Concerto In Sight... Many Doubts:)

Cold hands, warm heart, says an old maxim. In my opinion, as the great Orowitz used to say, when playing on a stage you must forget everything and "become" the music itself! Become the music and all problems will disappear. Mistakes? I heard Leonardt hit quite a few wrong notes in a concert and so...... mistakes are a serious thing, but I prefer a wrong note over someone who plays without heart. Bye and best wishes!!

Right, everyone makes mistakes; we are too used to listening to recordings, we should attend concerts more often. I would dare to say that it is almost impossible to avoid a mistake, with the sole exception of the great Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who seems to have debunked this rule. In general, just think about the music; whether there are 10 - 100 - 1000 spectators, when you step onto the stage, it is just you and the piano. Cold hands... I have this problem too. Solution: a hot water bottle while you are on your way to the concert. There are also electronic ones; they warm up in a few minutes and the result is guaranteed. If you have a dressing room, you should warm your feet as well. If you warm your feet, your hands will warm up on their own, try it and see. Do some breathing exercises before entering the hall, deep and slow breaths; they lower blood pressure and keep your hands from trembling. I hope you will want to send us some video fragments.

Warm regards and good luck for your concert!

Pianist. Don't worry. Fears belong to all of us. Before starting a concert, the thought that assails my mind is "...but now I have to go out there and play... it feels like I've forgotten what I have to do..." But then we enter "the Music," we think only about the Music and expressing it. No one can pull us out and we must not think about mistakes!!!! Relax. Breathing is good for you. Follow Simone's advice. Do not meet with people who greet you and make you scatter your energy. Stay alone for a moment... sit down and practice breathing.

I love playing Schubert's impromptus... I like them very much... especially those of op. 90. But also those of op. 142... beautiful!! Just think that when you have finished... you will be sorry, and then go back in time... and start playing. A little practical tip: when you sit at the piano, ideally listen to the first bar of what you are about to play... when you begin... you will already be in the music. Good luck!!!!!!

Hi pianist, afraid of making mistakes? then you are in good company, watch this video

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Great Paolo! Thinking musically about the first measure is extremely useful in my opinion!!

There is nothing that makes me more tense than playing in public (more than high school exams, more than the thesis defense...=S)...the same goes for me...so far I have done three piano recitals (nothing to do with concerts obviously, but even there you want to make a good impression) and now in June my 4th recital awaits where I will perform, among others, the Toccata from Paradiso...a fast piece even if easy to execute, but tackling a fast piece with cold hands is always quite an undertaking...in fact, these days before practicing technique, I try to perform the Toccata first so that I get used to playing it "cold"...could doing this be useful? =)

I hope that before the exam they make you warm up a little and then use a hot water bottle. I am somewhat against exploiting muscles while cold, it could cause damage...

The best medicine to get rid of "panic fear" is to allow oneself to make mistakes." But what is this guy saying???!!" I feel this sentence deeply. I don't mean to say that we must make mistakes, but that we must feel authorized to do so. Even the Greats make mistakes. I have often heard illustrious concerts with errors or small memory lapses, naturally well-masked. Even Rubinstein, who never made a mistake, in the last years of his life, during a concert, during the second page of Chopin's first ballade, doubled a measure.

Tall this must not be an alibi of the type "...but yes, if I make a mistake later, so what?..."

We must always study with conscience and yet be we who command the instrument. Never be dominated by the instrument.

Let us concentrate as much as possible on what we must express and the fear will disappear. Even the most expert listener will be so attentive to our musical discourse that they will forgive, or rather erase, some imprecision.

In this scenario perhaps things change: "Now I am going out, because I can't wait to communicate my musical ideas to whoever is listening to me... yes, I would do it at my house, one by one, but here it is more practical.

"

What do you think of this idea?

Very effective indeed! thanks for the suggestions, in the end it is quite true as you say that the mental approach to the instrument matters a lot... Allevi, in fact, I knew that before starting a concert he almost addresses the piano saying: "be good!" =) but it is certainly a way to calm down and say it to himself too... p.s.=besides I will also have to do the prelude in C minor played (with some errors) by the current Pope Benedict =) I will try to apply the breathing exercises and the recommended mental approach... thanks

did it go well?

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There are 2 interesting texts on the subject of "Stage fright"

“Il corpo” by Umberto Galimberti, Feltrinelli 1983.

“Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind”, Brian Frederiksen., 1996 John Taylor editor, U.S.A."

I also take the liberty of pointing out, as a starting point for further study, these studies on the "Rességuier method" applied to the practice of playing:

http://www.alessandraseggi.it/wordpress/la-performance-musicale-secondo-il-metodo-resseguier.html

And that was how yesterday afternoon I took my 4th piano exam.....an incredible emotion, my hands were shaking...it had been 4 years since I last performed in public. Unfortunately, I messed up badly on some pieces where I didn't expect to stumble and freeze up completely, only to manage to restart after interminable moments. I wanted to share this experience with you and I will post the videos shortly (be critical in the comments =) only constructive criticism makes you grow), in fact, beyond the obvious mistakes, I would like your impression at least on the parts without hitches =) thank you very much for your presence and the advice you have given me because it helps so much!

Said by an international artist, an illustrious name (I will tell you if you want via message), warming your hands with hot bags, water, gloves.......little or nothing is needed, only the loosening on the keyboard helps to warm tendons, muscles, nerves etc......it is not the hands or arms that must be warmed, but the entire arm apparatus must be "loose" from the inside to be responsive to stimuli .......Pianists, before big concerts, generally warm up on upright pianos, in dressing rooms or corridors, and then their performance repertoire hardly ever begins with pieces of difficult speed...

I am reporting what was told to me, which I agree with anyway!

scaloppa wrote:

Said by an international artist, an illustrious name (if you want, I will tell you via private message), warming your hands with hot water bags, water, gloves....... little or nothing is needed; only the melting [fluidity] on the keyboard helps to warm tendons, muscles, nerves, etc...... it is not just the hands or arms that must be warmed, but the entire arm apparatus must be "loose" from the inside to be responsive to stimuli ....... Pianists, before major concerts, generally warm up on upright pianos in dressing rooms or corridors, and then their performance program hardly ever begins with pieces of daunting speed...

I am reporting what was told to me, which I agree with nonetheless!

All true, but one must face reality. As far as I know, unless by incredible luck, there are no upright pianos available to use before a concert; I don't know what levels you are talking about. If we are talking about a Pollini, well then... Here, it even becomes a problem for associations to rent a 180cm piano for a concert, let alone a second piano to warm up one's hands. Obviously, warming your hands on the piano is 100 times better, but if that is not possible in the middle of winter, I would always prefer a hot water bag rather than having frozen hands. Regarding the repertoire, it is clear that you don't start with Liszt's "Un sospiro" or "Capriccio Poetico," but the path is not always a continuous crescendo. Depending on the technical difficulty of the pieces, one uses something to allow for recovery. After Liszt's second Hungarian Rhapsody, I wouldn't go and play Bartók's Allegro Barbaro; otherwise, you end up like Schumann

I know Simone, but at a high level this is the practice (it is generally required in international competitions)

I don't want to act "cool", I am just reporting a testimony told to me in a Masterclass

Besides, even Gould always wore wool gloves, so we can wear them too.

scaloppa wrote:

Then even Gould always wore wool gloves, so we can wear them too.

Gould would dip his hands and forearms in hot water

To conclude, the warmth of the hands has little relation to the fluidity and elasticity of the muscles etc.....

In fact, if one sits at the piano even during these hot days, in the first few minutes of practice we still feel cold, not very reactive, therefore warmth has a marginal importance.

Of course, in winter with frozen hands it is even + hard

It's better to squeeze a tennis ball, or something else, it will be more direct and effective.

Ps yes yes he warmed his hands, but his photos with wool gloves with the fingers cut out are a riot

scaloppa wrote:

I know Simone, but at a high level this is the practice (in international competitions it is generally expected)

I don't want to act "cool", I am just reporting a testimony told to me in a Masterclass

Even Gould always wore wool gloves, so we can do it too.

Ahaha don't worry about it, I didn't think you were trying to act cool!

It's true that in competitions it has also happened to me to have a piano for warming up; unfortunately, very often in concerts, it is not like that...

In the summer I never use these remedies, but with frozen hands in winter I prefer the warmth of a hot water bottle or directly hot water, Gould-style.

It certainly isn't as effective as warming up at the piano, but has it never happened to you to return home with your hands completely frozen and not be able to strike a key with the same finger more than twice a second? It has happened to me! As little as it may be, immersing my arms in hot water greatly improved the condition...