One realizes after looking at some of this stuff that the etudes by both Chopin and even Liszt's trancendental series were childs play for Liszt himself. The guy played a such an incredibly high level of technique that virtually anything he could imagine hearing he could play. It wasn't showing off. To him this was just natural playing. My hats off to you concert pianists that do this kind of stuff. You are truely the mount Everest of players.
I agree with the first aprt, but not with the second. Yes, he was (one of) the biggest piano virtuoso, and he could play this pieces with what looked like ease, but he wrote such things to show off. His transcedental etudes were literally made for him and the few others who can play them to show off. Liszt was a big big showoff.
Well ego I guess is part of being a musician. I understand that Beethoven used to enjoy humbling the local virtuosos himself. I did read that Liszt was sort of a rockstar in his day complete with swooning ladies at his feet. Not a bad gig if you can get it. But even Liszt's very beautiful pieces are tough to play. Un Spiro comes to mind. La Campanella does seem like a show off piece given the simplistic nature of it's melody and yet the technical hurdles to actually pull it off well.
yeah child's play is the right way to put it. of course the transcendental etudes and chopins etudes will always wow the audience in terms of technical difficulty but these opera fantasies are on another level...
I could listen to things like Chopin's scherzos, Rachmaninoff's sonatas, Liszt's etudes and still go "Damn I wanna play like that", but sitting here listening to this... I'm amazed someone did play it and I'm perfectly happy just listening.
William Wolfram does here what hardly any pianist since Liszt has been able to accomplish - make musical sense of these devilishly difficult operatic transcriptions. These transcriptions and fantasies are beyond the technical reach of all but the most gifted pianists, but even then you get the impression the pianist is laboring from one difficulty to the next. The result is your attention is constantly drawn to the little cadenzas that permeate this music, and occasionally you notice something melodic is going on. Wolfram is the exact opposite. The melody is supreme at all times in his recordings of these works. The most impossible passages whisper by as accompaniment, as they should, so that your focus is on what Liszt is presenting to us - glorious bel canto melodies, with all the glittering improvisations that are the hallmark of coloratura singing. It is a rare concert pianist who has such a command of touch, tonal control, and timing in even the most difficult passages, and William Wolfram is just such a pianist. He has to rank as one of the greatest Liszt interpreters of all time.
The themes used are: @ 0:00 Intro @ 1:36 Della duchessa ai prieghi @ 7:03 Guai se ti sfugge un moto @ 9:55 Intro @ 11:13 Il segreto per esser felici @ 12:10 Senti, la danza invitaci @ 15:50 Ama tua madre, o tenero @ 19:13 Maffi Orsini signora son'io @ 21:37 Infelice il velen bevesti
I would have thought this is one of the hardest pieces the composer ever wrote... Maybe the most difficult because of how long it is and the amount of notes and technical difficulties, the amount of work you'd have to put into this to learn it is absolutely ridiculous!
@@notmusictheory74 if you read closely you will see that it says “one of the hardest piano piece” and not “The one hardest piano piece anyone saying otherwise is wrong”. Yes there is the symphony transcriptions, Spanish works etc. But this one is at least in the top 12 and from the fact that it’s Liszt makes it impressive.
This is the most beautiful music i've heard. I have been listening to this piece almost daily, every time I hear the climax of the trio du seconde acte I get goosebumps, its just incredible.
No words. Whoever would say that the Don Juan or Norma Fantasy are the most taxing technically have obviously not heard these recordings. I'd never heard them until now, and as a pianist I would say they make your heart sink. This is edging towards unplayable. I'm not ashamed to say it, but really appreciate hearing a phenomenal performance from a human being who had the capacity musically and technically to perform these incredible Liszt works with full bravura
I am very thankful someone said it first; I was writing a comment and then chose to not post it. But here is my two cents then! - I find it hilarious that people instantly resort to the likes of the Tannhauser or Don Juan as the "be all, end all" of Liszt's most inhuman works. People honestly have no idea.
Don Juan's finale is more taxing in a different way, if you haven't played it you'd have no idea. Lucrezia Borgia is longer and harder overall but for pure wrist-endurance nothing in Liszt is harder than Don Juan.
@@calebhu6383 I've played the entire Don Juan. I've never learned this work so my judgement is mainly due to a combo of scanning the score and a number of other considerations
@@CziffraTheThird I think the Symphony no. 9 transcription is overall the most difficult if played in full, but we're talking about arrangements here; I think perhaps for the original works either the Sonata in b minor or Scherzo und marsch takes the title for "hardest original Liszt piano solo piece".
I admire the brilliant musical imagination. It is unbelievable how much beauty and diabolical parts are hidden in this immensely beautiful composition by Franz Liszt!
Yet another unbelievable lost diamond from the seemingly infinite Liszt vault of wonders....... FABULOUS playing of fabulous music!! I absolutely love your written review also.
@@KenBreadbox Still doesn't mean anything whatever liszt said of Alkan. You didn't see either play, and nearly everyone at the time agreed Liszt was simply better, if you choose to believe whatever liszt said potentially as a means of being humble and respectful towards someone he perceived as a great pianist, then go on but bear in mind it is a completely baseless and biased claim.
