Chopin Fantasie Impromptu vs. Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2

[azbroolah]

At the moment I'm getting quite close to getting the better of the Hungarian Rhapsody and am considering taking a look at the Fantasie Impromptu as a piece to learn afterwards. How do the two pieces compare in terms of difficulty in technique, and the like? Also, if you have it, some Hungarian Rhapsody tips are always appreciated.

Thanks!

[emrysmerlin]

I haven't played either of them but most people here agree that FI is much easier than HR 2 in terms of technique.

[j_menz]

Chopin Fantasie Impromptu vs. Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2

Depends on whether it's pistols or swords. 

[pytheamateur]

I'm learning the Fantasie Impromptu at the moment with my teacher and am dabbling with Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 on my own.  I would say HR No2 is much harder.  By the way, which cadenza (if any) are you playing?

For your reference, FI is listed on the ATCL syllabus while HR No2 is on the LTCL syllabus, so you can say HR No2 is "one diploma level" harder.

[azbroolah]

I'm learning the Fantasie Impromptu at the moment with my teacher and am dabbling with Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 on my own.  I would say HR No2 is much harder.  By the way, which cadenza (if any) are you playing?

For your reference, FI is listed on the ATCL syllabus while HR No2 is on the LTCL syllabus, so you can say HR No2 is "one diploma level" harder.

I haven't been playing a cadenza to this point, though I'm considering seeing if I can find one I like. Usually by the time I get to that point in the piece I just want to snowball the rest of the way through it 

[asuhayda]

These two pieces aren't even in the same league in terms of difficulty.  If you can play HR2 well, then I don't see the Fantasy Impromptu being a challenge for you. 

The only difficulty to speak of in Fantasy Impromptu is the persistent 3 against 4 that you have to play.  But there are crazier polyrhythms in the Lassan sections of HR2.  So, I don't think that should be an issue for you.  I guess the other thing would be to pay special attention to the marked accents.. they play an important role in terms of where the hidden themes are throughout the piece.

Good luck!

[chapplin]

This sounds alot like a joke to me?
How can one mention Fantasie Impromptu in the same sentance as the HR2 when discussing difficulty if not comparing the earth to the galaxy?

[49410enrique]

when i saw the title, i thought the post was going to read along the lines of, both are sucky. which one is suckier....

oh well

*flies away....

[wiggityp]

Yeah for reals bra, take a look at the sheet music for the Fantasie-Impromptu and see if anything in it's 4 or 5 repetitive pages looks like it will trip up a pianist who has gotten the better of the Rhapsody. Once you get the 2 over 3 down smooth you've got the whole piece basically. Totally still worth playing but if you are looking for a challenge you best look elsewhere.

[pytheamateur]

Here are two videos showing how a 16-year old girl can play both pieces to a similar level.  So I suppose it's not so outlandish to compare both pieces with each other.

Do you know who the teacher is (her page turner in the Liszt video)?  She must be doing very well to have two grand pianos in her studio.  Perhaps she is one of you?

[tdawe]

Here are two videos showing how a 16-year old girl can play both pieces to a similar level.  So I suppose it's not so outlandish to compare both pieces with each other.

Do you know who the teacher is (her page turner in the Liszt video)?  She must be doing very well to have two grand pianos in her studio.  Perhaps she is one of you?

Not sure I'd say they were played to the same level. The Fantaisie-Impromptu is pretty much flawless but there a multitude of technical errors in the HR2 and she is clearly struggling a lot more to play it.

[pytheamateur]

You are right in terms of the wrong notes in her Liszt, although her Chopin is far from flawless either.

A lot of the stuff in the Liszt is just circus fanfare.  If you sit down and work on it the proper way, then the technical challenges will be overcome.  In her case, she had probably just not been working on the piece long enough (she says two months) and she even missed three pages out in her performance.  She was clearly not ready to give a performance of the piece; it's very puzzling why her teacher did not dissuade her from playing it in the concert.  From these videos, it seems the teacher is well-to-do, but unfortunately has set rather low standards for her students and might not even be going about things in the right way as the girl clearly has potential.

[dcstudio]

You are right in terms of the wrong notes in her Liszt, although her Chopin is far from flawless either.

 it's very puzzling why her teacher did not dissuade her from playing it in the concert. 

I imagine that her teacher probably did try to dissuade her from playing these--I have lost that battle a few times with students myself...however  the student will live with this recording forever and will eventually understand. 

[tdawe]

You are right in terms of the wrong notes in her Liszt, although her Chopin is far from flawless either.

A lot of the stuff in the Liszt is just circus fanfare.  If you sit down and work on it the proper way, then the technical challenges will be overcome.  In her case, she had probably just not been working on the piece long enough (she says two months) and she even missed three pages out in her performance.  She was clearly not ready to give a performance of the piece; it's very puzzling why her teacher did not dissuade her from playing it in the concert.  From these videos, it seems the teacher is well-to-do, but unfortunately has set rather low standards for her students and might not even be going about things in the right way as the girl clearly has potential.

Yes, you are probably correct. Interesting points

[chopianologue]

Fantaise impromptu... I can say, it's even easier than most of Chopin etudes.
Chopin etudes are easier than Hungarian Rhapsody no.2