Intermediate piano concertos

[sphince]

Hello there!
I'm looking for medium difficulty concertos.I know medium doesn't say much but I am looking for something harder than haydn and easier than,let's say grieg or schumann.My technical skills are surely not the best but i am currently playing beethoven's tempest,chopin's 4th etude in Cm#
 rach's prelude in g,and 2 bach wtc's.
All suggestions acceptable but so you know i particularly like romantic concertos .

[49410enrique]

perhaps a little jazzy, but still has a romantic flair in some regards, i think the compact nature of the work makes it approachable at a less than very advancec level, still it woudl take a very tallented student lots of disciplined practice to tame. Szpilman was a sort of Polish Gershwin in some regards, i think he bridges the romantic writing of Chopin with jazz idoms nicely.

even more amazing is the fact that pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman composed this Concertino for Piano and Orchestra in the Warsaw Getto in 1940, composer is the pianist in this one

[lorditachijr]

If you've never played a concerto before, I think it's necessary to do at least one classical concerto. Most of the Mozarts would be fine (some of the later ones are very difficult) as well as most of the Beethovens. My first big concerto (after a couple of student ones) was Beethoven 2. It's not overwhelmingly difficult (the cadenza's pretty tough), but still provides a hefty challenge both technically and musically. You might want to look into that or Beethoven's 3rd. I don't think I'd ever START with Grieg or Schumann. Get a classical concerto under your belt first, then go after the big romantics.

[pytheamateur]

According to one of my technique books, in the old days,

people start with the following three concertos:

Dussek's Concerto in G Minor Op49, and
Two of the concertos by Hummel (unfortunately the author did not specify which two).

Other "easier" concertos:

Bach's concertos in F Minor and D Minor.  Hadyn's concerto in D Major.  Mendelssohn's concertos in G Minor, Op 25 and D Minor, Op 40.

[thalbergmad]

According to one of my technique books, in the old days,

people start with the following three concertos:

Dussek's Concerto in G Minor Op49, and
Two of the concertos by Hummel (unfortunately the author did not specify which two).

Indeed these were popular "advanced student" concertos in times gone by and would still be a good place to start for someone starting to learn the romantics, but I cannot help echoing the above advice to get at least one easier classical concerto under the belt before attempting any of the romantics. Even then, Hummel perhaps only had one leg in the romantic movement and Dussek was at best "proto romantic" with occasional Chopinesque configurations.

There appear to be many references to young pianists playing a concerto by Hummel but we are not always enlightened as to which one. My guess it that the works concerned were possibly the concertino or perhaps the Rondo Brillant Op.98, as some of the concertos sound like they require an advanced mechanism.

Either of the Tomasek Concertos or perhaps a Field (apart from 1 or 3) might be a good starting point and within the capability of someone who had mastered the pieces mentioned in the first post. When one enters into the realm of the early pianist/composer concertos of Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, Herz, Thalberg, Dohler, Kullak & Dreyschock, things start to get a little more muscular and with the piano almost constantly to the fore, a top notch all round technique is required.

Thal

[sphince]

Guys sorry for not responding this whole time but I kind of forgot about this post,mainly because I have already started a concerto for my licensiary,I went for beethoven's no.3 because:
a) I love it
b) It's underplayed
c) It's medium hard( amongst the classical concertos)
But yeah thank you so much for all your suggestions.
Cheers
JG

[thalbergmad]

b) It's underplayed

Are you sure about that old chap??

Thal

[sphince]

Well all beethoven's concertos are played, what I meant is that no.3 is less played than the rest.I could have still go for no.4,or no.5 but they are kind of harder than no.3 and reasonably more famous.
no.2 I'm not a big fan of and no.1 is so mozart-ish so

[moovingroovin]

Ive never played or even heard it lol, but I remember a guy at college who was only an intermediate pianist winning the concerto competition with John Ireland's concerto.

As stated before though, I dont know the piece, might be something to look into for both of us.

[sophie117]

Don't think Beethoven 3 is underplayed. Hear it at least as much as the No. 4.
Try Beethoven 2 perhaps, that piece is underplayed considering how lovely it is