Opus 26 Presented by Liszt Academy

Today, it seems perfectly natural to see letters and digits alongside a musical work, as most composers maintain their own catalogues and assign opus numbers to their pieces. Mozart followed this practice as well, but in earlier times, it was far from common; many composers had their oeuvre organized and catalogued by musicologists only posthumously.

Keyboard students of the Liszt Academy’s Doctoral School have chosen the number 26 as their focal point, selecting works that carry this specific sequence in their respective composers’ catalogues. Alongside well-known Opus 26 masterpieces by Chopin, Schumann, and Beethoven, the programme features rarer gems from the pens of Nikolai Medtner, Max Reger, Josef Hofmann, Anton Rubinstein, and Samuel Barber. While the number 26 may hold no mystical meaning in itself, this evening it stands out as a unique thread connecting the worlds of different eras and creators.