Born in Galatone, Southern Italy, Francesco Libetta studied music in Italy (piano with Vittoria De Donno; contrapoint with Cosimo Colazzo and Igino Ettorre; composition with Gino Marinuzzi; conducting with Alberto Maria Giuri) and in France (composition with Jacques Castérède).
Libetta's repertoire now encompasses a very wide range, including all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas (performed first in Italy, 1993/94), several Mozart and Beethoven concertos, the complete Handel and Chopin works, as well as major works by Schubert, Schumann, Debussy, and Ravel.
He is active as a conductor (in symphonic repertoire, as well as collaborating with the Balletto del Sud in major Tchaikovsky ballets).
His works include three piano concertos, symphonic pieces, electronic music, and ballet and movie scores.
Ottocento ("Eight Hundred", about 800 victims of religious war in South Italy in 1480) was performed in Otranto and Rome.
John Ardoin declared that among the new generation of pianists, Francesco Libetta is "the most inspired and creative".
One of his DVDs, with the recording of a recital held at the Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron (France), created by Bruno Monsaingeon, was awarded the Diapason d'Or and the "CHOC" of Le Monde de la musique.
such miraculous virtuosity and such a delicate feel for melody that one cannot help wondering whether any other artist of his generation - whether in Italy or elsewhere - can be compared to him."
He has published essays on history and aesthetics, including music by Renaissance composers, reconstructions of Madrigals, cultural life in the late eighteenth century, etc.
[+ Anonimo, Bove, De Cupertinis, Manfroci, San Pier di Negro, Serafico]
Bach, Battiato, Gesualdo, Lulli, Martini, Pasquini, Rameau, Rossi, Turini, Vento, Zipoli
27 n. 2 [+ Josef Hofmann, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ferruccio Busoni, Moritz Rosenthal, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Ignaz Friedman, Alfred Cortot, Francis Planté, Béla Bartók, Claudio Arrau, Guiomar Novaes, Vladimir de Pachmann, Solomon, Arthur Rubinstein, Emil Gilels, Vladimir Horowitz, Jorge Bolet, and others.]
Vergangliche Bilder Albumblatter und Variationen Albumblatt - Variazione di una variazione - 13 Preludi (1840–1900) - Notturno - Piccola Romanza - Foglio d’Album - Minuetto - Paysages marines - 2 Pezzi caratteristici (Le Marionette suonano e ballano, Veli neri e bianchi ballano nella notte) - Valzer
With: Alessandro Mandurino, Luigi Nicolardi, Renato Rizzello, Scipione Sangiovanni, Vanessa Sotgiu.
With : Matteo Cistemino, Lara Escelsior, Giuliano Graniti, Luigi Nicolardi, Valentina Parentera, Renato Rizzello, Scipione Sangiovanni, Vanessa Sotgiu.
16; Maestoso (Marcia Funebre); Die Ideale (Liszt) Accademia Classics - AC 502.2 (2CD).
Mozart, Libetta, Rimsky-Korsakov/Libetta (with Pietro De Maria); Liszt (with Kemal Gekic); Rachmaninov (with Ilya Itin)
Debussy (Le Colline d’Anacapri), Strauss-Risler (Till Eulenspiegel), Brahms-Cortot (Wiegenlied)
Respighi (Due Danze Italiane), Gesualdo (Canzone Francese), Godowsky (Due Studi su Chopin), Ravel (La Valse), Debussy (Estampes), Wagner/Liszt (O du, mein holder abendstern), Gounod/Liszt (Valzer da "Faust"), Saint-Saëns (Etude en forme de Valse), etc.
Liszt (Integrale delle trascrizioni da opere di Wagner) Agorà (1999) - AG 168.1.
Libetta (Le candide), Monpou (Cancion VI), Wagner (Brautlied aus Lohengrin) Agorà (1997) - AG 115.1.
Rigoletto, La muta di Portici, Guglielmo Tell, Roberto il diavolo, Sonnambula, Faust Eventyr (1995) - LC 01.
Schubert (Momento musicale, Kuperwieser Waltzer), Mendelssohn (Romanze senza parole Op.