Music Repertoire
66th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition 2026/2027
Art first – then the competition!
The 66th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition will begin with a veritable festival. Together with ten leading concert institutions from Asia, Europe and the USA, the 120 pianists selected will perform in ten music marathons before an expert and enthusiastic audience. In addition to the professional jury, which will follow the auditions remotely, the audience itself will choose their favourite pianists for the competition finals, which will be held in Bolzano in 2027. In this way, young talents will not only perform as established artists, but also benefit from two ways of reaching the finals: chosen by the audience or chosen by the jury.
The programme of the Glocal Piano Festival is entirely at the discretion of the pianists in order to give them maximum freedom to express their own artistic identity.
Video Selection
Videos may last between 12 and 16 minutes (max.). The programme must include the following:
- One Etude by F. Chopin (op. 10 or op. 25), or one Etude by F. Liszt
- One Etude by any of the following: C. Debussy, B. Bartok (op. 18), S. Rachmaninoff, S. Prokofiev, I. Stravinsky, A. Scriabin or G. Ligeti
- One or more works chosen by the candidate.
The repertoire may not be performed in subsequent rounds of the competition.
Final Rounds 2027
The music programme for the final rounds must be entirely different from that performed in the Glocal Piano Festival: the same piece may not be performed more than once in the various rounds of the finals.
The music programme for the final rounds must be submitted to the administration by 31 March 2027 using the appropriate form available in the reserved area of the website.
Top 39 – Solo Piano
The 39 selected candidates shall perform a programme of 25 – 30 minutes (max.) that must include:
- One of the following compositions by F. Busoni:
- One Elegy from BV 249
- Elegy No. 7 Berceuse BV 252
- Sonatina No. 1 BV 257
- Sonatina Seconda BV 259
- Sonatina “In diem nativitatis Christi MCMXVII” BV 274
- Toccata (Prelude – Fantasy – Ciaccona) BV 287
- Indianisches Tagebuch (I), either No’s 1, 2, 3 or 4 BV 267
- Preludes Op. 37 BV 181: a choice of 3 preludes
- Fantasie nach Johann Sebastian Bach BV 253
- 10 variations of Chopin Präludium (Klavierübungen Teil 5) BV 213a
- Other published works selected by the candidate
Top 12 – Solo Piano
In collaboration with
The 12 selected candidates shall perform a programme of 50 – 55 minutes that must include:
- A transcription by J.S. Bach/F. Busoni
- A Sonata by L.v. Beethoven, M. Clementi, J. Haydn or W.A. Mozart that must differ from those performed in previous rounds
- Other works of the candidate’s choice that must differ from those performed in previous rounds
- Ex tempore improvisations by candidates (10 minutes max.) are also permitted
- One or more piano works from the late 20th-century repertoire selected in collaboration with Milano Musica and the Concours international de piano d’Orléans, which is linked to the awarding of the Maurizio Pollini Prize:
- Luciano Berio (1925-2003): Cinque Variazioni (1953, 8’); Sequenza IV (1966, 11’); Rounds (1967, 4’); Six Encores (1964, 1969, 1985, 1989, 1990, 12’); Sonata (2001, 26’)
- Pierre Boulez (1925-2016): Douze notations (1945, 10’); Première sonate (1946, 9’); Deuxième Sonate (1947, 30’); Incises (1994-1995, 11’)
- Elliott Carter (1908-2012): Piano Sonata (1945/46, 21’); Night Fantasies (1980, 23’)
- Niccolò Castiglioni (1932-1996): Inizio di movimento (1958, 2’); Cangianti (1959, 9’)
- Franco Donatoni (1927-2000): Selezione da Françoise Variationen (1-49) (1983-1996)
- György Kurtág (1926): Selezione a scelta di almeno 5 brani da Játékok
- György Ligeti (1923-2006): Musica ricercata (1951-1953, 23’); Selezione da Études pour piano
- Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Cantéyodjayâ (1949, 12’); Quatre études de rythme (1950, 18’); Brani dai 7 libri del Catalogue d’oiseaux (1956-58); La fauvette des jardins (1970, 28’); Selezione da Petites esquisses d’oiseaux (1985)
- Salvatore Sciarrino (1947): Sonate I-V (1976-1994); Perduto in una città d’acque (1991, 9’); Due Notturni (1999, 4’)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007): Klavierstücke I-X (1952-1961)
- Tōru Takemitsu (1930-1996): Les Yeux clos (1979, 8’); Les yeux clos II (1988-1989, 7’); Rain Tree Sketch (1982, 3’)
- Camillo Togni (1922-1993): Tre Capricci op. 38 (1954, 1956, 1957, 12’); Quarto Capriccio (1969, 2’59”); Quinto Capriccio (1987, 4’36”); Sesto Capriccio (1991, 1’08”)
- Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006): Piano Sonata No. 1 in four parts (1947, 10’); Piano Sonata No. 2 in two parts (1949, 12’); Piano Sonata No. 3 in one part (1952, 17’); Piano Sonata No. 4 in four parts (1957, 12’); Piano Sonata No. 5 in ten movements (1986, 16’); Piano Sonata No. 6 in one part (1988, 8’)
- Claude Vivier (1948-1983): Pianoforte (1975, 8’); Shiraz (1977, 14’)
- Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001): Herma (1962, 10’); Evryali (1973, 11’)
- Isang Yun (1917-1995): Fünf Stücke (1958, 6’); Interludium A (1982, 13’30”)
Top 6 – Chamber Music
The six selected candidates shall perform a programme that must include:
Chamber Music Section
One of the following quintets:
- R. Schumann: Quintet for piano and strings Op. 44
- J. Brahms: Quintet for piano and strings Op. 34
- C. Franck: Quintet for piano and strings
- A. Dvořak: Piano Quintet No. 2 Op. 81
- D. Shostakovich: Quintet for piano and strings Op. 57
Solo Section
A work of the candidate’s own choice lasting 15 to 20 minutes.
Top 3 – Grand Finale
The three selected candidates shall perform two of the following piano concertos.
The final choice of concerto from the two indicated is to be performed in the competition round and will be agreed between the jury and the Artistic Director at the end of the chamber music final round (2 September 2027).
Any changes to the music programme for the final rounds must be made using the appropriate form and submitted to the administration by 13 June 2027.
- W.A. Mozart: Piano Concertos K 466, K 456, K 467, K 491, K 595, K 488
- L.v. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3, No. 4, No. 5
- B. Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 2
- F. Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 and No. 2
- M. Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major
- S. Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 1 and No. 4
- S. Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43
- P.I. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
- S. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 and No. 5
- F. Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 and No. 2
- C. Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 and No. 5
- R. Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54
- A. Scriabin: Concerto for piano and orchestra Op. 20
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