Which is harder: Grieg - Shostakovich ?

[franz_]

Vote. And share your experiences.

[jre58591]

most definitely the grieg. ther eare many reasons, especially that the shostakovich concertos were written as excercises for his brother. the grieg is a full-blown concert piece.

[nicco]

Grieg is harder no doubt. Unless you think hanon is harder then grieg.

[nortti]

Shostakovitch is mostly easy but there are some passages that don't fit in the hands (mine at least) no matter how hard you try, and some fit only after you've come up with some creative fingerings..
Haven't played Grieg.

[franzliszt2]

Grieg is by far the hardest

[moi_not_toi]

Grieg (although relatively easy) was assisted by Liszt in writing his Concerto (so I've heard) so I'm sure that It's actually harder.

Shostakovich has some hard passages, but they aren't as numerous or hard as the passages in the Grieg.

[letters]

im playing shostakovich 2 next yr with school orchestra - no way id even attempt grieg.

[Pumkinhead]

I'll be going entirely against the grain and say Shostakovich. I have played both in their entirety, and the Shostakovich gave me more problems technically. Of course, the Grieg is another ten minutes longer, but once you learn the notes, getting it up to speed was a cinch for me. Also, it's one of the most pianistic concerti I've ever played. It fits into the hand really well, and is even easier to memorize. Shosti, especially with the Sightreadable slow movement, looks sparse and simple, but really, it's much more awkward and unpianistic. In the overall scope, Shostakovich is harder to master, but not by much.