T-3 to Shostakovich

So it has been a couple of days since I started preparing for performance two Preludes and Fugues of Shostakovich... I've been asked by a few what I'm doing. So, here's what's been happening:

T-5 - spent twenty minutes or so getting the a 'lay of the land', a quick skim through to identify any pitfalls (and boy are there many!) and then developing a strategy to conquer the pages. In summary, prioritise the fugues...!

T-4 - this is where my mini-tomato method kicked in - intensive 5-minute chunks (with a minute or so break in between)... five chunks over thirty minutes. Some of the main points were to analyse the form and structure, do a 'where's Wally' with the fugue subjects...note the metronome markings (and regret checking how fast they are)...

T-3 - brings us to today...the mini-tomatos are continuing, with some other bits, and a little more on the newly identified 'corners'...a bit of manuscript manipulating to identify the spread of notes between the hands (a lot of No.7, in particular, could do with a rewrite!). A few fingerings I had thought were fabulous yesterday have now been discarded too...

The only issue has been that someone (pictured) is perhaps not as keen on Shostakovich's music, and has been valiantly (and rather successfully) sabotaging my sessions...we will see what the next two days will bring!