<p>Jono- do you know if most pianists applying to Harvard and other top ivies that send in cd's can play the rach 2, 3 or the tchaikovsky? Like if they are at the level to play them?</p>
<p>No idea, but probably a small but not tiny number can, and a select few can play them well.</p>
<p>Jono, have you played any of these concertos?</p>
<p>too all you pianists: have you ever played the liszt mephisto waltz no 1? How hard is it compared to these chopin etudes and rach 3 that are like the paganini caprices and tchaikovsky concerto for piano?</p>
<p>im asking because as a deferree im going to record the mephisto waltz (yes, a piano piece for solo violin) and want to know if its hard even for pianists</p>
<p>Yes the mephisto waltz is a hard piece. Ive never played it, but coming from lizst, a composer known for his technically difficult piecies, it can be assumed that it is quite hard. Compared to the tchaikovsky, id have to say it might be around that level, maybe a bit below. Definitely not as hard as the rach 3. Now, im not sure how hard it will be on violin, tho. But, its probably hard enough to look good if you can play it well. GL</p>
<p>I play oboe and sent in a CD of the Haydn Concerto in C: Mvt.II and the Mozart Oboe Concerto: Mvt.II. I am an allstate musician for oboe and english horn, but the recordings wer edone with a mediocre reed that hindered my playing. Will this hurt me?</p>
<p>ummmm how many notes are left out for violin? What about the booming, percussive bass chords? The BUMbumbumbumbumbumBUMbumbumBUMbumbumBUMbumbumbumbumbumBUMbumbumBUMbumbumBUMbumbumbumbumbumBUMbumbumbumbumbumBUMbumbumbumbumbumBUMbumbumbumbumbumBadabumbadabumbadabumbadabumbadababum. . bum. . . gotta love it</p>
<p>I'm a hack pianist, and could never touch the Mephisto Waltz, so maybe I have no right to talk, but isn't the M.P. one of Liszt's less difficult pieces, written to maximize the dazzle-to-difficulty rate? On violin, it's some kind of cruel joke. I mean no offense to the pianists out there who have to deal with its challenges, but jono, not nearly enough notes are left out for violin! I guess Milstein was trying to challenge himself, Bartok, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Bach, and the rest being too simplistic...</p>
<p>I'm gonna look up the difficulty of the mephisto waltz in my massive piano repertoire book when I get home and let you know, fiddlefrog. I don't know. . . I never played it, but Liszt tends to be very comfortable for pianists. It's written to sound nice and difficult but to fit well in the hands, that is, if you can play all the octave passages haha. Anyway, I'll look it up.</p>
<p>To answer your question, tennispro, no I haven't played those concertos. I'm mostly a cellist, but I've been playing the piano all along, actually for longer. I haven't done many concertos on piano. I did Shosty 2 and Ravel G Major. Mostly solo pieces. Gotta go. I'll come back later, though.</p>
<p>OK I have the official, indisputable opinion on the difficulty of the Mephisto Waltz No. 1: from Maurice Hinson's Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, Third Edition:</p>
<p>"Mephisto Waltz No. 1 1860 S.110 A virtuoso's delight, this picturesque music is one of the most effective of Liszt's compositions. Middle episode contains soaring melodies and rubato. Calls for a wide range of technical resources, including string fingers, untiring broken octaves, granitic chord playing, accurate large skips. D."</p>
<p>Jono- whats ur favorite piano concerto?</p>
<p>goodness what a tough question!!! wow. . . . whew. . . hmmmmmm my top 8 is what I came up with, in no particular order</p>
<p>a. Mozart no. 12 in A
b. Tchaikovsky no. 1 in bb
c. Brahms no. 2 in in Bb
d. Bart</p>
<p>anybody play horn?</p>
<p>Jono- Mine are:</p>
<ol>
<li> Rach 3</li>
<li> Tchaikovsky 1</li>
<li> Rach 1</li>
<li> Rach 2</li>
<li> Grieg</li>
<li> Liszt 2</li>
<li> Prokofiev 3</li>
<li> Brahms 2</li>
</ol>
<p>okay 2 questions for all you piano buffs (aka jono, tennispro, etc..)</p>
<p>1.) i've looked online for the rach 3 solo for piano, but the only transcription i can ever find is for two hands. does anyone know if the solo piano score actually does exist, and where?
2.) how would you rate chopin's 4th ballade for difficulty? as compared to all of the psycho etudes, concertos and sonatas floating around?</p>
<p>The 4th ballade is incredibly difficult, the hardest of the ballades, I played it last year, wonderfully in private, but ummm meltdown in public, Richard Goode said to my piano teacher that he never thinks he's ready to play it in public, so yeah the piece is hard so I don't even know why you asked. Are you that uninformed? I mean are you playing it now?</p>
<p>That one for two (you mean four) hands probably isn't a transcription. . . . if you've ever played a piano concerto before, you probably noticed that it's always in the form of a score for solo piano and second piano playing the ochestra reduction. The solo part, as Rach wrote it, would be on top. . . .</p>
<p>The fourth ballade isn't the flashiest piece ever (save the coda), but its probably the deepest piano piece of that era. It'll make or break your application; if you play it right you'll change their lives, if you don't, you'll just be considered another teen biting more than he can chew. Venture at your own risk...</p>
<p>all pianists, if you havent already used this website, go here for free sheetmusic</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net%5B/url%5D">www.sheetmusicarchive.net</a></p>
<p>Ive never really heard much about the fourth ballad, just the first. How do you guys feel about the Schumann Sonata in (I think) F minor? I love how it sounds. Do you guys know if it is harder than it sounds, or easy to play?</p>
<p>Do you mean the F# minor? I love that piece.</p>