Plan and prepare for a piano recital

on my immediate goals but I am also now taking piano lessons and am practicing every day and I see improvement! Sections of one of my chosen pieces, (Chopin, Fantasy f minor, op 49) are actually getting easier and I can see that I am accomplishing passages that were beyond me in past years. My sight reading is improving also.

So still a long way off for the 9 or so pieces I chose but I am making progress!

Thanks to Charles from 43T for the advice on learning the piece from the back forwards!

yesterday. Hooray! It cost about what I thought, $215 but it was worth it.

Also got some useful information about the piano in the common house. Essentially only a few minor things could be done to it and its not worth spending lots of money to improve the tone quality only slightly.

The sustaining pedal on my piano broke and so its difficult to practice now. I can still play but I find myself not wanting to because of it. It also needs tuning and the repair and the tuning together will probably come to around $200-250. Money I don’t have right now.

I was practicing the Scarlatti last night and the difficult passage where the left hand crosses over the right hand, a jump of about 4 octaves, is getting easier. I can almost play that passage at tempo now. Not quite at tempo yet but getting closer!

Need to get my piano tuned though. Its starting to go out pretty far, due, in part, to the change in seasons. But I need to budget for the $150 or so it will cost me. I can go cheaper but I found a tuner I like a lot and want to stay with him.

So here are the pieces I am considering

J.S. Bach – English Suite No 3 in g
Domenico Scarlatti – Sonata in D
Mozart – Sonata in a
Chopin – Ballade no 1 in g

The Bach and the Chopin are big pieces. I may well do only 3 or 4 of the suites and of course the Ballade is a single entity and cannot be divided.

I stopped by a music store and ordered the Rachmaninoff piano transcription of The Star-Spangled Banner.

I also did some internet browsing last night and found out that Van Cliburn is playing at the Interlochen Music School next week. He is 72 now and still plays at select sites. Apparently this is one of them. I would love to go but the cost of a flight to Michigan and a hotel and the tickets is too much for me right now. Ah well, some day I will make it and for the time being I have my memories.

I think I am going to use the Star-Spangled Banner as an opening piece for the recital. Van Cliburn used to do this for all his concerts and what a stirring opening it was. I only heard Van Cliburn perform maybe twice but each time he opened with that. He would walk out on stage sit down at the piano and immediately, without any preparation play the Star-Spangled Banner. I can still hear it today and I last heard him perform live maybe 35 years ago.

I did a search for music and found that Rachmaninoff wrote a transcription of it for piano. That may be the one Van Cliburn used, I don’t know but I will get it and see.

I have started working on the Bach 3rd English Suite. I am also considering Chopin’s 1st Ballade or his Fantasy in f minor, op 49.