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What Piece has the Hardest Technique?
Is it Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Concerto? No. There are too many virtuosos who play the hardest passages in this conerto with ease. Vladimir Horowitz, a pianist who had one of the best techniques in history, did not dilute the hardest technique in his iconic performance of this concerto. But he did dilute the hardest technique in his arrangement of Liszt’s Rhapsody No. 2. The Hungarian Rhapsody blog on my website provides links to recordings and live performances of this piece that most people know from the Tom and Jerry cartoon. By the way, the cat was faking too.
Is it Liszt's B Minor Sonata? No. Once again, there are too many virtuosos who play this piece with ease. When I saw Denis Matsuev perform, I expected him to sail through the technique in the Bm Sonata, and that’s what he did. But as expected, he hit a brick wall at the end of Liszt’s Rhapsody no 2. He didn't dilute the technique, but he did end the concert with the Rhapsody and the last thing the audience heard was an uncontrollable chain reaction of wrong notes. Everyone at Carnegie Hall knew it. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Denis is a bad pianist. He's a great pianist with an incredible technique.
Is it Alkan’s Etude Op 35 #5, Allegro Barbaro? This octave study repeats the same patterns over and over. The task for the brain is to create a limited number of different signals and send them out in batches that repeat. Each time you do this, it becomes easier and easier. To understand how this works, watch a basketball player shoot several shots from the same position. The success ratio on the last two shots is higher than it is on the first two. Alkan’s opening pattern, where both hands move in parallel motion, is repeated throughout. It’s not confusing when both hands do the same thing, so the density of information in each signal is less than it looks. What’s confusing is when each hand is moving in opposite directions in a myriad of combinations. This piece does not include a significant amount of that kind of technique. The hardest part is the section where the right hand skips up in octave intervals. Pianists tend to slow down for this technique, but the master of this piece, Jack Gibbons, plays it with ease. The passages at the end are the most effective for the listener, even though the right hand technique is not that challenging. It’s very hard to play, but this is not the most difficult technique.
Is it Liszt’s Paganini Etude #3, La Campanella? In a piano literature class at the University of North Texas, Ed Banowitz insisted that noone could play Liszt’s version. I immediately raised my hand and told him that I played it when I was fifteen. He said, "Mr. Kastle, you’re confused. You must have played the Busoni arrangement." I told the professor that I played the Liszt version. My teacher at the University of Miami, Ivan Davis, the first prize winner of the Liszt Competition, played the Busoni version. I performed the original on a piano department recital a few weeks later. Don't get me wrong about Ivan Davis. He had an excellent technique and deserved to win the competition. Most of the pros could not play the original.
The hardest technique in La Campanella is on the second page where the right hand skips back and forth with some of the melody notes containing grace notes. The most challenging group of signals the brain has to send out are when the hand skips down to the 2 grace notes before the A#, then up an 11th to D# then down 2 octaves to D# then up 2 octaves to D#, them down 2 octaves again. Since the left hand is easy, the signals that are dense with information are all going to one hand. For this reason, it is not the most difficult technique. I ended all of my Venice Beach concerts with either this etude or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. I had to increase the level of difficulty in La Campanella to even things out. The LA Weekly commented on my version being unplayable.
I know that the skips in La Campanella are less challenging than the descending octaves in Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody no 2. The other virtuosos know it as well. Watch Adam Gyorgy on YouTube sail through the technique in La Camapanella and then watch him hit a brick wall at the end of Liszt’s Rhapsody. Even though his technique is better than most touring pianists, his live performance of HR2 ends with an uncontrollable chain reaction of wrong notes. Cziffra and Dichter couldn’t play the descending octaves on their studio recordings without eliminating the awkward opposite hand direction movements. They faked the ending of the rhapsody, yet both of them played La Campanella without diluting the technique. You can watch Cziffra on YouTube play the skips in La Camapnella without much effort. Then, listen to a collection of faked and failed attempts on the descending octaves that include live performances where he attempted to play the passage as written. Despite numerous attempts, he couldn’t play the HR2 descending octaves. Anyone who tries to contend that the descending octaves aren’t that hard to play, must conclude that Cziffra was a bad pianist. The same goes for Mark Hamelin. You can’t have it both ways. His performance of Liszt’s Rhapsody on YouTube is great until he loses control of the rhythm during the descending octaves. Anyone who argues that the octaves are easy, must conclude that Hamelin struggles with easy technique. My opinion is that his level of technique is near the top of the list of the greatest virtuosos. The reason this perfectionist loses control of the rhythm in the descending octaves, is because it’s the hardest passage he plays.
The failure rate is the highest with regard to past and present professionals attempting Liszt's Rhapsody in the studio and on stage. That fact makes the descending octaves the hardest passage.
The twentieth century recordings of HR2 speak volumes about what makes the passage unplayable. The recordings that were released before Virgin released Streetwise in 1991 were dominated by virtuosos who faked the passage by playing these alternating octaves with their hands together. They eliminated all 19 times that the hands move in opposite directions.
I knew the descending octaves were going to be trouble from the cartoons. Bugs Bunny was praying before attempting the last page and the cat on the Tom and Jerry cartoon wasn't even playing the octaves. Since they used violins to play the passage, it had to be too difficult for the professionals. It doesn't make any sense to end a cartoon about a piano piece with violins, unless they couldn't find anyone capable of playing the notes written for the piano. I figured that the problem with the adults was that they didn't bother to develop their brains the same way that Liszt did. My first teacher was quoted by the press about how important this Rhapsody was to my development as a musician. No matter where you go, this piece is still the all time favorite of audiences who enjoy virtuosos.
3:16 PM
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