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Topic: Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)  (Read 272 times)

Offline bach-busoni chaconne

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Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)
on: November 19, 2025, 10:47:47 AM
What are your top 5 favourite piano pieces? Both solo and orchestra-accompanied pieces are allowed!
2026 Goal:
Bach-Busoni: Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
Stravinsky: Trois Mouvements de "Pétrouchka" / Stravinsky-Agosti: Firebird

Offline liszt-and-the-galops

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Re: Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)
Reply #1 on: November 19, 2025, 12:19:49 PM
Solo piano, sorted by composer (ten because I can't decide on only five, let alone the order lmao):
Alkan - Op. 33 Grande Sonate "Les Quatre Âges" (Ronald Smith and Marc-André Hamelin both have good recordings, with Hamelin's being higher quality but a bit too fast for my liking)
Alkan - Op. 39 no. 8 Concerto for Solo Piano mvt. 1 (Jack Gibbons)
Alkan - Op. 39 no. 11 "Ouverture" (Jack Gibbons)
Alkan - Op. 39 no. 12 "Le Festin d'Ésope" (Jack Gibbons) (the entire set is fantastic, though)
Chaminade - Op. 60 Les Sylvains (Takashi Sato)
Chaminade - Op. 89 Theme and Variations (MAH)
Liszt - S. 140 no. 3 "La Campanella" (the 1838 version) (Sung Chang/Traum on youtube)
Liszt - S. 219 Grand Galop Chromatique (Gyorgy Cziffra)
Liszt - S. 393iii Sonnambula de Bellini (Giovanni Bellucci)
Liszt - S. 420 Grande Fantaisie de Bravoure sur La Clochette (Sergio Fiorentino)
Saint-Saëns - Op. 111 no. 6 "Toccata d'Après les Cinquième Concerto" (François-René Duchâble) (again, the entire set is fantastic)

Crap, that's eleven...


Anyways, favorite pieces for piano + orchestra:
1. Medtner - Op. 60 Piano Concerto no. 3 "Ballade" (Tatiana Nikolaeva)
2. Chaminade - Op. 40 Concertstück (Christina Harnisch)
3. Liszt - S. 124 Piano Concerto no. 1 (Gyorgy Cziffra)
4. Prokofiev - Op. 26 Piano Concerto no. 3 (Martha Argerich)
Can't decide on a #5.
Amateur pianist, beginning composer, creator of the Musical Madness tournament (2024-26).
https://www.youtube.com/@Liszt-and-the-Galops
https://sites.google.com/view/musicalmadness-ps/home

Offline thorn

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Re: Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)
Reply #2 on: November 19, 2025, 06:21:21 PM
This is a very difficult question as it changes all the time. My staples are early 20c French/Spanish repertoire though- in no order + favourite recordings:

Ravel - Gaspard (Ondine if can only have one)
Ravel - Concerto in G
Debussy/Gryaznov - Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (beautiful arrangement)
Albeniz - Iberia (couldn't give one, it's a tie between Albaicin/Jerez)
Falla - Noches en los jardines de España (seriously underrated because the piano part isn't as difficult as soloists/audiences expect in a concerto, shame that's all that matters)

So that was 6  ::)



Offline bach-busoni chaconne

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Re: Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)
Reply #3 on: November 20, 2025, 09:12:15 AM
(In order of year of composition)

Solo works:
Chopin: Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60
Bach-Busoni: Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004
Liszt: Transcendental Étude No. 12 "Chasse-Neige"
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55

And concertos :)
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
2026 Goal:
Bach-Busoni: Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55
Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
Stravinsky: Trois Mouvements de "Pétrouchka" / Stravinsky-Agosti: Firebird

Offline ned174849

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Re: Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)
Reply #4 on: November 20, 2025, 09:43:19 PM
It’s hard to choose just five works…
For solo works:
Albeniz Iberia Suite (I couldn’t choose a particular one, Love them all)
Meitner sonata op 25 no 2 (or his op 53 sonatas)
Beethoven Hammerklevier op 106.
Schubert piano sonata no 21 D 960
Godowsky Passacaglia  8)
Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Prokofiev sonata no 4 op 29
That’s more than five works and it would probably change a bit on a course of a few weeks…
As for the concertos:
Medtner piano concerto no 3 op 60
Prokofiev piano concerto no 2 op 16
Brahms piano concerto no 2 op 83
Rachmaninoff piano concerto no 3
Ravel Left hand piano concerto

Offline lelle

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Re: Top 5 favourite piano pieces (solo / concerto)
Reply #5 on: November 22, 2025, 01:51:03 PM
Hard to pick just 5!

And it changes with times.

But long term, recurring favorites include

Chopin - Preludes op. 28
Chopin - Ballade no. 2 (with the right pianist!)
Chopin - Ballade no. 4
Scriabin - Sonata 2
Scriabin - Sonata 5
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