Rach 2: Learning, practising & performing it, from notes to concert! | Pro practice | Part 1 of 2
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- Опубліковано 30 лип 2024
- PART 1 of 2!
Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto... What does it take to perfect and bring off the approximately 68294736067382 notes in this crazy, gorgeous concerto?
In today's video (which I've been working on for a few months) - PART 1 of 2 (part 2 posting next week) - I show you the nitty gritty of how I learn, practise, go a bit mad, and prepare Rach 2 for a concert performance with orchestra, in London. There are a lot of early morning practice sessions.
00:00 Introduction
00:27 Note learning
03:37 7-8 weeks till the concert
06:20 Practising the slow movement at Steinway Hall
08:58 One month till the concert
11:43 Progress is happening
Check back soon for PART 2:
- last preparations
- rehearsal with orchestra
- the day before
- the performance itself!
// More videos behind the scenes of life as a concert pianist:
° How does it feel to play a Piano Concerto? • How does it feel to pl...
° Releasing a Solo Piano CD • RELEASING A SOLO PIANO...
° Back-to-back concerts ON TOUR in France • Mini PIANO RECITAL TOU...
° Moving my STEINWAY GRAND PIANO (model B) into storage • Moving my STEINWAY GRA...
Cordelia Williams Nightlight album newalbm.link/nightlight/
Recording of the Year - “Extraordinary" (Gramophone); “Williams’ understanding of this music is remarkable… An album to cherish.”
(International Piano, Critics’ Choice); "Exquisite" (Classical Explorer)
Cordelia Williams website www.cordeliawilliams.net
Cordelia Williams on Spotify open.spotify.com/artist/6h6E9...
With many thanks to Fulham Symphony Orchestra and Marc Dooley for their kind cooperation with the filming! www.fso.org.uk
Amazing to see all these preparations and all the (very) methodic approach required !!!!
It DEFINITELY shows how its NOT for everyone ....!!!!
I heard your Schubert and was going to point what I'd do differently .... Now I won't say nothing anymore!!! Lol ...
Thank you for sharing! Very interesting to see the kind of progress and time needed. I’m practicing it myself and I’m just in love with the whole concerto.
Hope to see more of you practicing as it is very motivational and tells a lot about being patient. Good luck and enjoy the concert, a recording of it would be very much appreciated 😌
Hello Julian, the performance part is now up! Not the whole thing (due to concert recording permissions from the hall) but I hope you enjoy it ua-cam.com/video/Yhh3GhP8PnU/v-deo.html
I love love,love the Rach piano concerti!Full of passion,drama colours,romance and melancholy.He was a genius!I hope everything goes well.
Good Luck with the concert It is the 150 Anniversary of Rachmaninov I hope you one day record some Rachmaninov
I was there. Really looking forward to part 2.
That's really good - I like to see how you learn. I'm an amateur, but do visit Steinway Hall occasionally. I always hope to see you and ask you for a blast of Ondine!
Great video Cordelia! Awesome work 😃
Really enjoyed it, engaging and well edited!
Yay Henry, thank you! I am gradually getting the hang of the editing, thanks to your very good introductory sessions...
great news! hope it went well
Your videos are the best "how we do it" videos I've seen about what it takes for a concert pianist to prepare for a big performance. What a phenomenal amount of work, dedication and organization it takes.
It makes ludicrous the claim of some famous pianists that they practice very little. For example, I read somewhere that Claudio Arrau claimed to have learned for the first time a Beethoven piano concerto while flying from Chile to wherever in Europe he was scheduled to play. Uh, ... I don't think so.
Cordelia, I am wondering if you organize your schedule to play a big work like Rach 2 multiple times in a season. That way you get the most benefit from the hard work you put in to get it to performance level.
Thanks for the very nice feedback! Yes, with a piece like that there are no shortcuts. However, Iit really depends on the repertoire, as I did have a last minute engagement to play a Mozart concerto, for which I had to 'learn' the concerto on the plane journey to other recitals. It's OK when absolutely necessary - it's possible to learn the notes and memorise like that without a piano. But for really allowing the piece to mature and settle you do need lots of time with the piano! And for something like the Rach 2 there just isn't a way around it because of the physical demands and the need for muscles memory.
In answer to your question, yes that is the ideal situation and I do repeat as much as possible within a season, however I must admit that over the past 7 years while I have been performing in parallel with raising two children, my wish to be at home and psychologically available (if that makes sense!) on a regular basis for them has prevented me from being as efficient with repeat scheduling as I would otherwise be. It's not always easy with concertos as orchestras and conductors each have their own agendas which usually don't match up, and when I add in my very limited availability it just doesn't work out that easily! Recitals are much easier as I have almost total control over the programme.