Liszt vs. Alkan difficulty

[cuberdrift]

Hi all,

So I just got fascinated with three insanely difficult solo works by Liszt and Alkan.

Comme le vent (Alkan)

Le preux (Alkan)

Study no. 4 after Paganini, S. 140. (Liszt)

Only two questions here (aside from the poll):

1.) What is the most technically difficult of the three?
2.) Is Alkan's single hardest solo work (excluding multimovement ones) harder or easier than Liszt's hardest (no Sonata)? Why do you think so?

Regards,
Cuberdrift.

[ahinton]

What's "difficult" (and I assume you to refer solely to matters of "mécanique" here) will inevitably differ between pianists. Uploading a MIDI of Le Preux doesn't much help, either! (there are recorded performances by pianists, after all)...

Best,

Alistair

[georgey]

I just voted but probably I shouldn't have since I only listened to the 2nd and 3rd.

Here is my thought process:

1) just looking at the music on the page displayed before starting to listen, the Liszt looks hard!
2) Les Preux looks pretty easy based on 1st page.
3) I listened to part of Les Preux and thought - not a real piano?  Still not look that hard.
4) Without turning off Les Preux by accident, I started to listen to the Liszt (softly without headphones).  I thought: " That sounds hard!  Almost like there are 2 pianists playing." 
5) After realizing my mistake, I listened to the entire Liszt by itself (after turning off Alkan).  My thought at that point: "That looks and sounds hard!!!".  I'm guessing the 2nd performance that is 6% (or was it 9%?, I forget) faster is artificially done by increasing tempo of 1st performance but maintain the same pitches?  Unbelievable if Liszt could play this at that speed!
6) I then guessed that the 1st Alkan is somewhere in between the 2nd Alkan and the Liszt.

My vote is probably not worth considering, but this is just for fun.  I can undo my vote if requested.

[orangesodaking]

Alkan's biggest technical difficulty is that his music is incredibly transparent, and often relentless, even in the most difficult sections. One can't just use extra pedal or extra rubato without most likely sacrificing the overall musical idea. Liszt's music is much more chromatic and "romantic" if you will, and while I wouldn't immediately say his music is easier than Alkan's, it's not always as relentless or transparent in the same way.

If you make one mistake in Alkan's music, it's incredibly obvious, just like Bach, Haydn, and Mozart.

As far as your specific comparisons, it's kind of tough to say, as it will differ between pianists. But in my opinion, as much as I love Alkan, Le Preux just isn't a good piece. Alkan was hit or miss, and while he hit more often than he missed, Le Preux is a miss...