Competition rules of the Bartók World Competition – Piano 2025
1. The Bartók World Competition is initiated and organized by the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. The competition covers the most important fields of Bartók’s oeuvre, that is piano, violin, string quartets and composition. The competition is held in six-year cycles: in odd years the instrumental rounds take place, composers compete in the intervening even years by submitting works intended for the next year’s instrumental round.
2. The Competition is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.
3. The Bartók World Competition – Piano 2025 will be held from 31 August to 7 September 2025. The Preliminaries and Semi-final will take place at the Solti Hall, the Solo Final and the Grand Final at the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy.
4. The competition is open to pianists of all nationalities, aged maximum 32 years (born on or after 31 August 1993)
5. The live rounds of the Competition are open to the public. All live rounds will be live streamed. Applicants shall give their consent to these recordings and broadcastings by applying to the competition.
6. All competitors in the live rounds are provided with hotel accommodation as long as they are still part of the competition.
7. Competition structure and number of competitors
· Video Preselection round
· Preliminary max. 30 competitor
· Semi-final, max. 12 competitor
· Solo Final, max. 6 competitor
· Grand Final (with orchestra). max. 4 competitor
8. Application and Video Preselection round
8.1 Application is possible only by filling the online application form of the competition on the website (bartokcompetition.hu). The application opens on 3 March 2025 and closes at 24:00 CET 26 May 2025.
8.2 Next to the filled application form all applicants have to upload a video recording with pieces specified in the Repertoire (point 14.1 of the Rules). Only high quality and recent recordings (taken on or after 1 January 2025) will be accepted. Audio recordings, CDs will not be considered. The recording should show the applicant playing the piano with his/her hands visible and each piece should be recorded in a single take (no editing permitted).
8.3 Only complete application material will be considered.
8.4 The program for the competition given on the application form by the applicant may not be changed after confirmation by the Competition Secretariat.
8.5 The application fee is 150 EUR, the early bird fee is 100 EUR. Early bird fee is valid for applications received before 24:00 CET 2 May 2025.
8.6 Fee is to be paid only by candidates accepted by Preselection Jury to the live rounds.
8.7 Application fees are non-refundable.
9. General terms of performance
9.1 The competitors shall respect time limits binding their performance in all rounds given in the Repertoire (point 14 of the Rules). The Jury reserves the right to interrupt and not evaluate the performance if the time limits are not respected.
9.2 All pieces must be performed from memory, with the exception of the contemporary composition in the Semi-final.
9.3 All works shall be performed only once during the Competition. (Pieces from the video qualifying round can be repeated once in the live rounds)
9.4 The order of the works played in the Preliminary, Semi-final and Solo Final is of the competitor’s choice
9.5 Each competitor will have the same amount of time to rehearse.
10. Registration
All participants have to be present at the Competition Secretariat to register in person before the drawing of lots at 18:00 on 31 August 2025. If a competitor arrives late for reasons outside his/her control (only medical or travelling problems are considered) and notifies the organizers before the drawing of lots, the organisers may allow the person to appear in the Preliminary at a specially allocated time. In the consecutive rounds, he/she should perform in the order given by the drawing of lots.
11. Order of competitors
The competitors play in alphabetical order. The competitor to play first is decided by the drawing of lots. He/she is then followed by the other competitors in alphabetical order. This order of appearance remains valid for all the other rounds.
If any competitor is unable to appear before the jury at the time decided by the draw, his/her absence may be certified by the official doctor of the Liszt Academy, or in the case of an obstacle of a different nature, by the relevant official body. In this case the jury may allow the competitor to perform at a different time.
12. Jury and Judging
12.1 The Jury of the Competition consists of 9 eminent Hungarian and international performers and professors. The members of the Jury are appointed by the President of the Liszt Academy.
12.2 A Preselection Jury nominated by the President of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Budapest) will decide on the admission of candidates to the competition.
12.3 A jury member is excluded from judging competitor(s) with whom he/she is in master-student relation. Before the Competition rounds start all Jury members shall notify the secretary of the jury of such relations, so that she/he can consider this when counting the votes.
12.4 In the Preliminary, members of the jury vote either Yes or No. Competitors receiving the most “yes” votes – max. 12 competitors – can be selected for the Semi-final.
