Sophie Menter she became professor of piano at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory but left in 1886 to continue concertizing. Because of her popularity, Menter succeeded with music that no other pianist would touch. This included Liszt's First Piano Concerto, which she played in Vienna in 1869, 12 years after its disastrous premiere there. One of her recital specialties was a piece entitled "Rhapsodies". This was a composite of three of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies—Nos. 2, 6 and 12—along with fragments from several others. She also composed various pieces for piano, mainly in a brilliant style, yet referred to her own compositional talent as
Piano Quartet No. 1 (Brahms) at the instigation of conductor Otto Klemperer and premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Klemperer; this orchestrated version was made into the ballet "Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet" by George Balanchine. The Hungarian-born composer Ernst von Dohnányi transcribed the fourth movement as a bravura showpiece for solo piano. There is a recording of Dohnányi playing the transcription on the Ampico B recording piano. This recording was released on a Newport Classic CD called "The Performing Piano II" (NC 60030) however, the piece is incorrectly attributed as being one of the Hungarian Dances. Piano Quartet No. 1 (Brahms) The Piano Quartet