March 30, 2005
This weekend is a performance of the Beethoven First Piano Concerto, dress rehearsal is tonight, so for the past few days my creative energies have been going into preparation for that event. There will be two performances, Sat. eve and Sunday afternoon. After that, I'll take two days off from practice, and then devote my full energies to the solo Beethoven recital. So you can expect my Moonlight entries to pick up from next week until the performance itself on April 24.
It is extremely important to acquire (and this comes only with experience) the ability to know when to 'stop' preparation for a performance. The fact that I have to interrupt my preparation for one program to concentrate temporarily on another is not a tragedy, but rather an opportunity. It is always a pleasant surprise to leave a program for a few days, and then go back to it and discover that some things have improved 'on their own.' What I think is happening is that we are unconsciously integrating the material we've acquired, and the rest time really allows our brains time to absorb all that material we've been putting into it.
I have spent a moment here and there in the past week playing 'knotty' spots in the program - places where a sense of insecurity still lurks. And on one or two occasions I've played the last movement of the Moonlight, just to see where it is. As the last movement is the freshest item on the menu for April 24, it deserves occasional visits. But even it will be ignored until next Wednesday.
I've learned over the years that there is a danger in compulsive, over-practicing. We can get so obsessed with perfection that we begin to neurotically focus on our mistakes, getting 'hung up' on tough spots, technical challenges, and ignoring the music that is to be made. If I have any pangs of conscience over the next few days, I may take the scores and read them away from the piano. But this backing off period is really a good thing. That much I've learned from experience.
So I'll be back at it next week. On the agenda when I return:
1. trying out entire movements in the 'no stopping/performance' mode
2. arranging to play the entire program for friends, and willing listeners on a variety of pianos, including my piano here at my home studio, and and the homes of friends and music lovers.
3. spending an increasing amount of time away from the piano, looking at the score, and thinking through the music.
(I already notice that I can 'think through' a good deal of the program just after I wake up in the morning - my musical imagination is particularly strong then)