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Topic: Advice on informal recital programme of popular classical piano music  (Read 1552 times)

Offline pytheamateur

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I am thinking of holding a small recital in a few months' time for some non-pianist friends.  The idea is to introduce them to some classical piano music that is not too difficult to play and has some sort of instant appeal at the same time.

Here is my very first idea for the programme:

1. Mozart: Sonata in A Major, K 331
2. Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défuncte
3. Debussy: Claire de Lune
4. Beethoven: Sonata in C sharp Minor, Op 27 No 2 ("Moonlight")

Interval

5. Chopin: Waltzes, D flat Major, Op 64 No 1 & C sharp Minor, Op 64 No 2
6. Chopin: Fantasie Impromptu
7. Chopin: 3 Nocturnes - E flat Major, Op 9 No 1; D flat Major, Op 27, No 2 & C sharp Minor, Op Post   
8. Puccini-Mikhashoff, O mio babbino caro
9. Bellini-Mikhashoff, Casta Diva

I am worried the programme might not be varied enough, for example there are many pieces in D flat major and c sharp minor.  Also, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to play many lyrical slow pieces in a row.

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome.  They can be general, or about rearranging the order of pieces to make the programme more effective, or it can be about taking off particular pieces or replacing them with other ones.

Here are a few other pieces that I can perform or relearn relatively quickly:

Chopin: Nocturnes - B flat Minor, Op 9 No 1 & C sharp Minor, Op 27 No 1
Chopin: Berceuse Op 57
Chopin: Etude in E Major, Op 10 No 3
Debussy: Arabesque No 1
Liszt: Liebestraum, No 3
Rachmaninoff: Elegie, Op 3 No 1
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C sharp Minor, Op 3 No 2; Prelude in D Major, Op 23 No 4

Thank you very much!
Beethoven - Sonata in C sharp minor, Op 27 No 12
Chopin - Fantasie Impromptu, Nocturn in C sharp minor, Op post
Brahms - Op 118, Nos 2 & 3