Mendelssohn Revisited

My son just had a lesson last night for the first time in three weeks. It was frustrating a little. My husband took him to the lesson, so I watched the video of it this afternoon. I think it is the problem for so many children, but they want to play everything fast! I constantly remind him to slow down and clean up, but does he listen? No!!! Since he is planning to perform Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, 1st movement, his teacher told him to play for him. Intonation is not bad, but the cleanliness is a big problem. Especially the fast passages get really messy. His teacher saw rigtht through him. "You are always playing fast when you practice, aren't you?" My husband chimed in. "Yes." He suggested that he should play at least twice a day slowly and then play in tempo. He also pointed out that the first part and the preceding tranquiro part have to be in the different colors. He told him, "You don't want to be predictable. Then it will be boring when the audience know what's coming next. Just like a movie, if you know how it's gonna end, you get bored." So for the next four weeks until the competition, he will have a lot of cleaning up to do. There is a wisdom in Japanese. "When in hurry, take the long way."