I'm off to Shreveport to do the Wideman Competition (playing Saint-Saens' Concerto #2) on Thursday and will be locked in a practice room until then. Have a good weekend, and I'll let you all know how I did when I get back on Monday.

Good luck Brendan. I'm sure you'll do fine and come back Monday with a glowing report.

Knock 'em dead.

Do good!!!

Good luck, Brendan. Make that first movement "sing" to them.

Good luck Brend

You don't need luck, Brendan - I've heard you play! Show'em how its done, and have fun! Jodi

Good Luck Brendan! I hope that have fun as well as play good and I'll be rooting for you to win first prize!

Break a leg! (Left, I guess, since you won't need the u.c. for a concerto.) :p

I'm with jodi on this one. You don't need luck. You will knock the socks off the audience and hopefully the jury! Just take your time with the choral opening by sinking your fingers slowly and firmly onto the keys and chords, etc. This grand opening should lay the ground work for you, Brendan.

Tell us about the good news! we're waiting...

Rgds,
AndrewG

good luck!!

Brendan...
How difficult is this concerto to play? Does it fall into the fingers well? did it take long to learn? i need an entire concerto done by May for a competition...and i have no clue what to do! yikes!
~~Amy~~

It's one of those kind of things where it's not hard, just fast. There are one or two tricky spots in each movement (the hardest part in the whole concerto being playing the opening cadenza cold), but it's definitely not the hardest thing ever written. On a scale of 1 to 10 it's probably about a 5.5 or 6 (at most) but sounds like an 8.

I am sure you will do very well.
If you haven't heard it yet, I strongly recommend you to listen to Aldo Ciccolini's rendering of this concerto. He has recorded all the 5 concertos and I believe these are among the finest interpretations of Saint Seans concertos.
Good Luck!
Rgds,
Hakki.