Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Competition program?

In the example I mentioned, it could not have counted against him. He made the finals by getting through a round in which he included that "easy" piece. Once in the finals everyone played what they were told to play ... a concerto movement. So no, playing that "elementary" Mozart piece did not count against him in any obvious way (like getting booted out of the round in which the "easy" piece appeared). Is it possible that the judges remembered his Mozart and screwed him out of the top prize as a result? Sure. But unless a person is a mind reader, or has been told that conversation among the judges centered on Cao's slack repertoire choice, I'm not inclined to give much credit to that kind of idle speculation.

I don't doubt that many judges are focussed with laser-like precision on finger busting pieces to the exclusion of artistic interpretation of less technically challenging repertoire. But I also don't see anything that I could understand as real evidence that having one technically easy piece included within an otherwise challenging set of works is anything like an immediate disqualifier.

In that same competition, I was actually more impressed by Muzi Zhao's programming. He programmed some less-common concert pieces along with pieces I've never heard of. The Cimarosa was fantastic! I think it took some effort to dig out gems and program those instead of the common Chopin/Liszt/Schumann/Prokofiev/Beethoven that you hear all the time.

So, I was thinking about this:

Audition: Haydn - Sonata in Ab Major Hob. XVI/43, Bach - Prelude & Fugue in d minor (WTC 1), Chopin - Etude op. 25 no. 5, Tchaikovsky - Doumka

1st Round: Liszt - Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Scriabin - Poème-Nocturne op. 61, Robert Muczynski - Toccata op.15

2nd Round: Chopin - Ballade No. 2, Godowsky - Three Dances from Java Suite - 1. Moderato, 2. L'istesso tempo, 3. Doppio movimento, Beethoven - Sonata No. 19 G minor, Medtner - "Sonata Tragica" in c minor, Op. 39, No. 5

3rd Round: Bach English Suite No. 1, BWV 806, Shostakovich - 12 Preludes Op.12, Liszt - Trancendental Etude No. 9, "Ricordanza"

Final Round: Rachmaninoff 1

What do you guys think?

So I don't know your background, but some of those pieces are REALLY hard. The Medtner Sonata is just so hard to play... Pretty nonstandard for sure though, aside from Mephisto Valse 1.

Hmm, I didn't think it was one of Medtner's hardest sonatas? I was thinking about looking at Sonata Triad, Op. 11: No 3 in C Major too; it's probably a lot easier.
Anyway, thanks for the help guys, I think I'm going to talk to my teacher about the program, or ask him about some smaller competitions to get some experience.

Hold up, please tell me you actually tried reading these. The Sonata Triad look easier, but they're still really hard. It's like Bach but with more notes. The Sonata Tragica is not one of his hardest, but it is still incredibly difficult.

Also good luck with Rach1, it took me a full 5 months or so just to get notes in my head for the first movement

I've read through a lot of Medtner sonatas, and several Fairy Tales, so I'm familiar with his writing. And I was thinking about a Mozart concerto. I'm still deciding though.

Anyway, I spent more time working on a program:

1st Round: Scarlatti - Sonata in F Major, K.17, Sonata in d minor, K.9, Chopin - Ballade no.2

2nd Round: Bach - Toccata in g minor, BWV 915, Shostakovich - 12 Preludes, op.34, Liszt - Transcendental Etude no.9, 'Ricordanza'

3rd Round: L. v. Beethoven - Piano Sonata no.6 in F Major, op.10, Medtner - 6 Tales, op.51, Bach/Liszt - Fantasie and Fugue in g minor, BWV 542

Does this look more reasonable?

Your choice of Beethoven op. 10 #2 is an improvement over op. 49 #1.
The same considerations brought up earlier about the Mozart Fantasia apply to the op. 49.

Shostakovich's op.34 consists of 24 preludes, one in each key. Which 12 of them are you doing?

-J

The first 12, so the last one is G-sharp minor, going into Ab Major (Liszt).

Does the 3rd round look okay? It's Beethoven F Major--->Medtner D minor Tale. Then the last Tale in that set is G Major. So it's Medtner G Major-->Bach/Liszt G minor.

You seem to be spending a lot of energy thinking about the progression of keys. You've also selected an ambitious program. Let me ask you:

1. What is your current repertoire, and
2. What is the current state of the pieces you're considering for your program?


-J

I know it's an ambitious program. I'm really just trying to get an opinion on the program itself, and if it's put together well.

