What should go on my senior recital?

[liszt1022]

My name's Daniel and I'm a senior piano major at VCU. I was wondering what I should put on my senior recital. So far, I know I want it to begin with the Berg sonata and end with Liszt's Reminiscences de Boccanegra. In between those I have about 20 minutes to fill. I was thinking a nice Bach transcription could go after Berg, but I don't know which. The rest I'm not sure of. Any suggestions?

[pianistimo]

your teacher should help you out since he/she is the one directing your path.  sometimes you can 'copy' ideas from professional pianists recital programs.  why are you starting with the berg?  do you know it the best or something?  that's hard to catch people's attention with isn't it?  i think you should warm up their ears with something tonal.  maybe the bach transcription.  then something classical, then several pieces of liszt, and finally your berg sonata. 

maybe you'll hear from other prof. pianists and get more up-to-date info, but i have always been taught in the past to stick to the general history of music as a guide as to what to play first.  it is tempting to do otherwise, but then it can seem that the music is misplaced somehow.  i personally think you have to 'woo' audiences.  they probably would start liking you wiht the liszt reminiscences if they didn't like bach.  and, before that, something classical is always great.  (mozart, beethoven, haydn, clementi) UNLESS, you are specifying in your program that you are substituting another transcription.  there's other forms besides sonatas that you can play within the classical era (fantasy - fugue idea - or fantasy/sonata - variations).

that's my two cents.

[liszt1022]

Well yes, historically Berg should go last. But, I don't want to end the concert that way because it will confuse the audience and I want something more accessible and with a big finish as the last piece. So, the Liszt paraphrase goes last. I can't put Berg right before the Liszt because there wouldn't be anything shorter in between them, and two "longer" works in a row would be bad planning I think. I could possibly split the recital in half and have Berg end the first half, but we'll see.