Which Concerto to play in a competion?

[frederic]

Which Concerto would be best to play for a competition? Ahove are some of my favourite concertos that i would like to do.
I originally wanted to do the Moszkowski, since its so unknown, but i looked at the score and its...well...bloody difficult. Gee it might even be as hard as the Brahms. Getting the orchestral parts will be a pain too.
If you have other ideas that would impressive the judges, please do suggest.

[BoliverAllmon]

If you play the tchaik well, that would be the way to go.

[Bouter Boogie]

If you play the tchaik well, that would be the way to go.

Yeah, I agree I like the 3rd movement, it's cool

[steinwayguy]

Well if you're capable of doing the Tchaikovsky 1, you could also do the Beethoven 4 or Liszt 2.

[frederic]

if am capable of playing tchaikovsky, i would be able to play ALOT more things, steinwayguy. 

[Ruro]

Being biased because I love Prokofiev so much, I picked other ^_^;;

Prokofiev Concerto No.5! COME ON, from what I have seen of this concerti being played in the next year in England... people have forgot 4 & 5 exist :/
It's not a masterpiece, but it is very good! I dream to play it

[thierry13]

Why not the moskowski ! Come on! It's awesome! And it's harder than tchaikovsky for sure!

[RealPianist]

not to many people play mendelssohn 1? how  aobut this?

[pita bread]

Prokofiev 5 would be interesting to hear for once.

[Skeptopotamus]

I'm not a huge fan of the Tchaikovsky 1, but of those it would be the best for a competition.

[viking]

Out of the available options, Tchaikovsky is by far the best competition concerto, providing you play it well.  As steinwayguy said, look at Liszt 2, and beethoven 4.  Other competition concertos could be Liszt 1, Prok 3, Chopin 2 (be careful it can backfire).
I would reccomend either the Liszt or Prokofiev.
SAM

[moose_opus_28]

Why not the moskowski ! Come on! It's awesome! And it's harder than tchaikovsky for sure!

I love that piece!  Play it!  Or I will....

[frederic]

I love that piece! Play it! Or I will....

Yes, well i love it too but the difficult scares me.

Out of the available options, Tchaikovsky is by far the best competition concerto, providing you play it well. As steinwayguy said, look at Liszt 2, and beethoven 4. Other competition concertos could be Liszt 1, Prok 3, Chopin 2 (be careful it can backfire).
I would reccomend either the Liszt or Prokofiev.
SAM

How can the chopin backfire?

[dikai_yang]

if you're playing in van cliburn, Tchaikovsky for sure... haha... think how he won several decades ago, follow the trend!!

[apion]

I would not select any of those; if forced to choose among them, go for the Tchaikowski 1 or the Beethoven 3.

[superstar]

y not the Beethoven nr5 ? this is a great competition concerto

[jehangircama]

A mendelhsson concerto is not a bad idea. these are lovely pieces and are not played all that often....

[viking]

How can the chopin backfire?

Chopin concerti are actually quite like Rachmaninoff Concerti (not musically).  They are both performed quite frequantly, Rachmaninoff moreso than Chopin.  The problem with both is that if they are played any short of near perfect they wont gain the respect of a judge.  If, however, they are played extremely well, they will win competitons.  Something much safer to play would be Prokofiev or Liszt.
SAM

[frederic]

Chopin concerti are actually quite like Rachmaninoff Concerti (not musically). They are both performed quite frequantly, Rachmaninoff moreso than Chopin. The problem with both is that if they are played any short of near perfect they wont gain the respect of a judge. If, however, they are played extremely well, they will win competitons. Something much safer to play would be Prokofiev or Liszt.
SAM

Yes i would certainly agree. But no one seems to say that about the tchaikovsky, often even suggesting it for competitions, yet it claims to be the most famous piano concerto

[pianohopper]

Expanding on what viking said, it is definitely safer to play a lesser known concerto in a competition.  i would also advise a romantic or contemporary concerto rather than Beethoven, or say Mozart or Haydn, because they must be so clear-cut and perfect.  Whereas with romantics, there is room for rubato and smaller mistakes will go unnoticed more frequently.

any one of Shostakovich's concertos would be a good bet.  Saint-Saens is virtually never played, but they are solid pieces that display your skills.  Rhapsody in Blue?  popular, difficult, flashy. 

wot about P.D.Q. Bach's Concerto for Piano vs. Orchestra?   

[viking]

Tchaikovsky is musically a very easy concerto, thats why its played so much for competitions because it is also quite safe once you get the notes.  Also, if you can play the Chopin near perfect, I would encourage you to do so (if they are reccomendations for you).  Also if you can master Beethoven 3 it is actually a very respected concerto if also played to near perfection.  My favorite competition concertos are as follows:

Liszt 1
Liszt 2
Totantanzz
Rach1
Beethoven 3
Mozart 9
Tchaikovsky
Prokofiev 3
Prokofiev 2 (if you can play it!)
Khachaturian

Definate NO's
Rach 2 and 3
Brahms 1 and 2

Maybe's
Chopin 1, 2
Beethoven 2, 4, 5
Most Mozart
Bartok 1 2 3
Prokofiev 5
Gershwin F, Rhapsody in Blue

Just my thoughts...
SAM

[frederic]

I've always enjoyed listening to the Bortkiewicz Piano Concerto No.1 but never got my hopes up on it because I doubted I would find the music. But miraculously, I got the score the other day, thanks to thalbergmad. (Which led me to gamingforce.com where i found even MORE music i thought i never would get my hands on).

So how about it? I've now officially added Bortkiewicz to the list of possible concertos.

What do you think?

[jehangircama]

Play Chopin 1. its not played that often(to the best of my knowledge) and it has a very nice 3rd mvt...