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Performed by Valentina Lisitsa

What we want you to remember about this composition:

• Widely popular, this piece offers the pianist the opportunity to reveal exceptional skill as a virtuoso, while providing the listener with an immediate and irresistible musical appeal.
• Listen to the dance rhythms and strong pulse even at the slower tempos

Other things to listen for

• The piece begins with the "lasson," a brief dramatic introduction that is followed by the "friska," an energy-building section that builds to a tempest of sound and momentum.
• This piece was used in many animated cartoons in contemporary culture, "Tom and Jerry," "Bugs Bunny," "Woody Woodpecker," and several others.
• Interest in this piece is rooted in the period's interests in "Exoticism" (music from other cultures).