F. Liszt Rondo Fantastique "El Contrabandista" Valentina Lisitsa

La Campanella On Steroids ? :-)This is perhaps the MOST unplayable piece of music I ever encountered! La Campanella , or Feux Follets ( both are clearly hinted here) are walk in a park in comparison....Early Liszt, from the period when he honestly thought that piano being a percussive instrument there is no point of making any attempt at legato,and one might as well enjoy frolicking in most head-spinning skips and repeated notes :-) The piece (which is based on Manuel Garcia's popular song) was titled in the first edition as "Op.5 #2". Funny , I think that was the last piece Liszt gave an opus number, anticipating how many works he is going to write :) Liszt intended this piece as a bravura finale for his recitals - but according to many reports , he failed utterly . Too difficult???? LOL
A friend of mine who used to present great Soviet artists on their tours in Italy told me that the only person who played it LIVE was Pletnev. But even then Pletnev told him that he quit on this piece , calling it "unplayable". You can check for yourself - the music is available freely here:

http://tinyurl.com/6rdv2h8

Let me know how far you progress, OK ? It makes for an easy sight-reading. But do pay attention to indicated tempo marks. They are truly insane :-)
For some fun go to middle of page 22 or page 28 and tell me how you like it :-) A hint... it would make for a hilarious video. Hitting those notes is a gamble no matter how many days spent practicing. La Campanella infamous skips are two octaves shorter ....


Liszt recording project in Hannover , Germany. Dec 5, 2011.
Sound track used in this video is for camera only. The original 8 track mix will be used for the LP and CD available at a later time.