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Piano Concertos Ranked by Difficulty

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classical concerto difficulty piano
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190K views 59 replies 25 participants last post by  Rogerx  
#1 · (Edited)
I don't have real playing experience with a large amount of the pieces here so I would really appreciate feedback on placement. Even if you don't like lists like these I hope you can explore some new repertoire since I've tried to include many lesser-known concertos :)

Factors taken into account include technical difficulty, staminal difficulty, interpretative difficulty, difficulty of synchronization with ensemble, and it is vaguely sorted by difficulty within their classes from top to bottom.

Extraordinarily Difficult
Sorabji Concerto per suonare da me solo
Sorabji Concertos
Busoni Concerto
Messiaen Des Canyons aux Étoiles
Barber Concerto
Alkan Solo Concerto
Carter Concerto
Ives Emerson Concerto
Ginastera Concerto No.1
Rautavaara Concerto No.1
Lutoslawski Concerto
Ligeti Concerto
Rautavaara Concerto No.2
Corigliano Concerto
Cage Concert for Piano and Orchestra

Ridiculously Difficult:
Ginastera Concerto No.2
Bartok Concerto No. 2
Prokofiev Concerto No.2
Xenakis Palimpsest
Babbitt Concerto
Bartok Concerto No.1
Messiaen Oiseaux Exotiques
Bortkiewicz Concerto No.2
Strauss Burlesque
Rachmaninov Concerto No.3
Busoni Indian Fantasy
Tveitt Aurora Borealis
Scriabin Prometheus or the Poem of Fire
Perle Piano Concerto No. 1
Brahms Concerto No.2
Korngold Left Hand Concerto
Perle Piano Concerto No. 2
Rozycki Concerto No.1
Kapustin Concerto No.6
Ravel Left Hand Concerto

Extremely Difficult:
Tchaikovsky Concerto No.1
Marx Concerto
Atterberg Concerto
Ireland Concerto
Kapustin Concerto No.5
Rachmaninov Concerto No.1
Lyapunov Concerto No.1
Rubinstein Piano Concertos
Penderecki Concerto
Lyapunov Concerto No.2
Medtner Concerto No.1
Medtner Concerto No.3
Bortkiewicz Concerto No.3
Medtner Concerto No.2
Bliss Piano Concerto
Brahms Concerto No.1
Rachmaninov Concerto No. 4
Schoenberg Concerto
Liebermann Concerto No.2
Liebermann Piano Concerto No.1
Vaughan-Williams Concerto
Liszt Totentanz
Bortkiewicz Concerto No.1
Moszkowski Piano Concerto No.2

Very Difficult
Tchaikovsky Concerto No.2
Rimsky-Korsakov Concerto
Ravel Concerto in G
Tchaikovsky Concerto No.3
Prokofiev Concerto No.3
Chen Er Huang
Macdowell Piano Concerto No.1
Macdowell Piano Concerto No.2
Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini
Kapustin Concerto No.4
Schnittke Piano Concerto
Jaëll Concerto No.1
Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds
Liszt Concerto No.2
Debussy Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra
Rautavaara Concerto No.3
Prokofiev Concerto No. 4
Scriabin Concerto
Xinghai Yellow River Concerto
Rachmaninov Concerto No.2
Stenhammar Piano Concerto
Franck Variations
Liszt Concerto No.1
Chopin Concerto No.2
Bronsart Concerto
Chopin Concerto No.1
Kapustin Concerto No.3
Reinecke Concerto No.1
Moszkowski Piano Concerto No.1
Britten Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra
Reinecke Concerto No.2
Prokofiev Concerto No. 5
Khachaturian Piano Concerto
Bartok Concerto No.3
Alkan 3 Concerti da Camera
Balakirev Piano Concerto
Schumann Concerto in A Minor

