Good Solos for College Auditions?

[AdmiralScreed]

Hi guys.
I wanted to ask you all if you could suggest some solo pieces that would be ideal for college auditions. The two schools I am most interested in are Curtis and Rice. I've recently revisited Koussevitzky; I polished up the last movement for solo competitions, and I am almost finished polishing up the first movement. I was considering playing the first movement for auditions, but when I came to these boards I discovered that Koussevitzky is pretty common for college auditions. Since I really want to go to Curtis or Rice, I think it would be in my best interests to play a more difficult piece, and something that not too many people play for college auditions. I was thinking of the Moses Variations or Vanhal, but I am not totally decided yet. I am currently a junior in high school, so I've got plenty of time to prepare for my auditions. So, what solo pieces would you all suggest?
Thank you all for your help!
Marty

[A Spotless Mind]

You can't go wrong with playing the Koussevitzky, Bottesini, or Vanhal concertos for college auditions. Usually colleges post what their rep is on their website, so see what Curtis and Rice ask for before you decide on anything. Then, pick something you enjoy playing and is well within your range. It's always better to play something extremely well within your range than to play something not very good that's harder and not in your range.

It's not about what you play, it's how you play it, especially for college auditions.

[AdmiralScreed]

As far as solos are concerned, Curtis asks for:

-a movement from one of the six cello suites by J. S. Bach (transcriptions permitted) or a solo work of the applicant’s choice

-the first two movements (with appropriate cadenzas included) of a major bass concerto or equivalent works that show the applicant’s abilities.

As far as the bass concerto is concerned, how do you think they would feel about one movement of a Bach cello suite, one movement of a bass concerto, and then a completely different solo piece along with those? In other words, replacing the first or second movement of a concerto with a piece like the Moses Variations, or playing a movement of one concerto and a movement of another concerto? Thoughts? I have plenty of time to make a final decision on all of this since I won't be auditioning until Spring 2013. Right now I am just brainstorming ideas.
I've got pretty much the entire Koussevitzky prepared, so if the two concerto movements HAD to be from the same concerto I could always fall back on that.
What are everyone's thoughts?

[thedbman4265]

Audition requirements are usually more like guidelines; they don't have to be followed exactly in most cases but that will vary by school. In general, you want to contrast your 2 solo pieces well if no requirements are specified but for a place like Curtis I don't know if you would want to stretch the listed rep too much. A solid audition could consist of 2 movements of Bottesini, Vanhal, or Koussevitzky and either a Prelude or dance movement of Bach. Playing 2 movements from different concertos doesn't make sense so I wouldn't do that if I was in your position. Good luck preparing!

[AdmiralScreed]

Sure thing. The only reason I thought it might be a good idea to choose movements from two different concertos would be because it would show that I can play in different styles equally well. Example: Vanhal is Classical and Bottessini is Romantic. But I see where you are coming from.

[sibass89]

I wouldn't worry about playing movements from different concertos. Your excerpts will give you a chance to demonstrate your playing ability for different stylistic periods.

As far as what pieces you should play - DO NOT try too hard to impress. It's a recurring theme in these threads (because it's true!) that the teacher/panel will be more impressed every time with a simple piece played at a very high level than a difficult piece at a lesser level. If there is one thing that experienced musicians take away from auditions, it's that there is nothing impressive about playing a difficult work. The only thing that is impressive is playing at a high level. I know many people who have been admitted to the best conservatories in the US playing pieces as simple as the Marcello and Vivaldi Sonatas at a high level.

I guess to sum up my little rant - if you are going to play a piece as difficult as the Moses Variations, it better be played flawlessly. Because playing a flawless Koussevitsky (or even Dragonetti) that shows mature bass playing is way more impressive than playing a sub-par Moses Fantasy.

[CButterfield]

There are definitely some good points being made here. I hear a lot of bass auditions (I'm the bass professor at the University of South Carolina) and the most common mistake is students playing pieces above their ability level, mostly because their teachers think the work is a good "audition piece", whatever that is. I'm not saying at all that this is the case with you Screed - just that it's a common issue.
I also agree that audition rep requirements are typically guidelines, but at the same time it seems risky to me to ignore them. If it were me I'd choose a concerto that I enjoy and that I feel I can do a great job with, and prepare two movements as per the guidelines. You have a lot of flexibility with choosing your other piece but I'd stick to two movements from the same concerto as the guidelines state.

[AdmiralScreed]

Hello CButterfield. Thanks for the tips.
I just got the music for the Moses Variations yesterday. I sightread through it, and it definitely seems doable, especially because I have a year and a half before auditions. But I've got Koussevitzky as a backup just in case this piece or any concertos I learn before my auditions aren't quite up to par with my Kouss. My goal is to have a definitive plan for what I'll be playing by May, and hopefully to also have all of my audition pieces learned by then so that I can spend the next 10 months or so polishing them and performing them for people so I can get in the practice of playing these solos/excerpts for audiences.

[CButterfield]

Sounds like you've got a good game plan. Good luck with your audition!