What was your most enjoyable performance experience ?

[m1469]

and what made it so ?


Thanks,
m1469

[pianistimo]

you'd think that for a performance major - i'd say some really great setting with a perfect piano and stage and lights.  everyone quiet.  etc. etc.  but, my husband's and my best performances have been in retirement homes.  complete relaxation.  occasional bingo calls on the intercom.  but, we do as we like.  we get into the moment.  no tension.  no thought of failure.  complete and utter applause and afterwards it's like we're some kind of 'superstars' to these folk.  it has to be the most rewarding of places to play.

of course, for formal recitals - it's nice to have a few memories - otherwise one cannot really say one is comfortable performing.  in terms of (i thought) complete nerve control - i was satellite broadcasted playing hymns in duet form for my church at a church convention.  that made me feel really hot (literally) as the lights were blinding at at first i couldn't see anything (and i didn't even look up - i looked across at the other pianist).  you sort of feel your way around and find the keyboard.  then, it's all those days of practice that gets you 'into the groove.'  playing for church has it's up's because you hear people joining in singing praise.

for formal piano solo recital - i'd say a museum recital i once gave where a woman spontaneously jumped up and started clapping and carrying on.  she almost suprised me more than myself.  ( you know how you're sometimes suprised that the piece went as well as it did - and you look at your fingers).  also, i happened to play saint-saens allegro appasionata (which i now look at as a sort of easy piece) with a lot of passion completely from memory for about 500 people. 

those were the days.  help me mayla!  can you help me not just relive them but to do it again? 

[pianowolfi]

There are three. Once i played Chopin Scherzo no. 2 and I had suddenly the control over everything and began to feel that I can communicate everything I want to the audience. The second was at a birthday party where I had played and one of the listeners told me afterwards that she was completely in an other world while I played. That is still the best compliment ever for me. The third very intense experience was at a solo evening recital during the Rach b minor Prelude. This prelude was the central piece of the first part of that recital and it was an atmosphere like in the eye of a tornado. I really felt that i could lead the people to a very special place in the world: the climax of one of the most beautiful pieces of music at all.

[steinway43]

Playing Liszt's 12'th Rhapsody perfectly in a master class when I was 16. The lady (I forget who she was) thought I had to be practicing 8 hours a day.

[juelle]

I recently gave a concert to celebrate 40 years of teaching piano, and I called it "Among Friends" because, while I was a performer on every piece, most were collaborative -- duets with another pianist or organist, singing in an a cappella quartet, and accompanying singers.  I did play a solo set of pieces that I was playing at 16 when I started teaching.  My students decorated and brought refreshments, and one of the dads made a great videotape.  It was a wonderful event, so heartwarming for me and for my friends.  We were ALL amazed, and not by virtuosity, though there was a little of that. 

[elspeth]

Am I allowed non-piano performances? Because if so, there are two - both with an orchestra I played with at university. One, playing Mozart flute concerto no 2 - everybody ought to play a concerto at some point in their musical career, it's wonderful - and two, the first symphony I played, Beethoven 7. Particularly that second movement, so beautiful if you can get the dynamics to build just right. I think pianists sometimes miss out on the feeling you get when you play as part of a group and the sense of joint accomplishment when you all manage to pull a great performance off together. It's hard to describe, but the hairs on the back of my nexk go up every time I hear that symphony, suddenly in my head I'm back on that stage with the orchestra being part of something so wonderful.

This season I've been invited to go sing in a performance of Mozart's Requiem, I'm not sure if I can do it due to work commitments but, oh, I want to!

[imbetter]

Playing Liszt's 12'th Rhapsody perfectly in a master class when I was 16. The lady (I forget who she was) thought I had to be practicing 8 hours a day.

I JUST finished practising that

[henrah]

I played the Serenade composed by my friend Barnaby Southgate at my school's christmas mescellany, and I was applauded for just getting the piano setup! It was a cruddy little digital piano that the pedals had fallen off, so a folded envelope needed to be shoved underneath, and it was so odd hearing applause before I even started playing. I made a couple of mistakes, but it went well and everyone liked it, even the composer. Thankfully I was able to play the piece to the composer on my Fazioli afterwards and he liked it even more.
Henrah

[el nino]

I JUST finished practising that

me3

[lau]

me3

me not 4

[el nino]

btw steinway43 can you please upload your perfect version on hr12 so that me,imbetter,kissin,cziffra,sidron,van cliburn and others can see how it is supposed to be played