Bach French Suite No 5 Piano G Major BWV 816-Courtney McLean

[ocsound1]

It's good playing, The allemande is superiour to the courante .. the tempo in the courante is a bit out of control and loses something, altough it's solid .. the allemande has the magic .. the courante sound isn't articulated clearly enough to be played at that tempo .. I enjoyed the playing overall :-)

[angietihi]

Beautifully played, iffy notes, pedal and all. Very musical and expressive. But what's with the hair thing at the beginning? Did she forget to tie it back? A bit irritating seeing that.

[biofourpointoh]

@angietihi I would not think anything of the hair. A critique on such grounds might inadvertently create a bias against female players (as many men are able to avoid the issue entirely with very short hair - far more socially acceptable for men than for women). Perhaps it is part of her ritual, like a tennis player bouncing the ball before the serve.

[angietihi]

Beautifully played, pedal or no pedal, iffy notes and all. But what's with the hair thing at the beginning? Did she forget to tie it back? It went where it was originally within seconds anyway.

[codycrowder]

bach would have hated it.. artist yes, beautiful playing yes.. but in all reality, bach was very precise and he played on a harpi.. haha hed be like wtf

[johnmarkpiano]

The hall is very wet, which doesn't help the articulation. But I never understood the argument to use no pedal. Of course the tone is different; it is a striking hammer, on a nine-foot instrument, with thousands of pounds of force on its soundboard, that doesn't ring at all if you knock the side of it with your hand (like a harpsichord, or guitar).

I think she plays beautifully, like an individual, like an artist, and I think that's how Bach would prefer to hear it.

[Tony33156]

Five Stars!! Great Performance.

[121Ayame121]

Beautiful! The fast notes are a little iffy though, but still very good :D

[MusicVideoLooker]

Not bad. Perhaps too much in a romantic fashion. Some very fast notes are not articulated clearly.

[Xemnas223]

nice performance!

[raphaelhudson]

The change of speed in movement 3 is a little too jerky for the feel of that movement.

[mt26h]

Well played! I play on piano Gavotte from this suite and for me is very hard to play.

[KhagarBalugrak]

I agree, it's overpedalled, but it's quite musical and sensitively played. I like how she's not afraid to be expressive with Bach, and doesn't shove him into a dusty, forgotten corner.

[whenultra]

She plays very well, the recital hall is a sharp type, and is not friendly to pianos, a chorus wouls sound nice in the hall, not piano though, 'a reverb' hall, playings fine.

[Ivanka1991]

Pretty good. But Bach's pieces should never be played with pedal.

[martingallegos]

I disagree... you know, I used to say the same: "No pedal for Bach"... now I realize that I was wrong; pedal is part of the piano, and it gives another dimension to the sound... as my teacher said once: if you play with no pedal, you are only playing "half a piano", and not the entire instrument...

Just an opinion, peace, cheers!

[deathshot7]

the reason people say, don't play bach with a pedal is because in bach's time there was no modern piano or pedal. back in his day they played with harpsichords and clavichords. the two have very distinctive sounds and must be played accurately to produce the correct tone. the tone produced with a pedal is very different than a harpsichord/clavichord so most people try to limit or avoid the use of pedal in bach pieces. however, this does not mean pedal is not allowed complely, just in moderation

[Akee1990]

@deathshot7 I don't use the pedal on Baroque music.Well try not to because the pedal will obscure the contrapuntal lines.

[ff2paladin]

May I ask why you say this?

[billabongxv]

Enough of these mediocre comments about pedal. Bach's music can be played well with or without pedal, just like all other music. There was never a pianist (a good one!)who didn't use some pedal in Bach (including Glenn Gould).

[raphaelhudson]

Bach would have used pedal for sure if it were there, his pieces require notes to sound that cannot sound as long as they were written on period instruments

[Xemnas223]

actually that's why bach uses the trills that he puts in his work: to sustain a certain idea that he would have not been able to hold out otherwise. So I don't believe in using pedal while playing bach - to play it the way he would have played it.

[Akee1990]

@billabongxv Also if you don't know what the hell you're doing, you will make the music sound Romantic.This ain't no dAmn Romantic piece

[lilaznnerd69]

i playing this right now =/

its a bit different but pretty good

[mrsspongebob22]

i played this when i was 9.... Overall great performance!

[FerencLiszt]

Eccellente! Davvero complimenti!

[managementcen]

She doesnt understand the piece and she can not play it very well but she could.The sound of the recording is bad Richarde06

[billabongxv]

managementcen, why don't you show us your great understanding of this piece? It is so easy to be critical of others..

[Metz77]

Fantastic, beautiful music!!

