Concert by Francesco Libetta, piano. "Sergio Cafaro and the Piano in Rome in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century." Music by Porena, Cafaro, d'Avalos, Marinuzzi, Mannino, Battiato, and Capogrosso.

Music by Franco Alfano, Gino Marinuzzi Jr., Sergio Cafaro, Francesco d’Avalos, Franco Battiato.

Francesco Libetta: For The New York Times he is a “Poet-aristocrat with the profile and carriage of a Renaissance prince”, while Le Monde de la Musique describes him as “the heir of Moritz Rosenthal, Busoni and Godowsky”, and Corriere della Sera as “a touch of gentlemanly elegance we thought lost in the archives of pianistic interpretation.” D’Avalos dedicated all his works for solo piano to him, and Isotta called him “the greatest living pianist.” He has recorded the complete piano works of Beethoven, Händel, Chopin, Godowsky, Paisiello, and Bosso; and released recordings of Schumann, Liszt, Ligeti, Ravel, and Debussy. His albums have won multiple awards from Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, Classique, Amadeus, among others. He has collaborated with conductors such as Pappano, Andreae, and Mandeal; with artists like Sollima, Caterina Antonacci, and Devia; with actors including Boni, Laurito, Preziosi, and Marchini; with dancers such as Carla Fracci; and he founded the dance group Corerofonie. After studying Composition with Marinuzzi in Rome and Castérède in Paris, he composed music for theatre, cinema, acousmatic works, chamber and symphonic music, and the opera L’Assedio di Otranto, staged in Puglia and Rome and released on CD. “Libetta, composer and poeta doctus,” wrote Isotta, sealing the profile of one of the most highly esteemed and versatile Italian artists worldwide—ranging from orchestral conducting to music criticism, from visual art direction to being the subject of documentaries by Monsaingeon and Battiato. Formerly a teacher for the Miami Piano Festival, he is now based in Martina Franca with the Fondazione Grassi.