Difficult:
Saint-Saens Concerto No.3
Beethoven Concerto No.4
Hummel Concerto No.2
Kapustin Concerto No.2
Adams Century Rolls
Beethoven Concerto No.5
Poulenc Concerto
Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2
Mendelssohn Concerto No.2
Moscheles Concertos
Saint-Saens Concerto No.5
Massanet Concerto
Dvorak Piano Concerto
Saint-Saens Concerto No.4
Beethoven Concerto No.3
Mozart Concerto No.20
Mendelssohn Piano Concerto
Weber Konzertstück for Piano and Orchestra
Arensky Concerto
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Prokofiev Concerto No.1
Chopin Andante Spinato et Grande Polonaise Brillante
Gershwin Concerto in F
Grieg Concerto
Mozart Concerto No.27
Mozart Concerto No.15
Mozart Concerto No.17
Busoni Early Concerto
Mozart Concerto No.22
Mozart Concerto No.25
Janacek Concertino
Yoshimatsu Memo Flora
George Gershwin Variations on the theme of "I Got Rhythm"
Shostakovich Concerto No.1

Less Difficult:
Shostakovich Concerto No.2
Ustvolskaya Concerto
Nyman "The Piano Concerto"
Scott Early One Morning
Mozart Concerto No.21
Mozart Concerto No.23
Mozart Concerto No.16
Mozart Concerto No.26
Mozart Concerto No.19
Haydn Concerto No.11
Beethoven Concerto No. 2
Kabalevsky Piano Concerto No.2
Emerson Piano Concerto No.1
Kabalevsky Piano Concerto No.1
Beethoven Concerto No. 1
Kabalevsky Piano Concerto No.3
 
#9 ·
According to Leslie Howard, yes.

However I took it upon to look through the score and learn much of the piece-it is not extremely difficult at all and most of the writing is very similar to Beethoven's concerti.

Perhaps Howard, being a Liszt specialist, found trouble with the more classically oriented writing.
 
#5 ·
Could the idea that some of these are "ridiculously difficult" be chalked up to the fact that some composers aren't very good at writing for the piano? Or that some of them are pianists who compose around their own personal idiosyncrasies? I remember Ligeti mentioning four composers who really knew how to write for the piano. I think he mentioned Scarlatti, Debussy, Chopin, and maybe Bach. But I'm not sure about the last one?
 
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#12 · (Edited)
pianozach said:
A lot of Composers I'm not familiar with on this list.

I've played a couple Mozart concertos.

But when people are talking difficult-to-play concertos the first name usually mentioned is Rachmaninov.
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Of course Mozart is easy to play badly and very difficult to play well. As Schnabel said, " The sonatas of Mozart are unique; they are too easy for children, and too difficult for artists." ...
 
R
#10 ·
I think the four concertos of F.X. Scharwenka belong on this list. They are attractive to listen to yet extremely challenging for the pianist -- Scharwenka wrote them for himself to perform. Steven Hough's recording of Nos. 1 and 4 is superb. In your very fine list, which seems well-prepared to me, Scharwenka's concertos would probably belong in your first three categories.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Th3 Henselt is usually mentioned as fiendishly difficult although it doesn’t sound it.it apparently has long stretches as the composer had a very long stretch himself. Of course the art of writing a virtuoso concerto is that it sounds difficult as well as being difficult and something like the Rachmaninov 3 or the Tchaikovsky does just that. Always seems to be pretty pointless to write a very difficult work which doesn’t sound difficult and doesn’t take the audience’s breath away. Alkan is apparently fiendishly difficult but doesn’t sound it which is why pianists avoid it.
 
#23 · (Edited)
DavidA said:
Th3 Henselt is usually mentioned as fiendishly difficult although it doesn't sound it.it apparently has long stretches as the composer had a very long stretch himself. Of course the art of writing a virtuoso concerto is that it sounds difficult as well as being difficult and something like the Rachmaninov 3 or the Tchaikovsky does just that. Always seems to be pretty pointless to write a very difficult work which doesn't sound difficult and doesn't take the audience's breath away. Alkan is apparently fiendishly difficult but doesn't sound it which is why pianists avoid it.
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The Alkan Concerto sounds plenty difficult to me. It has many flamboyant and sparkling passages, often heavily wrought with accidentals. I suspect people don't learn it as often because it is so long (nearly an hour) and contains far too many double notes and octaves to comfortably play in one sitting.

