REPERTOIRE
12.1. GENERAL
In each round full details of each chosen piece of the applicant’s repertoire must be listed and should include:
- Name of composer
- Full title of the piece
- Catalogue/Opus number
- Movement(s)
- Duration (including pauses)
- Edition used
12.2. Competitors are expected to treat each performance as a recital and should therefore put together their programmes with this in mind. The Jury will consider each performance as a whole.
12.3. All music is to be played from memory except the Chamber Music and 20th/ 21st Century pieces in the Semi-Finals.
12.4. Total performance times in all rounds before the Concerto Finals should not exceed the stated times and should include pauses. The Jury retains the right to enforce this rule and stop a performance if the pianist exceeds the allotted time.
12.5. PRE-SELECTION
12.5.1. Applicants must provide audio files of a programme of contrasting repertoire (piano solo works only) lasting a minimum of 20 minutes and no longer than 25 minutes.
12.5.2. This should include a work from the Baroque Classical or early Romantic period (no later than 1820) and a later Romantic or early 20th Century work. Transcriptions unless by the composer of the work concerned are not permitted. All works must be from editions that adhere to the original text individual movements are permitted and repeats are not compulsory.
12.5.3. One of these works can also be played in the International First Round or the Second Round.
12.6. INTERNATIONAL FIRST ROUND
12.6.1. Competitors must offer a recital programme lasting no longer than 25 minutes including contrasting works from the Baroque or Classical period (before 1800) and the Romantic period and / or early 20th century. Transcriptions unless by the composer of the work concerned are not permitted. All works must be complete from editions that adhere to the original text and played from memory. Repeats are at the Competitor’s discretion.
12.6.2. Only one work from the Pre-Selection repertoire can be played.
12.6.3. The repertoire may not be altered after 1 February 2021.
12.7. SECOND ROUND
12.7.1. Competitors should prepare two contrasting programmes each of 40 minutes duration, and each to include one substantial work or group of works by a major composer.
12.7.2. No music from the First Round may be selected for the Second Round. All works must be complete, from editions that adhere to the original text and played from memory. Repeats are at the Competitor’s discretion.
12.7.3. Notification of the programme chosen for this round will be given with the announcement of the successful Competitors on 03 May 2021. Programmes may not be changed after this date.
12.8. SEMI-FINALS
12.8.1. Competitors should prepare two contrasting programmes – Programme A and Programme B – of no longer than 75 minutes music in total, made up of solo piano music and chamber music chosen from two Groups (see below). Consideration should be given to the building of each of these programmes as a whole.
12.8.2. The Jury will select one of the two programmes for the Competitor to perform. Competitors will be notified of this when the list of Semi-Finalists is announced at the end of the Second Round.
12.8.3. In Programme A, each Competitor should include one piece of chamber music from Group 1 (Piano Trios, Quartets and Quintets). In Programme B, each Competitor should include one piece of chamber music from Group 2 (Violin Sonatas and Cello Sonatas).
12.8.4. The remainder of each programme will consist of solo piano music of the performer’s choice but must include one 20th/21st century work from the list provided. The solo piano music selected should be different for each programme, with the exception of the 20th/21st century piece, which can be the same piece in both Programme A and Programme B.
SOLO PIANO
- No music from the First or Second Round repertoire may be selected for the Semi-Finals.
- In total the solo piano music for each programme should last not less than 30 minutes and not more than 45 minutes.
- The final duration of the solo piano music in each programme is at the discretion of the Competitor and will depend on the duration of the chamber works selected.
- The total duration of each programme must not exceed 75 minutes, including pauses.
- The repertoire must include a 20th / 21st Century work (use of the scores is permitted), which can be the same in each programme, drawn from the following:
| Pierre Boulez | 1st Sonata | 10′ |
| Luciano Berio | Sequenza | 11′ |
| Brett Dean | Hommage a Brahms | 3 pieces – 8’ |
| György Ligeti | Selection of Etudes | up to approx. 10’ |
| György Kurtág | Selection of Játékok | up to approx. 10’ |
| Thomas Larcher | Noodivihik | 10′ |
| Thomas Ades | Three Mazurkas | 9′ |
| George Benjamin | Meditation and Relativity Rag | 7′ |
CHAMBER MUSIC
Use of the score is permitted and a page turner is provided.
Two chamber works should be chosen, one from each of two different groups – one piano trio/quartet/quintet and one duo sonata, drawn from the following:
GROUP 1
Piano Quintets and Quartets:
| Antonin Dvořák | Piano Quintet in A major, Op.81 |
| Johannes Brahms | Piano Quartet in C minor, Op.60 |
| Dmitri Shostakovich | Piano Quintet in G minor, Op.57 |
Piano Trios:
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Trio in D major, Op.70/1 |
| Felix Mendelssohn | Trio No.1 in D minor Op.49 |
| Maurice Ravel | Trio |
GROUP 2
Violin Sonatas:
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Violin Sonata in C minor, Op.30/2 |
| César Franck | Violin Sonata in A major |
Cello Sonatas:
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Cello Sonata in C major, Op.102/1 |
| Johannes Brahms | Cello Sonata in E minor, Op.38 |
Only one chamber work will be selected by the Jury. Notification of the chosen piece will be given when the list of Semi-Final Competitors is announced.
12.8.5. The performance of the solo piano music will precede that of the chamber music.
12.8.6. The order of performance for this round will be at the discretion of the Artistic Director and Chair of the Jury and will take into account practical considerations of programming and rehearsal allocation for the chamber works.
12.8.7. Competitors will receive adequate rehearsal time with the chamber musicians.
12.9. CONCERTO FINALS
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Manze CONDUCTOR
12.9.1. Competitors should submit two choices of concerto: one from Group 1 and one from Group 2. Only one concerto will be chosen by the Jury.
12.9.2. Notification of the concerto to be played will be given when the Finalists are announced.
GROUP 1
| Johann Sebastian Bach | Concerto in D minor, BWV1052 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15 |
| Concerto No.2 in B flat major, Op.19 | |
| Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37 | |
| Concerto No.4 in G major, Op.58 | |
| Felix Mendelssohn | Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.40 |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Concerto in E flat major, K271 |
| Concerto in D minor, K466 | |
| Concerto in E flat major, K482 | |
| Concerto in C minor, K491 | |
| Concerto in C major, K503 |
GROUP 2
| Béla Bartók | Concerto No.3, Sz.119 |
| Johannes Brahms | Concerto No.2 in B flat major, Op.83 |
| Frederick Chopin | Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op.21 |
| Franz Liszt | Concerto No.2 in A major, S125 |
| Sergei Prokofiev | Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op.16 |
| Concerto No.3 in C major, Op.26 | |
| Sergei Rachmaninov | Concerto No.1 in F sharp minor, Op.1 |
| Concerto No.4 in G minor, Op.40 | |
| Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in A minor, Op.43 | |
| Maurice Ravel | Concerto in G major |
| Robert Schumann | Concerto in A minor, Op.54 |