Mazeppa to Mephisto (enough time?!)

[michaellmc]

Hello! Just got done with my pieces this semester, and after the incredibly humbling (but ultimately satisfying) experiencing of learning Liszt's Mazeppa my professor prompted me with a "Bravo! And how about now "Mephisto Waltz?" I am much less worried about difficulty after being tied naked to the wild horse that is Mazeppa, but holy cow 26 pages?? I have a bad habit of judging the length of a piece by pages, but does this piece typically consume the life of the pianist currently attempting it?

This semester I've done (along with Mazeppa) the 1st movement of the Pathetique, Fugue in C# minor from WTC, and Chopin's "Revolutionary" etude, somehow managing to get it all learned and mostly ready a couple weeks before my finals. Could I handle Mephisto along with three other pieces next semester?

[michaellmc]

Nevermind...we've instead settled on doing the much more relaxed and easygoing Hungarian Rhapsody which is a neat five pages shorter.

[lelle]

The Mephisto seems like quite a large piece to tackle indeed! But I mean, if you can handle the Mazeppa I think you can handle the Mephisto. Why not play the Mephisto during the summer?

[nightwindsonata]

Hello! Just got done with my pieces this semester, and after the incredibly humbling (but ultimately satisfying) experiencing of learning Liszt's Mazeppa my professor prompted me with a "Bravo! And how about now "Mephisto Waltz?" I am much less worried about difficulty after being tied naked to the wild horse that is Mazeppa, but holy cow 26 pages?? I have a bad habit of judging the length of a piece by pages, but does this piece typically consume the life of the pianist currently attempting it?

This semester I've done (along with Mazeppa) the 1st movement of the Pathetique, Fugue in C# minor from WTC, and Chopin's "Revolutionary" etude, somehow managing to get it all learned and mostly ready a couple weeks before my finals. Could I handle Mephisto along with three other pieces next semester?

TBH I think Mephisto is mostly easier to handle than Mazeppa, with the sole exception of the massive leaps near the end. Honestly, I don't find sheer length is quite as big a factor anymore, unless of course it's absolutely ridiculous; it just means I need to put more time in to learn it all. I think that is the same with the Mephisto--most of it should be pretty sight-readable in a slow tempo, as compared to some other pieces by Liszt that are just a nightmare to pick apart (I would include Mazeppa in that category, by the way).