Bad mistakes when performing...

[stormx]

Hi !!!

I have read that even for top piano performers it is quite usual to hit some wrong note in very difficult and fast passages. In those cases, i imagine that everything continues as if nothing did happen, and probably the mistake was even not perceived by the vast majority of the audience. 

But what about the case where the mistake screws it so badly that going on is almost impossible? Or when the performer suffers a repentine void in his memory, and does not know how to continue? 

Did something like that ever happen to some top performers?
Is it better to apologise with a big smile and start again, or should the pianist go on AT ANY COST?

Do you have any experiences about this ?

Bye !!!
 

[m1469]

I have of course heard of a number of stories, have definitely had my own troubles (which I am not ready to mention here at this time) but have also witnessed first hand some pretty interesting things.

I once saw a man who is a seasoned performer have to restart a movement twice.  This was not just the beginning of the program but well into it, and the third time he began it.. he muttered to the audience "I don't know what is wrong..." but then it all went ahead.  Funny thing is, it was one of the most profound performances overall I have ever known, if not thee most.

Another time I was a member of an audience where a man was playing who at one point in his life had medalled  in Van Cliburn and various other competitions, had a rising international career, the whole works.  He was quite a bit older at this point that I was watching him... but anyway... in the middle of his program he got himself turned around and went back to the beginning of what he was playing on accident.  He stopped, stood up and addressed the audience... "If I do that we will be here all night!" and walked off stage to retrieve his music.  He came back out, made some jokes and then resumed to playing with the music.

I know of someone else who did something similar to this as well and had to finish the movement she was on and go off stage to retrieve her music and come back.

I have also heard of a woman (I forget who exactly, one of my teachers was telling me this) who started the Schumann concerto in the wrong place going all the way down the keyboard on the wrong notes, got to the cadence and leaned over and went ahead and threw up.  Walked off stage... I forget the rest (I got too impressed with the throw up part  )

Anyway, those are some of the things I have seen and heard about.

m1469

[sirpazhan]

Used to happen to me back in the days,, when I would practice, everything will be perfect, flawless. However in front of people I would make stupid mistakes, forget parts, stumble, etc.. it was bad.  My problem was that I would always try to over-perform myself in front of people, I would try to go faster,, I would be more daring,, and it would always back-fire.  I overcame this obstacle by training myself to relax, and pretend I was always playing alone.

As far as:

"Is it better to apologise with a big smile and start again, or should the pianist go on AT ANY COST?"   

It all depends who you are playing in front of and how big the mistake is?  A big mistake at a concet/recital:
I would just stop, and try again,, I would be a professional, I would not laugh, or smile, or joke.  In front of family/friends, I would joke and put on a smile.. it all depends. 

If I would play in front of family:
I would throw in a smart comment like (pointing a finger at a friend) "you're breathing too deeply, you're distracting me! go away!" people laugh ,, show goes on... its all in fun,, I'm never serious in front of family/friends anymore... too stressful. 

[lostinidlewonder]

I have done it once in a peformance so far. Manuel de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, not too hard to play, but I just totally went blank for some reason and couldnt play. So i stopped, took my jacket off and said, thats not how its supposed to be played, and started again. People thought it was part of the act eheh. I guess its how you take it. I have never feared making mistakes simply because i dont really care what people think of me ehhehe, so that fear doesn't instill itself into me.
When you practice for concerts you should while practicing make mistakes on purpose and try to recover. Also distract yourself, watching television or something then back to ur hands. All these things get rid of the dreaded, "forget everything and stop" mistake.

[gkatele]

I don't know if it qualifies for a "bad" mistake when performing, but...

Back in the early 70's I had a season's subcription to the Chicago Symphony (yeah, it was in the nosebleed section, but it was the CHICAGO symphony, and it only cost me $32.00 for the season - yes, the season!).

Anyhow, I remember seeing Rudolf Serkin play a Beethoven concerto (I wish I could remember which - my Alzheimer's is getting to me). There were so many missed notes, flubbed arpeggios and outright mistakes that even I, at my tender age, noticed. Serkin went on as though nothing had happened, and it was a wonderful performance. It was soft of the inverse of that great quote:

"He played all the notes and none of the music."

In this case, he played all of the music and most of the notes.




George

[aki]

I think the most important thing is to put it behind you if that ever happens to you.  You just have to think it's not a big deal, and that it happens to everyone.  Never get frustrated, because that can affect the other pieces that you have to play.

