Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 - I. Allegro ma non tanto [multi piano]

Happy Halloween! Creepy vibes incoming with late Romanticism drawing from the Baroque imo. Like Rach 2, Rach 3 is also another longtime dream. Never forget Lugansky chilling on Rach 3 being the spark.
Some may cry sacrilege, but in my performance of the first cadenza marked veloce in section 4, as a last minute thought, I decided to play 2 notes differently. The very first A1 at the start and the final A1 right before the orchestra comes in in Moderato were played as A0 (down an octave). These changes were meant to create a more grand and mysterious atmosphere.
I debated a little bit which cadenza to play and settled on the ossia. Originally, I learned the toccata ~10 years ago, after stumbling upon Lugansky and Argerich in old KZbin land when videos were more sparse. The toccata brings a good textural and dynamic contrast to the following climax. It's also less of an overt allusion to the melodically similar vein-popping octave-smashing passage in the 3rd movement. Some cadenzas were historically improvised which led me to experiment with splicing up the cadenza with parts from the toccata and the ossia. I thought I had a pretty decent solution. Then I wandered and came upon Volodos, whose ossia was very convincing, and Andre Watts, whose mixed toccata-turned-ossia was performed well. So I finally learned the ossia so I could further experiment. In the end, I chose to take some of Volodos' spirit and also extended/changed some chords in the ossia. Plus, (I just made this up) music is the diary of a musician. I have been feeling particularly stressed from various things which also influenced my preference for the ossia. The result is a cadenza that has technically and subtly never been heard before.
In meno mosso (section 19) after the cadenza, I used different pianos to emulate the different lone instruments from the orchestra.
Why the art? The first movement here seems almost primal, partly aboriginal and exotic, but also Baroque especially with the fugue-like parts in the beginning. Fortunately, I found art that captures these elements well with the regal, 17-18th century-esque wallpaper interrupted by a horizontal tapestry of animals from faraway lands.
Time to retreat for a hiatus again. This movement was harder than any of the Rach 2 movements to re-learn and record. Some orchestra parts are very tricky to play, never mind the difficulty of the solo piano. In the future, Intermezzo and Finale: Alla Breve. For now, I could use some physical, mental, spiritual, dietary, etc. etc. rehab and real sleep.
Also HBD. You know who you are, born on Halloween smh
#Rach3 #Piano #concerto

[@TheMeeksDuo]

Amazing performance, Chris! I know what a commitment it is to learn this monumental piece so congratulations on your hard work. Especially loved the cadenza! Thanks again for introducing Andre Watts's unique version to me. Looking forward to the other movements!

[@ChrisLuan]

Thanks Scott, Claire! Glad y'all liked the cadenza. Of course, gotta share the hidden gems.

[@YoungbloodPiano]

Chris coming back from the dead to jumpscare us with some spooky Rach on Halloween. I love it.

[@ChrisLuan]

sp00ky Rach indeed 💀💀💀 I hear flutes crying in fear or perhaps warning in the section before the big cadenza

[@alexnoobfat1506]

The ossia cadenza was great!

[@ChrisLuan]

Thanks!! It really grew on me. I used to prefer the toccata more, but both are equally great for different reasons now.

[@Cyclically]

Have you seen Yunchan Lim’s GOATED rach 3 performance at the Cliburn? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

[@jonathanh9734]

After 2 now 3, madman 🙇‍♂️

[@ChrisLuan]

Put me in an asylum because I'm gonna do the rest of Rach 3 (TBD) 🎃

[@jonathanh9734]

@@ChrisLuan WAAAAAAA ALL THE BEST!!!!! 💀💀

[@YayaPiano1]

Bro is crazy 💀 Your arrangements are friken amazing dude, I always found other piano arrangements to be very lacking, even when trying to capture the orchestra, for every one you've done you've smashed it and all I can say is GJ dude 🙏!

[@ChrisLuan]

Thanks bro! Part of it is I currently don't have good orchestra VSTs that'll do it justice, neither the hard drive space, and finally nor the time. We gotta make up for it and find ways around obstacles. That's what makes these piano concerto projects fun! Also, helps that these Rach was an amazing composer and arranger to begin with.

[@pppianissimo]

One simple adjustment that would really improve the audio quality of these is to pan the pianos slightly in postproduction and to increase the stereo effect of the "orchestra" piano while decreasing the stereo effect of the solo piano. I would also recommend recording the orchestra part from slightly further away. This will ensure that they sound distinct, even though they still are the same pianos.

[@hypersonicpiano6120]

Incredible! The cadenza was beautiful, as was the section immediately afterwards. What kind of recording setup (or VST?) did you use? Would be amazing to have this kind of audio quality in your usual videos.

[@littleporcupinepianocovers4525]

Beautiful playing as always! I really like the Baroque vibes of this piece.

[@ChrisLuan]

Thanks Tani. I agree with you. Fugue and Halloween just go together 😈

[@Roescoe]

What an achievement! an arrangement and a performance. You really filled out the orchestra part.

[@kano1458]

catthonk ?

[@ChrisLuan]

catbonk