[indigoblue555]

I'd say that there's quite a wide range of renditions acceptable for Bach works-

obv.according to our pers.taste we can like or dislike the performer's line,but taking a look at the comments I can see too many absolute statements being expressed.

I guess we should be openminded overall..

Who knows,may be J.S.B.was too -

[00bean00]

Welcome to YouTube & the Interwebz! You expected otherwise? So sorry...

[indigoblue555]

to 00bean00 - HI!

can't get it...

[00bean00]

I see now. What I meant was:

Welcome to YouTube's comment function, where almost anyone at all can enter in any silly thought that pops into their head. This comment function deprives us of a sense of value for careful, thoughtful speech.

[jonwithjen]

i'd have to agree with the other people's comments. I wouldn't pedal Bach. You also need to work on your phrasing. Other than that good job.

[silazioz]

She used the interpretation of Glenn Gould.

[triterotops]

I should cocoa! Go on.... don't be an arse. Ms. MacLean's interpretation is so far from GG's. Please tell me you're taking the piss.

[silazioz]

it isnt exactly a copy, but overall it is like glenn's ;)

[nathanksimpson]

The hall sounds like it has a ton of reverb in my opinion. Too bad. Enjoyable nonetheless! Mmmmm. Do note that it may likely be that the sound is not taken from the mic seen in the shot, but rather the one on the camera which may not be positioned in a good spot or be as high a quality microphone, and the compressed nature of flash audio means the sound quality will be a bit less than would be useful for serious technical listening. Again just my opinions.

[Ruth929]

man this is good. i wish i can play like this.

[steamyswimmer22]

The pedal cheapens your performance. Bach pieces were not meant to be played with pedal. Ever heard of finger legato? Lose the pedal and make sure you are holding down all the notes for their full values.

[hjex]

The hall could have a good amount of reverb and the mic setting could be such that it sounds like there's a lot of pedal. That has been my experience.

[PsyberJocker]

so, that comes to the firts comment, why use the pedal if there is such reverb?

also, don't forget that bach always allow place for interpret to add or remove some of the effect of the partition. often no tempo

[PsyberJocker]

so i think that a very good interpretation.

hjex, you should be more open on how to interpret a piece.

[hjex]

In my comment, I made no such evaluation of how the piece is interpreted. I was responding to a comment that seemed to suggest the artist was overusing the pedal. I did not agree with this. One can overuse the pedal, no? Anyway, I happen to romanticize Bach when I play, and see nothing wrong with this. And, I'm actually defending the artist here. I can't stand comments such as the one I was originally responding to, but I guess you can't see that.

[PsyberJocker]

sorry about that, my mistake.

[miavassilev]

Brava Courtney!

[cudasinger]

THAT WAS THE BOMB COURTNEY!

UR THE BEST

[donia524]

Very good! I am playing this next month for my recital too. The only thing I would say is watch the embellishments...too classical at times and not baroque. Also sometimes too much pedal.

[bakdgreat]

i like this in general but i really do not like your sarabande on this one

[klo73]

amazing. what a talent you have. wish i could play half as well as you :) how many hours do you put in per week?

[berlioz1830]

Beautiful. Pity there are no more movements from the same piece.

[JubalJr]

Hi Courtney, how are you? I have not sound on this computer, but it is not necessary (you look so beautiful aahaa). Well, see you, Marcos. (Rafael's brother)

[pianoboyo]

Bravo very nice...I personally would use less pedal in this space as its already pretty ressonant.. I see no problem with interpreting Bach in a 'romantic' way. Bach had a soul too you know.. he didnt play everything with absolutely sqaured off rhythms and totally dry with no pedal and no dynamics - as some would have us believe. He wouldnt have cared much for the fluctuation of tempo in the slow movement though - you need to be carefull you hold the tempo..that would be my one gripe.

[crzygrl4u]

MWAHAHAHAH I'M DONE THIS SONG =D

[prodeoetveritate]

You are very musical. Thanks for posting this video.

[jbennettj]

awesome!!!

[buckminster]

very well done! i am in the middle of this suite right now. what happened to the other pieces?

[wmi10]

i'll play it for my exham to get in the 4th year of conservatory so thanks for posting this, i like to see how other people intepreted it:)

[seedler]

I did this for grade 10, and I have to say she played quite well.

[wmi10]

of course nicely done but i also think this interpretation it's too "romantic" bach...

[lourak]

You play beautifully and sensitively, but you must not let the tempo sag.

[marleenmusic]

Wow! Beautiful embellishments and phrasing!

[fpwng]

Bravo! What a beautiful performance...

[jfeucht82]

Thanks for sharing. It sounds great!

[jkenefick]

I have to suite V for my final exam this year so it's great to hear how it's supposed to be played :-)

[asv8104]

This girl sure working this piano!