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???

I think you already known that I did - about six years ago. Used the Harold Bauer edition - which made the piece a bit more accessible in terms of distribution of notes between the hands.

C'mon, SiFi, I've only just recovered from your Who Can Play Los Requiebros thread. :-)

I played it as a junior in college. It's an uncomfortable piece, but totally doable. Try carefully controlling the elbow's motion to make it as small and contained as possible.

I also played it in my early college days. It is tiring! Quite a workout for the right thumb (I just played through the first section just now). But I love the middle intermezzo.

Does it count if I play all of them? If you want some real fun, try that Fantasie in C major...

You're right; I did know and I remember you posted a rather good recording of it. Reason I asked the question is that I went back to the drawing board and completely re-fingered the entire piece so as to use different fingers on the same notes and adjacent notes where possible (instead of lazily using the thumb for pretty much everything like I used to!). I also remember you mentioning the Harold Bauer edition, which I'm going to look for on imslp. However, now that I've taken the trouble to work out my own fingering, I think I'm going to stick with that for now.
Would you mind re-posting your recording so we can all hear how it's supposed to go? I was planning on uploading a version once I've got it securely up to half tempo(!), kind of like I did with Requiebros. (ironic laugh) Part of the purpose is to get a handle on the highly specific technical challenges posed by this piece and by the seemingly outrageous MM half note = 92 marking.

Hi, SiFi! Your query sends me back about 30 years or so ago, when I was exploring Schumann a little more closely than I ever had previously. And I recall perpetually "running out of gas" trying to negotiate the first section -- the way I was approaching it, my wrists and fingers would simply cramp up under its unceasing demands, and I eventually gave up trying to play it. I really love the sweep and drama of the piece -- it's just vintage Schumann in the best sense -- and so I regarded it as just a shame that I really couldn't do it justice. Many years later, though, I developed sufficient technique and strength to take on the Phantasie (an indirect consequence of the Amateur Piano Competitions, incidentally), along with Noveletten 5 and 6 and Kreisleriana, and so -- hmmm -- maybe I'll give it another look-see, to determine whether it is still as unapproachable as it was then. Stay tuned!

Here's the link. Recorded seven years ago. Ain't perfect, but it was steady (ha ha)

https://youtu.be/gJ8XpXLcdxg

I recall that we discussed this two years ago when you first raised the "fingering" question. Glad you are still plugging away at it. The distribution of notes between hands is key.

You won't find the Bauer (Schirmer) edition of the Novelletten on IMSLP, but you can order a USED copy of it on Amazon from $3.99 to $20.00. Of course, I purchased it NEW for a whopping $1.75 back in the early 1970s.

Cheers !!

I see that you recorded this on a Mason & Hamlin, which is appropriate for a Bauer edition, as that is what he played. Many years ago I tuned a BB for one of his students, who was in her late nineties. She would sit down and test it with Schumann's Toccata, undoubtedly with Bauer's untangling. I was introduced to the Schumann Novelettes through Beveridge Webster's recording, on YouTube here. A fine performance!

Schirmer's published Bauer's edition of the Toccata, but it is out of print now.