Imagine performing this live! You’d probably get a standing ovation that lasts even longer than the piece :’-D
3 ปีที่แล้ว +2
this piece is nearly impossible to play live, especially in this level. I looked fiercely for a live, no matter how poor, attempt, but nobody seem to have - except from Liszt himself. Still, I agree, and the ovation would be deserved.
@ This piece is like a mansion with many ornately decorated rooms and interconnecting corridors. It would require a master ‘architect’ to ‘construct’ the complete edifice in front of an audience - not to mention fingers and wrists made from the strongest and most flexible steel imaginable!
It must be the highest level of difficulty in his reminiscenes pieces. And I give my infinite praise to William Wolfram who played this piece..! He also played "Reminiscenes des puritains" in a good interpretation, and I recommend listen to it!
What a phenomenal interpretation! I am totally smitten with William's sense of musicality and his profound understanding of Liszt, at least Liszt's musicality in this masterpiece! Hats off guys for both Liszt and William!
A person with the MIND to have conceived this stupendous piece, just has to be stark raving mad and OTHER WORLDLY in every sense of the world. And so does a pianist like WOLFRAM to have been able to absorb all of this in his mind and under his fingers. These are the achievements of the REAL supermen in our world who can achieve a marvel such as this! Besides all that, I am SPEECHLESS. ♥♥♥♥
Although there are a few Liszt’s works which equivalent to Lucrezia Borgia in terms of difficulty, No one can even catch up with its beautiful musicality.
How delicious and utterly Italian Bel Canto-esque is the little cadenza in 4 descending octaves at 22:15 ! I was surprised to discover that it is not an orchestral phrase but actually sung (in 2 octave leaps) by the soprano and tenor in their duet... What absolute beauty did the Italian Bel Canto reach and how did they manage to extract these sounds from the human voice! And the genius of Liszt is of course beyond any doubt... You can actually hear all these melodies almost being sung by the piano! 🤍
Amazing. There's also a roll recording of the 2nd part from one of Liszt's best pupils (Arthur Friedheim). He recounted in one of his reminiscences with Liszt, that not only did Liszt play these paraphrases, but he would improvise on top of them while he played... There exist a number of rolls/arrangements from Liszt pupils of some of what they heard during these performances. Un sospiro comes to mind.
@Qafar Quluzade what piece you think hardest? I dont told about Sorabjis works and etc atonal composers, because hardest piece in music literature is Opus Clavisembalisticum!
For some reason I always like to put this side-by-side with Liszt's Sonata, as if this operatic paraphrase signalled that Liszt had already "peaked" in his efforts as an opera transcriber, and that it is so high an achievement that it transcends into "genius innovation" territory. It's as if this fantasy is like a gateway to Liszt's ultimate master-piece, the Sonata in b minor; this paraphrase seems to mark the end of Liszt's "virtuosity for fireworks" phase while at the same time transcending into his "virtuosity for art" phase. Just my opinion. :) It is also exciting to imagine that Liszt may probably have been able to improvise this way - ON THE SPOT, yes! Such that he could randomly weave out of thin air, out of spontaneous inspiration, music of the same sort as those of his which scholars, generations later, would proclaim as compositional masterpieces just because they were on paper. Mad.
you are wrong again. Franz Liszt was only person to play this live, for more than a hundred years, until William Wolfram tried it live, just once. Wolfram only played this live once in his life. Neither dared to fuck around with this piece. It is a very risky piece to play live, there is no "improvising" at this level. Stop coping.
I'm speechless. I consider myself a truly Liszt connoisseur, and I love his operatic fantasies, but I never listen to this. It is beyond belief. Musically speaking, I don't think is on par with Norma and Don Giovanni (except the incredible theme at 15:51) but as far as technical difficulties goes we are way above. Wolfram is God here. And after watching a video where he was recording the Norma (th-cam.com/video/XbJF46Z1OBA/w-d-xo.html) I think he needed really a few takes to get the job done. His playing is incredibly accurate (and exquisite).
What 19th cent patron can we thank that so loved this opera that they paid the great Liszt generous commission to so inimitably immortalize it for a most enjoyable and fascinating 20+ minutes.
Прежде всего ,это необычное произведение и поэтому оно ,конечно, вызывает восторг не только из за сложности исполнения,а как прекрасное сочинение. А когда сможем представить себе зрительные образы написанного ,это будет уже другой уровень. Спасибо . Very beautifull performance. Thank you.
@@antonygonzalez1672 If you take random 20 seconds from this piece, it will be without doubt impossible for every amateur pianist. Such techniques as tremolos, octaves and wide arpeggios are spread throughout it. And all of it sounds like trash if played in slow-medium tempo. Only fast speed will be comprehensible for ears. This piece is incredibly demanding.
