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right, i need a concert styled piece, grade 8 +, for a guide i have just perfected Claire De Lune and i am able to play bits of La Campanella. it needs to be from 3-9 minutes long, and the concert is next winter (in December 2003). that would mean i have plenty of time to learn it and correct any hard bits, but im not expecting to play any 'virtuoso' Liszt pieces in that time in their entirety.

Max, I don't know what grade 8 is, but just last evening I heard a student play part of Debussy's Arabesque, No.1. Do you know it? It's totally gorgeous ... perhaps you could see if it's within range for you. I've added it to my list of pieces I want to learn ... eventually.

Max,

Could you give us a bit more idea as to what your exact level of playing is? It's just that Clair de Lune is quite a straightforward, unadvanced piece, whereas La Campanella is a piece of astounding virtuosic trickiness. What other pieces can you play, for instance?

Anyway, I think maybe the Chopin 'Military' A Major Polonaise Op. 40 No.1, or a Waltz/Nocturne might make a good showpiece. In my experience, people love the C-sharp min Waltz especially.

Also the Hummel Sonata in Eb movement, which I just did for my grade 8, is a super piece, showy (good 'ol RH scales, and quite hard mind you, but could be practised to a high level.

Then again, those (esp the Chopin) are a bit small in scope, and my best recommendation to you would be a sort of 'beginner' virtuoso piece that's not too tough but still sounds real nice and flashy - Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso Op. 14 in E. I reckon you could nicely hone it with time and produce a really nice finished version, something which I never got to do (that tempo can notch up pretty much ad infititum!).

Good luck!

Rondo Capriosso.....i never thought of playing that! I got halfway, but stopped to do Clair De Lune. I was thinking of doing a Chopin Ballad, maybe the Ab one, im not sure. Skill wise, well i can play bits from La Campanella (some of it's way to hard, so i skip it and do the next 'section'), and i can already play Arabesque (1 + 2, i prefer the 2nd one). I can play the rest of Suite BErgamasque, some (sketchy though) Chopin etudes, the slow one, and the one in C. And im thinking of finishing off playing all his preludes - only 4 more. Umm.....oh, i can play some of his waltzs (Db, F etc).