# What Is the Easiest Piano Concerto?



## baroque flute

I am wondering what the easiest piano concertos are, because I'm at a point now where I may be ready for an easier one. Would that be one of Mozart's, or not? (I prefer one from the 1600's or 1700's).


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## Daniel

Mozart? Definately not. Mozart is one of the hardest! Though you don't imagine that looking to the score. I am working on the C-major concert no, 21 ("Elvira Madigan") right now. Mozart is sooooo hard to articulate and every little mistake hurts you and your audience.

What is an easy concert? Hard to decide. I would propose maybe Johann Christian Bach, some Haydn so called Divertimenti for piano and (string)orchestra.  maybe some others will come to my mind later....

Mozart would be also good to start in that point that you would have it in ear and that helps much during practising. And you might love the concerts more...You musn't play it perfect or in a concert, so dare to choose some Mozart.  

Will your teacher accompeigne you on a second piano with the piano reduction?


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## baroque flute

I would play along with MIDI.


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## Harvey

I do no recommend that. It will hurt your interpretation.


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## 009

> *Mozart? Definately not. Mozart is one of the hardest! Though you don't imagine that looking to the score. I am working on the C-major concert no, 21 ("Elvira Madigan") right now. Mozart is sooooo hard to articulate and every little mistake hurts you and your audience.*


Yes! I agree. Have u heard of the saying that 'it's easier for a child to play Mozart rather than an adult'?
With Mozart, things must be crystal clear, transparent, yet crisp and light at the same time. It's really difficult to do all that , unless yr born with the 'Mozartian' touch. U can practice like hell, and still not get the correct sound. I always avoid playing Mozart for concerts. Yr audience can tell whether yr a Mozart player with just 1 touch of the keys. And Mozart's linear feel is difficulty to sustain...u see how the phrases are short, yet linked to one another in a big continuous flow...This's what's called Musical Continuity. It's awfully hard to do, without having 1 phrase or note suddenly isolated from the others. For Mozart, the music has to speak in a most natural and effortless way, and it's quite impossible for 90% of the pianist population...caz as adults, we tend to make everything too deliberate and elaborative.
If yr exceptionally good at Mozart, congrats! It's an inborn trait.


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## LiLi

That was a beautiful description of Mozart 
I dont have a lot of experience playing concertos, but my first was by Haydn, in D Major (i think, I'm too lazy to get up and check  ). I don't remember it being difficult, and it has some nice moments. I remember liking the slow movement.


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## Zombo

try Kabalevsky's Piano Concerto No. 3

it's meant to be played by students and it's still impressive.


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## YsayeOp.27#6

You could take a look at Bach's F minor Concerto.


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## PiAnO

Do you think that mozart's concertos are harder to play in terms of technique or the interpreting part?
Is Mozart concerto harder than Chopin?


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## YsayeOp.27#6

baroque flute said:


> I am wondering what the easiest piano concertos are, because I'm at a *point *now where I may be ready for an easier one. Would that be one of Mozart's, or not? (I prefer one from the 1600's or 1700's).


Why don't you ask your teacher?


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## David C Coleman

Can I draw your attention to this piece. The poster says it's the worst piano concerto ever written. Well that, of course is a matter of personal opinion.
But to my ears it's simple but attractive. Maybe it was a piece written specially for a student musician, who knows?...


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## Atabey

Both concertos by Shostakovich is quite light-fingered.They are still brilliant.


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## fox_druid

Mozart's concertos are difficult to play, it needs very swift and delicate touch

For me, my first concerto is Bach's Italian Concerto. It looks horrifying at first, but truly it's not that difficult.


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## Edward Elgar

Nobody has mentioned the Schumann A minor. The last mvt needs lots of attention but the first is very playable. You could sight-read the second mvt. This is one of my all-time favorites and works on it subtleties rather than impressive playing. I love it.

Last Thursday I performed the Mozart K.488. In the orchestra I must add! The pianist was Marisa Gupta and she was amazing. The concerto sounded simple enough, but to pull it off with refinement and measured brilliance takes a genius to do well. Even though Gupta's playing did the work justice, there was still some sly rubato in the first mvt, naughty naughty!


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## faraway

Beethoven's First and Grieg's Concertos are first that student can allow himself to play, in my opinion.



Edward Elgar said:


> Even though Gupta's playing did the work justice, there was still some sly rubato in the first mvt, naughty naughty!