[ehpianist]

I'm not going there...

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[quasimodo]

I'm not going there...

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

Ha, ha, Elena, what's the funny story you don't want to tell us  ?

[anda]

i once saw a pianist playing mozart jeunehomme concert, and in the re-exposition she played the wrong bridge and got herself back to the exposition... unfortunatelly the orchestra played the right bridge (obviously, different modulations), and after about 16 bars of unbelievable harmonic mess, the piano remains solo. after a few seconds of complete silence, the conductor (also pianist himself) threw his score on the piano and pointed the pianist where to play. i watched the conductor for the rest of the concert - while the pianist struggled playing with the scores in front of her, he conducted from memory just as well as he did before.

and one that happened to a friend of mine (who's actually playing violin). he was to play a work in form of rondo with the refrain section developing differently each time. thing is, he was really afraid to get on stage, he was sure he was going to mess up things, so his friends thought it was the pefect timing to introduce him to the universal remedy for all fears: alcohol. he had some, felt better so, he had some more. when he got on stage he felt great, he couldn't care less about anything, so he started playing first refrain section, first development (leading to refrain section), the refrain section and... the first development! and so on, again and again! the work is about 7 min longer. he ended it (rather abruptly) after about 35 min (cause he got bored) 

[Etude]

i once saw a pianist playing mozart jeunehomme concert, and in the re-exposition she played the wrong bridge and got herself back to the exposition...

Ouch, that happened to someone in a concert I saw playing the first movement of op. 2 no. 1,  I felt really sorry for them because I thought it was such a shame that something like that happened. 

[puma]

    The majority of people I have talked to regarding mistakes say -  "just keep on going.  I have made a few bad mistakes, nothing major however.  If I have a memory lapse the tendency is to repeat the last few measures over and over until I remember the rest of the piece (which has worked like a charm a few times - not noticeable to the audience.)
    It is quite amazing that, as player, you will notice so many mistakes and flaws.  It's something I'm struggling with right now as I'm developing myself into playing performing publicly (so more often than performing just for friends or myself).  One of my teachers told me he makes mistakes every time he plays for his piano teacher - out of nervousness.  Then he has to practice a zillion times to make sure it doesn't manifest itself when playing for somebody else.  That made me feel a little bit better, a little bit normal.  Then when I played for a concert, and he was in the audience he said he hadn't noticed any mistakes, but I thought I made about ten!  Funny thing is, he's very technically-oriented as a player, and I'd figure him for noticing all sorts of stuff.
    One other thing about concerts - you play, than you go the hell HOME!  So if it's minor, the hell with it, keep playing.  Since it is not a competition or anything, most of the audience is not looking for mistakes and therefore will not notice them.  A one-time performance and, sha-bam, you're done.  This is why I find recording a pain because the listener then has the time to listen over and over again to any passage (and a mistake will surely show up).  But even the best pianists will record in sections, and not all in one session, so you could do that too. But I digress.

[Brian Healey]

I too say keep on pluggin' if you make a mistake. It actually takes some practice to learn how to deal with mistakes. Just like snowboarders and judo students learn how to fall, so must piano students. Your first reaction to a mistake in performance is a brain freeze. You get discombobulated for a moment, and combined with possible nervousness or jitters, that's sometimes all it takes for the whole thing to fall apart. Many mistakes are mental (forgetting which parts come next, etc.), so the more you perform, the more comfortable you become, and you make mistakes less or learn how to deal with them better when you do.

Although, referring to m1469's accounts, there is no shame in simply starting over, but only as a last resort. The pianists m1469 talked about seemed like they could have just kept going and most people wouldn't have been the wiser, but they obviously felt that they couldn't go on. The "do-over" is probably best left for those times when it's absolutely neccessary. Only if the piece was fubar and there was no hope of recovery would I consider stopping.

BTW, knowing how to improvise even at just an intermediate level, along with having an understanding of the piece's harmony, will help tremendously in playing around mistakes.

Peace,
Bri

[galonia]

If you can keep going, then you should just plough on.  Most people don't notice.  I am a firm believer in stopping only as a last resort.

Once in an exam, I performed a Rigaudon and Trio.  About 4 bars into the Trio, I had a massive memory lapse and could not remember the rest of the Trio.  So I improvised for a while, until I thought about enough time had passed, and moved my way to the cadence to bring myself back into the correct key, and did my DC to the Rigaudon.  There was no comment on the exam report about my lapse, and I got a very high mark!  This is despite the examiner having a copy of the music, so he must have known what happened (unless he was both blind and deaf).