I think factors like this will count less than .00001% towards your competition results.

hehe, that's okay. I spent the extra time thinking about the progressions just to be creative. I tried to use composers that would sound good together. Scarlatti/Chopin, Bach/Shostakovich, Beethoven/Medtner.

At the risk of repeating - but you haven't answered the question, yet - what is your current repertoire?

Regards,

Yes. Let me be honest, mrfergeson12. I love your enthusiasm, and you've chosen some great pieces here. (Those Shostakovitch preludes are terribly underplayed.) But I see a couple warning signs in some of the ways you're talking about this competition.

Maybe they're totally unfounded. And you didn't ask for this advice. But if you want some help by a community here of pretty knowledgable folks, and if you don't mind being on the defensive a little bit, do let us know: what do you have currently worked up, and where are you with these competition pieces so far.

You can just stick to the questions you asked if you want. But I ensure you we just want to help, and we'll only be able to really help by asking you these other questions.

-Jason

I don't think the 'warning signs' are unfounded. With the experience I have, it's hard to imagine being accepted into this competition. I just wanted to set a big goal for myself this year to inspire me to practice.
Anyway, here's a repertoire list (draft) that I put together to give an idea:

Piano Solo:

Chopin – Nocturne in B Major, Nocturne in G minor, Nocturne in Bb minor, Preludes 1-4

Bach – Prelude and Fugue in d minor (WTC 1), Prelude and Fugue in e minor (WTC 1), 15 2-part inventions

Liszt – Mephisto Waltz no. 1

Haydn – Sonata in e minor, Sonata in Ab Major

Balakirev – Toccata

Medtner – 2 Tales, op. 14, Tale in a dorian, op. 51 no. 2, Tale in e minor, op. 34 no. 2, Tale in g minor, op. 48 no. 2

Tchaikovsky – ‘Doumka’

Schumann – Prelude and Fugue from Album for the Young

Piano Accompaniment:

* J. Haydn - Divertimento D major; adagio

* J.S. Bach - Siciliano from the 2nd Sonata for Flute and Piano

* Bellini - Ma rendi pur contento for piano and voice

* Menotti - "When the Air Sings of Summer" (Bob's Bedroom Aria) from The Old Maid and Thief

Piano Duet (4 hands):

* Saint-Saens - Carnival of the animals: V. L'Éléphant (The Elephant)

*Schubert and Brahms 4 hands pieces (I don't recall which ones)

As far as where I'm at with the competition pieces so far. I've looked at all the Medtner tales in that set, and worked through the Liszt. Just working those up to tempo and memorizing. A colleague from my school worked on the 12 shostakovich preludes, so she can help me with those. I still need to look at the Scarlatti, Chopin Ballade, Beethoven, and I'm looking at the Liszt/Bach right now.

One should, I suppose, admire the OP's enthusiasm for this project and his setting of high goals, and one should remember that he said he was thinking of "trying to enter" this competition in 2014.

I think, however, for reasons that seem pretty obvious in this thread, that the goals might be far too lofty and that the "stretch" required to prepare the competition repertoire from where he stands today might be a challenge unable to be met.

I would think it better to consider his own counsel : "With the experience I have, it's hard to imagine being accepted into this competition. I just wanted to set a big goal for myself this year to inspire me to practice."

Why not find some more realistic goals to give incentive to practice? Surely one doesn't need a competition which one has no hope of entering to be an incentive to practice. If one can't find enough incentives that are more rational and attainable, then perhaps the OP should simply consult his teacher for reasonable incentives.

One could, for example, take a Syllabus from any known Conservatory or School of Music, select a grade level just beyond where one currently plays comfortably, and use the repertoire in that grade level as "incentive." I'm sort of at a loss to consider how this particular competition provides an incentive if, as already stated, the OP has little chance of even being ready to enter.

Regards,

Let's keep in mind that this thread is mostly an intellectual exercise. Given that the initial application must include:

"Two recommendation letters from musicians of acknowledged professional standing, including the applicant’s present or most recent teacher."

and

"Copies of international and national certificates of awards."

The makeup of the program is almost inconsequential when compared to the importance of those two statements and producing a high-quality preliminary audition DVD.