Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Liszt Legend no.2 observations.

Almost done with this piece, first piece I'll be completing after a long dryspell. I just wanted to get some technical opinions from those who have tried it.

How would you guys rank and compare it to chopin's op.10 no.12 etude, liszt's Hungarian rhapsodie no.11, or Chopin's F-sharp minor polonaise (my most recently learned pieces). Or perhaps compare and rank it to some pieces you know or tried.

No one?

Sorry. I think the only PW member to mention playing either Legend, aside from you, was 'dolce sfogato' and he doesn't seem to check in that often. I've never tried playing it.

Well then, I guess I'm all alone on this one...lol

Is this the piece you're talking about?

Yes it is.

I'll have a listen.

I've heard it before, and I remember listening to Cortot and Horowitz's recordings. It's a cool piece, but the textures are too brute forced IMO. I think the second Ballade is a more worthwhile learn, but this piece can be effective if the virtuoso-demands can be tamed.

Personally I prefer this interpretation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1L7eVj-u_Q. I only know a couple of pianists who play it similarly, but this is the way I feel it should sound and it's sort of the way I play it.

The Hamelin one? I think he did a good job with it, but its been a while.

What else are you playing?? It's interesting to see another Liszt fan, though I'll admit to only have only studied his more well-known pieces/transcriptions (Chasse-Neige, Widmung, Gretchen am Spinnrade, the Sonata, and the 2nd Ballade).

Edit: oops, missed your edit..let me try listening to her...

It really did nothing for me. Just another show-off Liszt piece full of bombast, huge chords, gigantic lightning-fast arpeggios, endless E major scales, billions of octave runs, and two bars of musical substance.

try this one if you can https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1L7eVj-u_Q
Like I said before this is the only interpretation I enjoy, most everyone else really fits your description.

I listened to Cortot's and Horowitz's version and I honestly think they completely butchered this piece beyond recognition. I wouldn't give either one another listen.

My problem is with the piece, not the performance, and I doubt any performance is going to change my opinion of it...

Liszt wrote far too many meaningless showpieces for my taste. But the Sonata alone is enough for him to make it onto my top 15 composers list. Funny how it goes.

Really? You always seemed like a show-off to me .

You mean in my compositions? Not nearly as much as Liszt.

Honestly, while I agree with what you said about Liszt, I've been trying to view his music more favorably after learning about his life. He seemed like a genuinely good person (and an excellent show-off!), and I tend not to separate the person from the musician.

I gave the Legend No.2 a listen for the first time -- I had Hamelin give the tour of the piece -- and I enjoyed some of the billions of E major scales. I wouldn't attend a concert to hear this piece specifically, but the ending is pretty satisfying and it can make a good entertaining filler piece if you need to end a program.

To the OP: good luck with finishing this up and performing it! It's a brave choice.

Oh, this is such an awful program-ender, Dwscamel. Whatever the last work on a program is, it should not be a vapid showpiece.

What do you think of "La Campanella" as a last-piece (or encore) instead?

Definitely not as a last piece. I'm having trouble thinking of a worse last piece, in fact. As an encore, it works, but couldn't you choose one of the other million concert etudes out there - anything but the most overplayed one in the canon.

It's overplayed because it's a good encore!