Virtuosic Showpieces

[franz_xaver_mozart]

Hi guys,
I want to start playing some virtuosic showpieces, like those very impressive ones by Liszt, but I also know that these kinds of pieces are usually extremely difficult, so what piece would u recommend for me to get up to that lvl?
Thanks

[symphonicdance]

Maybe the player could start off with some Bach WTC, Schubert Impromptus & Moment Music, Chopin Waltzes, Mazurkas & Etudes (some not that technically demanding) to ensure he/she has accumulated the minimum technical and musical skills and can continue to build up......

[cuberdrift]

Hi guys,
I want to start playing some virtuosic showpieces, like those very impressive ones by Liszt, but I also know that these kinds of pieces are usually extremely difficult, so what piece would u recommend for me to get up to that lvl?
Thanks

There are tons upon tons of "virtuosic showpieces" and some Liszt ones I recommend which represent him at his peak would be the La Clochette fantasy, Reminiscences de Don Juan, and 2 Spanish Fantasies (the Romance espagnol and the other one I forgot the title of but not El Contrabandista).

For preparation there's the Liszt Technical Book of Exercises, Dohnanyi exercises, and of course, the Chopin etudes.

Keep in mind that stuff like La Campanella, Mazeppa, Grand Galop Chromatique, etc. are his easier showpieces - the really hard ones are the ones I wrote about above.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

2 Spanish Fantasies (the Romance espagnol and the other one I forgot the title of but not El Contrabandista).

I'm guessing you're referring to the Spanish Fantasy for the second one?

I'd also like to add the Transcriptions of Beethoven's Symphonies, S. 137 and S. 140 Etudes, and the S. 700a/ii (I would argue that it's an equally challenging, if not more challenging "La Campanella" than La Clochette is).

Keep in mind that stuff like La Campanella, Mazeppa, Grand Galop Chromatique, etc. are his easier showpieces - the really hard ones are the ones I wrote about above.

GGC and Feux Follets are kind of an in-between level, along with a few other things e.g S. 140 La Campanella.

[cuberdrift]

I'm guessing you're referring to the Spanish Fantasy for the second one?

I'd also like to add the Transcriptions of Beethoven's Symphonies, S. 137 and S. 140 Etudes, and the S. 700a/ii (I would argue that it's an equally challenging, if not more challenging "La Campanella" than La Clochette is).GGC and Feux Follets are kind of an in-between level, along with a few other things e.g S. 140 La Campanella.

I personally wouldn't put the Beethoven transcriptions and etudes at the same category as La Clochette or the Spanish Fantasy as the latter are the ones Liszt did for quick money and to prove that he was without competition...

Personally I would also say Feux Follets is at a whole different level than GGC. The spirit of a "virtuoso showpiece" typically meant some crazy arrangement over a popular theme which dominated the salons of the early 19th century. Nearly every opera transcription by a romantic composer for the piano would qualify under this label.

The S.700 is crazy, too - though I have a special fascination with the "Clochette" as it is a particularly absurd work even for Lisztian standards, both technically and harmonically. It's the direct result of him hearing Paganini play live for the first time and probably what he worked towards while doing his "exercises for four to five hours a day" as he had written.

Another work that I would personally recommend, which is probably easier than Liszt's transcriptions, is Thalberg's "Don Pasquale" fantasy - Earl Wild's recording is a must-listen. The arrangement is wild - as if four hands were playing simultaneously, especially near the end.

[lelle]

Is this a question about pieces you can study to get to a level where you can play virtuosic showpieces, or a question about recommendations for virtuosic showpieces to play?