Is this true of Scriabin Sonata No. 5?

[asuhayda]

Is this true?  Or more appropriately, do you agree with this?

via wikipedia:

"This is Scriabin's most recorded sonata. Pianist Sviatoslav Richter described it as the most difficult piece in the entire piano repertory, along with Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1."

Out of all piano music?  I find this hard to believe..  Aspects of it sound very difficult, but overall I don't know if I agree with this.

Thanks.

[redbaron]

I can't believe the same is true of the Mephisto Waltz either but then again Richter always was a bit strange...

[asuhayda]

I have to plead no contest as I have played neither of these pieces.  However, I am shocked by that statement.  Especially coming from Richter.. it has made me think twice about wanting to learn Scriabin's 5th.  And I LOVE that piece.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Is this true?  Or more appropriately, do you agree with this?

via wikipedia:

"This is Scriabin's most recorded sonata. Pianist Sviatoslav Richter described it as the most difficult piece in the entire piano repertory, along with Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1."

Out of all piano music?  I find this hard to believe..  Aspects of it sound very difficult, but overall I don't know if I agree with this.

Thanks.

Sorry for being one of these losers who always say this but...

It's subjective.

[49410enrique]

i agree that he probably thought so, ie really believed that, if the quote is true. that's about all you can get from it.

i've heard the same thing said about the strauss burlesque for piano and orchestra, was 'unplayable' until people started playing it.

same with parts of the barber piano concerto, now, meh not as big a deal.

or go back to tchaikovsky no 1 and rubenstein's comments on how bad and unplayable it was, now it's just an awkward section or a few for the concert artists

there'll always be someoe saying this or that is the most difficult, i really don't think about that too much, i have my own 'most difficult' thing i'm working on (insert whatever piece i happen to be working on ) to worry about.

[perprocrastinate]

At Richter's level, technique is absolutely void as a difficulty of playing the piano.

So I'm guessing he meant difficult in interpretation?

[j_menz]

I don't know why everyone just assumes that by "most difficult" Richter means most technically difficult. Clearly Richter had ample ability to get the notes in for these pieces, as do plenty of others. But just getting the notes in isn't the same as playing a piece.  

+1 on perpcrocastinate.

[quantum]

It's subjective.

I'd have to agree.  In order to support the statement, one would have had to work through the "entire piano repertory" to at the very least obtain a sense of measure of where the piece stands in terms of difficulty.  The statement itself is problematic as how can one person support claims to have knowledge of the "entire piano repertory" as it existed at that time.  

It is most likely a personal measure, that within Richter's repertoire he found this piece difficult.  

Then again, we do not have a clear definition by what Richter regarded as "difficult."  

I've played Sonata No. 5.  Is it difficult?, certainly, but I'd be hard pressed to say it was the "most difficult".  Even within the Scriabin Sonatas there seems to be more difficult music, to me at least.  

I remember a classmate that was nursing a hand injury.  She was scheduled to play in one of the masterclasses.  Choice of piece was up to the performer, and she chose the Mephisto Waltz No.1.  After a rather legendary performance, we were all ? ? ?.  How does one do that with a hand injury.  

[asuhayda]

I don't know why everyone just assumes that by "most difficult" Richter means most technically difficult. Clearly Richter had ample ability to get the notes in for these pieces, as do plenty of others. But just getting the notes in isn't the same as playing a piece.  

+1 on perpcrocastinate.

I think there is a clear reason for this assumption.. Richter is comparing it to the Mephisto Waltz - a piece that is very technically challenging.  So, it would follow that he means the same for the Scriabin Sonata. 

However, I agree with you.  I believe that this piece is very technically challenging.  But it's probably more interpretively challenging than anything.

[scherzo123]

It's subjective.

+1

At Richter's level, technique is absolutely void as a difficulty of playing the piano.

So I'm guessing he meant difficult in interpretation?

+1