Performing a Concerto

[dinosaurtales]

I wasn't sure where to post this topic, but.......

In all my years I have never learned an entire concerto.  I have toyed with several, but never worked one out completely.  This is mostly because I cannot imagine getting one down and just happening to have an orchestra nearby that just happens to want to do the exact same piece for a concert.  The odds seem so low, I just can't imagine one actually coming together in a real world.

So, for those of you who HAVE managed to do such a thing,  what was your first concerto, and how did the arrangements get made to connect your piece in its "prime" with an orchestra or band that wanted to do it?  -and did you actually get to perform it?

[angelucci1]

Hi there,

Concerti are a hard thing to work on because most of us rarely get an opportunity to perform them.   Often students are only required to learn one movement of something for competitions, etc.

I was fortunate to have a local amateur orchestra nearby that I had subbed for in the past.  I was friends with the conductor and could make the contact that way.

Why not learn something you're interested in and program it on a recital anyway? Make the first half solo rep and the second half the concerto.  It's never the same with piano accompaniment as a full orchestra behind you, but I find that you have to make your own opportunities, rather than hope an orchestra is lying dormant nearby and ready to program your repertoire!  

[MikeThePianist]

I had the unique opportunity of performing a single movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto K. 488 with an orchestra.  It wasn't the best orchestra, but it was a professional orchestra and the conductor was amazing.  To arrange it, it took initiative, but also a lot of luck.  I wrote a letter to the orchestra explaining that I was interested in helping to organize a youth outreach program, specifically a young artist concerto competition.  I listed my repertoire just for the hell of it, and waited for a reply.  They responded and told me that such a program wouldn't be possible to organize before I left for college, but they just happened to be organizing a mentor concerto for youth in the spring.  So I had the chance to receive coachings for Kathryn Brown of the Cleveland Institute, and was able to perform in front of a large crowd at the final concert.  It was an amazing experience.  It just goes to show that all it takes is the motivation to look in odd places for the right opportunity.  Good luck in your endeavor!  :-)

[Cynthia]

You might want to check out concerto contests in your area.  Usually one of the prizes is to perform with the orchestra.   One such contest took place about 1 hour from my town and there was a list of prefered concertos.  I played Beethoven's #3 and won.  I would recomend this concerto. I love it.  The performance is in 2 weeks.  Some of the contests have divisions for college students and adults, but almost all concertos have a second piano part.  That is almost as fun as with an orchestra.  If you learn one and get your name out I am sure you will get a chance to perform.  Good luck

[veimar]

HI! You can perform a concerto with another pianist for smaller audience if you don't have an orchestra to do with. I've done it a couple of times and it's a nice experience.

[Villon]

Is it worth to try music minus one?

[Noah]

Hey
I performed the first movement of Mozart's Concerto n. 20 in d minor K.466 in my exam last year, with my teacher playing the orchestral part on a second piano; wonderful experience
This year, I played the full Beethoven Concerto n.3 in c minor Op.37 for a concerto competition. I didn't win it (a singer did...) but I will get to play it once with the orchestra anyway, and I'm really looking forward to that. My teacher told me there's nothing like it  
I think the most important thing is, you should really know the orchestral part as well as you know your part
Next year I plan to enter a few concerto competitions, but I'm still hesitating between what concerto I should work on : Shostakovich n.2, Schumann, Brahms n.1 (seems a bit big), or Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, which seems hard but not impossible... Any advice or suggestions of concertos ?

About Music minus one, I tried it with Beethoven n.3 and didn't like the tempos... so it wasnt very useful

[eddie92099]

The Rhapsody starts off fairly simply but is in actual fact much harder than most people think! Shostakovich 2 is quite lightweight - how about something like the Ravel G major if the orchestra is good. The Liszt Totentanz is a piece I am about to start work on as the orchestal parts for my school orchestra are not too difficult - although the same can't be said for the piano part!
Ed

[la_carrenio2003]

Noah:after the concerti you played Grieg , Prokofieff 1st and Rachmaninoff 1st sound the next step to me. The rhapsodie, Brahms, Schumann is like a dangerous jump and the Shostakovich 2nd must be easy for you.

[dschoenenberger]

are u talking about rhapsody in blue by gershwin, or what rhapsody do u mean? composer?

[eddie92099]

We are talking about Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
Ed

[dschoenenberger]

thank u Ed.

rach's paganini rhapsody looks simple because there are not many notes per measure. it must be played faster than it looks however

if you want to perform your very own solo version, you should buy a classic piano/orchestra transcription and mix the parts. for rach's own 2P4H transcription, you will really need two pianists. this is because the two pianos "share" melodies and rhythms

i am currently learning rach no 1 without orchestra. you can bend it to a cool solo piece combining orchestra and piano

Dominik.

[Noah]

Hey, thanks for the replies
I agree, Shostakovich is not too bad technically, though I wouldn't call it easy, the  3rd movement seems tricky; but I haven't started working on it so...
I don't like the Grieg a lot and anyway the orchestra I'm auditioning for played it 2 years ago... and you're right about the Rhapsody, the last variations are terribly hard to play at full speed
I really like the Ravel G major but it seemed  very difficult to master, both technically and musically. Did you work on it already ? Also, can you explain about the difficulty of the Schumann ? I'm not having too much trouble with the first 2 movements
I might give a try to Rachmaninov's first then
ah, so much I wanna play =)