Rubato is not allowed in Mozart's music? I thought, even in classical music (classical period) rubato is present.


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## Edward Elgar

faraway said:


> Beethoven's First and Grieg's Concertos are first that student can allow himself to play, in my opinion.
> 
> Rubato is not allowed in Mozart's music? I thought, even in classical music (classical period) rubato is present.


I never said rubato is not allowed! It's just that too much rubato in a Mozart concerto can lead to stylistic errors and a mood that I don't think Mozart was looking for.

Plus, if you think the Beethoven 1st and the Grieg are student material you are insane. They are probably the easiest of the popular concerti, which sounds as if that is the main bulk of your musical diet, but they are not as beneficial to a student learning concerti as say Bach, Mozart or Schumann.


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## faraway

Edward Elgar said:


> Plus, if you think the Beethoven 1st and the Grieg are student material you are insane. They are probably the easiest of the popular concerti, which sounds as if that is the main bulk of your musical diet, but they are not as beneficial to a student learning concerti as say Bach, Mozart or Schumann.


It depends of the difficulty that you consider. Beethoven's First and Grieg's concertos are technical and relatively more comprehensive psychologically, easier to play emotionnally.
Bach's and Mozart's are extremely difficult in that way. They demand you to sacrifice yourself, to put all your consentration on a form and structure. The personal aspect is less present, that's not romantic music and the way it was written is different.
On the other hand, Schumann's music is too emotional, too inimate and not many musicians at student age can really understand it. I think students can play his works for solo piano, but concertos are priceless and could be ruined (it is extremely difficult to correct errors in a piece if you studied it a lot). I don't say that solo pieces are less emotionally intensive that concertos (I guess, it's the contrary), but concerto demands a lot of work of another kind.


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## Edward Elgar

So, you're saying that Grieg is less of a structural and emotional composition than the Schumann? I think it's best for the concert pianists to decide matters that!


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## faraway

> So, you're saying that Grieg is less of a structural and emotional composition than the Schumann?


No, I don's say about the concerto as it is, but about playing it. I think, Grieg is more "forgivable" about an immature playing, than Schumann.



> I think it's best for the concert pianists to decide matters that!


Here, I'm not agree with you. Everybody has a right to an opinion. Music is too subjective. What we do here is exchanging our opinions. 
You said, concert pianists? I don't know iif you know, there are many wonderful musicians that could be concert pianists and have everything for that except a luck or money. It depends also of the country that you live in. Personally, I know the situaion in Russia and Ukraine nowadays. So many talented students just don't have enough of money to participate in competitions or even to continue studies. And so much corruption... 
So I don't think that good pianists are only concert pianists.


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## PiAnO

so mozart's concertos are harder to interpret because you have to understand the structure of the piece and it's not easy to bring out its emotions? 
i'm actually playing mozart's concerto no.20 in d min, i find his darker pieces harder to play than his happier ones....


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## YsayeOp.27#6

faraway said:


> but concerto demands a lot of work of another kind.


Which kind?


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## Edward Elgar

Hi PiAnO, I was learning the D minor, how awesome is that piece?! I've discontinued it though so I can build up my repetoire. I'm going to try and learn the Schumann instead for my first concerto because some of those runs in the Mozart are ball-busters! What else do you play?


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## PiAnO

Hi Edward, i'm going to play this concerto with the orchestra soon, but i somehow still think that there's something more to the piece to be understood, and i don't know what it is....i think it's not technically difficult for me but the slow parts are really hard to be played without any random accents or rushed notes.
im not playing any other concertos right now because i'm focusing on my solo repertoires


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## faraway

PiAnO said:


> so mozart's concertos are harder to interpret because you have to understand the structure of the piece and it's not easy to bring out its emotions?
> i'm actually playing mozart's concerto no.20 in d min, i find his darker pieces harder to play than his happier ones....


Mozart, I find it particularly difficult. I don't know how to explain it. Mozart is like... asexual  
Liszt in his music is masculine. 
Chopin more feminine.
And Mozart is just like a general meaning of life, an embryo, a child xD
This is my perception.
To play Mozart, you have to forget about yourself, even when you improvise it.


