Which Liszt/Chopin piece should I play next

[david456103]

Hi guys,
I am wondering if you guys have any recommendations as to which chopin/liszt piece I should play next. I can play the following pieces "well"(meaning I can perform them in places and competitions and such, of course they are not perfect):
1. Waldstein 1st, 3rd movement
2. Concert Paraphrase of Rigoletto
3. La Campanella
4. Hungarian Rhapsody #6
5. Polonaise Op. 53
Some ideas I have:
1. Scherzo #2(would this be too easy?)
2. Scherzo #3
3. Ballade #4
4. Sonata in B minor(too long, too hard?) liszt's not chopin's
any more ideas?

[lorditachijr]

I will try to answer your question to the best of my ability, but it is very hard to do so without hearing/watching you play.

Well if I were you, the first thing I'd do is learn the 2nd movement of the Waldstein. It isn't as difficult as either of the outer movements, and it's always beneficial to complete a Beethoven sonata. If you can play all of the pieces you listed at a high level, then technically there isn't much you can't handle (within reason of course). I would stay away from the Liszt Sonata; it's very difficult in every way imaginable.

Of those you listed, I would suggest the 2nd Scherzo. It's a great introduction into large-scale Chopin works (Ballades, Scherzos, etc.) and simply a marvelous piece of music. The 3rd wouldn't be bad either. The 4th Ballade is very very difficult, and I would suggest playing another of the ballades first.

You should probably talk to your teacher about this. He/she probably knows your playing better than any of the people on this forum and would give you the best advice about what you should play next.

[stoudemirestat]

The B Minor Sonata and 4th Ballade would not be a good idea, IMO. I think you need to have played a lot of music by the composers before attempting these - and the pieces you listed as having played aren't really among the composers 'serious' repertoire, especially in the case of Liszt.

The Scherzi you mentioned would be a great idea. Of the pieces you listed I would certainly pick the second. And also, what do you want to learn these pieces for? You mentioned that perhaps a piece would be too easy...but I think that when it gets to the advanced levels, every piece offers different challenges both technically and musically and you should learn a piece when you are inspired to do so, not because of its difficulty. I might even recommend that you start with an easier 'serious' piece to sort of get used to the composers language (in Liszt's case, that is - I repeat that the second Scherzo would be a good one to learn).

[danhuyle]

I played Chopin Ballade no1 first, but teacher won't help. Yes, Scherzo #2 is a good starting point, though it is incredibly hard IMO. It's fast to learn and easy to memorize, and that's as easy as it gets. It's too demanding for the musical aspects.

As for Ballade #4, I played 4 Scherzi, Fantasie op49, Ballade 1&3 before I had the confidence to touch that Ballade.

Liszt Sonata - Comes down to your ability to interpret, but you're not going to outplay Yundi Li and it's better to just listen to it than play it.

[david456103]

thanks for the reply everyone!
i did more careful listening to the above pieces, and I realized that I REALLY liked the Ballade no. 4. I like scherzo no. 2 too, but not nearly as much as the ballade. Do you think, with my experience, that I can play the ballade 4? I know it may be a challenge, but I have a lot of time this summer. Thanks for any input.

[stoudemirestat]

thanks for the reply everyone!
i did more careful listening to the above pieces, and I realized that I REALLY liked the Ballade no. 4. I like scherzo no. 2 too, but not nearly as much as the ballade. Do you think, with my experience, that I can play the ballade 4? I know it may be a challenge, but I have a lot of time this summer. Thanks for any input.

No. Don't do it. I think the 4th Ballade is Chopin's masterpiece and as great as it is, it requires the pianist to be every bit as great to do justice to it. I think you should play a fair bit more Chopin, like a couple Scherzi, some Etudes, Nocturnes, Preludes, maybe the other Ballades...before you think about the 4th.

[philb]

Play the P-F.

[tamtheman]

i agree with what has been suggested so far. Stay away from the 4th Ballade. I love that piece to bits and i have played heaps of chopin in 14 years of learning the piano. But definitely resist tackling it until you have played another big chopin work. If I was you i would go for either the 2nd or 3rd Scherzo. Good luck dude!

[moovingroovin]

How about Liszt's Ballade no. 2 in Bm, or even his no. 1 which I believe is in Ab.

The 2nd one is uber hard but not as much so as it seems and has some great techniques all over the place to practice although it is a very large scale piece.

There's also Chopin's Impromptu's, Im learning his 3rd in Gb atm, but I learnt the Fantasie Impromptu first, some great finger exercises in there and a lovely contrast in the middle section

Anyhow good luck !!

MG

[david456103]

thanks for all the replies!

@Phil: What's PF? Is that Polonaise fantasy?

What do you guys think of the piece Grand Polonaise Brillante? I heard it in the movie The Pianist and immediately really liked it.

[piano323]

 Maybe the Paganini Etude no.6 would be nice... has some control in there...
2nd ballade of Chopin might be a little easy, but you can boost and expand your repertoire!

[symphonicdance]

I think there are plenty of choices.  But one observation.  Your mentioned pieces are generally fast in tempo.  Why not try Balakirev's Romanza (Transcription of 2nd movement of Chopin's piano concerto no 1)?