Back in January, I signed up to give a half-recital recital in April. I submitted a tentative program for the Feb 26 program deadline based on what I was practicing most at the time:

  • Franck-Bauer - Prélude, fugue et variation
  • Clementi - Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 5: i. Allegro con espressione
  • Scriabin - Fantasie in B minor, Op. 28

After returning from a work trip in March, I realized that I had been spending most of my recent practice time learning the Dutilleux Choral et variations instead of practicing the Scriabin. This led me to completely revamp my program to a French-themed program (Franck, Lili Boulanger, and Dutilleux). My teacher took one look on March 21 and said "no one at the retirement home will know anything you're playing. Have you learned Clair de lune before?". I hadn't, and so I had 10 days to learn it for tonight.

The final program:

  • Lili Boulanger - D'un vieux jardin
  • Franck-Bauer - Prélude, fugue et variation
  • Dutilleux - Piano Sonata: iii. Choral et variations
  • Debussy - Clair de lune

I like the program a lot and definitely want to do it more justice another time when I've had a little more time to prepare.

"You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."

    TheBoringPianist My teacher took one look on March 21 and said "no one at the retirement home will know anything you're playing. Have you learned Clair de lune before?"

    Oh my gosh! We should start a thread, something like “teachers say the darndest things!”

    Anyway, thank you for sharing this video, I have a little block of time this morning so I’ll give a listen. 🙂

      @TheBoringPianist ok I watched your recital video! Very nice! I love the program, I didn't know any of the pieces except for the Debussy, but I really liked the whole program and I thought the pieces worked very nicely together!

      Also, re @twocats memorization thread.... Did you memorize that Debussy piece in 10 days?? Yikes!!!

      Anyway, bravo, really well done!!

        ShiroKuro Did you memorize that Debussy piece in 10 days?? Yikes!!!

        😮😮😮

          Very nice! I think it was a really good idea to include Clair de Lune as the other pieces were great but not as accessible to a casual audience.

          I can't believe you pulled it off in 10 days! I'm sure the audience didn't care about the memory slips. It's making me feel better about my "accidental" concert tomorrow where I wasn't at all prepared last week-- it wasn't accidental that I signed up at the last minute when someone told me about it but I didn't realize until after that it was a real (but low-stakes) concert! At least I'll be playing off sheet music 🙂

          ShiroKuro Did you memorize that Debussy piece in 10 days?? Yikes!!!

          I kind of had it memorized in 2 days (it helps that it's such a well-known piece that I've obviously heard it all my life), but knowing it in my head and knowing it in my fingers are different, and it still hadn't really settled into my fingers even on the day of the recital.

          "You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."

              ShiroKuro Also what a nice space that is 😊

              yeah I was really surprised at how nice the space and the piano were for a retirement community! They even had a green room where they would pipe in the sound from the stage.

              "You're a smart kid. But your playing is terribly dull."

                  TheBoringPianist yeah I was really surprised at how nice the space and the piano were for a retirement community! They even had a green room where they would pipe in the sound from the stage.

                  Wow!! That's fancy! Do you remember what kind of piano it was?

                  It looks like theater style seating, they must do a lot of events there.

                  When I played at a retirement center last Nov., the piano was decidedly mediocre. 😃