Claudio Arrau and Franz Liszt: a music and human legacy

This is a research project by Khalifa that explores the life and work of artists who formed under the teachings of Maestro Claudio Arrau and/or his pupils and in the line of Franz Liszt.
A first part of the research, focused on Cuban pianist and pedagogue German Diez - a longtime Arrau's student and assistant in New York City - became the basis for the documentary Piano Lessons: The Life and Art of German Diez. The movie, directed and co-authored by Antongiulio Panizzi and Francesca Khalifa, has received the official endorsement of the American Liszt Society and was premiered at the ALS Annual Conference on October 15, 2021 at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The film has also been part of the official selection of the Silicon Beach Film Festival 2021 and the 39th Turin Film Festival (not in competition). The movie is now available on Tubi TV, XumoTV and Amazon Prime Video worldwide.
Khalifa is now expanding the research in order to "map" the extent of the legacy of Maestro Arrau, with interviews to students and students of students. Among the interviewees pianists Garrick Ohlsson, Erika Nickrenz and Vanessa Perez; composers Joan Tower and Robert Lopez. The research will be published as a book in 2025.