Having once served as stage director for a concert staging of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, I can only say that Liszt's "Grande Fantasie" on themes from the opera is stupendous, making something extraordinary out of the original material. Unlike Bellini's Norma, to say nothing of the various Verdi works that Liszt engaged with, Donizetti's opera doesn't stand quite at the peak of his achievements as a musical dramatist, so Liszt's choice to let his musical imagination fly far and wide seems to me a shrewd choice. Still, the choice and sequencing of numbers from the opera is suggestive of the story, and if people were as familiar with the plot of Lucrezia Borgia as they are with Norma, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto or Aida, they might experience this piece somewhat differently. Thank you. NB: I'm somewhat surprised not to see any mention of the recording by Antony Peebles, which seems to me especially responsive to the atmosphere of the opera and the characters: th-cam.com/video/HYviF01RXtc/w-d-xo.html [Part One] th-cam.com/video/oesQUQWAeNM/w-d-xo.html [Part Two]
There's so much in this to enjoy. Looks fun to play, too!! A lot of different techniques going on. Was definitely surprised to see one hand glissando in 3rds. Haven't seen that except for in a Ravel piece! I gotta pick this up. Only halfway through, and I'm wondering what else Liszt has in store. Haha. Thank you, uploader!! 😎
Mr Wolfram.... Bravo! Must've been a serious ride to learn this piece and make it sound/appear easy lol Amazing. Just amazing. Liszt was one of a kind pianist and composer.
I guess after a pianist has 'transcended' the mechanical aspects of technique (thirds, sixths, octaves, fast chromatics, jumps, endurance, etc) learning the notes of this piece would not be particularly difficult (but do bear in mind it would take around 10,000 hours of practice to actually 'transcend'). What then becomes difficult is the musicality aspect i.e. considering how you're going to approach every phrase, making everything sound melodious, following the composer's intentions (while still providing an 'original' interpretation) and so on.
Andrei Cristian Anghel, well said. It took me four months to master the Grosses Konzertsolo. But then again, it was my third time so it was mostly a matter of relearning the old moves. This piece would probably take half a year, since it’s new to me.
It's not that hard. You play it with # 2 and 4 fingers. Or 1 and 3. You need to do the same in the famous "Alborada del gracioso" by Ravel. It hurts to do it, but in theory it's not hard.
Jesus fucking H, I’m only 5 minutes into listening to this and I’m absolutely blown the fuck away, I’m on the border of literally crying right now. Really glad TH-cam - for whatever reason lol - kept pushing me to listen to this lately. This is nothing short of completely saturated music at its most pristine. It’s as if someone took all of Heaven, condensed it into a cup, and then spilled its contents onto the piano to flow at its will. AND I’M ONLY 5 MINUTES IN - well 8 now lol. And it’s bewildering to think that Liszt designed this to be performed by one person. I really wonder if he has any pieces written for two pianos, and what he would have executed if he did. Like seriously, what could/would he have written, ever, that would warrant him to be like “One piano simply isn’t enough.” lmao. Huge thanks for these uploads as always, Andrei :)
@@Varooooooom he actually had dozens of transcriptions for 2 pianos or even piano 4 hands such as his symphonic poems. IMO you really should listen to his Concerto Pathetique S.258 - his best work for 2 pianos :))
At the last chord 23:20 I play a lower octave bass chord to give it more depth I'm only seven and have been practicing this for at least a few hours today so got up to speed
Whereas the development in both counterpoint and other of the main themes of each part are extremely impressive, in my opinion, Liszt does not commit to any texture for long enough. It keeps changing, and that is, for me as a listener, quite unsettling. If Liszt had explored each texture in more depth, without moving from one to the other so swiftly, I believe this piece would have made a more coherent work. Despite this, there are countless emotional passages in this oeuvre, of which my favourite I would say is at 7:31, the best part of that variation starting in 8:00. I believe this specific part is so successful because Liszt sticks to the idea up to 9:03, which kind of reinforces my first criticism. And I can't leave a comment here without congratulating Wolfram for the sensational performance! From the looks of it, Liszt didn't like pianists very much... but Wolfram did it anyway!
I don't know a great deal about Lucrezia Borgia, but if these are her reminiscences she must've spent a lot of her life high, drunk, giddily running about, throwing heavy furniture out of windows, or experimenting with gunpowder...
Rarement entendues ces variations d’après Lucrezia Borgia de Donizetti sont diaboliquement difficiles. Il faut souligner le courage et l’audace de certains ( nes) pianistes pour affronter de telles œuvres !
Chopin of course knew of the Colossal technical skills Liszt possessed as well a his incredible sight-reading. Both the best in Europe a that time. What migtht Mon Chopint thought upon hearing this?
He'd probably spout snide remarks, with Chopin and Liszt being quite different in style and (particularly in this case) intentions-Liszt's aim here to achieve the ne plus ultra of pianism, imbuing stupefying, inventive filigree into his tribute to Donizetti, wouldn't appeal to Chopin in the same way leftism might not appeal to a rightist. Both were distinctly different, both produced beautiful music, both contributed so much to the piano, and comparing them/pitting them or their remarks (not that Liszt ever said a single negative thing about Chopin's music as far as I'm aware-something which wasn't reciprocated!) against each other, is apples to oranges.
Chopin would have said wtf is this why you making it complicated pal watch me liszt i can put up a lot of notes too will see how many days it will take you to repeat them you fucker xddd
One realizes after looking at some of this stuff that the etudes by both Chopin and even Liszt's trancendental series were childs play for Liszt himself. The guy played a such an incredibly high level of technique that virtually anything he could imagine hearing he could play. It wasn't showing off. To him this was just natural playing.
My hats off to you concert pianists that do this kind of stuff. You are truely the mount Everest of players.
