Playing Piano Concerto with Vassar College Orchestra

[spencervirt]

Hey fellas. Haven't posted in a while.

So I am a freshman at Vassar College in New York and every year the Music Dept. hosts a soloists competition. A select few are chosen from those that audition to play as soloists in the Spring concert sequence. Do bear in mind- this is not a PIANO concerto competition only, but of course, that it what I will be auditioning with.

So I originally was preparing the second Movement of Ravel's Concerto in G. However, when I emailed the director of the orchestra telling him what I had been preparing, he told me absolutely not to audition with it. I don't know why he said no, but I would be wise to listen to the preferences of one of my future judges...

Anyway, I am looking at a few other options now. I have 2 months and 4 days before the audition, and for the time being, no teacher: I am currently taking Pipe Organ lessons here at Vassar instead of piano. I must do most of this on my own.

So I asked the Orchestra Director if he liked the idea of me auditioning with the first movement of Mozarts 20th Piano Concerto in D minor. He thought that it was a great idea.

However, with this short time span that I have to practice (a little over two months) I am concerned that I will be unable to master this very very precise piece of music.

The director also said that the Second Movement of Rachmaninoff's Second would do.

I also was looking at the second movement of Chopin's first concerto.

What do you all think? I feel that these slow movement works will be much easier to master with this short amount of time.

Then again, the director seemed very pleased about the Mozart.

What should I do?

Thanks.

Spencer

[49410enrique]

i'd go with the one you like best and feel you can present in it's most polished and musical form. 

as for the judge to said 'absolutely not....' mixed feelings on that bag but something to consider
-is their opinion the ONLY one? i.e. it's not as if they are the only judge....
-the conductor's opinion, are they a judge? if not, their enthusiasm for the piece is nice to know but of little practical value in the discussion for finding your best work...i.e. how many solists go about learning and performing music only after polling the conductors for orchestras they may or may not perform with?
-again is it better to present yourself at your best and true to your artistic  integrity and  expressing music to your best ability on stage or would you rather give a possible not so good to 'flat at best' attempt at a work someone else preferes to hear, judge, listen to, etc.....


just a few things to ponder. can't make the decision for your but this is the kind of sniffing around the matter I would go through.

good luck, keep us posted with what you decide and how it goes

[cadenza14224]

Like you said, the Mozart is insanely precise, which will probably lead you to be stressed over getting it to perfection. I would take the 2nd movement of Rach 2 considering your time and concern over the mozart; moderately difficult to grasp, but not completely dependent on perfect tone production that all good performances of mozart requires.

[pianokai]

Hands down to you sir if you can perform the one by Ravell. If you can do that one better than the monstrously precise Mozart then go for the Ravell. But ask the other Directors opinion first.

Playing a polished piece that everybody would love exept one judge, is techinically better than playing a piece that is halfway there that will make everyone go "huh he's not so good" and to appease one judge? you make your choice.

But again always check for the opinions first and make sure

[spencervirt]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I decided to go with the Mozart. It is falling under my fingers just fine.

I learned recently that I am the ONLY pianist auditioning this year. I was shocked. We have tons of pianists here, but I suppose most of the experienced ones are too busy preparing their Junior and Senior recitals. I am fairly sure those recitals happen at the same time as this competition.

I don't know how I feel about this. The good news is, I am under the impression that they want a piano concerto, and they have been wanting Mozart's 20th specifically.

I will let you all know how it goes. If I am chosen, Vassar will livestream the full performance in the Spring and I will be sure to post the link on this site so you can listen and critique and enjoy.

Thanks again for the input.

-Spencer