Topic: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

PETROF 284 Mistral
This instrument pack is another one of my favorites. I think this instrument suits this kind of music really well. What do you think?

The other day, for the first time since I resumed playing the piano five years ago, I had an opportunity to perform in front of an audience. It was something like a charity concert at a church, and it had been twenty or thirty years since I last played the piano in public.

Since the audience was not made up entirely of people with a special background in music, I mainly chose popular pieces. Although this is not the type of music I usually prefer to play, my wife requested it, and I thought it might be relatively well received by the audience, so I chose it as the opening piece on the day of the performance.

On the day, I played on a Yamaha CLP-825 as a digital piano, but I used Pianoteq 9 for all the sound sources, and I changed the instrument for each piece.

Because I was nervous, I made some mistakes in the actual performance and didn’t think I could upload that version to YouTube. However, I remembered that I had played this piece during the rehearsal earlier that morning, and the MIDI data from that rehearsal was still available, so this is what I uploaded based on that data.

I wasn’t planning to record it in particular, but I think the fact that Pianoteq captures and preserves performances like that is another one of its advantages.

https://youtu.be/uvhyhiDu594

YAMAHA CLP-825
Pianoteq 9.0.2
Petrof 284 Mistral Classical Recording

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Bravo!

You should add this to the video competition if you haven't already

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Triton wrote:

PETROF 284 Mistral
This instrument pack is another one of my favorites. I think this instrument suits this kind of music really well. What do you think?

The other day, for the first time since I resumed playing the piano five years ago, I had an opportunity to perform in front of an audience. It was something like a charity concert at a church, and it had been twenty or thirty years since I last played the piano in public.

Since the audience was not made up entirely of people with a special background in music, I mainly chose popular pieces. Although this is not the type of music I usually prefer to play, my wife requested it, and I thought it might be relatively well received by the audience, so I chose it as the opening piece on the day of the performance.

On the day, I played on a Yamaha CLP-825 as a digital piano, but I used Pianoteq 9 for all the sound sources, and I changed the instrument for each piece.

Because I was nervous, I made some mistakes in the actual performance and didn’t think I could upload that version to YouTube. However, I remembered that I had played this piece during the rehearsal earlier that morning, and the MIDI data from that rehearsal was still available, so this is what I uploaded based on that data.

I wasn’t planning to record it in particular, but I think the fact that Pianoteq captures and preserves performances like that is another one of its advantages.

https://youtu.be/uvhyhiDu594

YAMAHA CLP-825
Pianoteq 9.0.2
Petrof 284 Mistral Classical Recording

Wonderful music, so well played. I like those cresc. - dim. and looking att the velocity curve nice to see going at the end how you achieve ppp at the end.
And it fits well with a large Grand piano, Petrof Mistral is the largest Ptq with 2.80 length, good choice

Thank you Triton for sharing your music.
Btw I think you can’t upload it in contest because it is already published on YT in November. (Have to be not published before)

Best wishes,

Stig

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Oh, sorry, what a shame! I posted it in the wrong place. My apologies! How can I fit it...

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Hi, daniel_r328,
Thank you for your warm comment! I really really appreciate it!

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Hi Stig,

Thank you for your comment! I’m happy to hear your thoughts on my choice of piano.

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

Btw I think you can’t upload it in contest because it is already published on YT in November. (Have to be not published before)

Really? I was actually thinking about uploading a different video instead of this one, but that one was from November as well. I will reread the explanation and think about it... Thank you.

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Triton wrote:

Hi Stig,

Thank you for your comment! I’m happy to hear your thoughts on my choice of piano.

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

Btw I think you can’t upload it in contest because it is already published on YT in November. (Have to be not published before)

Really? I was actually thinking about uploading a different video instead of this one, but that one was from November as well. I will reread the explanation and think about it... Thank you.

Yes, your video is from November 21, 2025, while the 2025 contest started on November 24.

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Absolutely gorgeous rendition of this wonderful Rachmaninov piece!

Last edited by Stephen_Doonan (10-12-2025 20:42)
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Linux, Mac OS, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

I find this to be a nice rendition of the piece, and the Petrof has a fitting sound for it. I would still like to try it in my Kawai. Are you comfortable with sharing the midi file for your performance? Thank you.

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Sounds beautiful!  Reminds me a little of how Roger Williams played it without the orchestration.

Very nicely done.

Re: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Thema of Paganini 18th variation

Lemuel wrote:
Triton wrote:

Hi Stig,

Thank you for your comment! I’m happy to hear your thoughts on my choice of piano.

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

Btw I think you can’t upload it in contest because it is already published on YT in November. (Have to be not published before)

Really? I was actually thinking about uploading a different video instead of this one, but that one was from November as well. I will reread the explanation and think about it... Thank you.

Yes, your video is from November 21, 2025, while the 2025 contest started on November 24.

But you can re-record yourself, perhaps in video if you are not shy, and still participate.

Where do I find a list of all posts I upvoted? :(