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Stanchinsky is Gramophone's Editor's Choice
The short-lived Russian pianist and composer Alexey Stanchinsky was playing in public by age six and was highly regarded in all the musical activities he undertook. Swedish pianist Peter Jablonski has recorded an album with selected Stanchinsky works for the Ondine label, a recording that was recently selected as Gramophone's Editor's Choice of May 2021. Piano Street talked to Jablonski about the young forgotten composer and his works. Read more >>

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Topic: Help me Pick a Liszt Piece! (Read 1546 times)

goge88

Newbie
Posts: 3

Help me Pick a Liszt Piece!

on: October 16, 2016, 08:20:16 PM

Hey guys,
I'm a 15-year-old pianist who's looking for some challenging Liszt pieces to add to his repertoire.
My current repertoire is: Chopin Ballade no. 2, Beethoven Sonata op.31 no.1 1st movement, Prokofiev Sonata no. 2 4th movement. My professor and I were thinking about adding Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 to my repertoire; however, it is a really popular piece so it might not be a wise choice to learn that piece because everyone expects the end result to sound like Horowitz's or George Li's amazing renditions (since it's so popular). I heard an amazing young artist play Liszt's Dante Sonata in a competition but my professor thinks I should wait a year or two to learn it. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time

- George

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visitor

PS Silver Member
Sr. Member
Posts: 5283

Re: Help me Pick a Liszt Piece!

Reply #1 on: October 17, 2016, 02:44:46 AM

One of my absolute ffavorite by Liszt. They almostsound like Schubert. So much to love here

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jeffok

Jr. Member
Posts: 33

Re: Help me Pick a Liszt Piece!

Reply #2 on: October 17, 2016, 12:16:22 PM

Hey Goge88 -

Well, given the repertoire you list, your choices should be fairly wide. I'll just make 3 suggestions:

If you still want to do a Hungarian Rhapsody, the 8th is among the best and shorter than some of the others but still has plenty of technical challenges.

If you want Liszt in purely original mode (most of the Rhapsodies are based on pre-existing Gypsy melodies) the Concert Etude called "Waldesrauschen" should provide a challenge, but not one that's too crazy.

If you want something a little longer, you might take a look at the Paraphrase on the Quartet from Rigoletto. Brilliant, engaging and fun to play. Don't be put off by the fact that it starts with a 2-page cadenza: the cadenza is a lot easier than it looks.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.
best wishes,

jeff ok

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piulento

Full Member
Posts: 224

Re: Help me Pick a Liszt Piece!

Reply #3 on: October 17, 2016, 01:14:02 PM

It's sort of a cliche and they're hard as hell, but I think the trancendental etudes are simply awesome. They have so much emotion in them!!! Nothing gets me more worked up than seeing people play them. Just pick your favorite and go for it.

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