technical perfection

[liszmaninopin]

What level of technical perfection is necessary in your opinion to do a piece justice?  Note for note, only some minor mistakes, or are you willing to accommodate some larger errors?

[eddie92099]

Only some minor errors,
Ed

[Dave_2004_G]

Yeh I agree - but on a recording it really has to be note perfect

In reality in concert that probably isn't going to happen even for the most experienced concert pianists, but major errors completely detract from the music - like I've said people concentrate on the mistakes and feel uncomfortable about your control of the piece you're playing

Dave

[liszmaninopin]

I have always leaned that way too.  Also, I feel differently about how important it is in different composers' music.  For example, a Mozart should really be almost perfect, in my opinion, but one might be able to hide some slight problems in Rachmaninoff or Scriabin.

[cziffra]

if you have practiced the piece perfectly into your memory, then any mistake you make is just that, a mistake, unique to the time of performance.  it is another kettle of fish to have actually practiced a mistake INTO a piece, and there should be no mistakes like that at all.  

that is to me as good a technical perfection as human beings can hope for.  and to be consistent i must concede that michelangeli was not human.

[chopiabin]

What do you mean exactly by "major errors"? I tend to feel that one should not perform a piece unless one has it perfectly memorized, but, in the privacy of one's own home,  one can "go for it" .

Chop

[Chitch]

I use "Dohnanyi: Essential Finger Exercises for obtaining a sure piano technique" by EMB (Editio Musica Budapest). It does wonders!

[scriabinsmyman]

striving for technical perfection during practice is a must.  you must be able to play the piece perfectly before a performance- flawless, no wrong notes, every single note clear and played with the right weight and dynamic.  then, during the performance, none of that matters.  you know you have the piece under control.  think about the music- not the notes- but the sound and emotions.  that's a truly great performance.