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## Edward Elgar

I see what U mean about sexes, yet I find Chopin's Polonaises the most masculine music I've ever played and Liszt has some incredible feminine passages in the B minor sonata. I think it was the romantic ideal to try to explore the extremes of the different emotions we tend to associate with gender. When exploring classical we need to get into the "classical" frame of mind and treat the work with the refinement and restraint that the social atmosphere of the time dictated.


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## faraway

Edward Elgar said:


> When exploring classical we need to get into the "classical" frame of mind and treat the work with the refinement and restraint that the social atmosphere of the time dictated.


You find it easier than to get into the "romantic" period?


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## Air

Edward Elgar said:


> Nobody has mentioned the Schumann A minor. The last mvt needs lots of attention but the first is very playable. You could sight-read the second mvt. This is one of my all-time favorites and works on it subtleties rather than impressive playing. I love it.


Let me clear something up about the Schumann. Though it is one of the most beautiful works of music in the repertoire, I would not suggest it as a first or even second piano concerto for beginners. It is deceptively tricky and takes style and attention to details to play it well. The third movement is a continuous passage that takes far more technical skill than those "runs" in Mozart's 20th.

It is very hard to massacre the Grieg or the Mendelssohn but very easy to massacre the Schumann.


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## howlingmadhowie

i'd say mozart is a good choice. it's not that difficult to hit the right notes and when it reaches a fast enough pace, his music can survive some pretty rough treatment. the slow movements are a different matter entirely, bit they tend to be technically easy enough to allow you to rescue it through musicality.


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## Bach

Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Concerto is very easy.. I learned and performed it after only a week of practice.


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## trazom

I actually attempted to learn a Mozart piano concerto; but after listening to it performed to utter perfection by Murray Perahia, I couldn't stand listening to myself play. LOL! But it helped me a lot, I think.


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## Ravellian

Shostakovich's 2nd piano concerto is very easy.. except for the third movement. maybe you can just learn the first two movements?


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## MJTTOMB

I'm gonna put my money on Rach 3 by the logic that the first few bars are pretty easy.


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## Rasa

Maybe the notes of some concertos are easy, but it doesn't account for the requirements of your general accomplishment as a pianist when it comes to creating the right sound. I daresay no concerto is easy in that aspect.


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## emiellucifuge

Dvoraks Piano Concerto.
After the premier he realised that he didnt have the skill to write virtuosic piano parts and it ended up being more like a 3 movement symphony for piano and orchestra.


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## daytonmlivingston

*Easiest Mozart Piano Concertos*

Because you sound like you really want to learn a Mozart piano concerto, I really reffer you to Piano Concertos No.1 and No.3. I am learning them from the Music Minus One Piano group's two cd deluxe set. I got mine used online from Borders for around $40. It is really cool, it comes with a practice cd and a performance cd (this cd just being the orchestra). But I really do suggest these two, they are perfect for a minor challenge for beginner pianists, and a good colletion for intermediate pianists to have.


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## Romantic Geek

Edward Elgar said:


> I never said rubato is not allowed! It's just that too much rubato in a Mozart concerto can lead to stylistic errors and a mood that I don't think Mozart was looking for.
> 
> Plus, if you think the Beethoven 1st and the Grieg are student material you are insane. They are probably the easiest of the popular concerti, which sounds as if that is the main bulk of your musical diet, but they are not as beneficial to a student learning concerti as say Bach, Mozart or Schumann.


The Grieg is usually known as a student Piano Concerto. It's not the "easiest" but it is by no means difficult either. Any serious piano student in college could probably play the Grieg fairly well.


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## Romantic Geek

MJTTOMB said:


> I'm gonna put my money on Rach 3 by the logic that the first few bars are pretty easy.


Yes...yes, that is exactly what I was thinking.


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## Lukecash12

Bach Concerto in D minor BWV1052. From a technical standpoint it isn't all that bad. That said, when it comes to phrasing, rhythmic drive, dynamics, it is complex:


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## Air

Lukecash12 said:


> Bach Concerto in D minor BWV1052. From a technical standpoint it isn't all that bad. That said, when it comes to phrasing, rhythmic drive, dynamics, it is complex:


A lot of elementary students get the BWV1056 too: 




Personally, I feel that the Grieg is the easiest of the "standard" concerti repertoire. Mozart isn't too difficult technically, but I wouldn't give his concerti to any of my students because they are just so damn hard to pull off.


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## alexjems41

Most of the Mozart piano concertos are towards the lower end of the difficulty spectrum. Bach d-minor would be a good choice too. I don't know of any romantic or modern concertos that are easy.


