Prokofievs 3rd Concerto- YIKES!

A while back we had a debate here on the hardest Concerto to play and I remember Prok 3 coming up in many posts.

Well yesterday I got the CD with Prokofiev himself playing and I must say I can understand where you all were coming from. I can see how this is arguably the most difficult.

I liked it somewhat, but is is kinda new so I need to give it time to sink in. Definitely different from my typical interest. But very compelling all the same.

I have to say I am surprised people considered Prokofiev 3rd the hardest... I played it several years ago and, though definitely difficult, I never imagined it being labeled as the most difficult concerto ever written. Needless to say the whole concept of 'which is hardest' is relative and therefore there is no absolute answer. I find it much more difficult to convincingly pull off a Mozart Concerto than Prokofiev 3. And regarding technical difficulty, I'd be surprised if Prokofiev's 2nd piano concerto isn't even harder. Definitely requires more stamina.

I'm glad you are getting acquainted with the concerto, it really is one of the greats for the piano.

Elena www.concertpianist.com

It has its moments; notably the double note arpeggios in the third movement which are really really awkward to play. Also the awkward scales and long passages with loads of hand crossing.

No way the Prok 3rd is the most difficult to play, period. I heard the Ligeti Concerto mentioned; I'll buy that in spades. Also, the first movement of the Bartok Second Concerto is almost unplayable. But even focusing on Prokofiev, the 2nd concerto has got to be the toughest.

Prokofiev, by the way, played it faster than anybody. The next-fastest recording I've got is four minutes slower.

says...

My 2 cents: of the 5 Prokofievs, the 5th is the most difficult, 2nd is next most, 3rd next, and it's a toss-up between 1 and 4 although that's a weird comparison to make between a two-hand and a left-hand only concerto.

I can trust you to have played them, so what makes the 5th so difficult IYO? It doesn't sound too bad. (Then, neither does the Hammerklavier.)

A good friend of mine played the first movement of Prok 2 in a performance the other day.

Wow. What a piece!!! It was a total revelation. I'm very familiar with the 3rd and vaguely so with the first, but the second is just incredible! IMO clearly more difficult than no. 3, but not nearly as flashy... which I guess makes it even harder, really. But my friend (a magnificent young pianist who I have no doubt will go very, very far... I used to think I could compete with him but he's gotten to a stage where we all know he's in another league- not to put ourselves down, but this kid's GOOD. World-class good.) played it absolutely magnificently. I was lost for words... I get the impression that Prok 2, when done well, is more spellbinding than either 3 or 1... I was most certainly spellbound in this performance.

Rubberband Girl

Prokofiev 2 is my favorite all-time concerto and one of my dreams to learn, though I've never gotten around to it and now that I'm with this duo thing, well, it will have to wait. But it is such a varied, stunning, emotional, and at times disturbing piece that after all these years I still get goosebumps when I hear it. Certainly underperfomred in my opinion, though it requires such stamina (40 minutes long) that I'm not surprised few people play it in concert.

Elena www.concertpianist.com

Ashkenazy's is 35 minutes. But then, that's Ashkenazy. I adore the way the piano enters in the first movement, one of those totally lonely themes, and it's even better when that theme returns after the cadenza and that frightening orchestral interlude. It's the only one of Prokofiev's PCs that is introverted rather than extroverted, and I really wish he had written more in that mode.