Tempo for La Campanella - Liszt

[noambenhamou]

I've been working hard on La Campanella which notes at the begining "Allegretto".
According to Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo ) Allegretto falls directly between 110bpm and 112bpm.

I can play the entire peice with my iphone metrenome at 110bpm with my eyes closed and without missing a beat. That is about the tempo I've been practicing at.

I personally do not agree with this tempo. I'm much more used to a tempo of 140 to 150 which is my target and also the tempo of most recordings I have heard (over 20) of La Campanella. 110bpm seems terribly slow and lacking energy.

Are all the pianists I see on youtube wrong? Should they be playing at 110bpm? I think if someone played at 110bpm at a concert or at a competition, they would surely get kicked out!
You see the dillema? What are your thoughts?

Thank you

[invictious]

The BPM indicators are relative to the piece, and are not an absolute measure of what a tempo should be. For example, Presto does not have to be 180 or 200bpm.

Take the third movement of the Moonlight Sonata for example. With the density of the notes, I am sure around 150-160bpm is sufficient for a presto agitato.

Thus, the tempo indication should be considered in light of the 'feel' of the piece.

[pianisten1989]

Well, if you want to play it like a flashy show off piece, like most pianists, you could take 150 bpm. But if you actually want to make sense with the piece - create an image of bells and so on - you should concider a slower tempo.

[noambenhamou]

pianisten1989, I respect your opinion, turly. For example Rhapsodie  Gm - Brahms, most play too fast. My piano teacher may her rest in peace was a life friend and student of Michelangeli and constantly reminded me of this fact. On the other hand, he understood that some peices must be blazingly fast. He told me as Michelangeli told him, "play at extactly 90% of your maximum speed so you don't miss any notes or become sloppy".

On the other hand, I must disagree regarding La Campanella. I feel it sounds better played at 150bpm. Some part of the piece can sound great at 120pbm, but some part sounds sluggish and way too slow such as the part with the right hand 4-5 (1) trills. If played at 120bpm the melody played with the left hand sounds like it's "dragging". For the most part I am a believer that a piece should be played at tempo consistant through-out the peice (aside from riterdandocs, and accells) and a piece should be played at a tempo where all parts sound good in the chosen tempo. At 120bpm the last variation with the right hand octives would also sound too slow and dragging. It notes "strickt tempo and with FIRE" and at 120bpm the fire is just not there, more like a BBQ in the dead of winter.

I guess it's all open to interpertation at the end, but if I were a betting man, which I'm not, I would bet that Liszt himself played La Campanella at an extremely fast tempo and very flashy. I usually do not try to make a habit out of disagreeing with how I feel the actual composer played his own compositions.

Invictious, thank you for that clarification. It makes much sense, "depending on the peice". Notations on sheetmusic is something I have always struggeled with. Never knowing which are original and which are put there by the publishing company.

[pianisten1989]

On the other hand, I must disagree regarding La Campanella. I feel it sounds better played at 150bpm.

Yes, because everyone who plays is just doesn't care what Liszt wrote... If everyone played this in 90, most people would think that was the right tempo.