Trouble interperating Rachmaninoff, please help? (Melody in E)?

Question

Hello! I will be playing Melody in E major by Rachmaninoff. I had played it once before and received a horrible mark for the piece. I will be playing this for ajudication so I shouldn't go too wild with this piece I suppose.

Here's Rachmaninoff playing his piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjgIWVJunbs&feature=related

Anyways, should I use as much rubato as he does? Also is this the "real" score, because my sheet music is a bit different in some places, but I would be willing to buy a new book to get the "original" transcript.

Thanks!

Answer 1

You must consider that Rachmaninoff was a pianist of a much different generation and a very different tradition of performance and interpretation.  It would not be to your benefit to copy him.  You should make the piece personal to you and no one else.  Also, Rachmaninoff frequently changed his own compositions, and often performed his own unique "versions" of them.  He also didn't make much of a fuss about what was written in the score (partly because he wrote it!).

Rachmaninoff believed that in every piece, there is one "moment" that brings the piece together.  You must connect with that moment.

Everything in much of his music revolves around melody.  The melody must be the primary focus.  Shape it, play it cantabile, and let everything else be subserviant to the direction the melody takes.  The music needs to feel natural, like you are accompanying the most lyrical violinist in the world.  Don't play mechanically, but give enough rubato to let the piece breathe.

Good luck!

Answer 2

O... rubato is good only when it means something, imo (Rachmaninoff doesn't use it just to mess with note value). So... I think the technical question can wait until you have came up with a vision of what you think this piece describes. Have a picture or a message in mind, then you can think of how to bring it out of the score rather than the other way around.