does it matter ?

[jamie_liszt]

Hey

I was at school today and a music teacher came and handed me a sheet of paper that said, concerto competition. I first thought, playing with orchestras and me wont go, I always though, yeh maybe in the future but not now. But I could make it happen if i wanted so i took it, what the hell.

So i want to know, if i play the first movement of mozarts piano concerto no 23 k 488 in a major, is it too easy? or difficulty doesnt matter and its how well you play.

I was just looking at last years stuff and its crazy, they play the big ones like prokofiev and schuman, chopin and liszt. nutterz. Thats when my negative thoughts began about the mozart concerto in a major mvt 1 because it is quite easy.

What do you guys think ?

[jas]

These big Romantic concertos take a different kind of pianism, though. To play the Mozart well isn't going to be "easy." Personally, I find Mozart more difficult to get right than Chopin or Liszt. You might find that the judges will be more impressed with an excellent performance of Mozart than a technically-impressive one of Liszt. They won't look down on a Mozart concerto just because your fingers are less likely to drop off when you're playing it.
I wouldn't worry about your choice of concerto. If they didn't give any guidelines as to what the competitors should play then it's safe to assume they're expecting all different composers and eras of music. As long as you're well prepared you have as good a chance as anyone.

Jas

[saturn_pianist]

Listen, I've finished that concerto (mozart k488) it's so not easy, you should check the third  though, if you want to play something by mozart and esp. this concerto you should do the third, I found it rather more enjoyable than the third and more exciting.

Mozart, is very difficult, I find it easier to play rach than Mozart, perform well and surely the judges won't look down on Mozart!.

[jlh]

There are special things to consider though... such as realizing that in some ways Mozart is more difficult to play than a big orchestral concerto.  They're completely different beasts and require much different approaches.  Mozart is so intimate and innocent and transparent that any screwups are easily identifiable, and you cannot over-romanticize it, while at the same time you must interpret it in an authentic and moving manner. 

Considering that both categories are played to perfection, what then should the jury do?  If it comes down to interpretation, it would be much easier to distinguish the relative differences of interpretation by 2 pianists both playing romantic concerti or both playing classical chamber concerti than to choose between the 2 genres.

Just my opinion.  I'm not saying it's not a good idea to put Mozart up against other composers, but that you must realize there are difficulties inherent in doing so.