Least flashiest/technically demanding concerto in the repertoire?

[KevinP]

Something I was thinking about while driving in today. Granted, it may be hard to assess the difficulty of a violin part is compared to a piano part.


'In the repertoire', so it must be a piece played with some degree of regularity. No Albrechtsberger jaw harp concerto. :-)

'Sounds relatively easy' (as opposed to 'actually fairly easy') answers welcomed.

Any ideas?

I'm kinda leaning towards a (non-Jew/jaw) harp concerto.

[Karl Henning]

Offhand, and in no way a denigration of the music: Mozart. Compared to practically any concerti from Beethoven on, the least extroverted in the repertory.

[Luke]

Shostakovich 2nd piano concerto

[Brian]

I've been told by an organist that any decent student can play the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony after just a few years. The part is mostly voicing and sustaining massive chords, rather than running the fingers and feet all up and down the keys and pedals.

[Spotted Horses]

I've been told by an organist that any decent student can play the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony after just a few years. The part is mostly voicing and sustaining massive chords, rather than running the fingers and feet all up and down the keys and pedals.

Are we including organ parts in orchestral music. Also spract Zarathustra. In Karajan's WPO recording it was reportedly played by John Culshaw.

[Brian]

Are we including organ parts in orchestral music. Also spract Zarathustra. In Karajan's WPO recording it was reportedly played by John Culshaw.

My thinking was that the Saint-Saens was more soloistic - not really a concerto but not really just a background instrument either. I was curious about your anecdote and looked it up, and must offer a correction (but it comes from a place of curiosity and interest!): John Culshaw produced the album, but a different Decca producer, Ray Minshull, reportedly played the organ. Minshull did the Dorati Haydn cycle and Mackerras Janacek operas among other things. Recording reissue credits, comment section here mentioning Culshaw's memoir, info about Minshull (not including his organ credit).

[atardecer]

Sometimes works that are not flashy are difficult to perform, and works that sound flashy less difficult than they sound.

The Dvořák piano concerto is not flashy but some say is difficult to play. I think it is a similar thing with the Mozart, a lot of pianists find Mozart difficult to perform well. Brahms also comes to mind here.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I've been told by an organist that any decent student can play the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony after just a few years. The part is mostly voicing and sustaining massive chords, rather than running the fingers and feet all up and down the keys and pedals.

But it's not a concerto.

If I understand the question right, I'm thinking the Schumann Piano. One pianist told me the cadenza was the easiest she knew.

[Jo498]

At least some Mozart was flashy for its time. The Haydn D major is standard rep and sounds to me easier than Mozart. I don't know anything about piano playing but as has been said, flashy and technically demanding are different features. The Reger concertos are not flashy either but not easy.

[Holden]

Probably a Mozart piano concerto and K467 comes to mind. Possibly some of the earlier ones were even easier.

[(poco) Sforzando]

At least some Mozart was flashy for its time. The Haydn D major is standard rep and sounds to me easier than Mozart. I don't know anything about piano playing but as has been said, flashy and technically demanding are different features. The Reger concertos are not flashy either but not easy.

The Haydn D major is quite easy to play, as concertos go.

[DavidW]

I'm surprised at how often Mozart is being mentioned, his music is definitely flashy.  Remember that in baroque and classical era there was an expectation for a soloist to go above and beyond what is in the score.  But even if it is played too straight, Mozart is still far more showy than Haydn.

My first thought were to Aho's concertos, especially the double bass.  His soloists can sometimes almost disappear into the music... but it breaks the rule, his music isn't frequently played.

[DaveF]

Not (yet) a repertoire piece, but Cassandra Miller's Duet for cello and orchestra requires the soloist to play just the open G and D strings for about 25 of the piece's 30 minutes.

I'd heard that the Bartók 3rd concerto was relatively easy, having been written for his wife who was not a virtuoso pianist - but now can't find any mention of her limited ability; indeed find references to her playing the Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion!  But the concerto certainly sounds a lot simpler than the first two.

[Karl Henning]

Maybe splitting hairs, but Haydn piano concerti are so seldom programmed, I didn't consider them in my reply.

[Karl Henning]

Not (yet) a repertoire piece, but Cassandra Miller's Duet for cello and orchestra requires the soloist to play just the open G and D strings for about 25 of the piece's 30 minutes.

That cannot be particularly gratifying for a cellist.

[DaveF]

That cannot be particularly gratifying for a cellist.

Indeed, Paganini's disappointment at seeing the solo part of Harold en Italie (hey, there's another piece for the list) can have been as nothing compared to that of Charles Curtis, who premiered the Duet.

Although, in fact, it's quite and interesting piece, and the soloist does at least get to show off with some wild harmonics in the last 5 minutes.  The first 5, on the other hand, go like this:

[Spotted Horses]

My thinking was that the Saint-Saens was more soloistic - not really a concerto but not really just a background instrument either. I was curious about your anecdote and looked it up, and must offer a correction (but it comes from a place of curiosity and interest!): John Culshaw produced the album, but a different Decca producer, Ray Minshull, reportedly played the organ. Minshull did the Dorati Haydn cycle and Mackerras Janacek operas among other things. Recording reissue credits, comment section here mentioning Culshaw's memoir, info about Minshull (not including his organ credit).

To belabor the point, if you are counting "organ symphonies" there is also Bax 2.

[Luke]

I'd heard that the Bartók 3rd concerto was relatively easy, having been written for his wife who was not a virtuoso pianist - but now can't find any mention of her limited ability; indeed find references to her playing the Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion!  But the concerto certainly sounds a lot simpler than the first two.

This is correct, and it is. The other two are cruelly difficult; the third is relatively straightforward but has the occasional tricky passage.

[Luke]

But it's not a concerto.

If I understand the question right, I'm thinking the Schumann Piano. One pianist told me the cadenza was the easiest she knew.

I've played the Schumann in concert, which tells you how easy it is. The cadenza, like that of Shostakovich 2, is easily sight-readable.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Let me add the slow movement of the Grieg, though the outer movements have their challenges. The cadenza however sounds harder than it is.

The opening theme in octaves of the Rach 3 is pretty easy; it's just the remaining 45 minutes -