Insane, flashy piano pieces under 2.5 minutes long?

[illystraiter]

Hey! I'm looking for the most insane, flashy, over the top piano piece that's under 2.5 minutes long. Think fast arpeggios, scales, huge chords, whole keyboard range, etc. Time limit is a very strict requirement. Ideally something that sounds really difficult (whether it is in fact difficult or not doesn't matter, I just don't want something that is really hard but sounds easy). This is for a non-musical audience, so I'm okay with cutting parts out to fit it into the time. A lot of the pieces I've found so far a just a little too long. Anyone have any suggestions/ideas?

[fredchopin]

Chopin op 10 no 1,2,4,5,8,10,
Chopin prelude op 28 no 16 and no 24
Liszt Trancedental etudes: 1,2

Here are a few, but I'm sure there's much more

K

[ronde_des_sylphes]

[pianoannieq]

Hi Illystraiter,

I agree with Ronde_des_sylphes on Chopin 10/1 and 10/4 but I would also add 10/12 even though it may a bit over 2.5 minutes.

Scriabin 11/14 and 8/12, Rachmaninoff Etude 39/6, Liszt Gnomenreigen, Prokofiev Suggestion Diabolique, and Mendelssohn 16/2 to name a few more. Any of these can be played around 2.5 minutes.

May I ask what event this is for? I'm sure any audience, musical or not, wouldn't mind sparing a bit of time to appreciate music!

[brogers70]

The Great Gate of Kiev from Pictures at an Exhibition.

It starts around 0:54 in this video. Hmm, it's a bit longer than you want, but not that much, and it's definitely impressive.

[visitor]

Few really great versions out and about of this door as hekk theme , easily adaptable and modifiable , great crowd pleasingand tho Sonyas is top shelf , I'm a big fan or Yuri (bit of an Alkan expert )  and his is probably ties w Sonya for my top favorite transcriptions , but his is longer but the modulations and grand pause and recitative /reprieve part make it super effective

[ranjit]

[quantum]

You could trim this one to fit your time requirements. 

[ted]

Rubinstein study in C, the one like a pneumatic drill. It’s easier than it looks and I found it always went down well.

[dogcbt1]

I always like Kapustin’s prelude to his op.40 concert Etudes.

[cuberdrift]

Hey! I'm looking for the most insane, flashy, over the top piano piece that's under 2.5 minutes long. Think fast arpeggios, scales, huge chords, whole keyboard range, etc. Time limit is a very strict requirement. Ideally something that sounds really difficult (whether it is in fact difficult or not doesn't matter, I just don't want something that is really hard but sounds easy). This is for a non-musical audience, so I'm okay with cutting parts out to fit it into the time. A lot of the pieces I've found so far a just a little too long. Anyone have any suggestions/ideas?

This is seriously the flashiest piece I know of. And it fits your requirements perfectly (omit the repeat and it's just under 2 minutes).

Sheet music link: https://en.scorser.com/I/Sheet+music/300181117.html

Have fun.

[aaaaaa]

You could play Prokofiev's Toccata op. 11 and go straight from the first climax passage to the ending (cutting out the development and beginning of the recapitulation, since it's kind of in sonata form). The ending is definitely a crowd-pleaser  .