I agree with the first aprt, but not with the second. Yes, he was (one of) the biggest piano virtuoso, and he could play this pieces with what looked like ease, but he wrote such things to show off. His transcedental etudes were literally made for him and the few others who can play them to show off. Liszt was a big big showoff.
Well ego I guess is part of being a musician. I understand that Beethoven used to enjoy humbling the local virtuosos himself. I did read that Liszt was sort of a rockstar in his day complete with swooning ladies at his feet. Not a bad gig if you can get it. But even Liszt's very beautiful pieces are tough to play. Un Spiro comes to mind. La Campanella does seem like a show off piece given the simplistic nature of it's melody and yet the technical hurdles to actually pull it off well.
@@smitlag Exactly, I'm learning Un Sospiro right now, and it's giving me a heck of a time
yeah child's play is the right way to put it. of course the transcendental etudes and chopins etudes will always wow the audience in terms of technical difficulty but these opera fantasies are on another level...
@@thenobody7904 how can you listen to chasse neige and say that it's a show off piece?
I could listen to things like Chopin's scherzos, Rachmaninoff's sonatas, Liszt's etudes and still go "Damn I wanna play like that", but sitting here listening to this... I'm amazed someone did play it and I'm perfectly happy just listening.
:)
Fun fact : Plural for 'scherzo' is 'scherzi'
NO ONE ASKED U NERD
@@19thCenturyGuy yes, in Italian but OP is not speaking Italian so "scherzos" is fine.
@@sebastian-benedictflore Thx :)
This has to be one the most emotionally charged and gorgeous melodies ever written, the one that starts at 15:51
ThatRomanticPianist Liszt wasn’t only a pianistic brute. He did have much finesse actually
I read this comment just as I was listening to that exact melody. One reason why I believe this to be one of Liszt's greatest masterpieces. :)
Well I give that title to liszt's sonata in b minor(zimmerman)
Is it an original Liszt melody or is it taken from the opera?
Sami Faheem -- I believe it was based off an opera by Donizetti.
07:31 is when the magical moment starts
the Liszt piece I listen to the most, just for that 07:31 to 9:54
it’s so beautiful oh my goodness
I got goosebumps XD
Indeed
William Wolfram does here what hardly any pianist since Liszt has been able to accomplish - make musical sense of these devilishly difficult operatic transcriptions. These transcriptions and fantasies are beyond the technical reach of all but the most gifted pianists, but even then you get the impression the pianist is laboring from one difficulty to the next. The result is your attention is constantly drawn to the little cadenzas that permeate this music, and occasionally you notice something melodic is going on. Wolfram is the exact opposite. The melody is supreme at all times in his recordings of these works. The most impossible passages whisper by as accompaniment, as they should, so that your focus is on what Liszt is presenting to us - glorious bel canto melodies, with all the glittering improvisations that are the hallmark of coloratura singing. It is a rare concert pianist who has such a command of touch, tonal control, and timing in even the most difficult passages, and William Wolfram is just such a pianist. He has to rank as one of the greatest Liszt interpreters of all time.
The themes used are:
@ 0:00 Intro
@ 1:36 Della duchessa ai prieghi
@ 7:03 Guai se ti sfugge un moto
@ 9:55 Intro
@ 11:13 Il segreto per esser felici
@ 12:10 Senti, la danza invitaci
@ 15:50 Ama tua madre, o tenero
@ 19:13 Maffi Orsini signora son'io
@ 21:37 Infelice il velen bevesti
Thx mate
Thank you.
"The poison you drink is unhappy" - TH-cam google translate
@@iliketurtles5180 not at all, the right translation would be: "Unfortunate man, you drunk the poison"
Grazie Niccolò, è più facile in questo modo capire l'amore per il bel canto dei grandi virtuosi d'oltralpe
I would have thought this is one of the hardest pieces the composer ever wrote... Maybe the most difficult because of how long it is and the amount of notes and technical difficulties, the amount of work you'd have to put into this to learn it is absolutely ridiculous!
@Censored Censored It is indeed one of the hardest works Ive ever played
Thank you for these warm kind words !
No
@@notmusictheory74 if you read closely you will see that it says “one of the hardest piano piece” and not “The one hardest piano piece anyone saying otherwise is wrong”. Yes there is the symphony transcriptions, Spanish works etc. But this one is at least in the top 12 and from the fact that it’s Liszt makes it impressive.
@@Sandy-lq7eo Did I say anything about that lol
8:40 -> 9:51 Best(ial) conclusion ever
Yes. Pretty much the best, it literally gives me goosebumps like even 3 times in a row in those 2 minutes of the piece.
This is the most beautiful music i've heard. I have been listening to this piece almost daily, every time I hear the climax of the trio du seconde acte I get goosebumps, its just incredible.
bevesti
Bestial conclusion ever
No words. Whoever would say that the Don Juan or Norma Fantasy are the most taxing technically have obviously not heard these recordings. I'd never heard them until now, and as a pianist I would say they make your heart sink. This is edging towards unplayable. I'm not ashamed to say it, but really appreciate hearing a phenomenal performance from a human being who had the capacity musically and technically to perform these incredible Liszt works with full bravura
Totally agree. And, Not just unplayable... about as close to unreadable-incomprehensible as any written music I have ever seen.
