Thirty-two young pianists selected from 20 countries will compete at the 15th Ferenc Liszt International Piano Competition held in Budapest between September 12 and 19 which will feature such acclaimed artists performing as Olga Kern and János Balázs, the organisers have said.
The young contenders have been pre-selected from among 72 entries, director general of Filharmónia Hungary told a press conference. This year’s event will mark the 210th birth anniversary of Ferenc Liszt and the 100th birth anniversary of renowned Hungarian pianist György Cziffra, an eminent interpreter of Liszt’s works, Szabolcs Szamosi said. The head of the international jury for the competition will be Finnish pianist and composer Olli Mustonen and will have as its members Russian classical pianist Olga Kern, Chinese pianist Wu Ying, US pianist professor Boaz Sharon and French-Cypriot virtuoso Cyprien Katsaris. The Hungarian pianist members of the jury include János Balázs, Gábor Farkas and acclaimed veteran musician Tamás Vásáry.
In his video message, Balázs said that “in the Cziffra 100 anniversary year I consider it particularly important for the young contenders to get to learn György Cziffra’s piano technique. This is why several of Cziffra’s transcripts reflecting on Liszt’s works have been included in the competition material”. The competition final will be held at the Budapest Liszt Music Academy on September 18 with the first prize winner receiving 30,000 euros. Andrea Vígh, the rector of the Music Academy, said that the Liszt Piano Competition was first organised in 1933 and was won by Annie Fischer.
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