A (nearly) definitive "top 10" list of Liszt's hardest pieces.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

I've seen a lot of bullsh_t "top 10 hardest piano piece" videos on Youtube that include stuff like La Campanella in them, so I thought I'd make an at least semi-accurate one. Since Liszt is the composer I know most about (plus he wrote over 1,000 pieces) I figured I may as well start there.

Here's the list:
10. S. 137 Douze Grande Études no. 5 “Feux Follets”
9. S. 695c Romancero Espangole (Spanish Songbook)
8. S. 400 Reminiscences de Lucrezia Borgia
7. S. 420 Grand Fantaisie de Bravoure sur La Clochette
6. Berlioz/Liszt - S. 470 Symphonie Fantastique
5. S. 137 Douze Grande Études no. 8 “Wilde Jagd”
4. S. 464 Transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphonies no. 9
3. S. 140 Études d'Exécution Transcendant d'Après Paganini no. 4b
2. S. 137 Douze Grande Études no. 10 “Appassionata"
1. S. 253 Spanish Fantasy

Obviously, this list is entirely my opinion, but I've done my best to be as objective as possible.

What are everyone's thoughts on this list, and on these types of lists as a concept?

[rickrode]

Often considered the Everest of Liszt. Fearsome leaps, double notes, hand crossings, and extreme stamina—plus the need for operatic character throughout. smash karts unblocked

[the_franzliszt]

Here's mine, took me a hot minute to think about my top 10 which was incredibly difficult

1.) Totentanz (Piano Solo)
2.) Reminiscenses de Don Juan, S.418
3.) Beethoven Liszt - Symphony No. 9 Op.125
4.) Capriccio alla turca sur des motifs de Beethoven, S.388
5.) Reminiscenses de Lucrezia Borgia, S.400
6.) Symphonie Fantastique, S. 470 (Transcribed for Piano Solo)
7.) Paraphrase de concert sur “Rigoletto” S.434
8.) Grosses Konzertsolo, S.176
9.) Reminiscences de La Juive, S.409
10.) Spanish Fantasy, S.253

Like I said incredibly difficult, I've only tried my hand at one, that being the Spanish Fantasy, S.253. Never performed it though.
I think this is in my opinion as close to a perfect "Liszt" as they come.

[thorn]

What are everyone's thoughts on this list, and on these types of lists as a concept?

As a concept I think it depends. To stay with the example of Liszt, at one end of the scale you have mostly teenage pianists and their "I've just finished Consolation 3, which Transcendental Etude could I learn" threads, and on the other end of the scale you have Leslie Howard.

If you map this onto the colour spectrum with the teenage pianist as red and Howard as purple, I personally feel these types of list are most meaningful to those around the yellow-green-blue region (which I think most of us on this forum are, but not all given some of the choices in the MM contest).

In the red/orange part the technical requirements of super advanced repertoire are beyond your comprehension. Not to be patronising, it's just a fact that the degree to which we can understand something depends on our current knowledge/experience- it's why there's so many videos out there explaining the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire.

For the above reason most of us can't really talk about what it's like to be in the pink/purple part of the scale, but I'd imagine pianists at that level do not sit around debating difficulty levels (unless they're adjudicating competitions where difficulty is part of the marking criteria).

[the_franzliszt]

As a concept I think it depends. To stay with the example of Liszt, at one end of the scale you have mostly teenage pianists and their "I've just finished Consolation 3, which Transcendental Etude could I learn" threads, and on the other end of the scale you have Leslie Howard.

If you map this onto the colour spectrum with the teenage pianist as red and Howard as purple, I personally feel these types of list are most meaningful to those around the yellow-green-blue region (which I think most of us on this forum are, but not all given some of the choices in the MM contest).
In the red/orange part the technical requirements of super advanced repertoire are beyond your comprehension.
For the above reason most of us can't really talk about what it's like to be in the pink/purple part of the scale.

I really like this analogy.
I do think if I were to teach a piece to an advanced student of mine, say the Spanish Fantasy. I don't have to get it concert/performance ready myself even though that would be the probably better thing to do. The minimum I have to do is play through and analyze it, pencil through the sheet music and teach it that way. I don't have it perfect notewise, just perfect understanding/musically wise. As well as teaching all the technical skills if that advanced student doesnt have them down (Double-Octave exercises, etc etc.)

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I don’t like getting into difficulty discussions but concertos are by far the most difficult thing written by any composer