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 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 ,