Is the Freidheim edition what you'd recommend? I have the Koenemann edition with essentially no fingering help. I will still run this by my teacher, because I will need her help. If she looks at me in disbelief and whacks me on the head - I will likely have to rethink whether I can pull off a credible performance (of 25.2).

Friedheim is excellent for fingering.

I would advise staying away from Mikuli. His fingerings are unnatural and represent, imo, the basest of Nineteenth Century tendencies toward mechanization of the human person. In 25/8, for example, he has in one place the RH thumb playing twelve successive notes!

Friedheim was a pupil of Liszt's. His edition provides natural fingerings - in some places (in 25/6 anyway) even offering alternative fingerings.

His forward is enjoyable, too.

I've got the Mikuli. It's alright, although I'm definatly going to look for a new edition. Some of those fingerings are strange on the arps in 10/1.

Matt

Thanks, Gerg and Matt - I'll have a look. I definitely want to get the fingering right from the beginning.

Caroline

Pederewski Edition is considered by the Warsaw competition judges to be the best of the best, but 99% of it is probably the same across all editions, and Friedheim is a good all-around version without a lot of accents, ornaments, etc. that aren't part of the composer's original music. (25/1 seems to be a magnet for editors' added accent and expression marks.)

Whichever edition we use, it is the amount of work we put into the pieces that will make the real difference.

YD... We need to trade... I'm afraid of 25.11...

If anyone wants the Cortot Edition of both sets, send me a PM.

I have the very hard to find English translation of the original French.

It includes extensive fingering and scores and scores of little exercises that isolate the technical problems in each Etude.

Cortot was Mikuli's student.


Mel

I use the Dover Paderewski Edition that says "Edited by Carl Mikuli". Is there a separate Mikuli edition by another publisher? I like the fingering in many of the études except maybe 10/4. I'd be interested in checking out the Cortot edition.

Can you give an example of fingering distinctions that make a significant difference?

What, cold feet already...?? From you...??? You can do it, really; your fingers are fast enough; I've heard them. It's one full year out. You can still take 25/10, right?

Anyway, I will start 25/11 in addition to 25/12 (with which, I am afraid, I've already fallen in love), and see how it goes. Why not do this: take 25/10, and start 25/11 at the same time. Then, closer to the recital, let's compare our progress and see what turns out to be our best effort for the recital.

BTW, 25/12 is also a pretty tough one, so difficulty-wise it's about the same as 25/11. I got to measures 20-40, and can tell you that Kandzia was right: that'll take a long while to master...

I've never thought of 25/12 as being that hard. Comparing difficulty, I got the first 2 measures of 25/12 in 20 minutes. I can't even play the right-hand part of 25/11 at half tempo, and definitely not from memory. Although if 25/12 is anything like 25/11, the first few bars say *nothing* about the rest of the piece...

10/11 is a good one for those with big hands.

Hah, same thing here: got measures 1-14 (almost) up to speed in 2 days, and thought to myself "what's the big deal here...???" Wait till you get to measures 20-40.
Oh, it's definitely doable for me, similar in difficulty to 10/12, maybe just a bit harder...
I tinkered around with 25/11 a bit; the right hand fingering is uncomfortable, but so was 10/12; one gets used to it as the time goes by. Just keep playing it slowly. Note, speed is really the only issue here, as there are almost no wide jumps or tough stretches, and I'd say half speed (which is equivalent to quarter=103 in this case) is very unreasonable to start with. I'd start at quarter=80, or even slower; otherwise it'll get mushed together without defined melodic lines. Did you notice implied melodies in every second note in those right hand passages? Thy accenting them strongly, that puts some structure into right hand playing (you can get rid of them later).

Uh oh! I was just going to ask if 10/11 is possible for those with not-so-big hands. (for me, octaves are easy; ninths are a stretch) Thought 10/11 might be a way to work on extending my reach, but maybe it would be over-reaching? (sorry, couldn't resist :p )

Yes, it is possible.

I've got an augmented 11th, is that big enough?

You have Lisztian hands.

Give it until at least next Monday with 25/11, okay? You should have your music by then with fingerings. Using the Freidheim fingering I can play the first few bars of the RH (after the Lento) at half tempo and rather suspect you will be able to as well. Full tempo is just hard work. Did you look at the link YD posted earlier in the thread?

It is good that you are feeling trepidatious about this. This is a sign you have the right attitude about the piece necessary to conquer it: Humility, but with determination.

I checked out the Etude study guide, most of what it tells me is that the piece is hard... You're probably right about the attitude though. When I started Allegro Barbaro and HR2, I wasn't nervous at all.

More like Rach. Liszt had a mere 10. (He just made the very most of it. Chopin barely managed that.)

Not at all. Rach had more like a 13th. I bet it would be amazing to watch him play 10.1...

I stand corrected!

You're what? 14? Plenty of time to grown into a 13.

Just 359 days to go. Anyone nervous?

Hi, I'm new to this process--I see Amelialw has requested 25.5 "as well"--does that mean it's up for grabs? I love that one; it's CRAZY! I'd love to do it if no one else is.

The so-called "Wrong Note" study? I'll put you down for it (sorry Amelia!).

Welcome, neighbor - you're only 120 miles south, so I guess we're neighbors ! We're also neighbors in that we have adjacent etudes in the Op. 25.

BTW will you be learning 25/5, or do you already know it? It doesn't matter, just curious...

I've been listening to Murray Perahia playing 10/9, and I think I'm in love! If it's okay with AQP, I'd really like to learn this one.

I would very much like to practice op 10 no 8 , but I am not at all sure that I can perform it in a year.....But this is still a challenge for adult beginners, is it ?

Ragnhild

Definitely.

I'll take Op 10 #9 f minor if that isnt spoken for yet.

Of course, take Op.10 No.9, I have to study both No.5 and No.9 for the Conservatoire, so that's fine!