Fantasie sur des motifs favoris de l'opera La sonnambula, for piano, S393/R132
Romantic Fantasia Piano solo ~9 min
In brief

This fantasy has a theatrical, capricious character: it embeds singable arias within virtuosic passages that alternate lyrical expression and orchestral-like brilliance on the piano. Technically, pay special attention to tempo rubato (3.1/5) — here the practical gesture is shaping melodic rhythmic flexibility while preserving the underlying pulse — and to the sustain pedal (3.1/5), which must be used to connect rich harmonies without blurring inner voices in louder textures. From the Romantic period, the piece belongs to Liszt’s habit of transcribing and paraphrasing operatic themes, showcasing both lyric taste and pianistic showmanship. I do not provide a reference recording here because I am not fully certain of a single, clearly identifiable definitive interpretation for this work.

MusicCoach difficulty
85/100
Master repertoire
Likely range : 73–97/100
Confidence : 40% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 8

Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.

Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.

Where this work sits
050100

Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.

The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.

Does this rating look right to you?

This rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.

Add a note (optional)

Your note is not published on the site: it is read in review.

Relative difficulty
77%
Among Franz Liszt
96%
Era Romantic
94%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Ornaments
Romantic ornaments
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

See the whole progression