 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Mike
Date: 2003-01-21 01:53
My college orchestra is holding a concerto competition this Spring. I planned on auditioning on Premiere Rhapsodie. The orchestra director approved it, but said that I might also want to play Weber's Concertino, or another short piece, as well. The issue is time. Premiere Rhapsodie is about 7.5 minutes long. Some of the other contestants are performing concertos upwards of 20 minutes in length. Luckily, I've performed Concertino before. I think it will complement the Debussy. But I can't help but resent the implication that it takes two clarinet concertos to be equivalent to one violin concerto. Has anyone else encountered this mentality before? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Mike~
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Samy
Date: 2003-01-21 02:09
The Françaix concerto is very good but more difficult than Weber's.
--SM
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ALOMARvelous12
Date: 2003-01-21 02:17
But Mike, neither the Rhapsody nor the Concertino are "concertos", so you can't complain about them being short.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lori
Date: 2003-01-21 04:18
I don't know, during the time I was in college and in grad school, two clarinet players won the university concerto competition on the Debussy. I myself had auditioned on the Debussy one year. Other years I did concertos, Nielsen, Weber 2, and Copland. I never heard any remarks from any judges about the Debussy being inappropriate. Or too short. Generally, I think these university concerto competitions are more about performing a piece with orchestra rather than it having to be a "concerto."
Just my 2 cents...
Oh yeah, regarding the above posting about the Francaix, in my experience, it's fun to practice but the music just isn't worth the amount of time you have to spend on it. It's pretty ridiculous. If you're going to practice something that hard, learn the Nielsen. 
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Samy
Date: 2003-01-21 11:59
I know that the Françaix is difficult but the music worth it...
I would like to know if the Bozza's concerto, Dondeyne's concertino or enven the Rueff's concertino could be good options.
--SM
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Sloss
Date: 2003-01-21 14:19
Seems unlikely they would program multiple pieces, regardless of length. Sounds like a setup for failure. The PR and Concertino, are, as mentioned already, not concertos, so it would be like comparing apples and orangutans for the committee making the decision. There is no judgement against these pieces, it is simply a matter of scale.
One man's opinion, but if you were my student I would have you research what has been performed in years past, and what your peers are going to be offering for consideration. I would then have you prepare something of similar scope. Fair or not, you have to deal with people's notions of what they expect to hear, and meet that expectation head on and with style if you want the gig.
Whatever you decide, best of luck!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nzdonald
Date: 2003-01-21 22:07
ok
when i went in the CCM concerto competition in 1998 the thing wasn't properly anounced, with no rules etc- only the people whose teachers liked them received advance warning (and could prepare long, difficult concerti).... i found out with about 2 weeks notice and so prepared Webers 1st Concerto. I had performed this work with orchestra a number of times, and used it for competitions (admitedly, none of which i had ever won).
Soooo, i played the entire piece from memory, admitedly not the greatest performance. Another Clarinet player won playing the Debussy Prem Rhap.... with music. He played it very well, i have no question in that regard. But the bottom line is that it was not an even playing field- i played a longer concerto from memory, he played a shorter piece with music. Unfair? too bad, he played better than me.
Here's the rub- it doesn't matter how fair the whole deal is, the judges will go for the BEST PLAYER (unless they are in contradiction of some written rules).
keep playing the good tunes
donald
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Sylvain
Date: 2003-01-22 12:54
If the orchestra director, who is also most likely a jury member, asked you to play 2 pieces then I would just do it.
-S
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