I am very thankful someone said it first; I was writing a comment and then chose to not post it. But here is my two cents then! - I find it hilarious that people instantly resort to the likes of the Tannhauser or Don Juan as the "be all, end all" of Liszt's most inhuman works. People honestly have no idea.
Don Juan's finale is more taxing in a different way, if you haven't played it you'd have no idea. Lucrezia Borgia is longer and harder overall but for pure wrist-endurance nothing in Liszt is harder than Don Juan.
@@calebhu6383 I've played the entire Don Juan. I've never learned this work so my judgement is mainly due to a combo of scanning the score and a number of other considerations
@@CziffraTheThird I think the Symphony no. 9 transcription is overall the most difficult if played in full, but we're talking about arrangements here; I think perhaps for the original works either the Sonata in b minor or Scherzo und marsch takes the title for "hardest original Liszt piano solo piece".
I admire the brilliant musical imagination. It is unbelievable how much beauty and diabolical parts are hidden in this immensely beautiful composition by Franz Liszt!
17:25 is so magical... I don't know how to describe the emotions and smoothness it just demonstrates.
15:50 "Ama tua madre, o tenero"
19:13 "Maffio Orsini signora son io"
21:13 "infelice il velen bevesti"
4:42 This part is sooo beautiful!
I agree. It's amazing how he turned the melody from something cheerful - almost dance-like - into something tender and mellow.
Even the sheet music looks nice
Indeed
Yet another unbelievable lost diamond from the seemingly infinite Liszt vault of wonders....... FABULOUS playing of fabulous music!! I absolutely love your written review also.
This is unbelievable, I'm convinced Liszt must have been the greatest pianist of all time.
Actually, he was.
@@tiborvisi7438 He would tell you Alkan was better than him -- and he'd be right.
@@KenBreadbox lol you never saw neither play wtf.
Alkan would tell you Liszt was better 🤷🏻 doesn't mean anything.
@@marcossidoruk8033 Only going by what's been published. If you can find record of Alkan praising Liszt, I'd love to see it.
@@KenBreadbox Still doesn't mean anything whatever liszt said of Alkan. You didn't see either play, and nearly everyone at the time agreed Liszt was simply better, if you choose to believe whatever liszt said potentially as a means of being humble and respectful towards someone he perceived as a great pianist, then go on but bear in mind it is a completely baseless and biased claim.
Imagine performing this live! You’d probably get a standing ovation that lasts even longer than the piece :’-D
this piece is nearly impossible to play live, especially in this level. I looked fiercely for a live, no matter how poor, attempt, but nobody seem to have - except from Liszt himself. Still, I agree, and the ovation would be deserved.
@ This piece is like a mansion with many ornately decorated rooms and interconnecting corridors. It would require a master ‘architect’ to ‘construct’ the complete edifice in front of an audience - not to mention fingers and wrists made from the strongest and most flexible steel imaginable!
@@erikfreitas7093 Man this simile with a mansion is on point!
@@saxy1player thanks. This and the “Réminiscences de Norma” must be Liszt’s most impressive operatic transcriptions!
@@erikfreitas7093 I think reminscences de don juan is awesome too
It must be the highest level of difficulty in his reminiscenes pieces. And I give my infinite praise to William Wolfram who played this piece..! He also played "Reminiscenes des puritains" in a good interpretation, and I recommend listen to it!
Hi
멘데스님 채널에 이 곡 부탁합니다^^(구독자입니다)
sure ill check it out. i've only heard hegedus' recording and one other guy's
와우
@@세르게이라흐마니-e9t sergay Rachmaninov
22 renaissance era assassins disliked this masterpiece
lmfaoo
@ENESCU GAY Yes him!
What a phenomenal interpretation! I am totally smitten with William's sense of musicality and his profound understanding of Liszt, at least Liszt's musicality in this masterpiece! Hats off guys for both Liszt and William!
I love this channel. So many pieces I've never heard. Liszt was truly the most brilliant composer of all time. Beautiful piece
A person with the MIND to have conceived this stupendous piece, just has to be stark raving mad and OTHER WORLDLY in every sense of the world. And so does a pianist like WOLFRAM to have been able to absorb all of this in his mind and under his fingers. These are the achievements of the REAL supermen in our world who can achieve a marvel such as this! Besides all that, I am SPEECHLESS. ♥♥♥♥
Incredible performance... What a grand piece...
Although there are a few Liszt’s works which equivalent to Lucrezia Borgia in terms of difficulty, No one can even catch up with its beautiful musicality.
No this one is exceptionally hard on techniques even out of Liszt's works
you are right, this is the very best piece ever written for piano or any other solo instrument.
9:18 that must've been the fastest fucking arpeggios I've ever seen. Unbelievable.
2:40 and hes already combining both melodies in an astonishing way
Yeah, the genius in Liszt manifests itself
it was said that he could combine 3 melodies at once in improvisation!
How delicious and utterly Italian Bel Canto-esque is the little cadenza in 4 descending octaves at 22:15 !
I was surprised to discover that it is not an orchestral phrase but actually sung (in 2 octave leaps) by the soprano and tenor in their duet... What absolute beauty did the Italian Bel Canto reach and how did they manage to extract these sounds from the human voice!
And the genius of Liszt is of course beyond any doubt... You can actually hear all these melodies almost being sung by the piano! 🤍
Delicious?
