Are cadenzas optional in piano concerto competition????
The answer is ‘sort of’. It’s not optional to leave out cadenzas all together, but which one you use is open to your discretion. I’m assuming that your piece is a classical or early romantic concerto, such as one of Beethoven’s or Mozart’s. Especially for the Beethoven concertos, many many composers wrote optional versions of the Cadenzas to be used in their own performances, besides the ones Beethoven himself wrote. Unless you think that your playing is absolutely sensational, I would use the composer’s own cadenza. However, it would be technically acceptable to use one written by Robert or Clara Schumann, Brahms, or even your own. I wouldn’t recommend it though. Besides that, the Cadenza is often one of the most exciting parts of the concerto. It doesn’t have any intrinsic structural value to the concerto (hence the option of using a different one) but it’s meant to showcase the soloist before the finale. If I were a judge, I would like to see the cadenza get the most attention from
