Getting reacquainted with Chopin

My brother asked me to send him a picture of the piano after it was delivered.  I did one better:  I made a video of me playing a Chopin etude that I learned years ago (Op. 25, No. 1):

I shared this with my wife, who shared it with family, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on.  It was a fun thing to do.  I resurrected another Chopin etude (Op. 25, No. 12) and recorded that one, too:

I learned both of these etudes in 1980 for my junior recital at Maryland.  I was really surprised at how quickly they came back to me!

Now that I have a base of fans, I’ll probably wind up doing more of these by popular demand.  I have to admit that having a recording session as a goal changes the way I think about practicing.  It’s more “practicing” than “playing”.  It also reminds me how important the feedback of an adoring audience is for a performer!