Liszt Ferenc:Réminiscences de Lucrezia Borgia
1.Trió a 2.felvonásból 00:00
2.Duó-finálé 09:54
William Wolfram-zongora
"...no ossias were harmed (or used) in the performance of this piece..."
20:44 ?
@ًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًًً sh*t
@Enescu The part 'or used' doesn't make sense, though.
@@pleasecontactme4274 He didn't play the ossia though
I thought Norma was my favorite, until I discovered this. Thank you so much!
I stumbled upon this piece 2 months ago, and I haven't been listening to something else practically. Love it!
4:11 - **Everyone is expecting the climax of the century**
4:21 - **Liszt: "Nah, just kidding; virtuosic interlude"**
Lol
Lol
@@that1guy910 Lol
@@tedpiano lol
@Mathews196 lol
A wonderful display of genius in both composition and performance !!
Amazing. There's also a roll recording of the 2nd part from one of Liszt's best pupils (Arthur Friedheim). He recounted in one of his reminiscences with Liszt, that not only did Liszt play these paraphrases, but he would improvise on top of them while he played... There exist a number of rolls/arrangements from Liszt pupils of some of what they heard during these performances. Un sospiro comes to mind.
You understand!! It seems that Liszt's abilities were beyond what we can even comprehend.
OMG that recording is so fabulous!!!!
Absolutely GODLIKE performance... IMPOSSIBLE PIANO MUSIC.
Just wow! I could barely follow along with the music. The idea of effortlessly playing this seems superhuman. A truly bravado performance.
I'm a pianist.....didn't know of these works by Liszt!!
This is hardest piece ever, more harder then Alkan's concerto
@Qafar Quluzade what piece you think hardest? I dont told about Sorabjis works and etc atonal composers, because hardest piece in music literature is Opus Clavisembalisticum!
@@chezbe So you're a pianist? You sound like you have played this piece!
@@sundancer7381 yes i am pianist, but nobody in the TH-cam can play this piece, this piece in the most high technical level! I cant haha
@Qafar Quluzade no, i dont think so
For some reason I always like to put this side-by-side with Liszt's Sonata, as if this operatic paraphrase signalled that Liszt had already "peaked" in his efforts as an opera transcriber, and that it is so high an achievement that it transcends into "genius innovation" territory. It's as if this fantasy is like a gateway to Liszt's ultimate master-piece, the Sonata in b minor; this paraphrase seems to mark the end of Liszt's "virtuosity for fireworks" phase while at the same time transcending into his "virtuosity for art" phase. Just my opinion. :)
It is also exciting to imagine that Liszt may probably have been able to improvise this way - ON THE SPOT, yes! Such that he could randomly weave out of thin air, out of spontaneous inspiration, music of the same sort as those of his which scholars, generations later, would proclaim as compositional masterpieces just because they were on paper. Mad.
Imo, this piece is much more beautiful than Liszt Sonata and so much better
@@babygirl4169 agreed
@@babygirl4169IMO, sonata better as its themes and structure weld together true.
this is his (and all humanity's) ultimate masterpiece for a single instrument.
you are wrong again. Franz Liszt was only person to play this live, for more than a hundred years, until William Wolfram tried it live, just once. Wolfram only played this live once in his life.
Neither dared to fuck around with this piece. It is a very risky piece to play live, there is no "improvising" at this level. Stop coping.
Wow...what a piece. What really astounds me is how he wrote all these notes down, considering how many works he wrote. Phew.
How many works did he write
@@Aihoshino24700-ish
Thank you for uploading. What a gem Master Liszt produced!
This is what made the ladies swoon back in the day. Liszt was one of the first rock stars
Getting those sweaty corsets back in the day
Beastly difficult, technically out of this world, but still has any number of amusing points. Love it.
7:57 till the end of trio is just perfect
this piece is something absolutely incredible. one of the most emotionally ever. thanks to listz and to wolfram.
I like the melody at 15:50 so beautiful..
Looks very hard. And it's sound beautiful
김동현 문법좀요
I agree!!
김동현 well guess what, it’s even harder than it looks
명란젓._. 알맞게 고쳐주세요
I'm speechless. I consider myself a truly Liszt connoisseur, and I love his operatic fantasies, but I never listen to this. It is beyond belief. Musically speaking, I don't think is on par with Norma and Don Giovanni (except the incredible theme at 15:51) but as far as technical difficulties goes we are way above. Wolfram is God here. And after watching a video where he was recording the Norma (th-cam.com/video/XbJF46Z1OBA/w-d-xo.html) I think he needed really a few takes to get the job done. His playing is incredibly accurate (and exquisite).
15:51 sure stands at the pinnacle of the romantique writing of piano repertoire. This is utterly mindblowing.
9:03 - 9:15 1It's the best part of the piece it gives me a power to keep going something like this feels 🤩❤️🔥👌💯
An amazing piece.....Dont think I have ever heard before.
19:15 beautiful part
What 19th cent patron can we thank that so loved this opera that they paid the great Liszt generous commission to so inimitably immortalize it for a most enjoyable and fascinating 20+ minutes.
