I was practising K141 from Scarlatti this morning just for technique , as considered it as one as best exercise for repeated notes .
On the acoustic steinway grand , I can achieve 120 bpm with consistency
On my MP11 (GF II) & VPC1 (RM3 grand 2) I can do 120 bpm but rarely hard to be consistent enough to play it on stage.
On PHA4 Roland action, no way .
I would be very curious to have u view on this particular lovely sonata, deceptively simple when you look at the score and so hard to play at tempo.
It is a 3/8 allegro. at 120 BPM , given the fast repeated notes are 1/16 , it corresponds to 8 notes / sec , which is close to impossible on an upright .
The reference for many pianists for this piece is the incredible rendition by Marthe Argerich ( yes, her again ! ) as en encore , considered by many as the ultimate:
https://youtu.be/Gh9WX7TKfkI
I have metered the first 17 measures with precision, she plays them in 8.67 seconds which corresponds to a stunning 11.76 notes per second which is definitely an alien performance. It is about 176 BPM which is already a presto and not anymore an allegro.
The way she sits at the piano and executes it straight away with the most incredible metronomic precision, while still injecting musicality is truly out of this world.
This makes me think that intrinsic piano action as such is a wrong metric as not an absolute value. What really matters is (piano action+ pianist own technical skills + Pianist own preference in term of action)
For instance as much as I like the GF2 action, It is still not as good as the Steinway Grand I am playing during the week , but I don't seem to be able to play the sonata above 120 bpm without being inconsistent, so I am hitting my own limit not the piano's limit.
With the PHA4 , even though as I consider the action to be pleasant , there is no way I could play it as 120 bpm. I can't even conclude that the action is bad, as it could well be that my own style is not compatible with it , that is the only conclusion I can draw.
This is why I am always very sceptical of comments made by reviewers on youtube.
Would be very interested to have your view on the matter , experience with the K141 on your own DP and if you haven't try it , then by all means give it a try, it is a fun short sonata to play.