I've just come home from a weekend playing piano and celeste in Shostakovich 5 with a very good amateur orchestra, and I had a brilliant time. Now all I need to do is persuade the committee to programme other pieces with good orchestral piano parts. Have any of you played piano in a symphony orchestra, and do you have any favourite piano parts?
Hi there:
I hold the orchestral piano fellowship with a music festival in Colorado, so needless to say, I think it is a wonderfully good time! Shosty 5 was one of the first parts that I played, which was very fun, but slightly tricky to get used to, given the fact that the basses were doubling me from across the stage. Hard not to go out to lunch during those A's at the end of the finale!
I think two of the coolest parts I've played were Messiaen's "Couleurs de la Cité Céleste" (pf) and Schnittke's first Concerto Grosso (prepared pf, harpsichord). I'm looking forward to find out what is programmed in Aspen this next summer!
I'm not sure about convincing the committee for programming choices, but perhaps you could just make yourself aware of what repertoire has piano parts? The standard reference is David Daniels' "Orchestral Music."
In the mean time, I'm here to share experiences and ask/answer questions :-)
Cheers,
Mike