21:27 I can smell dolly's dreaming and awakening here
Прежде всего ,это необычное произведение и поэтому оно ,конечно, вызывает восторг не только из за сложности исполнения,а как прекрасное сочинение. А когда сможем представить себе зрительные образы написанного ,это будет уже другой уровень. Спасибо . Very beautifull performance. Thank you.
Absolutely crushed and in tears by 8:30
Crying bc of both the incredible beauty and difficulty lol
@ haha yes exactly. I’m a guitarist so I wouldn’t fully understand from the pianists perspective. I’m sure there’s some crazy stretches going on here.
I wish there was a live performance of this piece so I could watch it. It's one of the best. 😭😭😭
splendid performance and fantastic introduction!
No words, once again blown by Liszt!
Beautiful piece. But I’d rather not play that
Sungjin Lee why not ?
Antony Gonzalez Difficulties I assume
Antony Gonzalez It seems I could possibly break my fingers if I play that
@@antonygonzalez1672 If you take random 20 seconds from this piece, it will be without doubt impossible for every amateur pianist. Such techniques as tremolos, octaves and wide arpeggios are spread throughout it. And all of it sounds like trash if played in slow-medium tempo. Only fast speed will be comprehensible for ears. This piece is incredibly demanding.
Sungjin Lee no it’s humanly possible to play, just take things a step at time even if each step takes longer than what excites you.
Phenomenal piano playing!!
Having once served as stage director for a concert staging of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, I can only say that Liszt's "Grande Fantasie" on themes from the opera is stupendous, making something extraordinary out of the original material. Unlike Bellini's Norma, to say nothing of the various Verdi works that Liszt engaged with, Donizetti's opera doesn't stand quite at the peak of his achievements as a musical dramatist, so Liszt's choice to let his musical imagination fly far and wide seems to me a shrewd choice. Still, the choice and sequencing of numbers from the opera is suggestive of the story, and if people were as familiar with the plot of Lucrezia Borgia as they are with Norma, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto or Aida, they might experience this piece somewhat differently. Thank you. NB: I'm somewhat surprised not to see any mention of the recording by Antony Peebles, which seems to me especially responsive to the atmosphere of the opera and the characters:
th-cam.com/video/HYviF01RXtc/w-d-xo.html [Part One]
th-cam.com/video/oesQUQWAeNM/w-d-xo.html [Part Two]
There's so much in this to enjoy. Looks fun to play, too!! A lot of different techniques going on. Was definitely surprised to see one hand glissando in 3rds. Haven't seen that except for in a Ravel piece! I gotta pick this up. Only halfway through, and I'm wondering what else Liszt has in store. Haha. Thank you, uploader!! 😎
Fun to play. I'd rather play the op39 alkan concerto back to back.
p-y I'll have to check that out! 😀 I actually don't know any pieces by Alkan.. Maybe one. 😅
@@p-y8210 LMAO
7:31 / 7:57 / 8:39 / 15:50 / 19:01 / 19:13 / 19:52 / 21:37
Masterpiece meet best player!! Always thanks for the amazing videos.
lovely, what we have done gods to deserve these heavenly sounds
Mr Wolfram....
Bravo! Must've been a serious ride to learn this piece and make it sound/appear easy lol
Amazing. Just amazing.
Liszt was one of a kind pianist and composer.
Thanks for sharing these rarely heard masterpieces!
18:33 ~20:54 킵
I love this part!
찾았다
굿
Just how much hard work does someone require to learn such a huge piece!?
I guess after a pianist has 'transcended' the mechanical aspects of technique (thirds, sixths, octaves, fast chromatics, jumps, endurance, etc) learning the notes of this piece would not be particularly difficult (but do bear in mind it would take around 10,000 hours of practice to actually 'transcend'). What then becomes difficult is the musicality aspect i.e. considering how you're going to approach every phrase, making everything sound melodious, following the composer's intentions (while still providing an 'original' interpretation) and so on.
Andrei Cristian Anghel, well said. It took me four months to master the Grosses Konzertsolo. But then again, it was my third time so it was mostly a matter of relearning the old moves. This piece would probably take half a year, since it’s new to me.
40 hours of practice a day
@@samthepianoman for seven lifetimes
Stonefish I was just gonna say...
Liszt is a mad man.
Well done. A discovery for me. Thanks for sharing the notes also.. 😊
Oh I remember when i write this piece!
If Liszt was still alive he would be like Jacob collier with modulating to quarter tones and having whole movements and etudes in microtonal keys
If I could give this 100 likes, I would!! Bravura performances!!
i really love this
unfortunately i cant play it in the near future
3:48 How does the pianist play a glissando in thirds with one hand?
It's not that hard. You play it with # 2 and 4 fingers. Or 1 and 3. You need to do the same in the famous "Alborada del gracioso" by Ravel. It hurts to do it, but in theory it's not hard.
If you want I'll upload a vid of me doing glissando in 3rds or 8ths
Rahul pawar, please do! And show a close up of your hands.
@@lukasmiller486 sure it'll be on Reddit by Tom. I'll send a link when it's done
@@lukasmiller486th-cam.com/video/ukmCUQDl-Mk/w-d-xo.html
No la conocia ,me encanto
Everyone is like omg he plays so well this piece is amazing and I’m like... assassin’s creed?
Wait what? Is this work in the game?
