Its me again..

I was listening to Chopin`s Piano Concerto No.1 - Romanze Larghetto, and I was wondering if anyone have previous experience here playing it?

I`m about GR.7 standard and I would like to play it for a solo, with another piano ofcourse (orchestral parts). I looked at the score, it didnt seem that hard - Ive done his Andante Spianato, its sort of the same...

Any comments would be appreciated, from a fellow (more proffesional I believe) perspective is allways helpfull

Thanks
Chris

I have played this many times (for only myself). It's one of Chopin's most beautiful pieces. If you really want to have some fun, get the Music Minus One CD and play with orchestra (although the orchestra on the CD is not so great - still, you find out what it is like to play with an orchestra).
But as always with Chopin - it looks easy, but is not. These gorgeous, soft, subtle romantic pieces to me are harder to play than all others because of the amount of control needed in the fingers. I am only an amateur player, so maybe someone else has more ideas and advice.

Hello Chris2, I play this, and it is harder than it sounds, IMHO.

I did learn the whole concerto for a competition this October (alas, I don't think I'm ready for it so it's canceled. There's 2009 to aim for )

So if you want to go over some of the finer points we can do that here? Anyway, let me get my notes on it and my score. How deeply you want to delve into this piece? I've done an enormous amount of research and analysis on the Chopin concertos.

Hey, I just thought of something, are you at the point in this piece that you can record yourself playing it, or do you need more practice time? If I can hear you play, I'll have a much better idea of what to suggest.

Pete

Thanks for the replies

Pete - I havent started on the piece, I was still wondering If I should play it... Just a couple notes

-I only want to play the Romanze/Larghetto part - not the whole thing
-I`ve played his Andante Spianato, and yes I know its allways harder than it looks (when it comes to Chopin) but I know I have capability to do it musically enough
-I need to convince my teacher that I want to do it
-I`m about Gr. 7 standard

Mabey that would shed some light onto the situation

Chris

P.S (I have posted an Andante Spianato Recording in the Audtition Room, that wasnt quite up to performance quality, if you want to have a listen..it was under my name)[/b]

If you want to play it, then by all means do so! I'm listening to your recording of andante spianato as I type. From the limited information I have, I think you might be able to play the op11 Romanza. "Might be able to" is the key phrase. There are technical hurdles to jump in the concerto are not presented in the A.S. You need to do an inventory of your skills. Ask your teacher to do that with you.

Try this. Learn the hard parts first. I assume you can play the main theme. Given what I've already heard of your playing, that's a safe bet. The question pertains to places like bars 23-26, 37, 39-45, 72-75, 101-103 and 105-113.

Incessant variation is found throughout in Chopin's innovative figuration. For example, it's easy to miss the fact that bars 39-42 are an embellished version of bars 31-34. The density of figuration obscures things that would otherwise be obvious. Things like this absolutely saturate the piece! (Like a honey-soaked fruitcake!)

The devil is most certainly in the details.

Anyway, talk your teacher, assess your skills, work on the hard parts first, learn and record the accompaniment as a practice tool, record and listen to your practice (of the piano part) as it progresses, listen to professional recordings, read as much as you can on the subject of Chopin's music, his concertos, 19th century concertos in general and remember to do one thing at a time.

Good luck,
Pete

Thanks Pete - I`ll definantley give it a go! I have allready heard a recording of Murray Perahia and Zubin Metha and it was really something to listen to! I know what you mean with the devil is in the details, its really so with any Chopin piece I think, all the small things... I`ll take a look at the parts that you mentioned - now only left my teacher, I hope she will bite to the idea!

Thanks

Chris