOE
or michelangeli’s op 45 prelude
album wise - fischer deskiau in the winerrriese the incredible dg rec with moore
goosebumps every time
You should try Gerard Souzay in Winterreise if you haven’t heard that version.
May I ask why you haven’t played for so long, brew?
Seems you very much still have the passion for listening to it 
Because I’ve got focal dystonia which affects my right hand, so I can only play LH rep.
I also don’t have a piano.
Harsh stuff, I’m very sorry to hear :-/ Does this stuff pass or are we talking LH for lyf?
Some people claim to have recovered through retraining.
I haven’t tried this, nor seen any improvement in the past three years.
Even if I had, in three years of not playng my hands have lost a considerable amount of flexibility.
I think Chamayou had a similar problem and it certainly seems he was able to battle it, seeing as he’s playing all TEs in one recital and all of Liszt’s annes in one go etc.
He mentions it at the bottom of this interview: culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/opera … nte-150535
Googling Chamayou + dystonie returns a bunch more info on it, should it be of interest
Wow, that’s interesting!
I didn’t he had it and recovered (he does mention merely showing the “signs” of FD), I always think of the Fleisher and Graffman cases.
Maybe I gave up too easily, I pretty much moved to France straight after my last exam (left hand rep only).
He mentions pain however, which is something I’ve never suffered from with FD, rather my fingers just won’t listen to me.
If I were to play the start of 25/6 within a couple of beats my middle and ring fingers will have curled to the point where I’m playing on the nails but it doesn’t hurt at all.
That’s rough stuff Brew, my brother developed dystonia a while back. His whole body was contracted to one side and hands and neck shook terribly. He underwent a deep brain stimulation procedure and it all but killed all his symptoms. He now has full control of his body and can lead a “normal” life, just needs to be wary of the pacemaker in his chest and electrodes in his brain.
Making a career of left hand rep only would be more than a little off putting I imagine. People have done it, but everyone is different. I have no clue where your values lie in regards to performance philosophy, so I have nowhere really to go here. Only thing I can really say is, personally, if I want something, I find a way to win. Even if it means changing that definition of winning.
rambling over lol
Jeez, his sounds way worse than what I went through.
Maybe if I get regular assess to a piano again some time in the future I’ll see what can be done.
When I was a pianist I never wanted to date another pianist, but now I’d definitely be open to it.
If I ever have kids, they’ll be at the piano before they can hold their head up.
I definitely miss playing, even if I can compensate by going to listen to artists who can play on a level of which I couldn’t even dream.
At least you have an excuse for not practicing. I gave up trying to get to get to any sort of performance level a while ago lol just didn’t appeal to me as much as composing, or any of the other 6000 hobbies I have. Still fun to poke around at the keys and bang my head against some Liszt. You’ll find your path I’m sure!