My friend in her exam, somehow modulated to a wrong key in the development of her sonata, and she basically had to rewrite the development of her sonata so that she could get to the recapitulation in a sensible manner.  The examiner was flipping through the pages of the music, and in the report wrote, "I think it was mostly correct."

A lot of the time, if you stop, you are just drawing attention to the mistake.  Even if it's a big mistake (and I've been to concerts where there were some very major and obvious slips) the audience still enjoys the playing if the performance overall is musical.

[wintervind]

After making it through all the difficult spots of a piece I was performing I managed to mess up the ending, which was an easier part. I laughed out loud but continued.
When listening to the recording the mistake was barely heard but the laugh, well, it basically ruined the piece!

[anda]

of course you have to go on - if it's possible! i have heard there are persons who go totally blank if they have a lapse - i guess it's pretty difficult for them to go on.

worst thing i ever did - i mean, when was i most shameless i had an exam as student and, the night before the exam i found out my program was short one impressionist work. so i chose debussy 2nd part from images 2 (et la lune...) and sort of learned it. problem: when i went to the exam next morning i couldn't remember anything! so, my "warm-up" 1/2 hour went into "re-loading" debussy. during the exam i played really impressionistic - i had these very espressivo breaks all over the place (in which time i was trying to figure out where goes which hand and why) - and i was told later by the examiners that my performance was very moving 

[Brian Healey]

From all the stories people have told about playing exams, it would seem as if a great deal of the so-called "examiners" out there don't really have a clue.


Keep on keepin' on,
Bri

[allchopin]

I am guilty of the full-out dead stop during performance  - this was actually during an audition, which means this was the first impression the jury got of me.  I came to the middle section of the Schumann-Liszt Widmung where it modulates to E major, took out a giant eraser and drew my blank  .  It's not a good experience, and looking back, I wish I had just forged on via improvisation because the jury did not have the sheet music with them at the time (and I'm guessing didn't know the piece).  Good times...

[janice]

Whatever you do, never forget the power of a poker face!!  Whatever happens, just keep a straight face!!

[tocca]

Talking about making mistakes at stage, i came to think of Victor Borge.
There's so many wonderful ways he would make a mistake on purpose and then find a fun way to get out of it...

I remember him starting on Chopins Military Polonaise, one or two notes low or something like that. It sounded awful.
He stopped after a couple of bars looking really puzzled and then turned around and moved the pianobench and inch to the right. Then he sat down and played it correctly. 

A friend of mine, who studied for the same teacher as i long ago, once played Chopins Etude Op. 10 #3 in public. He started very nicely, but once he got to the second... faster part he ramped up the speed more and more!
After a while he just couldn't cope and missed more and more notes. It ended with him banging the Piano frantically all over, then he smashed the lid shut and run out of there.

Like Wintervind said, the mistake in itself sometimes isn't noticed as much as the reaction you make due to it. But it's easier said than done to remain calm and concentrated after a mistake!

[ehpianist]

I just remembered a minor incident back when I was 15.  I was performing the Chopin "Black Key" Etude (Op.10 No. 5) at a student concert.  I was sooooo nervous.  I started playing it and from the very first theme I somehow took a wrong turn and ended up at the Coda.  My performance lasted about 30 seconds.  I got up from the piano, bowed and nonchalantly walked of stage. There was some hesitant clapping. The audience thought it a little short but those who didn't know the piece couldn't tell anything had gone wrong.  I was so disappointed, though, I had wanted to play the whole piece!

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[anda]

I just remembered a minor incident back when I was 15.  I was performing the Chopin "Black Key" Etude (Op.10 No. 5) at a student concert.  I was sooooo nervous.  I started playing it and from the very first theme I somehow took a wrong turn and ended up at the Coda.  My performance lasted about 30 seconds.  I got up from the piano, bowed and nonchalantly walked of stage. There was some hesitant clapping. The audience thought it a little short but those who didn't know the piece couldn't tell anything had gone wrong.  I was so disappointed, though, I had wanted to play the whole piece!

