2017-01-15

【Aiden in English】

        I think I’ve failed one too many times on this single piano piece to count. Funny thing is, I just continuously mess up at the most unexpected part. Not that the times before mattered, but this time particular try was quite different. It counted for something more than our self-evaluation. I say “our” because it is the duo piano Mozart piece that I’ve been practicing for nearly half a year now.

        The Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448 3rd Movement by Mozart contained some of the worst performance moments in my career. Twice, I messed up on memory, and twice more I simply played incorrect notes. In earlier performances, there wasn’t much on the line. My partner and I may basically be embarrassed, but our teacher always had the hope that these lessons, when the real deal arrived, we would be ready. “Ready for what?” Well, there is a competition for concertos and duo pieces that are hosted by the local Philadelphia Music Teachers Association, and according to my teacher, it is very difficult to win.

        Truthfully, we never were quite “ready”. No, I think we practiced enough together, and the teamwork was there. I just didn’t think we were mentally prepared enough. Playing on your own is very easy, so to speak. You don’t have to worry about the other person or worry about following up on a strict time.

        When there are two people playing the same song, here’s how I see it. You have four hands, so there are two times the possibility of messing up. Because there are two people and not one, the second piano part must always look at the first piano for time and cues, especially after long periods of rest. Also, since the parts can’t fight each other, one of the piano parts must always be quiet. With all of these factors, there was just so much to think about before the competition.

        The grading sheet is a single piece of paper, with scores out of ten on the accuracy, phrasing, and all the basic terms of music. Upon reading the categories, I felt pretty good. Then, when I sat down at the piano, my mind went blank, and the first note I played … was wrong.

        I guess it’s true about how music connects people. Well, my partner later also screwed in a fairly simple area. Funny how nervous energy can chain through people. And once again, I messed up, and so did he. Overall, it was a disaster, much worse than the other performance.

        At the end of the day, we had a good laugh. I think the experience was really important because I couldn’t continue to succeed forever. However, it was still very embarrassing nevertheless.

【红霞译文】

        我自以为弹不好这首钢琴曲子，滑稽的是最不该失误的地方却偏偏老出问题，暂且不谈之前毛病，今天的表演又撺掇出不同新花样，比咱们自我估算的更荒诞，这里我拿“咱们”说事，因为过去近乎半年以来我一直练习莫扎特双钢琴二重奏。

        莫扎特的《D大调双钢琴奏鸣曲作品K448第三乐章》渗透着本人钢琴生涯里最为难堪的一段表演经历：两度忘谱，两次错键，过去演出时从未有过类似问题，让我和搭档深感难堪，但老师倒期待我俩从中汲取教训，为实战做好准备。“准备什么？”用我钢琴老师的话来讲，想要在当地费城音乐教师协会主办的协奏曲和二重奏比赛上获胜谈何容易。

        论真格的，我俩这辈子甭想做好“准备”。不对，我认为彼此共同练琴时间不少，业已树立团队意识，只是双方缺乏足够的精神准备。这么说吧，两人若各练各的非常容易，你既用不着担心外人，也无需考虑合拍问题。

        在我看来，当两人合奏同一首乐曲，也就是四只手联弹，出错的概率随之成倍增加，毕竟双人不同于单人，第二钢琴必须始终配合第一钢琴，尤其在很长休止之后。两架钢琴不能相互较劲，其中一个非轻弹不可，除了这些要素，比赛前还有很多东西需要考虑。

        评分表不过为一页纸而已，准确性、乐句性以及音乐基本元素均在评判范围之中，所列各项按十分计。看完之后，我感觉尚好，可一旦坐到钢琴前，我脑袋瓜一下子懵了，第一个音符……弹错了位置。

        我觉得音乐的魅力在于把大家联系在一起，是啊，没过多久我的搭档也在小河沟里翻船，神经能竟引起人间如此连锁反应，实在好笑。接下来我再次失手，而他又紧步后尘，总而言之，这次表演真是一场史无前例的磨难。

        演出结束后，我俩一笑了之，凡事重在参与，毕竟我不可能总是一帆风顺，然而今天场上表现确实令人尴尬。

Crosslinks(相关博文)：

2016 Recital @ Dorothy Sutton Music Fest(音乐教师节汇报演出)

2013年音乐教师节(2013 Dorothy Sutton Music Fest)

2011年钢琴考级与音乐教师节(2011 Dorothy Sutton Music Fest)