forming a recital program

[liszmaninopin]

I am thinking about learning some repertoire, and preparing a recital out of it.  For anybody who may have some experience in this regard, I have a couple questions.  First, can you approach the manager/owner of a concert hall and request time to perform in, or must one be invited, or must one pay, how do the arrangements work?  Secondly, what is an appropriate length for a recital?

Finally, here is the repertoire I am thinking of including in it (mostly contemporary, but with some older material).

Barrett's "Tract" about 25 minutes
Scarlatti Sonata 141
Beethoven op. 111 Sonata
Violette Chaconne from Piano Sonata 7 (about 20 minutes)
Ligeti Etudes bk. 1 complete (about 19 minutes)
Rachmaninoff etude op. 39 #8, prelude op. 32 #10
Finnissy Solo Piano Concerto #4 (about 17-18 minutes)

Do you have any comments about this program?  Any suggested additions, cuts, or changes in order will be very appreciated.  I am worried that this particular program may be too heavy and taxing overall-both on me and the audience.

[Brian Healey]

I won't comment on the repertoire, but think I can offer a little insight into some the details. An acceptable length for a recital depends on its purpose. If it's a free concert, you can pretty much do whatever you want, though I would say to plan on at least an hour's worth of music. If it's ticketed, it changes things a little, but not much (depending on how much the tickets cost). For a ticketed event, I would plan on at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours, with a ten minute intermission. Overall, I'd say the bare minimum is at least an hour, that way it's worthwhile for people to make the effort to see it. Anything under 1 1/2 hours, and an intermission isn't neccessary, if it's over, you probably should take one. If not for the audience, then for you to take a breather.

A good way to find a concert hall is to contact your local university. A music school at a university will always have a recital hall, and if you contact the facilities manager (or whoever is in charge of the hall), they almost always will let you reserve the place for a recital, that is if you are volunteering. You'll be out of luck if you're expecting any kind of performance fee, but if you offer to play a concert for free, then you'll almost always get a yes. All you have to do is just find a date when the hall is not in use for school purposes. Then for promotion, just post fliers around the music school (and around town and to your friends and family). Also, contact some of the teachers at the school and let them know about your concert. Most schools have a concert attendance policy where each student has to attend a certain number of school concerts per semester. So if you let the teachers know about the concert, they usually will pass that information on to their students ("there's a concert tonight, if anyone's interested, blah blah blah"). Hope that helps.

[liszmaninopin]

Hey, thanks for the imput!

[julie391]

I am thinking about learning some repertoire, and preparing a recital out of it.  For anybody who may have some experience in this regard, I have a couple questions.  First, can you approach the manager/owner of a concert hall and request time to perform in, or must one be invited, or must one pay, how do the arrangements work?  Secondly, what is an appropriate length for a recital?

Finally, here is the repertoire I am thinking of including in it (mostly contemporary, but with some older material).

Barrett's "Tract" about 25 minutes
Scarlatti Sonata 141
Beethoven op. 111 Sonata
Violette Chaconne from Piano Sonata 7 (about 20 minutes)
Ligeti Etudes bk. 1 complete (about 19 minutes)
Rachmaninoff etude op. 39 #8, prelude op. 32 #10
Finnissy Solo Piano Concerto #4 (about 17-18 minutes)

Do you have any comments about this program?  Any suggested additions, cuts, or changes in order will be very appreciated.  I am worried that this particular program may be too heavy and taxing overall-both on me and the audience.

ARE YOU INSANE?

this sounds like a hamelin program x10

sorry, but this seems too insane to be true

[donjuan]

I have to agree with Julie on this one.  I think both you as the performer will be exhausted as the audience will be too.  It's crazy to perform so so so so many long pieces.  Usually you should have a selection of shorter works and one or two works over 15 minutes.  any more, and people get restless...

especially in works they dont know.. Maybe it would be better to spread out Finessy, Barrett, Ligeti, and Violette works over a couple concerts to introduce the audience to new things slowly.  If there is too much, it may go in one ear and out the other.

Just think about it...and think about your stress level during the concert you have set up.  You dont want to be having brain spasms now..

donjuan

[julie391]

i agree

but i was actually being sceptical of liszmaninopin's truthfulness, this is just hard to believe

[liszmaninopin]

You all do have a point, I noted in my first post that I feared it would be too heavy, and I agree with you all now that it probably is.  I really want to keep the Finnissy, though.  I like donjuan's idea of splitting it up, too.  That will certainly make learning the stuff easier, and the recitals less tiring.  Perhaps I'll think of some new arrangements.

Note, Julie, I didn't say that I actually play all these pieces yet.  I still need to learn the Finnissy, the Barrett, and the Violette.  Well, I have started practicingg these pieces for the future, and asked for program suggestions as to how to arrange them when I do finish them.

[julie391]

  lol,  still this is uite unbelievable stuff

attacking so many pieces of EXTREME difficulty makes me extremely sceptical of the quality of your playing, sorry

[faulty_damper]

THe thing I noticed about the proposed program is that there is not much contrast in terms of the length of these pieces.  With many of the proposed pieces being 20+ minutes in length you are diving from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantique, then into Indian, then into.... with no sea or pond anywhere insight.  Considering the repetory considered, it's far too dense.  You should add some light contrast maybe with a relatively simple but musically developed piece like Schubert's Musical Moments No3, Alkan's Saltarelle, Gottschalk's Bamboula, etc as it still keeps with the musical theme of the considered repetory.

About the concert hall, many concert halls are open for use for a fee.  You can call the hall and request information about booking a reservation for its use.  But don't expect to book Carnegie Hall as prices can be very steep.  I will agree with Brian Healey that the least expensive and perhaps even a free way to go about it is to contact a university or conservatory.

[liszmaninopin]

Thanks, Faulty.

Here is a modified program that I think will be much lighter.

Beethoven op. 111 (I really love this piece, must get it in)
Scarlatti 141 (Same here)
A selection of Rachmaninoff preludes (op. 23 #4,6,7, op. 32 #5,10)
Bach P&F #6 from bk. 1

Intermission

Debussy Ballade
Chopin Ballade #4
Ligeti etudes, bk. 1

Would you consider this program more balanced?

About the concert hall, many concert halls are open for use for a fee.  You can call the hall and request information about booking a reservation for its use.  But don't expect to book Carnegie Hall as prices can be very steep.  I will agree with Brian Healey that the least expensive and perhaps even a free way to go about it is to contact a university or conservatory.

I certainly wasn't thinking Carnegie!  Perhaps just a local university first, and then perhaps a few state universities in the area.  I'll send out a couple emails and see what they have to say.

[donjuan]

Thanks, Faulty.

Here is a modified program that I think will be much lighter.

Beethoven op. 111 (I really love this piece, must get it in)
Scarlatti 141 (Same here)
A selection of Rachmaninoff preludes (op. 23 #4,6,7, op. 32 #5,10)
Bach P&F #6 from bk. 1

Intermission

Debussy Ballade
Chopin Ballade #4
Ligeti etudes, bk. 1

Would you consider this program more balanced?

MUCH better!  I would most certainly attend!
 
donjuan

[julie391]

i would too, dont get me wrong