When a famous soloist plays 2 days consecutively, which one should you choose?

October 13, 2018, 7:03 AM · So many of the top soloists are touring the world with a few set programs. I think it would be a "roll of the dice." One performance might be better than the other, but you can't predict if or which.

Chances are whichever one you attend will seem amazing. That's what I think.

October 13, 2018, 7:21 AM · The great soloists did not get to where they are by being inconsistent. Go whichever evening fits your personal schedule the best. It will be amazing.

October 13, 2018, 11:34 AM · None of you favor one choice over the other?

From a "student" perspective, I feel that the first day is the best one. If I'm the soloist and I go to Paris to play Bruch concerto Saturday and Sunday, same hour, same orchestra, I think the first day is "the one" since it's all new and fresh, it's like the inauguration day of something, of a restaurant, which is more intense than the rest, it's like a big celebration. Something like that, applied to a soloist.

In the other hand, one could say the the second one is the best one because the soloist is used to the situation, there are less nerves, more control of the situation, the scenario and place is already known... It's a walked path, easier presumably, so you can expect more action.

These are the 2 hypothesis I think of. I thought you guys would have different opinions about which one is the best, hahaha. I'm sure I'm gonna be blown away, either day, but wanted to see first day defenders vs second day defenders.

October 13, 2018, 11:39 AM · If soloist X has performed the Brahms concerto 50 times, # 51 will not be a problem. In the L.A. recording studios we had the saying; "second take jinx". Take one is flawed, take two is always worse, the third or fourth might be good enough to keep, and after about 10, it gets worn out, stale, gets worse.

October 13, 2018, 12:01 PM · Both!

October 13, 2018, 1:53 PM · The feelings a student may have about performing a solo on stage are not remotely related to how a famous soloist, one for whom this is their career, feels about performing a solo on stage. Nerves/comfort level/experience were all taken care of years ago.

Seriously, a soloist for whom there is a measurable change in quality of performance from night one to night two is a soloist whose career is going to be very short, because nobody is going to invite them back for a repeat performance.

October 13, 2018, 4:49 PM · OK, so if you were to go, your answer is I wouldn't care which day. I wasn't expecting that answer, but, hahaha, it's fine. I thought, as I said, some of you would take one day over the other for any reason, and these reasons were what I wanted to read so I could clear up my mind, because now I'm 50/50. Actually I lean to the first day option just because it's the "inauguration" day.

October 13, 2018, 5:54 PM · I saw the Perlman recital in Toronto with a friend a while back. He plays the same encores at every performance, but they're still awesome.

October 13, 2018, 10:27 PM · If Perlman played a recital and didn't include "Schindler's List" among his encores, people would be asking for their money back.