''Rondeau fantastique sur un thème espagnol: "El Contrabandista"'' ("Fantastic Rondo on the Spanish Theme ''The Smuggler''"), S. 252, is a classical musical composition for piano solo by Franz Liszt, written in 1836, and published in 1837 as Liszt's Opus 5 No. 3. It is based on a Spanish song popular at that time. It lasts approximately 8–9 minutes according to the high tempo Liszt assigned, though most pianists play it slower (10–12 minutes) due to its incredible difficulty.

Overview

Liszt's piano piece was based on Manuel Garcia's popular aria "Yo que soy contrabandista" for soprano female singer, guitar, and castanets, from his one-act zarzuela ''El poeta calculista''. The song was made popular by García's daughter, the well-known mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran. Liszt's piece is essentially a set of variations on the song, loosely organized in

rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

form. As with Liszt's other piano works based on other composers' pieces, it contains a complete exploration of the elements of the theme. After each excursion the theme keeps coming back around as in a typical rondo. It has been hailed as one of the most technically challenging solo piano compositions in classical pianism. It contains a great quantity of effects and virtuoso feats, including chord tremolos with accompanying thirds, wide jumps, fast repetitive notes, and arpeggios and octaves at a breakneck tempo, keeping a ''deciso'' (decisive) attitude throughout. Compared to ''

La campanella "La campanella" (Italian for "The little bell") is the nickname given to the third of Franz Liszt's six ''Grandes études de Paganini'', S. 141 (1851). It is in the key of G-sharp minor. This piece is a revision of an earlier version from 1838, ...

''s infamous two-to-three octave jumps, the ''Rondeau''s leaps are two octaves greater. Liszt initially intended this piece as a bravura finale for his recitals, but hardly ever played it. He performed it in front of George Sand who praised it and wrote extensively about it, and Hector Berlioz hailed it as Liszt's finest work. The modern concert pianist

Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Vasilievich Pletnev (russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Плетнёв, ''Mikha'il Vas'ilevič Plet'nëv''; born 14 April 1957) is a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. Life and career Pletnev was born into a musical fa ...

was eager to play it live, but gave up, calling it "unplayable".

Valentina Lisitsa Valentina Lisitsa, ; russian: Валентина Евгеньевна Лисица, translit=Valentina Evgen'evna Lisica, ) (born 25 March 1970) is a Ukrainian-American pianist. Lisitsa independently launched her career on social media, without ...

has performed and recorded her interpretation on YouTube (in 2011), including an impromptu performance on a public upright piano at

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's St Pancras railway station in 2013.

Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''Vanity Fair'' and was one o ...

played the piece at a festival of Spanish music in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 2015, having recorded it 19 years earlier as part of his complete survey of Liszt's works for solo piano.Liszt: Complete Piano Music, Leslie Howard (piano), Hyperion Records
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rondeau fantastique sur un theme espagnol Compositions by Franz Liszt Compositions for solo piano 1836 compositions