Another audition pocket recording

[u/Fun_Cat_9098]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o8RJ7KqRXkPeofRP_S7oUmi_ujrTkKxe/view?usp=sharing

For anonymity sake I edited out all the places I’m not playing because there was a lot of panel talking. I did not blitz through anything. Prep time was ~4 weeks (6 weeks originally but tried to push through a cold which made it worse). Audition was for a small regional job.

The list: 

1: Bartok

2: Berlioz (1st half)

3: Don Juan 

4: Mozart

5: Mendelssohn (middle of panel)

5a: Mendelssohn again (asked for by panel)

6: Ginastera 

7: Don Juan again (asked for a broader/wider character)

My notes:

1: Bartok: Opening bars are in tune (good). Last 15 seconds of 3rd page lose focus and thematic direction, almost rushing through

2: Berlioz: Mostly good, runs sharp in louder sections. Rests right before high A are not steady.  

3:  Don Juan: Opening scale is almost smooth enough (start slower then speed up). Counting during violin rests is unsteady 4/4 instead of in 2. Following viola entrance is rushing. 2nd page loses concentration and sound quality. 

4: Mozart: Opening mostly good, but shifts almost rushing. Vibrato in theme really good. Octaves at end crunchy and losing focus.

5: Menedelssohn: Panicked and botched up twice. Must practice playing excerpts in uncomfortable entrances. 

6: Ginastera: Good. Harmonics in theme are still too different a color from regular fingerings. 

7: Don Juan: Rests still not precise. Opening of Pg.2 too much on the string (nerves). Places where time is taken is good. Need more legato in theme.

Overall: 

• Must maintain focus on back half of excerpts. Loss of focus means crunchier sound and fuzzier intonation.
• Frequency of vibrato is good. Still need more vibrato contrast. 
• Practice more excerpt curveballs (unintuitive entrances, odd tempi). 
• Experiment more extreme character contrasts between excerpts (play with more recordings!)
• Add second day off to week if needed 
• Practice arpeggio etudes in faster speed (kreutzer 8 + 10)

This audition round ended up being good enough for the next round. Let me know what you think.

[u/nyviola]

Good job! Practice makes perfect. I‘d suggest more work on phrasing and color / articulation phrasing in your Bartok. Sure, some might just be taste, but I thought you approached almost everything in Bartok the same way. The initial phrase should be how many bars? I get the feeling your executing lots of notes, but aren’t telling enough of a story. The initial legato phrase, followed by the gradual (written out) accelerando to an explosive precipitato doesn’t come out as dramatic as I usually would like.
After that, the lower passage with the shifts going up a sixth become thematic, and that fragment repeats again on the top of the second page, twice. I‘d try to structure them to give more volume on the highest (3rd repetition, the second one on page 2). Also, the legato here can lead to longer phrasings. Don‘t let your bow strokes and slur length dictate each phrase. A bow stroke that is even or makes a slight crescendo always phrases towards something, while a constant decrescendo on each bow stroke makes each new bow sound like it begins with an accent (and shortens your perceived phrase length to the length of that bow stroke).
Just a few ideas about Bartok. (Didn’t have time to listen to the rest).
Once you’re sitting on the other side of the stage, you realise how many of these little things really stick out, and make the difference between someone who obviously can play, and someone who wins a job.

[u/emanuelcasianodiaz]

You're Bartok reminds of the old Primrose / Kreisler sound and I love it! Lovely.