_________________________

I quote others only to better express myself


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## TWhite

baroque flute said:


> (I prefer one from the 1600's or 1700's).


Umm--you might want to try a slightly later period, say one after the piano had been invented, LOL!

The Haydn D Major is relatively easy and quite a bit of fun to play. You might also want to look at several 20th Century 'student' concertos, such as the Shostakovich 2nd (which he wrote for his teenage son). It's a quite delightful work, with a gorgeous second movement, but some tricky sections in the finale (mainly meter changes).

I really can't think of many 'Romantic' piano concertos that are relatively easy--that was the era of the "Showman" pianist, and concertos were written for both technical and musical display. Of the "Romantic" concertos, the Greig lies extremely well for the hand, though it entails some full-keyboard scale passages in both hands in the finale. The Schumann a-minor lies quite well, but there are very tricky passages in the first movment cadenza and almost the entire 'moto-perpetuo' finale. I wouldn't tackle it until you've gotten your feet wet with some easier piano-orchestral works.

Some of the early Mozart concerti are very grateful to play, and even one of his later ones, the A-Major K488, which is more of a 'chamber' concerto, offers a great deal of pleasure without undue technical difficulty--IF you're up on your 'scale' work.

My own reccomendations, in ascending level of difficulty, would be: 
Haydn--Concerto in D
Shostakovitch--2nd Piano Concerto
Mozart--Concerto in A Major, K488
Kabalevsky--Concerto in a minor, op. 9 (sounds harder than it actually is)
Grieg--Concerto in a minor (needs power and dexterity in the finale)
Schumann--Concerto in a minor (work up to it--VERY tricky finale)

Tom


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## tchaikovskyisgreat

Firstly I would ask your teacher, because your ability is a big factor in choosing a concerto!
My advice is to pick something from the classical period or a bit earlier. A Bach, Haydn or Mozart. Although many people seem to think that Mozart is 'easy', they are wrong! It requires a lot of hard work and a great amount of musical precision to pull off a Mozart Concerto. If I were you, I would stay far away from the Grieg and Schumann as others have suggested, leave them for a second concerto as they have both very technically and musically demanding passages, too great for a first attempt at a concerto. Hope this helped...


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## ElaineAbigayle

Grieg a-moll,bach f-moll,mocart (maybe N23?) ... id recommend Grieg


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## alissagiadagreen

I am just breaking in to teaching young and very advanced children. I want a select few of my students (ages 8-10)to learn a piano concerto in 2010.

I know Mozart and Haydn have some concertos suitable for young students. but which ones?

Which are the absolute easiest piano concertos?


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## Rasa

alissagiadagreen said:


> I am just breaking in to teaching young and very advanced children. I want a select few of my students (ages 8-10)to learn a piano concerto in 2010.


That doesn't seem like a very good idea, unless you're working with some very supertalented children.


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## teccomin

For popular concertos, Grieg and Schumann comes to mind. Technically manageable and not too hard to express emotionally.
If you are a good Chopinist and can play Chopin's ballads, Chopin's concertos should be fine too. But I feel that Chopin is really just for a small group of people who can really feel his music. I have been playing Chopin's 2nd for awhile and I never liked myself playing it. Like Mozart, Chopin is all about touch.
Ravel's concerto looks easy, but i haven't tried..


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## Air

teccomin said:


> For popular concertos...Schumann comes to mind. Technically manageable and not too hard to express emotionally.


Once again, not true. I've played both the Schumann and the Grieg, and the Schumann is _by far_ the harder of the two. In terms of difficulty, I'd probably put it between Saint-Saens' 2nd and Beethoven's 5th. Around the same level as LvB's 3rd and 4th is probably most accurate.

The Schumann is not one of the more difficult of the "great" concertos, but it is still far above the level of a "beginner" concerto, and in terms of musicality it is one of the hardest. i can only echo what TWhite says about "getting your feet wet" before even attempting this one. Please don't make me have nightmares about botched _Op. 54_ finales...


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## unaCorda

*Mozart's concerto*

Check out Mozart's KV 467 Piano Concerto in C - Part 2. The other parts are quite hard, but the second is easy. It was the first piano concerto piece I ever played.
If you know Music Minus One, they have sheet music of this piece, that comes with a CD, in which you can hear the orchestra playing without the piano, so that you can play along with the CD.  www.musicminusone.com


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## teccomin

Saint-Saen piano concertos look and sound easy, anyone tried them?


