New program question

[stevea]

I have a question about which opening sonata you guys prefer for this program...


Schubert, Sonata in A major, D. 664
-or-
Beethoven Sonata in F# major, Op. 78

Haydn
Andante and Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII: 6

Intermission

Debussy Preludes Book I:
La cathedrale engloutie
Les collines d'Anacapri
Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir

Chopin
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 63 No. 3

Chopin
Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44


I'm leaning towards the Beethoven, but am curious which you all think which works best?  I also love the Tempest and want to play it, but it seems like too much given everything else (although I'm almost "finished" with the Polonaise).  Thanks in advance!

Goldberg, if you see this...did you do the Polonaise this summer/fall??

[franzliszt2]

I dunno if this helps, but if you play a piece in F#, followed by a piece in F minor the F minor will sound slightly flat. The schubert would be nice too, I can see the difficulty of the situation, but I would look at the F#, and F correlation. I read that in Piano notes by charles rosen, but I've never really listened out for the out of tune theory. The tempest is a great piece, and in my opinion would work supurbly.

I love your program.. F minor variations is such an amazing piece, its nice to see someone playing it, I've never heard it played or heard any recordings, althogh I do include it in my concerts.

[stevea]

Thanks for the information on the key relationships.  I hadn't heard of that before...it's definitely something I'll consider.  I really want to do the Haydn followed by the Tempest.  The way the Haydn disappears and the Tempest appears...  And after the rather heavy texture of the Tempest, the Debussy would be refreshing to the ear I think.  But I'm definitely nervous about being able to do the Tempest justice...those tremelos in the opening...although if I can do them, they will also help with Les collines d'Anacapri (and visa versa).

Once I heard the Haydn, I fell for it, and it has sort of been the catalyst to rethinking my whole program, except for the Chopin.  I have to recommend a great recording of the Haydn by Roberta Rust on Centaur Records.  Here's a link to Centaur Records, and you can find it by searching on the site for Roberta Rust.

https://www.centaurrecords.com/

That's great that you play the Haydn...how did you discover it?  Do you have a recording of one of your performances?

[pianowelsh]

I always find Haydn and debussy go well together.

[pianowelsh]

sorry what i meant by that was I would put the haydn and the debussy in same half and schubert and Chopin int the second half.