First Published in Classeek Showroom. Please click here for full text!
A few years ago, I was in repertoire class in Adelaide, when a postgraduate student was asked to play a piece by Beethoven she had been working on for us. Her response has stayed with me ever since:
“I wouldn’t want to do Beethoven a disservice.”
Why has it stayed with me? Because instead of being completely honest and saying she wasn’t prepared enough, or felt uncomfortable playing a work in development mode (completely understandable), she took the exit route which is the excuse of choice for so many musicians today.