Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Is Liebestraum for beginners, intermediate, advanced?

Hi everyone!
I was just wondering if you consider Liszt's Liebestraum an advanced, intermediate or beginner piece?
Is it true that studying a piece beyond your technical skill is dangerous? How?
I ask this, because I'm studying Liebestraum, and I've found that the climax part of the melody (between both cadenzas) is the most dificult for me.
How do u know when a piece can be "dangerous" for you?

Thanks!

For me: when you sit on a piece for more than 6 months and still feel it is nothing but ready to play at performance level. It's not dangerous, but almost useless to learn - because of its difficulty it can't develop proper technique, as you still haven't got fundaments needed to go for that particular development. I have learned a lot with such pieces though...

Thanks for your comment Mati. Talking about technique, I think my left hand needs some improvement! There are so many complicated arpeggios and don't feel so much control in them. I've also discovered that my chromatic scales need some practice. Any suggestions??

sabanito,

If you are speaking of the full version with cadenzas, I consider it in the upper intermediate level of difficulty. Perhaps someone with a grading system will drop in and give you a level from 1 to 10 on a grading scale.

As far as dangerous is concerned, if you are experiencing tenseness and pain in your arms, wrists, hands or fingers during or after playing, you need to determine the cause and eliminate it or it will be dangerous for you.

How long have you been playing piano and what are some pieces you are comfortable playing?

Welcome to the ABF forum, enjoy the varied thoughts from others here and in the other forums on Piano World.

Regards,

Lisztener

Hi Lisztener. I began playing piano when I was 6, abandoned when I was 17. In between those years, I had months, maybe even years without playing.
My repertoire is very small:
I feel very comfortable playing Fur Elise, Mozart's Turkish March, Moonlight Sonata, some Bach's Preludes.
I've been studying Liebestraum since Dec 07 (playing about 3/4 hours a week) and I can play about 65% of it.
In the past few weeks I've increased my study to 8 hours a week (since I got a digital piano).
I think that I'll be finishing it by July/August.

Sanabito, I am also having troubles with my left hand control. I talked with my teacher (we work together since recently) and we decided on doing some Bach pieces, where left hand have its own theme and even leads second voice. Perhaps more like preludes, than like inventions for the time being, but that way.

Welcome to the ABF, Sabanito.

I absolutely love Latin-American music.


Mel

Thanks Lisztener and dannylux for the welcome! It's always a good experience to share thoughts about something we love, isn't it??

It is so nice to meet you Sabanito. I hope you will play us some Latin music. I am a big fan of Latin music.

You picked one of my favorite songs to practice, Liszt-Liebestraume. I think it is well near the advance level, I hope to learn it one day. I did play a more simplified version of it at one time though . Good luck to you on working on this piece and I think it will be well worth your effort!

Here is one of my favorite interpretations of this most beautiful song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejXPcv9MS7s

I never tire of listening to it.

Hi Babs,

You look different. Your new avatar sure reinforces the message of your signature line.

Your YouTube link is to my favorite performer of the Libestraume #3 as well. Rubinstein has the masterful touch to capture the beauty of this wonderful Liszt work. At one time, a few years ago, I played this piece except for the difficult cadenzas. The link below is to a mistake riddled recent try that needs to be polished again, but I've moved on to other songs or pieces. I hope to get back to it, someday.

http://www.box.net/shared/5obboqt71n

Are you prepared to enter this month's recital? My entry is in. The deadline is May 14 around 9:00 PM EST and Monica will have the first entries posted in the forum around midnight for listening, if all goes like the last one.

I hope to hear your entry and see you get another Order of the Red Dot medal.

Good luck,

Lisztener

Awwww Litszner that was just beyond Beautiful!

The tone is just perfect and you brought it out where it needed to be brought out . Great dynamics too. Good job on some of that fancy hand work! And that piano of your your sounds perfect for this song.

This is a song worth playing again until you get those cadenzas to where you feel comfortable with it!

And thanks for reminding me of the date of the recital .

Looked on the other thread and it looks like everyone is is WAY ahead of me!

Too bad I had my cranky computer in the shop for a week , I now have a new microphone that should work better for the recording.

Hi Litszner, just had look through this thread. I thought your Liebestraum was gorgeous, a beautiful feel and sensitivity.

I am still relatively new to PW and coming across a performance like yours is inspirational as are many other aspects of the forums.

I look forward to attempting Liebestraum in the near future.

Regards

Chris

toucanjunky,

Welcome to the forums (especially the ABF) and thank you for the compliment on my play. *Note to self...practice more and re-record Libestraume #3* As you no doubt have noticed, there is a wealth of information available in these forums by some of the nicest people on the Internet. Here in the ABF we have a quarterly online recital. On behalf of all ABFers, I invite you to join in and submit an entry to the recital. It's great fun to participate and receive positive feedback from fellow recitalists.

Enjoy your travels around the forums and the friendships you'll make while here.

Regards,

Lisztener

I was wondering.........
What is the average age in the ABF?
I'm 26, 27 in october!

Hey - I was wondering why, at the part at the piu animato, con passione, (in the 5th measure of this section), where the two middle voices outline a F# dominant, might a person have trouble playing the highest voice accurately!!?? For some reason this always gets me - its as if my weak fingers have regressed to their weakling days, but only at this part.