I am sitting my Frsm piano exam this year (I will be eighteen when I do it) and I think the repertoire is very limited, given that this is the stage by which "anything" ought to be within grasp. Granted, some great composers are represented, and the core virtuoso repertoire is there but there are several things I think ought to be added.
Times are changing and composers are constantly being rediscovered. Nikolay Medtner is a prime example - his sonatas are some of the most enjoyable piano repertoire but here he is only represented by one of his shorter (and easier) sonatas. The Sonata-Ballade, G minor sonata and Sonata Minacciosa certainly should be there. Charles-Valentin Alkan is another composer who (despite his detractors) we should have the option to play at this level. A choice of one or two of the Grand etudes in the minor keys or the "Quatre ages" sonata or sonatina would be excellent. Ferruccio Busoni is THE most notable of these composers. He is only represented by the (admittedly divine) Bach Chaconne transcription. The Sonatinas (especially Sonatina Seconda and the Carmen Fantasy) are incredibly fine and difficult pieces. I do not see why, at this level students could not be given the option to play fantasia contrapunttistica or the Toccata. The omission of Balakirew's Islamey is nigh on unforgivable. This is also the case for some of the late Skryabin sonatas.
Another important issue to consider is the thorny issue of Liszt. I think it is entirely bizarre to include on the repertoire list the master's thorny subversions of Schubert songs and omit his Faustian Wagner transcriptions. There are also many fine Liszt pieces that, at this level candidates should be given the choice to play - Ballade no.2, The Mephisto waltz, Rhapsodie Espagnole, several of the less vulgar Hungarians - No. 9, no.10, no.12 for example and Fantasie and Fugue on BACH.
There are other composers who ought to be represented more in high level piano examinations - Ives, Myaskovsky, Moussorgsky, Sorabji's shorter works, Ronald Stevenson (if you include Macmillan there is no excuse), Rzewksi, Kapustin, Bolcom, Nancorrow, Ligeti and (my personal opinion as a jazz pianist) the Tatum transcriptions that occasionally grace the concert hall.
This is my tuppence regarding the exam repertoire. Anyone got any opinions on the choice of diploma repertoire or on obscure piano repertoire in general?

it still has liszt piano sonata b minor in there.....thats probably the most challenging piece in the piano repertoire isn't it? in terms not just of technique, but the monstrous charachter of it!

I see your point. Try looking at the FLCM syllabus, which demands that only one piece be from the prescribed list. Everything else is own choice.

Its still a pretty Mammoth list of pieces. Surely one could find 35 mins worth of the music there thats to their taste. I would love to play some of the pieces in lrsm and frsm.....chopins f minor fantasie, liszt piano sonata etc.

I thought that at FRSM a significant proportion of the programme could be own choice - which might be why the list appears limited - maybe it's more of a guide to the standard...

Yes, at FRSM level one can pick 2/3rds of the program from off the syllabus; so for a 50 minute programme that's 33 minutes of own-choice and 17 minutes of syllabus material. Surely there's 17 minutes of material on there you'd consider worth playing.

Gaspard de la Jour, you DO have the option to play any obscure repertoire you want, as others have pointed out. There is no reason to complain about the current FRSM syllabus as it is not meant to be exhaustive (particularly given the rather generous "free choice" option). If you are insistent on having every single piece of music worthy of inclusion listed, one might end up with an unwieldly volume that could be more confounding than beneficial! Having said that, do drop me a line privately if you're keen to discuss the byways of piano literature. Rarely performed repertoire happens to be my current line of interest.
-Billymay
FRSM (dist.), FTCL, FLCM

aaahhaaaa - remember the story of the three billy goats gruff anyone?