Mozart flute and harp concerto

[laura-smithburg-byrne]

Fearghal,
I don’t know where my flutist got the cadenzas other than while he was in Austria. Paul Badura-Skoda is a very famous pianist and composer. I suggest you do some research of your own, if you go to his web-site http://www.badura-skoda.com you might be able to find some resources. Consider the venue of your performance and whether your audience would appreciate a more historically stylistic cadenza, or a more modern realisation that showcases virtuoso chops on a modern harp. When I was in conservatory we all learned the Reinecke and that is what we performed, regardless of whether our flutists liked it. Today there are so many more options available to the harpist who really seeks them out. You need to listen to some respected recordings and study the cadenzas to make an intelligent decision. I strongly suggest you ask for advice from your teacher or another professional harpist with whom you may be coaching. Ultimately you need to pick the cadenzas that you and your flutist like the best. I hope you have plenty of time to prepare it because it is far more difficult than it appears. In the end it is tempo that you must control because the flutist or the orchestra will often want to go faster than the harpist can play. The best performances are when the soloists and the conductor are in accord with one another so Mozart’s concerto speaks as a collaboration of virtuosos and not a battle over tempo.
You may need to gently remind them of all the notes you have to play in comparison to their part. I used to joke to my flutist that his part was a “walk in the park” while I was “climbing Mt. Everest” in a gown and high heels! If you can agree on your tempos and stick to them, the brilliance of Mozart will shine through and you will have a fine performance. Good luck!

[Fearghal McCartan]

Thanks. I have been well warned about tempos with the work!!! I’m not intending on going faster than the fingers can deal with and then failing half-way through. I have about a year to prepare so I should be fine. I have already started on the 1st movement and will be working through each one systematically. I agree with the difficulty level. I have heard it a good many times now and always have a score with me to jot down anything I hear that appeals to me/areas where work will need done. Do you know of any recordings with the Badura-Skoda cadenzas? I have looked on his website but can’t see the Mozart there. Also, which recordings are considered to be the best to listen to as there are soooooo many out there now. I have experienced this prob. before when looking for Nutcracker and Swan Lake solos.

Thankfully the flautist & I know each other well and we have played together a good bit now. We are both in the same uni and in 5 of the same orchestras so meet up often! We should be able to sort out tempos without me having to cower behind the harp etc

In looking over the work so far I would indeed agree with your

[mr-s]

the

[julia-reth]

120 is a normal tempo, not too fast. The same for 60 at the second movement.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I play the Mozart from the original, but I use a lot of Salzedo’s clever fingerings. I did the one-handed trills in the second movement. I have used both the Reinecke and the Rota cadenzas, sticking with the same composer for each performance. It is not unusual for people to cherry-pick cadenzas from different composers for different movements, but they should not be of glaringly different styles. I don’t think there are any errata in the original.

[mr-s]

Hi Dear Elizabeth, tell me please Nina Rota cadenzas only written for 1st and 2nd movements? i play it but no 3rd, and in wich tempo you play? lets say on electric Metronome.

[Fearghal McCartan]

When you say the original edtion – do you mean Breitkopf’s Urtext edition or is there another edition by a different publisher that is considered better? I have had the Breitkopf recommended a good few times now and should have my copy by tomorrow – along with a few different cadenzas to try out.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I have the score and harp part from Luck’s Music Library. Also, Basel, I cannot locate my Rota cadenzas! I loaned them to someone, and they were not returned.

[Mel Sandberg]

Fearghal, for what it’s worth to you, when I had to learn this the first time, I had to do it in 2 months.

[Fearghal McCartan]

Yoiks! First of all – well done! Secondly – hope that never happens again!

I’m so glad this site is here. I’ve been on it for a few years now but until coming to uni never really needed such a great resource to help me. Before uni I only played a couple of pieces with one orch a year – now I am playing with eight orchestras (a ninth has asked me to join this year) and have played over 35 works in my first 2 years of uni. For all that I’m not even studying music!

The ‘flute and harp’ has been something I’ve always wanted to play so I’m going to give this everything I’ve got. Again, I’m just glad that HarpColumn is here – it was the first place I turned to.

Happy harping!

Fearghal

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I hate to hear how European harpists pressure each other to only use certain editions and not others. The

[Fearghal McCartan]

Just a wee update – I am having issues getting the Breitkopf edition but currently have the Barenreiter Urtext edition along with the Nino Rota cadenzas and the Reinecke cadenzas – plenty of work for the Christmas Hols methinks.

[Fearghal McCartan]

The Rota cadenzas are for all 3 movements (Salvi Pub. 1982)

[Alison]

I’ll join in here, as I have also just been asked to play the Mozart for the next concert, I hesitated and then wisely declined, saying possibly for a future workshop. I am going to take my time over this, whilst I can play excerpts, I can see that performing this and the stamina required would be a different ball game and your comments have confirmed this. I have a copy of the Breitkopf Hartel parts and piano reduction from 30 years ago, haven’t thought about cadenzas and so all of your

[Janna B.]

It has been a long time since I’ve been on these forums, but I found this one while searching for a recording of the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with Salzedo’s Cadenza.

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