Curtis / Juilliard / Cleveland etc. Audition repertoire suggestions?

[soultrap]

Hello,

I'm planning on auditioning for four music schools in 2020. That leaves me with about one whole year of preparation.
The school's requirements can be narrowed down to six pieces:
1. Bach, excluding two-part inventions (Basically, any work with a fugue)*
2. Classical sonata - Haydn, Beethoven (no Op.49) and Mozart (No K.545)*
3. One fast work by Chopin (Mazurka / Etude)
4. One slow work by Chopin (I'm thinking Nocturne)*
5. One Choice - Major work (Min. 10 min)
6. Work from 20th/21st century

The ones marked with a * are ones I'm not certain with. I would like some suggestions on what I can play in those categories, hopefully something not too well known.

For the others, I have ideas. I'm thinking of playing either Chopin's op.10/5, op.10/10 or even op.10/8 for the fast work, Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses for Major work, and a Shostakovich Prelude and fugue for 20/21 century.
Any ideas will be appreciated.

[pianoville]

Are there any time restrictions? If there are I would go for any of the pieces from the well tempered clavier. If not, I think the Chromatic fantasy and fugue would a great audition piece. For the classical sonata you can literally choose anything. If I were you I'd probably go for something that I had already learned. Almost all sonatas by Beethoven take a very long time to master, and don't even get me started on Mozart! As for the Chopin, I think almost every Nocturne would work, but I would also consider the Berceuse, which is a really pretty piece. Good luck!

[soultrap]

Are there any time restrictions? If there are I would go for any of the pieces from the well tempered clavier. If not, I think the Chromatic fantasy and fugue would a great audition piece. For the classical sonata you can literally choose anything. If I were you I'd probably go for something that I had already learned. Almost all sonatas by Beethoven take a very long time to master, and don't even get me started on Mozart! As for the Chopin, I think almost every Nocturne would work, but I would also consider the Berceuse, which is a really pretty piece. Good luck!

Thank you for your feedback!

[virtuoso80]

For the Sonata, if you're not familiar with Beethoven Op. 2, No. 3, take a listen. It's not god-awful difficulty (although not easy of course), and it's a really fun piece.

For the fast Chopin, I would use whichever fast Etude you can play the best.

For the long major work, have you ever tried the solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue? Again, it doesn't go into insane difficulty levels, but it's still substantial, and over 10min.

[soultrap]

For the Sonata, if you're not familiar with Beethoven Op. 2, No. 3, take a listen. It's not god-awful difficulty (although not easy of course), and it's a really fun piece.

For the fast Chopin, I would use whichever fast Etude you can play the best.

For the long major work, have you ever tried the solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue? Again, it doesn't go into insane difficulty levels, but it's still substantial, and over 10min.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm quite familiar with Op. 2 No. 3, but I think it might be too "overplayed" a piece to be successful in an audition. Of course, overplayed is relative but I hope you understand what I mean.

I haven't tried the rhapsody in blue - I'll definitely check it out.

[_piano_angel]

Just choose the pieces you can play the best. It's also good to have a mixture of well known pieces to show that you aren't avoiding to be compared with other participants and more ,,exotic'' pieces in order to not bore the audience with pieces a lot of people play. Also with the Chopin etude make sure to choose one that shows your technique well (I think 10/8 is a nice choice if you can play it really well) and with the slow piece choose something that shows your musicality . In general it's best not to choose pieces that are on the border of your abilities. The people listening are after all not people that can easily be impressed with some difficult sounding pieces. It's best if you can really express something with the music you play, while still having a solid technique.
That's more or less everything I've been told while preparing for auditions  (in Europe only though)