First Piano Concerto

[joao975ca]

Hey guys!

Which is for you the best piano concerto to start with? Or which are the easiest (and the hardest)? 

[thalbergmad]

Conventional wisdom seems to direct us towards Haydn & earlyish Mozart, but judging by the repetoire you are working on, you have a lot more to choose from.

Personally, I would almost certainly start with the Stamitz F Major which is rarely heard and contemporary with Mozart, or perhaps the delightful Marlborough Variations by Vogler from the same era.

For the Romantics, I have heard Grieg and Saint Saens 2 mentioned several times here, but  Martucci 2, Sterndale Bennett 4 or Stanford 2 make interesting alternatives and excessive demands on the pianist are not present.

There are too many "hardest" topics here so, I will only say that the Schytte is a bastard.

Thal

[retrouvailles]

My first piano concerto was the Arensky Fantasia on Russian Folksongs, which I played with an orchestra later on. It was a great concerto to work on because it is short, direct, and not too technically demanding (almost like proto-Rachmaninoff). I would only suggest it if you don't want to do something Mozartian.

[nataliethepianist]

I know some have said Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 is somewhat "easy", but really only the second movement seems easier to me! I have herd a lot of people say Mozart concertos are on the easy side, like K. 414. That is all I can say, but I hoped it helped somewhat!

Good luck with your studies.

- Natalie

[invictious]

If you are set on doing a romantic concerto though, I heard the following are relatively easy, which I would also like to inquire about:

Mendelssohn - Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor
Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor

If you want to delve into 20th Century..
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto no.2
Kabalevsky - Piano Concerto. No.3 in D major (Youth Piano Concerto)

Of course, this is all hearsay..Would be nice if anyone could provide some guidance?

[joao975ca]

Thank you guys! 

Those are really good suggestions! I'll discuss them with my teacher, and find out which fits best!

[orangesodaking]

Conventional wisdom seems to direct us towards Haydn & earlyish Mozart, but judging by the repetoire you are working on, you have a lot more to choose from.

Personally, I would almost certainly start with the Stamitz F Major which is rarely heard and contemporary with Mozart, or perhaps the delightful Marlborough Variations by Vogler from the same era.

For the Romantics, I have heard Grieg and Saint Saens 2 mentioned several times here, but  Martucci 2, Sterndale Bennett 4 or Stanford 2 make interesting alternatives and excessive demands on the pianist are not present.

There are too many "hardest" topics here so, I will only say that the Schytte is a bastard.

Thal

Thalbergmad, the very sad reality is that orchestras often times want to play the very standard repertoire, because of reasons I still don't fully comprehend. Even competitions usually give a list of certain concerti you can choose from to enter.

And I personally feel that one should learn a concerto with every intention to attempt to play it with an orchestra (for students, probably by entering competitions)! Why else learn it? To perform only with a second piano? Also, later in life, people usually get orchestra opportunities not by knocking on the conductor's door and saying "I want to play THIS concerto," but by the conductor saying "Hey, so-and-so cancelled and they were supposed to perform this concerto. Do you know it?" or "Hey, we need a concerto and like your resume... What do you have?" and then they pick the one THEY want (often times being standard one), or something along those lines.

Believe me, I am all for these suggestions you chose, and I WISH GREATLY that orchestras would be more willing to play these other concerti!! And even though I'm not currently familiar with all of them, your taste is good enough for me to trust until I listen for myself.

BUT it still remains that orchestras almost always want the standards. It's a shame, because there is SO much good repertoire out there besides the standards. At least we can get away with it a whole lot more in chamber and solo playing...

That being said, for a STARTER concerto, although I personally prefer other ones, I suggest something standard. I am personally not a fan of Saint-Saens 2 (I like 4 and 5 much, much more) or Tchaikovsky's 1st.

You might like Ravel's Concerto in G.

[casioman]

What about Leroy Anderson's Piano Concerto in C major.

I haven't seen the score but it sounds easy and it's short. The recording I have of it has Stuart Goodyear as soloist with Boston Symphony Pops and whether it's intentional or not the piano  seems to be somewhat drowned by the orchestra. 

However, there are some lovely melodies and they seem to keep really simple.

Interesting to hear others' comments. I'd also love to see the score.

[jinfiesto]

The Kabalevsky Piano concerto is wonderful. There are a lot of opportunities for very colorful playing that most performers seem to miss. I recently accompanied a student playing this concerto at a competition, so I suppose it springs to mind only because I was involved with it recently. Other than that, I'd avoid the Mendelssohn and Ravel as a first concerto. The Grieg is doable, if you've played a little virtuoso solo literature.

[retrouvailles]

The Kabalevsky Piano concerto is wonderful. There are a lot of opportunities for very colorful playing that most performers seem to miss. I recently accompanied a student playing this concerto at a competition, so I suppose it springs to mind only because I was involved with it recently.

You mean the third concerto, right? The other 3 concertos that Kabalevsky wrote are quite difficult in comparison, although I like them all a bit more. The first concerto could be a great alternative first concerto. It is like slightly easier Rachmaninoff or Medtner.

[mlbbaseball]

Mendelssohn is OK. Ravel is OK for the 1st movement. Grieg is a little more difficult, especially for the 3rd movement (it is rather difficult compared to the 1st movement).
Kabalevsky is easier than those three, and Mozart is slightly more difficult.

These are all technical ratings, and they are my opinion; look at the scores and decide for yourself.