Piano Concerto Help

[chopinrachmaninovravel]

Hello All (I am new so hello),

My head of music has asked me to learn a movement from a Piano Concerto to perform with my school orchestra in November. I haven't much time to practice as I have exams all through May/June.

There is one big limitation - the piece must be very fast and flashy. No slow movements or nice lyrical melodies (unless it is in a flashy piece). He turned down all my requests for slow (Emperor 2nd, Ravel 2nd, Shostakovich 2nd etc.) Basically he wants to look good and use me to do so.

I am only a grade 8 pianist so am not really very good, and piano concertos are really for the very best.

I had a few ideas like the Emperor 1st, Tchaikovsky 1st, Rach 2 1st, but they are all very difficult, thus I was wondering your advice. I could play a Mozart but I fear for the orchestra as they will have under a month to learn it.

I love music thus don't want to hammer out the Grieg at 100 mph unmusically.

Any advice at all would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[visitor]

spam

[liszt1022]

Strange request from a head of music...
If you want flashy single mvts, listen to a lot of last mvts. Ravel's Concerto in G 3rd mvt, Gershwin's Concerto in F 3rd mvt come to mind. Mozart 21 3rd mvt is a good one too, and easier for the pianist than those others.

[awesom_o]

I am only a grade 8 pianist so am not really very good, and piano concertos are really for the very best.

You haven't mentioned which grading system you made it to level 8 in.

If you live in Britain and thus go by the ABRSM, gr. 8 is quite different from gr. 8 in the RCM Canada system! Which do you mean?

[cabbynum]

Mozart 20 movement 1 or 3, Beethoven 3 movement 1 or 3, Beethoven 4 movement 1 or 3 all though the third movement is harder than you'd think ...
Beethoven 1 is easy, movemt 1 or 3. Mozart 9 first movement. Flashy ish and easy! Technically speaking. Musically... There's already a thread on that... So let's not being it up here

Bach d minor
Liszt totentanz, I've never played this one all the way through... BUT! What I have played of it isn't too bad. Lots if octaves.

Don't attempt rach or tchaikovsky, you'll end up frustrating yourself. Easier is better in this case. I doubt your classmates will be able to tell what's actually hard. I remember some school mates of mine were more impressed by me playing un Sospiro than la campanella, because my hands were crossing more in un Sospiro.
So keep that in mind. People are ignorant take advantage of it...

[chopinrachmaninovravel]

Thanks very much for all the suggestions.

You haven't mentioned which grading system you made it to level 8 in.

ABRSM.

Strange request from a head of music...

I know...

I could do a Mozart - they are fantastic and some of my favourite pieces of music, but I fear for the orchestra.

The idea of Beethoven 1 or 4 is good, the Ravel G minor 3rd is too short - he wants it to be over 10 minutes.

Would the whole Shostakovich 2nd be possible? I thought the Schumann A Minor but that may be too slow...

[visitor]

[pianoman1349]

I don't know if you are still looking for a concerto, but here is my take on the matter (if anyone cares)

One of the limitations of picking a concerto, in addition to the request of the music director, is the difficulty of the orchestra part.

Based on my own experiences with these types of concerts, I would avoid Ravel, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, as these concertos tend to have exposed (and difficult) orchestral parts.

Is the orchestra a string orchestra or a full symphony or something in between??  Also, I'm assuming you want to play around 8 - 15 minutes right?

If it is a string orchestra, you may want to consider playing a Bach concerto.  The first and third movements of the Bach d minor concerto are quite accessible for both the pianist and the orchestra (I recently just played a four outreach concert tour with a string orchestra, with two weeks notice to learn the concerto).  I would also recommend the Saint-Saens "Wedding Cake" ... it's light and fun (solo part is harder than the bach though)

If it is for full orchestra, I would agree with visitor and recommend the Kabalevsky Concerto no 3.  It is not that bad for an orchestra to play and also not that bad for the pianist either.  Shostakovich no 2 may also be an option, as well as the Mendelssohn g minor or d minor concertos.  Grieg (1st movement) is also really approachable for both orchestra and piano, as it repeats itself in part, and the technical difficulties are more minimal in comparison to some of the other romantic concerti.

 

[j_menz]

One of the limitations of picking a concerto, in addition to the request of the music director, is the difficulty of the orchestra part.

Certainly true (unless you're playing with a big name orchestra, of course) and often forgotten.

I'd also add that another consideration is the relationship between the piano and the orchestra in the piece. Some concerti are basically one or the other at any given point, either one solo or where the other is clearly in a supporting role.  If you haven't played much in ensembles, these are the best to pick.

Others - the Rach's, for example - have very extended sections where the relationship between the piano and the orchestra is much more complexly interwoven.  This requires both the pianist and the conductor to be highly skilled in this sort of interrelationship.  Unless you're sure this will be the case, best avoided. You can judge your own skills, but you need also to consider the conductor's.

You may think conductors would, by nature, be good at this sort of thing, but it is not always the case. They are used to being in charge, totally - not to reacting to what some upstart soloist might choose to do and treating you as an equal.   The less experienced the conductor (or the less able) the more likely this is to be a problem.

[richard black]

I second the recommendation for the Kabalevsky, it's great fun. You might also look at the Litolff Scherzo (movement from the 4th concerto) though it may be hard to find parts these days - to my surprise they aren't on IMSLP. The piece used to be incredibly popular, about a century ago.