Hi,

I have been blessed with many good things. For one, I will be studying with Prof. Arie Vardi this coming summer. Lucky me.

I also auditioned for a national broadcasting show, and they liked my playing. I have not had an invitation yet, and I think the issue is that my previous audition pieces are either too short or too long for programming purpose. They asked me to submit more audition materials in about 9 months. For soloists, they will choose a less-than-5-minute piece for the show. I am thinking about submitting at least 2 pieces, each has a length between 3 minutes 30 seconds and 5 minutes, so that they can choose one out of those that I submit.

The show is designed to be entertaining and is very competitive for applicants. I am thinking about learning Prokofiev Toccata. It is about 4 minutes, and I like the piece a lot. Do you think it is entertaining enough to be on a national show? I also need at least another piece. Since next year is going to be Alkan's 200th birthday, do you have any suggestion for a <5 minutes Alkan piece that is substaintial and entertaning? More generally, if you have any other suggestion, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Can you tell us which national broadcasting show?

Do you have any technical limitations? Is there anything you couldn't learn? After I know this I'll make suggestions.

Hi pianoloverus,

I know it is unfair to not tell you the name of the show. But this is a public domain and I want to be careful before I have an invitation. I hope you can understand. The show is a pre-college show. But the featured soloists are often very young, 8-13 years old. I think this is good for the show's rating. This, however, makes me look old.

Just out of curiosity, how old are you then?
(In addition to my previous question)

Send us a private message. Start with pianoloverus, though. He probably has far more experience in this category than me.

I am 15.

I do not know how to answer the question of technical limitation. All I know is that I have not run into real trouble yet learning my music. My current pieces are the following:

Beethoven Appasionata,
Mephisto Waltz,
Rach Rhapsody,
Bach BWV 888, and a few other things.

Thanks for the suggestion. I followed it and just sent a PM to you.

Liszt wrote a large number of virtuoso etudes and other short pieces, some of which are between the 3 1/2 to 5 minute time range you specify (at least on the recordings I own). These include:

Transcendental Etude #3
Transcendental Etude #5 (Feux follets)
Waldesrauschen
Un Sospiro
Grand Galop Chromatique
Hungarian Rhapsodies: #15, #17, #18

That is just a quick sample of the available pieces from Liszt alone. I'd also consider the longer Rachmaninov Etude-Tableaux or the longest Chopin etudes, among other things. If you want suggestions for any of these pieces I'll give you some.

Liszt, Transcendental Etude #10
Rachmaninoff, Prelude Op. 23, No.2
Rachmaninoff, Moment Musicaux, Op. 16, No.4

The Liszt is too long and the Rachmaninov 16/4 is too short.

Prokofiev Toccata is a good piece.

Some Alkan suggestions:

-Chant in E Major, Op. 38a No. 1
-Etude in E Major, Op. 35 No. 12 (if you're good with octaves)
-3rd movement from Symphonie for Solo Piano (Op. 39 No. 6)
-Capriccio alla soldatesca, Op.50

Really?

The Liszt is not too long, and it happens to be my favorite of the Transcendentals. You don't have to play it Berezovsky-fast. I clock in anywhere from 4:15-4:30 depending on my mood.

Yes!

Sorry about that. I was confusing it with a different one. It's not too long.

As long as you can play it a little faster than Bolet (5:09), which almost everyone does, it should work fine.

Incidentally, I thought this was a fine selection.. which is why I said nothing else until the Liszt came up.

Also, OP, I sent back a PM to you. Thoughts in general, not piece selections. Some of the other guys are much better at coming up with really good pieces for these types of events.

How's 4:59 like? LOL !

Hi ABC,

My recommendation would be to skirt the Prokofieff Opus 11. I’ve been working through the Toccata and presently up to m16 ... but have to say ...

thank goodness Prokofieff graduated to latter masterpieces ... Opus 11 Toccata is a percussive bombardment of my flapping ears ..
I’m looking forward to teatime.

However my personal feel for Prokofieff is based
purely on the playing of the keyboard piece
“The Love of Three Oranges”.

Surely there are better fish to fry as listed by the others.

How about a Liszt transcription of a song? Nice tune to get going, followed by fireworks.

There's the famous Schumann/Liszt Widmung (3:30).

Or Schubert/Liszt like the lovely Auf dem Wasser zu singen. Or even Erlkönig, if you really want to show off.....
(Both clock in around 4:30).

Hi ABC. You want to show these folks a good time. Don't sit them down with Rachmaninoff or Listz, whup 'em up with some Schubert! Danses, ländler and so on. Played at a brisk tempo and with plenty of Alpine swing!

I would second a Schubert/Liszt or Schumann/Liszt transcription.

The third of the Liszt "Three Concert Etudes," "Un sospiro," might be a good choice too, given that it provides lyricism, some mildly virtuosic intensity in the middle section, and a couple of fleeting cadenzas. My playing of it runs to just a little over five minutes, and I don't play it as fast as some.

Regards,

A couple more from Alkan: Comme le Vent, Op.39 No.1; or Le Chemin de Fer, Op.27..a lot of his works are either too long or too short, but many of the etudes fall into the area you're looking at...um...if you think you could manage it I believe a convincing performance of Op.15 No.2 may be theoretically possible in under five minutes...not that I know of anyone doing anywhere near it just yet Um...Prokofiev's Toccata is perfectly exciting and amazing for an audience; with the right temperament it can be surprisingly tear-jerking also. Certainly I would consider it very seriously; it's a cracker. Good luck for the future! ...And well done so far! <3
Xxx

The Widmung, I believe, was actually just featured at the competition. I was checking out their site to get an idea of what they accept and saw someone perform it. Shame, it would have been very nice, indeed.

Prokofiev 7th sonata, 3rd movement - always brings down the house. Much more musically interesting than the Toccata.

It's also a good choice yes, but much more musically interesting than the Toccata? I'm not saying the Toccata is greater, but I think the Toccata is a perfectly fine and musically interesting work, too..

I would be inclined to agree with Jeffrey. The Toccata is fun, exciting, and generally satisfying, but I just have this feeling that I would find the finale of the 7th more stimulating to practice for long hours: more variety?

Re OP: You only have a couple of genre options, the way I see it.

a) Romantic etudes or bigger character pieces
b) early 20th century sonata finales (or possibly etudes)

A great etude, impressive and insanely difficult as well as gorgeous is Scriabin Op. 42, No. 5.

For the latter, another option that would suit you well (knowing your playing) and really give even you a workout is the Barber Sonata fugue finale

Not sure how "serious" it's supposed to be, but there's Grainger's In Dahomey, a show piece if there ever was one.

How about Gottschalk' Pasquinade?