12.5 In the Semi-final, Solo and Grand Final, jury members award points on a scale of 7–10 to one decimal place. The competitors getting the highest points will get to the Finals. In the event of a tie, the Jury shall vote again about the competitors with the same score. In case of disagreement, the decision of the chair of the jury shall prevail.
12.6 After the jury’s evaluation, the list of names of competitors proceeding to the next round is published in alphabetical order by the competition secretariat.
12.7 The decisions of the Jury are irrevocable and not subject to appeal.
12.8 Individual scores remain strictly confidential. The Jury is not obliged to explain their decisions; however, if the competition schedule permits, they should be available to consult with competitors in previously agreed moments. Competitors can apply for an appointment to consult with Jury members through the Competition Secretariat, but only in case they are not in the competition any more.
13. Prizes
1st prize 22000 EUR
2nd prize 14000 EUR
3rd prize 8000 EUR
Prize for the best performance of Bartók’s works 4000 EUR
Prize for the best performance of the compulsory contemporary piece 2000 EUR
Audience Prize 1500 EUR
13.1 Prizes are gross amounts.
13.2 The Jury can decide not to award a prize.
13.3 Special prizes such as concert and recording opportunities are decided by the offering organizations.
14. Repertoire
14.1 Video preselection round (recording) – max. 20 minutes
The program needs to include:
a. one Bartók piece or movement of the competitor’s choice (except pieces from Mikrokosmos or For Children)
b. one romantic work or one or more movements of a romantic work of the competitor’s choice
c. one virtuoso etude of the competitor’s choice
The pieces of the video qualifying round can be repeated in the later rounds.
14.2 Preliminary – max. 20 minutes
The program needs to include:
a) one virtuoso Scarlatti sonata
b) one Bartók piece or movement of the competitor’s choice (except pieces from Mikrokosmos or For Children), all together min. 7 minutes
c) one virtuoso etude from the following series of the competitor’s choice:
- Liszt: Études d’exécution transcendante, S. 139
- Liszt: Grandes Études de Paganini, S. 141
- Liszt: Three Concert Études, S. 144
- Liszt: Two Concert Études, S. 145
- Bartók: Three Studies for Piano, BB 81 [Op. 18]
- Dohnányi: Six Concert Etudes, Op. 28
14.3 Semi-final – max. 40 minutes
The program needs to include:
a) one Bartók piece or group of pieces from the following list:
- Fourteen Bagatelles for Piano, BB 50 [Op. 6] (selection by the candidate, min. 7 minutes)
- Three Burlesques for Piano, BB 55 [Op. 8c]
- Allegro barbaro for Piano, BB 63 AND 2nd movement (Poco allegro) from Two Romanian Dances for Piano, BB 56 [Op. 8a]
- Romanian Christmas Songs, BB 67, Series I OR II
- 4th movement (Scherzo) from Four Piano Pieces, BB 27
- 1st OR 2nd Elegy from Two Elegies, BB 49
- Three Hungarian Folksongs from the County of Csík for Piano, BB 45b AND 1st movement (Allegro vivace) from Two Romanian Dances for Piano, BB 56 [Op. 8a]
- Suite for Piano, BB 70 [Op. 14]
b) a complete classical sonata by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Ludwig van Beethoven
c) one of the following pieces*:
- Hanuri Lee: Vertigineux (video link to the performance)
- Mátyás Papp: Kirakós (Puzzle) (video link to the performance)
*prize winning compositions of the Bartók World Competition – Composition 2024, published by Universal Music Publishing Editio Musica Budapest. Sheet music will be available for free download from the publisher’s website.
14.4 Solo Final – max. 45 minutes
The program needs to include:
a) one of the following Bartók pieces:
- Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, BB 83 [Op. 20]
- Dance Suite, BB 86b
- Sonata, BB 88
- Out of Doors, BB 89
b) a romantic work or several movements of a romantic work of the competitor’s choice
c) a piece or one or more movements of a piece by the following composers:
Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Sergey Prokofiev, Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky, Ernő (Ernst von) Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály
14.5 Grand Final
Competitors must choose one of the following piano concertos (selection from Bartók’s piano concertos and his repertoire):
- Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2, BB 101
- Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3, BB 127
- Liszt: Totentanz
- Liszt: Piano Concerto in E-flat major
- Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
- Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 (‘Emperor’)