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Piano Board => Audition Room => Topic started by: ronde_des_sylphes on May 14, 2022, 01:07:39 PM

Title: Liszt v Thalberg
Post by: ronde_des_sylphes on May 14, 2022, 01:07:39 PM
Their informal piano 'duel' of 1837 is of course a part of musical legend. It was however a bit of a surprise to find this sheet music video, featuring one of the pieces they played.

The Liszt Niobe is, I'm pretty sure, a recording by Steven Mayer, which I have somewhere on CD. The Thalberg Moses Fantasy I also have on CD - because it's MY recording!  ;D

https://bilibili.com/video/BV1ab411z7Yd
Title: Re: Liszt v Thalberg
Post by: anacrusis on May 24, 2022, 01:13:53 PM
I mean what can one say except that it's an impressive recording, you got mad skills for sure  :o
Title: Re: Liszt v Thalberg
Post by: ronde_des_sylphes on May 30, 2022, 06:15:20 PM
Thank you!  ;D the theme and variations section probably isn't as difficult as it looks on the page, but I think it's extremely effective writing.
Title: Re: Liszt v Thalberg
Post by: anacrusis on May 31, 2022, 10:25:32 PM
I don't know many, looks pretty hard to me ;D Have you always had a talent for playing this sort of stuff, or have you sort of had to work extra hard to be able to pul these types of compositions off? I know you play a lot of these kind of apex virtuoso pieces haha, I don't know what else to call them  ;D
Title: Re: Liszt v Thalberg
Post by: ronde_des_sylphes on June 01, 2022, 10:12:12 AM
Good question. I went through a phase of deliberately trying to play extremely difficult pieces: I wouldn't class it as an 100% success, but it certainly improved my technique. Nowadays I'm inclined to be more selective and focus on the more manageable ones. I think, in retrospect, that my habit of doing A LOT of improvisation around technical patterns also advanced my natural technique in an analogous manner to how many people use Czerny etc. In a realistic sense I was to some extent an 'adult returner' in that I stopped playing piano in any serious sense between about the ages of 17 to 25 but by the time I sought professional advice in my thirties I'd acquired a lot of background dexterity through improvisation and primarily my teacher taught me not technique but organisation.