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

still, better  than taking the wrong turn towards the end and finding yourself back to the begining (like my friend did- i think i posted that one earlier)

[quasimodo]

still, better  than taking the wrong turn towards the end and finding yourself back to the begining (like my friend did- i think i posted that one earlier)

I'm not so sure, I imagine Elena's disappointment, having learned a whole piece to performance level, moreover a Chopin's Etude at her age, and just shunting it to a 30 seconds "warm-up", and having no other solution but leaving the stage... That is a frustration.

At least your friend had a real performance, even extended  ... I've just read the story and I'm laughing MAO  . I've had experiences of playing music (not piano) when more or less drunk, more exactly euphoric, and I can tell it can be absolutely awful.

[Goldberg]

There's a story about Artur Rubinstein playing the Chopin E minor concerto, a piece that he'd performed constantly since the age of 17 or 18. Anyway, at this time he was at some time in his middle life and in the first movement, he shocked the audience by literally pausing in a solo part because he forgot the music; he "flubbed around" for two or three minutes (the conductor and orchestra was clever enough to help him cover the mistake up, I believe) and then, when he finally found the cue, came back in perfectly and performed the rest of the concerto flawlessly, and to a standing ovation. However, he felt so bad about it that at the ultimate end of the concert, he had the orchestra rearrange itself and they performed the first movement again after Rubinstein apologised deeply to the audience.

There is also a story of him playing the wrong Hungarian Rhapsody because moments before he exitted the backstage area to go play, his children were humming A Hungarian Rhapsody but not THE Hungarian Rhapsody--so, yeah, he played whichever one they were humming and the audience spent a good amount of time checking their programs and wondering why he'd made the change, heh. After he finished, he suddenly realised the mistake and warmly apologised, then played the proper Rhapsody.

As for me...well, I've made too many performance mistakes to count. Usually I just try to take the opportunity and improvise my way back in, but that goes poorly if I'm playing Mozart because, well, I think that speaks for itself...so, yeah, when doing something that I don't particularly know well or that's in the Classical era, the improv technique doesn't work and I end up repeating an awkward section or something of the sort. If it got to the point where I could no longer play, I'd take out the music if it were handy and then formally address the audience about the issue, apologising and maybe even trying to appear charismatic by asking them if they wish me to continue (heh, my typical audience could probably swing anyway indifferently...)

[dreamaurora]

My teacher told me the story of a famous pianist that had Chopin Sonata no 3 as one of his speciality. Anyway, at one concert, he had a massive memory blank performing that sonata. He gave up his piano career because he was so depressed by it. Anyone know his name?

[Etude]

In one of my pieces in grade 4, there was a key change from A major to A minor that I never noticed and I played the entire section in A major instead of A minor.  I only found out when I got my comment sheet back from the examiner.   

[ehpianist]

still, better than taking the wrong turn towards the end and finding yourself back to the begining (like my friend did- i think i posted that one earlier)

Yes, that was pretty funny!

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[Hmoll]

I remember someone performing the Bach Toccata & Fugue in E minor. She forgot to play the fugue.

I also remember someone else performing the Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue at his senior recital. The lights went out in the recital hall, and it was pitch black. He continued to play the piece all the way to the end without missing a beat.

[anda]

I also remember someone else performing the Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue at his senior recital. The lights went out in the recital hall, and it was pitch black. He continued to play the piece all the way to the end without missing a beat.

same thing happened to my first piano teacher - she was such a wonderful pianist! she kept going on while someone lit a big candle and put it on the piano. i don't remember what she was playing (cause that was so long ago), but i remember i was so impressed that i kept considering her some kind of god for a long time.

[whynot]

I gotta weigh in here, this is such a great topic.  I agree with keeping going, playing SOMETHING.  My habit is to play something every day without stopping, usually after really working it, but I sometimes start with the run-through, like a pop quiz.  Even if it's not memorized, I close the book and play at performance tempo (as nearly as possible).  I keep going no matter what...  missed turning points/ modulations? long run started on wrong finger?  totally forgot 2nd page and have to elegantly jump to 3rd?  I keep playing and just deal with whatever happens.  It's great training for problem-solving, and it strengthens those jumpy nerves in the stomach, because it's stressful to do this even when you're all alone.  I do the same thing in teaching, "Keep going, keep going, play your way out of it."  Also, the first thing I memorize in every piece is the chord progression for the entire movement.  That's a solid back-up that'll be there for you later.  If I'm in trouble, I have to stay aware of my larger goals.  People are lonely, many listeners feel dried up and cold inside, and they come to a concert hoping to feel something different.  It might be my worst rendition of a piece, but it could still speak to someone.  Audience perception is an astonishing thing, as we have all witnessed.  Who knows what they're really hearing, they're having their own experience with elements we don't even know about.       

