Beethoven Piano concerto no. 3

[le_poete_mourant]

Hello piano forum,

I am currently in the semi-finals of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. This stage of the competition is entirely public vote and I need to get in the top 4 to make the finals. I would really appreciate any votes and time you can give. You can vote once a day now through April 30. Thanks!

www.pittsburghsymphony.org/competition
My name is Benjamin Hopkins and I am playing Beethoven piano Concerto no 3

[richard_strauss]

Very nice playing and of course I'll be voting for you!! 

[49410enrique]

very nice. you get my vote. 

[birba]

Excellent playing!  But how unnerving to play without even a piano accompaniment!  Wierd.
Oh, you got my vote, as well.

[sueyin]

How do I vote for you?  And every one said nice playing but I dont' see you play.  Is there something I'm not getting?

Modify:  OK.  I see you now.  Sorry.  I voted for you.  How do you play a concerto without an orchestra?  Not even another pianist to accompany you or a CD of orchestra?  So strange.

[emill]

Hello Benjamin!

You have my vote and may I just say that you play this concerto in a more gentle and poetic manner .... in a more mature manner than when my son, Enzo played this about 2 years ago, though he was 14 then. I really enjoyed it while filling the "gaps" of the orchestra in my mind.

May we wish you much success.....

emill

[le_poete_mourant]

Thanks everyone! It was strange to play without the accompaniment, but for the sake of the competition they requested it that way. I just had to play it all in my head the whole time...

Here is a more direct link:
[ Invalid YouTube link ]

[elenka]

Hello which level is Beethoven this Beethoven piano concerto?

[thesixthsensemusic]

Hello which level is Beethoven this Beethoven piano concerto?

Just download the piano score with orchestral cues and play it through?

[p2u_]

Hello which level is Beethoven this Beethoven piano concerto?

Just download the piano score with orchestral cues and play it through?

That alone may not be enough to determine the real level. I'd say that Beethoven's concerti require solid grounding in his sonatas. Without this, we can safely rank this concerto as "impossible". "Levels" from 1-10 are virtually meaningless.

@ dying_poet:

Really good playing!

Paul

[elenka]

Also Rach 3 is impossible but I thinik that Beethoven's ones are easier, I don't think that impossible is the right answer!
Grade 10 or over?

[p2u_]

Also Rach 3 is impossible

Not necessarily true. If you're ready for it (= grounded in most of his works for piano solo), it's not even that "difficult". Only people who think they can afford to take shortcuts to this concerto will complain.

but I thinik that Beethoven's ones are easier, I don't think that impossible is the right answer!
Grade 10 or over?

Since you seem to prefer a formal reply over a good one: level 8+, but I told you already that such gradings are meaningless. None of Beethoven's concertos are particularly "difficult", but for a satisfactory performance there are certain requirements (see my previous post). I know people who can play Liszt's piano concertos (formally much more "difficult"), for example, but are unable to do justice to this particular concerto.

Paul

[le_poete_mourant]

Also Rach 3 is impossible but I thinik that Beethoven's ones are easier, I don't think that impossible is the right answer!
Grade 10 or over?

Rach 3 certainly isn't impossible, or else people wouldn't play it so much.  There are other main-stream concertos that are just as hard or perhaps harder (Bartok 2, Prokofiev 2?), and then there are the ones that are not often played.  Also I believe Paul was trying to say that playing a Beethoven concerto is impossible, or certainly ill-advised, if you haven't played a certain amount of his sonata literature.

Thanks Paul, for your comments!

[pianist1976]

Hello which level is Beethoven this Beethoven piano concerto?

If you can play, as I see on your signature, "Lex Adieux", Chopin's Op 10 no. 12 and a few DWTK preludes and fugues, you can play for sure Beethoven's 3rd concerto. Sorry for not talking on grades on my reply but I personally don't believe on them as far as every person/pupil has different capabilities, backgrounds, etc. I listened a few weeks ago a 13 years old child playing in a very good way Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody. By his age, he must be on 5th or 6th grade, while that piece must be probably on grade 20+. That's the proof about grades are not representative of anything. I don't believe on standardization of piano teaching. Grades can be used as a reference but the real world is just another thing. I think Beethoven concerti can be played quite soon by talented, hard-working and well guided by a good teacher pupils. On low talented pupils and/or lazy ones, these concerti are virtually unreachable. Everything is relative. Just my two cents, as always.

BTW. cannot listen to the OP's recording. How was the competition? I hope it was very well

[le_poete_mourant]

BTW. cannot listen to the OP's recording. How was the competition? I hope it was very well

Thanks for pointing that out... they took the videos off of their site after the competition, which, sadly, was somewhat of a joke.  After weeks of voting and about 20,000 votes cast, they brought us four finalists out to Pittsburgh for a live audition, and then proceeded to not pick a winner. All of us were told that we did not have the right "stage presence," and one of the judges actually told me that I needed to "act" more while I play. It was as much of a scandal as you get in classical music these days, I guess. It's worth pointing out that when they started the contest, they said they wanted to discover someone without management, who they wouldn't otherwise have a chance to find -- it sounded like they wanted to help somebody launch a career.  But when it came down to it, the judges said they were looking for someone who was ready to launch a major international career -- basically somebody who would make the PSO look good.  Keep in mind, all four of us finalists were students in our early 20s and we were all really stoked about this chance.  I hope this paragraph doesn't make it sound like I'm bitter. I was, for a while, but at this point I've moved on, to be truly honest, and I'm not in a big hurry to get back to Pittsburgh.   

If you want to see the original video, here's the direct link to youtube:

Keep in mind, this was a year ago and it's developed since then. I'm playing it with an orchestra in California this fall, and hopefully I will be able to put video up from that concert.