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## Air

teccomin said:


> Saint-Saen piano concertos look and sound easy, anyone tried them?


Well, they're no piece of cake. I'd say the 4th isn't too bad, and maybe the first movement of the 2nd (the passages here are more predictable). But when we get to the _Allegro Scherzando_ or the _Presto_, it's a completely different story. I haven't tried the _Egyptian_ yet, but my general impression from listening to it is that it isn't a walk in the park either.


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## chrisg

Have a wack at Chopin or Rachmaninoff 3 if you dare.


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## slgnesin

faraway said:


> Beethoven's First and Grieg's Concertos are first that student can allow himself to play, in my opinion.
> 
> Rubato is not allowed in Mozart's music? I thought, even in classical music (classical period) rubato is present.


agree with your opinion.even in some later works of Mozart have showed a bit features of romanticism already,not to mention Beethoven's.so rubato is absolutely present in classical music,even though not so frequently like romantic...


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## slgnesin

chrisg said:


> Have a wack at Chopin or Rachmaninoff 3 if you dare.


:lol::lol::lol:


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## Delicious Manager

Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto (actually, the first he wrote - it was published AFTER the 'first', however) is often cited as being one of the more manageable 'major' concertos for inexperienced pianists.


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## Huilunsoittaja

I noticed that quite a few people mentioned Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Concerto. It is quite simple, the 2nd movement especially, and quite beautiful.


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## Webernite

The Grieg can't be too difficult - Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Gieseking and Gould are all supposed to have sight-read it.

Edit: I say _supposed_. In the case of Rachmaninoff, I can't find any hard evidence that the story is true.


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## Op.123

Well... I my first piano concerto is Schumann's which I am still playing at the moment, the Grieg and Mozart's 20th are also fine.


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## hreichgott

Bach no. 4 is the easiest one I've played. It also exists as an oboe d'amore concerto and the piano is handled more like a melody instrument plus continuo, not nearly as much multi-voice counterpoint as most Bach for keyboard, which makes things easier. Also a very high ratio of Beauty to Show-off-iness. Of course, since it is still Bach, more advanced players can really make a meal out of it.

Bloch Concerto Grosso isn't bad either from a note-learning standpoint, but it is a little physically strenuous, so it's only "easy" if you're used to playing things with big loud chords


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## Phistachio

Prokofiev 2 is easy enough


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## Bix

Phistachio said:


> Prokofiev 2 is easy enough


:lol: yup I play that one whilst brushing my teeth


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## Skilmarilion

Webernite said:


> The Grieg can't be too difficult - Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Gieseking and Gould are all supposed to have sight-read it.


That says more about Liszt et al. than the Op. 16.


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## PetrB

There is, really, no such thing, including the famous 'kiddie concerto' the Kabalevsky, or any of the so designated "kiddie concerti" by Mozart or any other.

The standard retort to this question is: 
*Read them through for yourself, and see which has more inherent difficulties for you*, because no matter how even your technique or ability, one mode of thought, certain configurations, will be readily available to you upon fist reading, while another of equal ability will find them mentally or physically knotty.

Want to know which is the "easier" concerto? 
Read through it. 
Keep in mind the least of them requires another full-force attention, i.e. no matter how much solo "protagonist" the piano part is, it is still a concertante ensemble piece: you need mental chops as a chamber player as well.


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## DavidA

Phistachio said:


> Prokofiev 2 is easy enough


If you have ten sets of hands!


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## DavidA

I did once learn, after a fashion, the Beethoven 3 last movement. I also had a go at the Schumann but gave it up.

The fact is that concertos are by definition Virtuoso pieces. Hence they are meant to be difficult and tax the soloist. I don't think there is such a thing as a beginner concerto. After all, who is going to hire an orchestra to play with a beginner!


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## treeza

The Warsaw's not too bad.. It's not too long either. I recommend starting a second movement first because they're usually slower and easier....
It really depends on your strengths and weaknesses. Some could sight read a concerto better than someone at the same level who'd studied it extensively because it's better suited to them.
If you play Mozart fairly well then yes you'll find his concertos easier than some other concertos.
Some Beethoven ones aren't too difficult if you've done some of his harder sonatas.
Good luck!


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