A truly difficult concerto that has almost no virtuosic writing in it whatsoever would have to be the Brahms' First. Very thin and Beethovenian writing but immensely awkward to play, far more difficult than the Tchaikovsky or Liszt concerti that sound much harder. I don't think it is pointless to be difficult without the virtuoso element if the flamboyance is replaced with sheer beauty, like in the Brahms concerto.

Roger Knox said:
I think the four concertos of F.X. Scharwenka belong on this list. They are attractive to listen to yet extremely challenging for the pianist -- Scharwenka wrote them for himself to perform. Steven Hough's recording of Nos. 1 and 4 is superb. In your very fine list, which seems well-prepared to me, Scharwenka's concertos would probably belong in your first three categories.
Click to expand...
I have indeed listened to the Scharwenka concerti. They are quite beautiful and look fairly difficult, but I am not sure where to put it quite yet. Most likely in the third category.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I just finished listening to the Prokofiev 2 concerto and wanted to see where you had ranked it, as to my ears it sounded ridiculously, fiendishly difficult. There is this part:

Image


... where I wondered how on earth he expected anyone to play that. I question whether he could even play it himself. Anyway, the biggest challenge, I expect, would be endurance. The first movement cadenza alone is just relentless. It doesn't let up for a second. Anyway, in addition to being insanely difficult, it's a beautiful, uniquely dark work. I gained a lot of respect for Prokofiev when I heard it for the first time.

I see you've ranked Barber (among others) in a tier above this one. Really, the Barber? It's a beautiful concerto, but it doesn't sound more difficult than the Prokofiev 2, to my ears anyway.
 
#18 · (Edited)
That IS the challenge. It IS musical, and when playing a virtuoso piece of this level, you not only must have the technical prowess to simply PLAY it, but you have to make it sound effortless AND musical simultaneously.

This piece WILL sound like an etude if you cannot do all this. It may still sound impressive, and that's how I used to do so well at Bach Festival competitions as a teen - flash, speed, passion, and fire, but lacking in nuance and subtlety. Some subito dynamics would fool the judges every time.

I'd also kick a$$ with Mozart as well - I would find every bit of musical humor in the sonatas and concertos and freakin' MILK IT like a scenery chewer.

But that's more difficult to pull off with Romantic-era material - the super-advanced stuff requires far more maturity and focus IMO.

But that's just MY wheelhouse. There are plenty of pianists that have their own areas of success and challenges.
 
C
#44 ·
Having played a few of these, I want to throw in my thoughts.

The biggest thing for me is that the Ravel left hand is really not that difficult. I learned the whole thing in about 2 months of light practice, on the side whilst learning some other repertoire. Perhaps that is just because I am very familiar with his playing style, having played Miroirs, Gaspard, Jeux D'eau and the trio already, but I think it should move down to difficult or maybe the very bottom of very difficult. The G major is also generally reputed as one of the easiest concerti among the pianists I talk with, though I have only ever sightread it. I would rank Saint-Saens 2 as harder than both of them.

Also, Shostakovich 2 is a weird one. I have played it and accompanied a couple of people who played it, and it always ends up being weirdly more work than we expect. First movement, easy. Second, sightreadable. Third, easy at first... but then somehow it just takes forever to really polish those 6ths, 3rds and octaves. From a technical standpoint, I think it is harder than any mozart concerto, or at least the 7 I have played and accompanied. I also think that it's not a walk in the park, musically--it has to be legitimately quirky and fun, which not everyone can pull off!
 
D
#51 ·
Interesting list.
Maybe too much weight of rather obscure "contemporary" concertos in the first group that most people have only heard about but never listened to.
Only three "real" repertoire works in the second group.
I think you could add Mozart no 24, Gershwin's Second Rhapsody, Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Dohnayi's Variations on a nursery tune, Messiaen's Turangila Symphony and a probably a dozen of romantic piano concertos that may, although forgotten, at least be as interesting as some of the newer stuff.

If trying to be objective, my top 4 of hardest standard concertos would be:
1. Rachmaninov 3
2. Brahms 2
3. Prokofiev 2
4. Bartok 2

Finally, the Schumann and Chopin 2nd are harder than one might think.
 
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