[Brian Healey]

Very wise words, my man.

Knowing how to play through mistakes is very important. Usually when you're practicing something and you screw up, the first reaction is to stop and redo it, but if you don't practice the "playing it through, no matter what" technique, you'll have no safety net once you get to the concert hall.


Peace,
Bri

[jason2711]

There is a recording by Richter of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition - live recording (Sofia, 1958 i think).  He makes a very obvious mistake in the middle of the first promenade, then goes on to perform one of the greatest recorded perfomances of that work.

While playing the same piece in public, myself (although be it not quite so well ) i was supposed to play the first two movements (up to the end of the old castle).  However, when playing it from memory, i got confused on the second promenade, started it again, got confused again.  Stood up, bowed, left.  When I was talking to the piano teachers who i had played in front of they thought i had forgotten about time limits and only remembered when i was playing!!

[scrabble]

There's a story about Artur Rubinstein playing the Chopin E minor concerto, a piece that he'd performed constantly since the age of 17 or 18. Anyway, at this time he was at some time in his middle life and in the first movement, he shocked the audience by literally pausing in a solo part because he forgot the music; he "flubbed around" for two or three minutes (the conductor and orchestra was clever enough to help him cover the mistake up, I believe) and then, when he finally found the cue, came back in perfectly and performed the rest of the concerto flawlessly, and to a standing ovation. However, he felt so bad about it that at the ultimate end of the concert, he had the orchestra rearrange itself and they performed the first movement again after Rubinstein apologised deeply to the audience.

There is also a story of him playing the wrong Hungarian Rhapsody because moments before he exitted the backstage area to go play, his children were humming A Hungarian Rhapsody but not THE Hungarian Rhapsody--so, yeah, he played whichever one they were humming and the audience spent a good amount of time checking their programs and wondering why he'd made the change, heh. After he finished, he suddenly realised the mistake and warmly apologised, then played the proper Rhapsody.

I have read another story about Rubenstein, in which he was performing Islamy. He forgot what he was doing in the middle and ended up improvising in the style for perhaps seven minutes or so, before finding his way back. 

[anda]

There is a recording by Richter of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition - live recording (Sofia, 1958 i think).  He makes a very obvious mistake in the middle of the first promenade, then goes on to perform one of the greatest recorded perfomances of that work.

i had problems with the 1st promenade too, when i 1st played this work in public - somewhere towards the end i missed one note, got confused and played some chords (different from the ones i should have ) and finally found my way.

but what i regret most about that performance isn't that mistake, it's that overall it wasn't more than a decent performance 

[gyzzzmo]

Hi,

I have even a better joke!
While I was performing for a small group, i got a small epileptic attaque (absence)!!
After some seconds i discovered something really went wrong   (you dont realise you have had an attaque).
So i just started on an earlier phrase, from where i knew it DID go well.

Isnt this a funny experience?

Gyzzzmo

[musicsdarkangel]

2 words

Van Cliburn

My teacher saw him mess up at the beginning of a piece, and he just went on to the next.

[sharon_f]

Years and years ago, I was playing a recital at my musical school. In the second half of the program I played a group of Chopin Waltzes, after which I was to play the Liszt Funerailles.

My teacher had recommended I take a little break between the Chopin and the Liszt, so I did.

I went off stage for a about a minute. Had a sip of water. Shook out my hands and shoulders. Did a couple of neck rolls. My teacher who had scooted backstage for a second, complimented me on one of the waltzes, which had gone particularly well. Anyhow, after that I went back out on stage and after bowing to the audience, I sat back down at the piano and started to play (for reasons that surpass all understanding).... the first of the Chopin Waltzes again.

I immediately realized I was repeating the piece, played to the end of the phrase and turned to the audience and with a very big smile, even though I know I was flushed red with embarrasment, I said, "I'm sorry. I seemd to have played that piece already. I was just so happy with the way it went, I guess I wanted to play it again. But I think it's now time for Mr. Liszt."

Of course the audience laughed, a couple people applauded. And I felt my embarrasment drift away. I was much more relaxed and ended up playing the Funerailles better than I had ever played it before.

