repertoire suggestions

[ithekangaroo]

I am about to start Beethoven's 32 variations in c minor along with the 3rd movement of mozart's sonata in F, k 332.  I'd like to play a few more.. my teacher suggested these:

Carnaval de vienne (first movement), schumann
any of the fantasy pieces op 12, schumann
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 11, liszt
rhapsody op 119 no 4, brahms

which of these do you think?

[steinwayguy]

Do all of Brahms Op. 119.

[Goldberg]

I would either go with the HR11 which, as "we" were discussing in another topic, is quite a tricky piece, but certainly not overwhelmingly difficult and, in my opinion, is easily one of the most representative of Hungarian gypsy music out of all the rhapsodies, given its superb cimbalom impersonation in the opening and the folk harmonies near, and during, the friska. It's remarkable, and gets overlooked by the big 10th and 12th rhapsodies on its flanks! Poor little bugger...

...or, I would go with Ende vom Lied, the beautiful, though not without humour surely, closing piece in Phantasiestuck. The whole set is, of course, wonderful (one of my favourite compositions right now, actually), but other neat individual pieces are Fable, Traumeswirren (which actually would be too short to "stand alone" except perhaps as an encore), and In der Nacht. Warum? is also quite popular.

It'd be worth it to learn all of Phantasiestuck, of course, but I understand that's a huge commitment, especially with the Beethoven variations! What a frighteningly enormous piece, well at least for me heh..

Ende vom Lied is substantial, though, and would give you at least 6 minutes of Schumann goodness! If you have the time, perhaps you could play Fable, Traumeswirren, and Ende vom Lied, the three final pieces of Phantasiestuck, and toss in the Liszt Rhapsody for a full circle.

[raffyplayspiano]

If I had to pick ONE piece from that list, I would pick the Brahms, hands down. but then again, I really enjoy all of Brahms music.  Also, the Rhaspody # 1 is very nice as well, a bit longer, and not quite as difficult. 

Raffy

[missmarple]

From the pieces you've mentioned I only know Faschingsschwank aus Wien (carnaval) and the first two Fantasiestucke - Des Abends and Aufschwung.

I'm currently playing Faschingsschwank's first movement for a competition and I must say that it's a great piece. Especially for a competition - you don't need to be very warmed up since the beginning isn't very technically difficult. It really is a great piece for showing all your technical and (even more) interpretational abilities - there are a lot of different moods in there and... it's just very nice to play.

Des Abends and Aufschwung are also great pieces - Des Abends can be extremely difficult (very very long phrasings) though. I think all Schumann is great music

If I were you, I'd give Faschingsschwank a try. It'll develop your piano playing a lot.

[musicsdarkangel]

oooo I personally would take on the Rhapsody 11.....  Beautiful piece.


Argerich performs it quite well.