What, in your opinion, would be the easiest Liszt opera/orchestral transcription

[chopinrabbitthing]

Hi, I'm in my initial stages of picking a repertoire for next year and I would love to do a Liszt transcription. Problem is, I don't have that much time next year (because of exams) and I'm only 14. I'm a quick learner though. I've played quite a few difficult pieces, compared to peers, some Chopin and Liszt etudes etc. Which do you think is the easiest?
But anyways, I had Rigoletto and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde in mind, they seem like one of the easiest. Which one is easier? Which one is more difficult and why?

Thanks a million, I'm still new to this site

[thalbergmad]

I would be inclined to forget the two you had in mind and consider the Valse de concert sur deux motifs de Lucia et Parisina (Donizetti).

Even I can play that and I do not keep in good pianistic shape.

Thal

[gravecembalo]

Well, I love the Tanhauser overture transcription (although too difficult for me)   . I think it is one of the more difficult...

I find very easy (compared to Rigoletto & Liebestod) the "O du mein holder Abendstern" transcription from Tanhauser. It is a wonderful Wagner song.

If I had to choose between your 2 option, I vote for Liebestod.

 

[g_s_223]

I like the "Rienzi" one, really pretty straightforward and very sonorous. "Elsa's Dream" from Lohengrin is good too.

[invictious]

Apparently, Rigoletto is one of the most difficult operatic transcriptions that Liszt wrote for piano, so you may want to stay away from that piece for a while.

If you want something famous, you can try Liszt's transcription of Rossini's Overture to Guiglielmo Tell (William Tell). This is great fun to play and being so famous it should provide you with plenty of motivation to learn it!

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Apparently, Rigoletto is one of the most difficult operatic transcriptions that Liszt wrote for piano, so you may want to stay away from that piece for a while.

If you want something famous, you can try Liszt's transcription of Rossini's Overture to Guiglielmo Tell (William Tell). This is great fun to play and being so famous it should provide you with plenty of motivation to learn it!

Rigoletto isn't as hard as some. The principal difficulty lies in the cadenza of interlocking sixths; you also need high velocity in pp scales. William Tell is probably on a similar level of difficulty, but the problem is more one of stamina in octaves and chordal passages here. The Isolde's Liebestod transcription is easier, but it's a completely different type of transcription.

The hardest well-known transcriptions are Don Juan, Norma, then probably Tannhauser and Robert le Diable. There are some very demanding ones which aren't well known, like La Sonnambula, Hexameron (if you count it as being Liszt by dint of him having got the variations into a coherent whole), La muette de Porcici and a few others.

The Valse on Lucia and Parisini isn't particularly difficult; Rienzi sounds a lot harder than it actually is (the leaping octave cadenza is nasty though). Elsa's Dream and Lohengrin's Admonition are easy enough, though I'm not sure how effective they are in public performance - I discarded them as repertoire pieces because I had doubts about them. The Abendstern arrangement is fairly straightforward and has a really lovely melody in the second half.

The Waltz from Gounod's Faust is worth considering; a lot of fun and easier than it sounds.

[zippi]

Hey all,
what about Paraphrase on Händel's Sarabande from Almira ?
How difficulty is it, has someone experiences with it and would it be a good choice as my first opera transcription ?