[ehpianist]

Then there's the famous story of violinist Fritz Kreisler and Rachmaninoff playing together.  Kreisler got lost in the middle of a piece.  Unable to find his place he turned to Rachmaninoff and casually whispered "Where are we?"  to which Rachmaninoff whispered back "Carnegie Hall!"

Not sure if it is a joke or a true story, but I like it nonetheless.

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[brsmpianist]

There's a story about Artur Rubinstein playing the Chopin E minor concerto, a piece that he'd performed constantly since the age of 17 or 18. Anyway, at this time he was at some time in his middle life and in the first movement, he shocked the audience by literally pausing in a solo part because he forgot the music; he "flubbed around" for two or three minutes (the conductor and orchestra was clever enough to help him cover the mistake up, I believe) and then, when he finally found the cue, came back in perfectly and performed the rest of the concerto flawlessly, and to a standing ovation. However, he felt so bad about it that at the ultimate end of the concert, he had the orchestra rearrange itself and they performed the first movement again after Rubinstein apologised deeply to the audience.

My teacher told me that she once heard a recording of Debussy's 'Ondine' by Rubinstein and some other pianist... the other pianist played it note-metronomically perfect, while Rubinstein started the piece in the wrong octave, improvised on someplaces, etc... and the Rubinstein recording was far more magical.  I guess the important thing is to play "music"... regardless of the mistakes you make during a performance?

[twinkly217]

PLENTY of experience with this, as I had performance anxiety in college, yet managed always to play my pieces and recitals all the way through, NO MATTER WHAT. One learns to fake well.

I once played a Brahms Intermezzo and got just WAY off on a descending passage. I found myself in some other key--Z minus --but I recovered neatly, without stopping (tho it was pretty funny on taped playback). Once as a teenager I did have to just quit; it was the first time I learned what "muscle memory" was. The trick is to learn starting points thruout the music, so that if you get into a bind you can easily flash forward to someplace--anyplace--else. I've practically rewritten sections of a piece, piecing bits together like a patchwork quilt, because I was working around a memory lapse or a momentary keyboard wigout... it works. And nothing beats poise; people used to marvel that despite the extent of my performance anxiety (it was bad), I always seemed so relaxed. I'll keep a straight face thru absolutely anything; you don't want to draw attention to something that would otherwise go unnoticed. My college prof was a great player, but he used to make noises on the stage when he was unhappy with something he'd played. Totally took the listener out of the moment.

There is not usually a need to stop altogether when you know how to recover well (and as others have said, you absolutely can practice this)... unless you're puking off the side of the piano bench, that is...

[rachmaninoff_969]

I have a remotely funny story.  I thought it would be fun in my first year of university to concertize the Bach 2 and 3 part inventions.  So I did.  Of course, overly confident due to the repertoire, I did not practice as much as I should have (stupid me).  As you all know, you can't improvise on Bach under pressure...if at all!  Anyway, after playing the first 29 inventions quite well, I finished with the 2 part in c major, and ended up playing a half-step too high in the middle section.  Instead of going on pretending nothing happened, when I returned to C major I muttered "sorry!".  My teacher was so annoyed that she now makes me play her my entire recital program with my eyes closed at each lesson, several weeks before the performance.  Needless to say, I think I learned alot from Mr. Bach! 

[Bassman]

I know the feeling all to well.  I worry so much about making mistakes during a performance that it is quite common for me to get SICK at my Stomach before a performance.

I find it very settling to study my music very hard just before the performance.  About a week in advance, find about 4 or 5 really good starting points in the piece and know them so well that you can sit down and start playing from there at any time.  This way when I do mess up, I can quickly grab a  nearby starting place and go from there, and hopefully no one, or very few will notice.

-Good Luck and Best Wishes

[gerry]

This topic remided me of a  Los Angeles Symphony performance in 1974 of a Xenakis concerto. I don't remember the young pianist's name (I remember he had an afro - this was the 70s!) The piece was a real "arms & elbows" work - one in which there was absolutely no way one could detect a mistake. The pianist started off with a fomidable stack of single pages and proceded to toss each completed page onto the floor to the right of the piano with gusto while continuing (my apologies to any Xenakis fans out there) to manifest Xenakis' incomprehensible mathematical equations on the keyboard. About 3/4 of the way through the piece, the pianist, apparently caught up in the moment, grabbed too many pages and threw a large wad of them off the piano. As far as I was concerned he could have improvised from that point on and no one would have been the wiser - but he actually reached down and tried to recover the pages and put them back so he could continue properly - while Mehta forged on either oblivious to what was happening or not wanting to belive it. It was not an attactive scene as the pianist used one hand to try to hold the music on the stand attempting to find his place while continuing to bang away with the other hand. The audience, already quite alienated at this point by the genre, began to quietly hiss and boo. The team of Mehta and this pianist somehow made it to the end and received an appropriate response from the audience. To this day, I'm not enterly sure that this music mishap wasn't intentional and part of the drama. Knowing what little I do about Xenakis, he doesn't strike me as a jokester (like Cage, etc.). Mistakes take all forms.

