...is that I'll never have to deal with this situation!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVO26URqC24...feature=related

Oh my!!! The things nightmares are made of.

Absolutely, she almost looks like she was wondering if she was in one.

Great as an example to hammer home the importance of 'Whatever happens, keep going', though!

I wish that I hadn't watched that just before going to bed!

Ah well, it seems to be a fairly informal occasion anyway (judging by conductor's attire)

It was a rehearsal but with an audience. Still.....I wonder how long it was until the actual performance.

Her face was a picture, but the music was beautiful. She obviously knew it very well, even though she wasn't expecting it. I'm imagine that the concert was fine.

The closest that I've come to that is when I've had a wrong number on the hymn list and discovered when the hymn is announced that the correct one is one of those that I find difficult to play.

I sometimes wonder how much repertoire these pianists with major international careers can perform from memory without preparation... according to one of my old teachers, Rubinstein could do so with 45 concerti. I don't think I can even name 45 concerti...

Mozart 1- 27 gives you a good start though!

Mindblowing!!!!!!

I am not gonna watch it lol. I already have performance anxiety lol!!

Wow she played it brilliantly anyway! Soooooo glad I perform jazz and blues and can make it up as I go along!

Weird...I was so fascinated by her reaction, and his reaction, I failed to notice his 'rehearsal towel'.

Do conductors have a special catalogue they buy these items from? Rather like vicars and priests? They seem to acquire items never seen in other circumstances.

It's a shame her subsequent argument with her agent isn't also on youtube.

With me what happens with hymns is that I am all ready to sing, then the organist starts up with some non-standard tune! (p.s. - Re: the thread on religious organists - I am an atheist).

I'm surprised you ever find yourself in this situation, in that case.

Whilst it wouldn't be of my choosing - I usually find the words of hymns cringeworthy in the extreme - there is after all music in hymns, and since it's perfectly possible for an atheist to respond to religious music, why not? Besides, we do get invited to such things as weddings and funerals from time to time, and the social pressure there to do the same as everyone else in the interests of propping up those who invited us tends to be rather great...or should christians not invite/associate with atheists? The comment does go some way to explaining why an establishment claiming to be welcoming doesn't always seem so to outsidesr...

But it is very gentle pressure, I'm sure. It didn't cost me a great deal of heart searching to stand up with everyone else but not actually say the Creed because I couldn't quite go along with the bit that states belief in the resurrection of the body.
There are certain hymns even I won't sing, mainly because of cheesy tunes or fatuous words, but I wouldn't make a great show of my non-compliance.
Where is the suggestion that VH2 would be unwelcome? I just thought it was odd that s/he would find themselves in such a situation where hymns would be sung, having made the remark about being an atheist; I hadn't considered weddings and funerals, admittedly.

It implies atheists shouldn't sing hymns or that they shouldn't find themselves in a position where they might have to, and yes, I guessed you probably didn't think of the more social aspects, but wanted to point that out. The organists' forum did, for a while, have a series of posts on it too about how non-church people didn't behave correctly in churches, and I saw the remark as part and parcel of that one.
As for social pressure - it depends rather on standpoint I think. If you're already uncomfortable with a situation the pressure feels much more acute - the issue of a "great show of non-compliance" isn't as simple as that. There are lesser versions of the same idea even within different subgroups of a faith - I remember seeing a comedian, brought up catholic, trying to make sense of the different wordings of the lord's prayer used in protestant churches...people who might expect not to feel that much "out of it" actually being wrongfooted and awkward when the ritual is not exactly as they are used to. In some churches, people kneel for prayer, in others they stand and bow heads - I certainly don't like the kneeling bit, and won't do that, and to be honest, bowing head doesn't appeal either because it feels as if I'm faking a behaviour I have no interest in mimicking...so I don't. Not singing is easier to do, because there are many people who are afraid to do so....

Thinking again though of the OP - stuff of nightmares indeed, the only worse thing being that happening in a concert, I guess. Wasn't there a story of the reverse happening, of a pianist having a series of memory lapses, and playing from several different concerti in succession, and the orchestra having to switch as the pianist did, somehow managing for a bit til eventually they all lost track of what was happening?

My own performance nightmare is more that of looking up, and then not being able to find my place in the music again....

I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that these rehearsals are open to the public and are usually performed before a capacity crowd who are expecting superb music - so the fact that it's a rehearsal doesn't really mean much.

Gaaah Maria you're too good for words.

It is not only weddings, funerals, and Christenings. Sometimes a religiously inclined friend asks me to accompany them to church. It does not happen very often, but friendship is more important than being too precious about one's beliefs, so I usually agree, although I duck out of "taking communion". Not only was I never confirmed since, as a teenager, I upset my mother by refusing to be, but also it has always struck me as a very weird ritual.

I also sang in a carol service at Christmas. In the past I have sung in large choirs. The congregations (who do not know that I am a non-believer) seem to appreciate the fact that as a musician, with some singing training, I am able to sing in tune, with a decent quality of sound, and give a strong lead.

And I enjoy it. Being part of a large group that is singing together, is already something special. I can appreciate the feeling and emotion (and the craftsmanship and creativity) in the music, even though I do not share the belief in the God to whom it is directed.

I have even stood in as "organist" from time to time at a small Unitarian church when the regular organist is ill. (Being a pianist I don't use the pedals, but coping with two manuals and all those stops is challenge enough. I don't think my playing shouted "Non-believer" to anyone.

As for religious music, who would not be moved by Handel's Messiah, or Bach's Mass in B minor?

To get back to the original topic...

I once heard John Lill on the radio describe how he once was just about to start the opening piano solo in Beethoven's 4th concerto when the orchestra started up with the 5th....

A little more detail here.

45 Concerto's? I can struggle my way through two, tops! This is why I want to be a Piano/Music Teacher, I couldn't deal with the pressure of performances like these, it would drive me insane!

Rubinstein? A mere 45 concertos. Something of an amateur!

Peter Donohue has over 160 concertos in his repertoire.

I remember hearing Peter play the Britten in Liverpool (RLPO) when he was learning it. He used a score, but it didnt really detract from the performance.