So I'm playing that over played audition piece Fantasie Faure. Lovely piece. But one question, in the L. Moyse edition, the Allegro part is marked at 144 bpm. 144?! I listened to many performances/recordings and I don't think I have heard one person play it at exactly 144. And that one person who played it near a 144 was incredibly flat in musicality/expression. So what would be good speed? I am taking it around bpm 120.

120 would be fine. But, my teacher would always tell me when I was working on this piece, if you do take it to 144, wouldn't that be something?? I'd say try to crank it up to as fast as you can, cuz that would give it a special sparkle. Not to mention it would give you SUCH an advantage compared to the other flutists in the audition. My two cents is go for it!

It's always better to play it cleanly and energetically at a more comfortable speed than to push it too far and play it haggardly. The things people notice about a performance the most are musicality and technical cleanliness, and these are easily lost if you try to play it faster than you really need to.