[hodi]

i was performing infront of my school (about 800 students)
a month ago
and they started clapping their hands while i was performing!
it totally confused me and i forgot the notes so i stopped playing and shouted them " I NEED TO CONCERTRATE!"
so i replayed the piece very good.. then i started another piece but the clapping didn't disturb me i played it preety good.

[shasta]

I was accompanying a tenor for one of his jury performances.  It was gorgeous D'Indy barcarolle-esque piece that he sang absolutely magnificantly.  He softly sang his last note for me to take over on piano, and for whatever reason, I completely BOTCHED the last beautiful chords to close out the piece.  BOTCHED.  Not even close.  The jury completely cringed and one of them actually said "Ouch."  What a horrible last memory for the jury to have of us.  My tenor whipped around and just glared at me for ruining his performance.  Ugggh. 

The next day he informed me he had arranged for a new accompanist.  Ouch, indeed!

[anda]

This topic remided me of a  Los Angeles Symphony performance in 1974 of a Xenakis concerto. I don't remember the young pianist's name (I remember he had an afro - this was the 70s!) The piece was a real "arms & elbows" work - one in which there was absolutely no way one could detect a mistake. The pianist started off with a fomidable stack of single pages and proceded to toss each completed page onto the floor to the right of the piano with gusto while continuing (my apologies to any Xenakis fans out there) to manifest Xenakis' incomprehensible mathematical equations on the keyboard. About 3/4 of the way through the piece, the pianist, apparently caught up in the moment, grabbed too many pages and threw a large wad of them off the piano. As far as I was concerned he could have improvised from that point on and no one would have been the wiser - but he actually reached down and tried to recover the pages and put them back so he could continue properly - while Mehta forged on either oblivious to what was happening or not wanting to belive it. It was not an attactive scene as the pianist used one hand to try to hold the music on the stand attempting to find his place while continuing to bang away with the other hand. The audience, already quite alienated at this point by the genre, began to quietly hiss and boo. The team of Mehta and this pianist somehow made it to the end and received an appropriate response from the audience. To this day, I'm not enterly sure that this music mishap wasn't intentional and part of the drama. Knowing what little I do about Xenakis, he doesn't strike me as a jokester (like Cage, etc.). Mistakes take all forms.

xenakis' music is quite interesting - esp if you know the mathematical basis for the particular work you're listening. i think his works would gain a lot if he published this in the concert programme. (i'm not "a huge fan", but i enjoy this kind of inter-dimensional structures).

anyway, i completely agree with you - had the pianist improvised anything at all and not try to reach for the pages, nobody would have noticed

[anda]

i was performing infront of my school (about 800 students)
a month ago
and they started clapping their hands while i was performing!

i witnessed something similar about 2 weeks ago - a pianist played a skrjabin poeme as an encore after his concert. the poeme had a lento introduction (apparently a rather long one, according to audience's taste), and the public started clapping after this introduction. he showed no reaction to this, simply went on attaca the second section (in a sort of prestissimo furioso - hmmm, come to think of it, maybe he did react to the clapping )

[anda]

and about myself queen of huge stoopid unexplainable mistakes

a very recent one (this month): 4-hands recital, brahms - ungarische tanz no 5 (quite a hit, right). i would have thought i wouldn't need the score by now! instead, i completely messed up the last bar (!) and ended with a fff cis moll (instead of fis, and while my partener correctly played fis, obviously). you can imagine how that sounded. and, as if that wasn't enough, i saw my left hand (that has its own conscience, i suspect) flying and striking a fis moll - like mocking me "see, this is what you should have played, hahaha".

my partener is still in shock. 

[hodi]

IMO this is the best thread lately .. i'm sitting here reading about so funny mistakes i can't stop laughing..