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Topic: Am I the only person on this board that DOESN'T play La Campanella?  (Read 3848 times)

Offline dinosaurtales

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It's the kind of piece I messed with in high school, mostly out of curiosity, but I never mastered it, and never picked it up again.  Seems everybody is playing this but me.  Is it "required" repertoire somehow?
So much music, so little time........

Offline Steve T

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I'm with you...I'm not playing it either.....yet  ;) What a beautiful piece though  :)

Offline squinchy

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I'm certainly not playing it. Funny thing is, I tried to learn it by ear when I was 9 when I had just started piano, and thought I could easily do it. Haha. ha. Ha. Ha. I thought the same of the Grieg Piano Concerto too. Must be all the deceptive octave openings..
Support bacteria. They're the only type of culture some people have.

Offline steinwaymodeld

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i played it.
Perfection itself is imperfection - Vladimir Horowitz

Offline musicsdarkangel

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It's the kind of piece I messed with in high school, mostly out of curiosity, but I never mastered it, and never picked it up again.  Seems everybody is playing this but me.  Is it "required" repertoire somehow?

Not required, but wow, it is sure beneficial.

It teaches you effiecency of motion, speed, relaxation, trills, octaves (scalular and jumps), leaps, etc.

A hell of a lot to learn IMO

Offline pianobabe56

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I looked at it for a grand total of two weeks, decided I wasn't interested in it, and never looked at it again, frankly. Maybe I haven't learned to really appreciate liszt yet, but I did the same thing with Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2...
A bird can soar because he takes himself lightly.

Offline Skeptopotamus

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yeah i had to play it a while ago.  i dont particularly like it but i think everyone eventually has to play it.

Offline apion

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I play a fair amount of Liszt, but I'm not interested in this piece.  I don't intend to spend any time with it. 

As far as "required learning," the only composition that falls within that category, IMO, is portions of Bach's WTC.

Offline whynot

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Never have, never will... life is short, and there's all that BACH I still want to learn.

Offline steinwaymodeld

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Never have, never will... life is short, and there's all that BACH I still want to learn.

Yea, the Liszt Fantasy and Fugue on the Name BACH.

That's what I really want to learn.
Perfection itself is imperfection - Vladimir Horowitz

Offline klavierkonzerte

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i don't find la campanella that intresting.

Offline steinwaymodeld

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i don't find la campanella that intresting.

i used to find it very interseting, until i have learnt it.
Perfection itself is imperfection - Vladimir Horowitz

Offline marialice

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Never played it, and it's not on my pieces-I-want-to-learn list either (but that can change of course).

Offline tocca

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Am i the only person on this board that doesn't have the tecnique for it?!!  :) :'( :D

I like the piece, i like many of Liszt's pieces. I have "fooled around" with it, but never really tried to learn it.
Of course i can't really know if i can handle it unless i try, but from the looks of it it's a bit beyond me.

Offline wintervind

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In my opinion, Campanella is for teenagers. Sure its fun, but why bother with it when there is so much better music out there (again- in my opinion)
Tradition is laziness- Gustav Mahler

Offline SDL

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doesn't rock my boat.  In fact I prefer Alkan and Chopin to Liszt.
"Never argue with idiots - first they drag you down to their level, then they beat you with experience."

Offline SteinwayTony

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i think everyone eventually has to play it.

Speak for yourself.

Offline BoliverAllmon

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I haven't learned and probably won't learn it unless someone offers me a couple grand to learn it and perform it. Then I would probably change my attitude.

boliver

Offline Jake

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This is nowhere near my favorite piece by Liszt, but I think it's beautiful when played really well.

Why?

9/10 of the performances I hear of this piece are unsatisfactory. It's pretty technically difficult, and even for those that can master the technical challenges, I still find that many of them have rough sound (hurt my ears!), or are simply annoying.

Too many people play La Campanella, and most who do aren't good enough.

That's why I'm in no rush at all to learn it.  ;)

Offline lfischer

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i can't play it. i dont want to either as i think its somewhat overplayed by people who aren't really that good at it. when i was little i had a similar attitude towards the 1st movement of the moonlight sonata. very nice, just played far too often far to badly.

Offline Etude

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I don't really like Campanella that much, I prefer the earlier transcriptions by Liszt of the piece.

Offline steinwayguy

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I haven't played it and have no interest in it.

And yeah, I think it is one of those show-stopper/show-off pieces that teenagers tend to like more than say, a Mozart sonata.

Offline pseudopianist

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I would if I could but I can't so I won't
Whisky and Messiaen

Offline tds

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dont feel bad about not playing la campanella. feel good that you have played works by bach, mozart, brahms and beethoven, instead. apart from a few works by liszt, i only play his music because i am a pianist.....

i never thought that la campanella is too much more than as a piece of lolly in my pocket. i don't usually carry lollies unless i know i'll come across some kids to give em away. best, tds
dignity, love and joy.

Offline Motrax

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In my humble opinion, it's certainly worth learning if you have the time and inclination for it, but it's not at all "required" repertoire. It makes for a nice encore, and it does help technique quite a bit. [snip]

As for the frequency of people who've played it - I'd never heard of the piece until I joined the forum, and I'd never heard the piece until I got Yundi Li's CD of it. I've only met one person who's ever played it... doesn't seem like such an overplayed piece to me.
"I always make sure that the lid over the keyboard is open before I start to play." --  Artur Schnabel, after being asked for the secret of piano playing.

Offline thierry13

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It's played often, but not OVERplayed ...

Offline Dazzer

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My opinion of liszt: some showoff pianist who wrote showy flashy pieces to showoff his flash showoffy fingers cuz he could.

Conclusion: I hate liszt. But then, only cuz i can't play any of his music properly :( :D =P

EDIT: nup, haven't played la campanella either...

I have memorised a couple of trancendental etudes though... 2 and 10(i think...fmin?). Not saying that i can play them well though...
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