Is Rondo Capriccioso up to Chopin's Scherzos?

[richterfan1]

Is Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso up to Chopin's Scherzos? (some of them)

[thalbergmad]

When I played the Rondo Capriccioso and Scherzo No.2 many years ago, they were of comparable difficulty to me. Perhaps the Scherzo was slightly more tricky to play well, but it depends greatly on the speed you wish to play these pieces.

Cannot speak for the others Scherzi as I have not played them. I would anticipate the 1st is about the same as the Rondo, with the 3rd & 4th Scherzi being a step up if not more in difficulty.

Thal

[ahinton]

When I played the Rondo Capriccioso and Scherzo No.2 many years ago, they were of comparable difficulty to me. Perhaps the Scherzo was slightly more tricky to play well, but it depends greatly on the speed you wish to play these pieces.

Cannot speak for the others Scherzi as I have not played them. I would anticipate the 1st is about the same as the Rondo, with the 3rd & 4th Scherzi being a step up if not more in difficulty.

It's always problematic to try to make meaningful and useful assessments of the comparative "difficulty" of any pieces, since what may seem difficult to one player will not necessarily be so to another but, that aside, I guess that there's not a great deal of difference in overall difficulty between the four Chopin Scherzi even if, to my mind, the C# minor one perhaps has the edge on the others in this regard. They are all fine works well worth whatever trouble the pianist has to take in preparing them. There are some fascinating subtleties in the E major one, not least the oblique (if perhaps no more than coincidental?) allusions to the finale of Beethoven's Op. 109 towards its close - and then, of course, the opening of the C# minor is borderline atonal and the near violence of expression in parts of the outer sections of the B minor is neatly paralleled by the violence of contrast between these sections and the gentle berceuse of its middle section.

Best,

Alistair