The grade scale stops at 8; this work belongs to concert or diploma repertoire.
Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.
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.
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This Mephisto Waltz No. 3 feels both sultry and danceable: it alternates virtuosic outbursts with sarcastic, flashy passages that require stage energy and a finely judged rubato within the waltz pulse. You will face specific technical challenges, notably Passages rapides (4.6/5), which call for digital precision and economy of motion to articulate the fugal lines clearly, and Octaves (4.6/5), which demand wrist placement and forearm coordination to produce power and endurance without tension. The piece sits in the Romantic repertoire as a late, virtuosic page by Liszt, reflecting his taste for spectacle and the pianistic reworking of dance. I do not give a recommended reference recording here out of caution if you want precise, reliably identified performances.