I love this. The main melody has an in-your-face nonchalance about it -- "I don't care what anybody thinks. The piece goes this way because this is how the piece goes." Just like the palace.
Re: bar 57, I was actually eating salmon while listening. OK, it was steelhead trout, but the story is that it was salmon. Because that's the story.
You've also reminded me that I'll never be a real pianist.