Nope, but Lucrezia is lol
Kind of a reach but that immediatly popped in my mind ;’)
@@payingtoplay Oh yes Lucrezia Borgia is, I see lol
20:28 Ossia "piú difficile", i mean, come on Liszt!! Aren't Ossias supposed to be easier 😂
Look at his Ballade no. 2
Say it to Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto
Jesus fucking H, I’m only 5 minutes into listening to this and I’m absolutely blown the fuck away, I’m on the border of literally crying right now. Really glad TH-cam - for whatever reason lol - kept pushing me to listen to this lately. This is nothing short of completely saturated music at its most pristine. It’s as if someone took all of Heaven, condensed it into a cup, and then spilled its contents onto the piano to flow at its will. AND I’M ONLY 5 MINUTES IN - well 8 now lol.
And it’s bewildering to think that Liszt designed this to be performed by one person. I really wonder if he has any pieces written for two pianos, and what he would have executed if he did. Like seriously, what could/would he have written, ever, that would warrant him to be like “One piano simply isn’t enough.” lmao. Huge thanks for these uploads as always, Andrei :)
Where’s Ashish Kumar when I need him, because I just don’t have the vocabulary to describe what’s happening at 16:00 onwards holy shit
Varun that is so true lol
@@Varooooooom he actually had dozens of transcriptions for 2 pianos or even piano 4 hands such as his symphonic poems. IMO you really should listen to his Concerto Pathetique S.258 - his best work for 2 pianos :))
You said "fucking" but not "Hell"? lmao
@@Liszthesis The solo variant of the latter-mentioned work would be the Grosses Konzert Solo (S. 176), also :)
19:51 just wow
ikr, that was a very nice variation
Maffio Orsini son io
Thank you ! Wonderful playing !
9:34 I like the rhythms in the left hand
SO BEAUTIFUL WHAT IS THIS
23:02 is a legendary build up
Correct
At the last chord 23:20 I play a lower octave bass chord to give it more depth I'm only seven and have been practicing this for at least a few hours today so got up to speed
Ok
you've been seven in one video and eleven in the other, so kid go back to learning scales and arpeggios
5:40 sounds exactly like a part in the middle of Schubert’s Op. 90 No 2
Nice catch, I know exactly what part you mean!
Bravo bravo bravo brilliance music virtuoso
So beautiful! 😊
19:54 mereaux etude no.24
Nice catch! But it sounds like the section before finale of Alkan's scherzo focoso
Lol
@@amedeemereaux5678 the composer has responded
@@Santosificationable Yupp lol 😆😂
Neither do I ! It is an overwhelming, astonishing power act from super virtuoso William Wolfram !
People: "I have now mastered Liszt's hardest works."
Liszt: composes this piece
People: wth Liszt!?!?;!!
and now the internet dare to say la campanella is the hardest piano piece
Who cares about how hard it is, it's the best operatic fantasy by Liszt, my favourite at least.
I guess the Liszt of works that I have no chance of playing grows longer and longer.
Whereas the development in both counterpoint and other of the main themes of each part are extremely impressive, in my opinion, Liszt does not commit to any texture for long enough. It keeps changing, and that is, for me as a listener, quite unsettling. If Liszt had explored each texture in more depth, without moving from one to the other so swiftly, I believe this piece would have made a more coherent work.
Despite this, there are countless emotional passages in this oeuvre, of which my favourite I would say is at 7:31, the best part of that variation starting in 8:00. I believe this specific part is so successful because Liszt sticks to the idea up to 9:03, which kind of reinforces my first criticism.
And I can't leave a comment here without congratulating Wolfram for the sensational performance! From the looks of it, Liszt didn't like pianists very much... but Wolfram did it anyway!
I don't know a great deal about Lucrezia Borgia, but if these are her reminiscences she must've spent a lot of her life high, drunk, giddily running about, throwing heavy furniture out of windows, or experimenting with gunpowder...
Luke Faulkner Yo Luke. I see your comments on videos all the time. That means the videos we watch are similar making us similar.
Cool
Best comment
21:12 why does this sound like if Liszt had written Happy Birthday? Although it's not the same melody...
15:51～16:41などはこの世のものとも思われないほど美しい
Rarement entendues ces variations d’après Lucrezia Borgia de Donizetti sont diaboliquement difficiles. Il faut souligner le courage et l’audace de certains ( nes) pianistes pour affronter de telles œuvres !
Outstanding fantasy for piano.
Chopin of course knew of the Colossal technical skills Liszt possessed as well a his incredible sight-reading. Both the best in Europe a that time. What migtht Mon Chopint thought upon hearing this?
He'd probably spout snide remarks, with Chopin and Liszt being quite different in style and (particularly in this case) intentions-Liszt's aim here to achieve the ne plus ultra of pianism, imbuing stupefying, inventive filigree into his tribute to Donizetti, wouldn't appeal to Chopin in the same way leftism might not appeal to a rightist. Both were distinctly different, both produced beautiful music, both contributed so much to the piano, and comparing them/pitting them or their remarks (not that Liszt ever said a single negative thing about Chopin's music as far as I'm aware-something which wasn't reciprocated!) against each other, is apples to oranges.
Chopin would have said wtf is this why you making it complicated pal watch me liszt i can put up a lot of notes too will see how many days it will take you to repeat them you fucker xddd