Alright. My piano teacher just sprung on me that i am playing Tchaikovsky's piano concerto 1. What is this like? i have yet to hear it, though he is giving me a CD of him playing it with an orchestra. Is it really hard? What other famous peices is it like? Any tips? From what some people are telling me, its pretty hard, but they haven't played it. Help!

I'm not 100% positive on this, but I believe this is the piece that Van Cliburn won an international contest with. Someone please correct me if I'm off base here. I have listened to it, and all I can say is, it's powerful, and WAY out of my league.

Good luck,
Josh

It was indeed the Tchaikovsky first that rocketed Van Cliburn to fame when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition back in the mid '50s. (Not at home, so I can't check the exact date. His recording of it is still available on RCA) This concerto is one of the standard "warhorses" of the romantic repertoire and, truth be told, is quite difficult, though effective when well played.

Enjoy studying it.

Regards,

It's bark is worse than it's bite. It's a big romantic virtuoso concerto that is one of the standard warhorses (lots and lots of recordings of it -- often played poorly -- a few exciting performances; was the basis for a popular song in the 1940's; most folks will easly recognize the opening bar of the first movement --in this regard it's sort of surprising that you're a piano major, but have never heard this concerto). I think I learned it when I was around 15 or 16 (sometime after learning the Grieg --so as to what it sounds like you can compare it to that and the Liszt no 1 etc, etc ---infact it often get coupled on recordings with the Greig). You'll need lots of stamina to get through the octaves, leaps, and so forth. But's manageable and, imho, falls rather nicely into the hands. I think the last movement is the more difficult --and more exciting--of the three movements.

Recordings: Vlad Horowitz, Martha Agerich, Santiago Rodriguez, Artur Rubinstein, Emil Gilels, Van Cliburn. All have made top drawer recordings. There are newer ones, but it's not one of the works I listen to that much (any longer). So perhaps others here can recommend some good newer recordings.

It's great fun to play, so enjoy learning!

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: netizen ]

Van Cliburn was catapulted into world fame by winner the First Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958. The Russians were so confident of their pianistic 'strangle-hold' on the world they pre-determined Lev Flasenko to win the competition. Along came the 6'4" lanky Texan who floored the Russians with both Tchaikovsky 1 and Rachmaninov 3. Flasenko had to live with a Silver medal. I was just listening last night once again Cliburn's Rach 3 recorded back in 1958 shortly after his grand slam win. His mercurial reading remains, IMHO, to be matchless.

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: AndrewG ]

As Jolly would tell you, the lanky Texan was born in Shreveport, LA. where he made his first public performance at age 4. He moved to Kilgore, Texas at age 6 and became a lifelong Texan regardless of where his travels take him. I have an album of his called "My Favorite Rachmaninoff" which includes Sonata #2, OP 36; Etude-Tableau, and seven preludes. The title may just be a record company marketing ploy.

Has anyone heard of my friend Emile Lambrev?

He's a pianist who won first place in the Tchaikovsky competition in 1978.

He has his own classical cd. His address is: www.emileandemilio.com

No, I've not heard of him... If I'm not grossly mistaken Mikhail Pletnev won the Tschaikovsky competition in 1978.

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: netizen ]

more like:

Zelda,

Your friend was not a prize-winner of that competition. He was a contestant. netizen is correct. Here is the winners list of that year:

1st Mikhail Pletnev (USSR)
2nd Pascal Devoyons (France)
2nd Andre Laplante (Canada)
3rd Nikolai Demidenko (USSR)
3rd Evgeny Ryvkin (USSR)
4th Terens Jado (UK)
4th Boris Petrov (USSR)
5th Christian Blackshaw (UK)
6th Naum Grubert (USSR)

Rgds,
AndrewG

[ September 11, 2001: Message edited by: AndrewG ]

Ok I must have mistinterpreted what he told me about the event and assumed untrue facts.

Zeldah

Why does everything have to be a personal insult to you? It's not like they were purposely rubbing it in your face (Andrew is far too nice for that); it was a simple correction.

Edit:
PianoMuse,

It is a very difficult piece by any standards, IMHO. I tried it a few years ago and thought that the writing was a little unpianistic (puts your hands in awkward positions or requires extreme ends of a technical device). It's much more difficult to play than Rachmaninoff 2nd (for my hands). The melodies and Tchaikovsky's luscious harmonic language really make it worth the struggle, though. The slow theme in the first movement is divine.

[ September 11, 2001: Message edited by: Brendan ]

Brendan,

I'm sorry to butt in here, but I must admit that when I read Zelda's reply, I did not interpret it at all the same way you did. I get the impression she was simply correcting herself and taking responsibility for her statement. I think if you re-read it you will see what I mean.

Thank you for that statement Bernard. It's true; I was simply correcting myself. I felt foolish to have assumed that because he told me he entered the competition, that he had won.But Im still excited for Emile.

to Brendan:

I think just because most of my past posts were defending myself dramatically from insulting statements that now you view everything I say as though I'm using a snobby tone. I'm not.

Since we are on this subject, I have a question. Would it be a good idea to play this concerto with a 2nd piano, for a school concert? I think the only problem would be how the 2 pianos would interact in the concert hall, if the sound would be close to the orchestra effects (of course the piano is not an orchestra or close to it). I have only heard this in smaller rooms, so I am curious if anybody has any experience or thinks this is a good idea. ( since the school has no orchestra)

CrashTest,

It will undoubtedly depend on the hall and it's acoustics. I have heard parts of a Beethoven concerto with the orchestral part played by a second piano in a recital hall of decent size. I mean it wasn't huge but it wasn't small either, maybe 300 seats(?), but the acoustics were good and the concerto sounded OK.

Of course, when you say School concert I immediately think gymnasium because that is where we had concerts when I was in school. In this situation, it would not sound good, I think.

It is not in a gym, but an auditorium with about 1000 seats. The acoustics are very good, so I think the concertos should sound good with only 2 pianos.

For 2 piano playing, a larger acoustic space works better than a small. In a small room it is almost impossible to distinguish one piano part from the other, but the larger space lets the sound develope which makes it much easier for the listener's ear to seperate the parts.

Another idea that has worked for me on one occasion is to use a digital piano for the "orchestra" part. This will allow you to experiment with different sounds for the 2nd piano--

Mat D.