Ferruccio Busoni, the Italian-Austrian composer-pianist has has been called 'Doctor Faustus of the Keyboard'. His greatest pianistic achievements were in blockbuster works such as Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' and Liszt's B minor sonata, for he brought a new 'monumental' style to interpretation, one which drew on pedalling of unparalled colouristic variety. Technically, Busoni was virtually infallible. His pupil Percy Grainger once said that Busoni never played 'wrong' notes - not once in all of the concert performances he had attended!
Busoni's repertoire was enormous, embracing virtually every composer from Bach through to Liszt. The monumental Bach-Busoni edition in seven volumes bears witness...