Hey guys,

Tomorrow afternoon I'm playing in a concerto competition with the Third Movement of the Haydn concerto in D. I'm not much of a preformer but I've played this piece movement quite a bit. Do any of you suggest any mentall preperation for the competition... before or during?


Matt

Playing it slowly, possibly hands separate, playing it in your mind to make sure you have control.

Good sleep, good food, and something relaxing? Make sure your are well rested!

Go through the piece lots in your mind. Think of the competition as a performance and not as a competition. Go there and play and expect nothing. If you get recognized, then thats great. If you don't get anything but you still played well, thats good too.

I'm trying to be relaxed while playing tomorrow. I sometimes hyper-ventalate while preforming.

Someone told me yesterday that when I get up there, i'm not there to just get it over with, i'm there to express a musical idea to everyone in the audeince. He also asked me "Who's in charge up there?" He answered his own question "NOT the judges..NOT the piano...NOT the audience...but you."

i've been told by pianists to eat a banana before performance.

i now eat bananas on Sunday mornings (i certainly cannot eat anything else) and i do seem instantly less nervous.. and i absolutely abhor them.. maybe the bit of disciplined punishment does a gal good.

Our thoughts will be with you. Just don't preform it backwards.

Arggg....

Ok, A 6 hour 15 contestent long afternoon was almost too much for me. My head is still hurting from the Spurh or Spoor or whatever the heck that Clarinet concerto was.

I didn't win, but I still had a fun time. I played very well I thought but the tempo was a little off in some places. I scored within tenths of a point of one of the two winners (A voilin and a Clarinet). It's funny how my attitude changed from when I played to when the winners were announced. Everyone hates to lose, but only two could win this afternoon. From tennis, I've always been taught to never give up because losing is not an option. Today, it was as if the judges make the decision and nothing I can say or do after I preform can make them change their mind... one shot only in other words. 2 of the judges (a piano and high school orchestra conductor) scored my very high (both 58.5/60) the third (an principal woodwind player of the ochestra the winner played with) gave me a 55/60.

In the warm up room, I got to talk and play with some of the other people playing. You'd be surprised to see how relaxed everyone is. I met a virtuoso violinist (junior in high school) that played a GREAT Mendelsohnn concerto. He also had perfect pitch and we played some Christmas carols for a little while. Good fun.

1 hour before the competition, the director comes up to my piano teacher and asks her if she'd be willing to accompany a Clarinet. My teacher calmly says yes. She had never heard the concerto before and got to practice it once but when she accompanied him in the competition it sounded preformance ready. Simply stunning.

I'll probably upload a video of the my playing tomorrow. It's been a long and blah-ish day.

Matt

Matt :

Good for you! Congratulations on getting through it well; that's what counts. I would say that at your stage, it's not about winning but about the experience.

Regards,

well. congrats on getting through.
As you said, this is your 1st competition and the other participants may have more experience competing, so just do your best and i'm sure you'll do even better the next time

Thanks everybody!

Any suggestions on a next concerto?

My teacher gave me the Grieg to start looking at but last week I handed it back to her telling her that I was not ready for it yet. We're looking for a concerto that I can handle a little easier and NOT a Mozart concerto

Any suggestions.
Matt

beethoven's 1st or 2nd? mendelssohn's concerto no.2 in g minor?

The Beethoven 1st was also in the competition today... the preformer played this before me and as my teacher suggested, I left while she played. It's a nice concerto and I'll take a look at it.

The Mendelssohn seems really difficult from what I've heard. How is it compared to the Grieg.

I'm looking for something that won't totally be hard for me to learn (If you can say that concerto's aren't hard )

sorry, my mistake. the one that i'm reccomending is Mendelssohn's 1st concerto, not the 2nd one

hmm...the 3rd movement of Mendelssohn's 1st concerto is'nt terribly difficult, it's mostly to do with technic, but I love the sound of it. I have looked over the score before too. you should go listen to it.

http://www.piano.ru/scores/mendelson/concertos/men-con-1.pdf

Ahh, I thought you meant the Mendelssohn's First piano concerto.

The Mendelssohn First Concerto is in G minor; the second one is in D minor. It's the first, Op 25, that is most frequently played and is often chosen by students in competition.

Regards,

Aren't most concertos about technique? Isn't that the purpose of a concerto, to display a soloist's technical - and musical - skills?

Regards,

Good job on the competition!!

Try Schumann. It's not terribly difficult. If you like some modern stuff, try Shostakovich No. 1 (the one with Trumpet solo) or No. 2--both of these are among my personal favorites, and aren't very difficult.

Grieg and Mendelssohn No. 1 are nice, but they are overplayed. So is Schumann, come to think of it. If you want to stand out at a competition, you might want to consider playing something that no one else will play.

Thanks AZNpiano!

I've been told sometimes that people at competition (judges too) like to hear what's familiar to them. Even though somethings overplayed at competitions... isn't that because those are the pieces that are repeated winners ?

I really like the first Mendelssohn. How is this compared to the Grieg?

Matt