Back to the gravitational recital programmes

 

Piano Recital Program of Italian Contemporary Music

One-hour (no-break or with short break) recital, 3 thematic sections.

 

Section 1 Literary inspiration, Shakespeare and North-European mithology

Sandro GORLI (1948) Il mulino di Amleto (1997)

Fabio GRASSO (1969), La danza segreta di Maeve (1999)

Listen on YouTube

 

Section 2 Philosophical and literary inspiration, Ancient Greece

Letizia MICHIELON (1969) Harmonia Mundi (2007)

Fabio GRASSO (1969) Les alcyons de Corinthe (2007)

Listen on Rosenfinger Virtual Concert Hall

Fabio GRASSO (1969) Pergamons Stele (2010)

Fabio GRASSO (1969) Promethean Triptych (2013, currently unperformed)

 

Section 3 Contemporary and historical avantgarde virtuosities

Luciano BERIO (1925-2003) Sequenza IV

(A possible choice especially for 2013, 10th anniversary of Berio’s death. However, on request, this piece can be replaced by another work by a living composer)

Fabio GRASSO (1969) Fantasia Veni Creator Spiritus (2012)

Listen on YouTube

 

 

Short program notes:

Section 1

Under the Shakespearian reference of the title “Il mulino di Amleto” conceals the allusion to the nordic myth of the world mill, that with its perennial rotations determines the human fate.

Maeve - Irish name of the shakespearian Queen Mab - is the fairy queen of the invisible host, whose night legends are recalled by W. B. Yeats’s drama The Countess Cathleen. Listen on YouTube at http://youtu.be/eWLscfb0YWM

Section 2

A route through some inspiring sources drawn from ancient Greek culture: from the Pythagorean numerology, to the decadent vision of Corinth by the Hellenistic poet Antipatros from Tyros (listen at Rosenfinger Virtual Concert Hall at http://www.rosenfinger.com/c002.htm), to the friezes of Pergamon’s temple, till to the myth of Prometheus.

Section 3

Berio’s “Sequenze” give an important contribution to the enrichment of the conception of the instrumental virtuosity in the second half of 20th century.

See http://www.fabiograsso.eu/art.htm to read an analysis of Sequenza IV by the interpreter.

Fabio Grasso’s Fantasy uses the line of the gregorian hymn Veni Creator Spiritus as base-cell of a sequence of nine episodes, rich of virtuoso passages, and organized in a route that reflects theological thoughts, literary hints, echoes of traditional forms.

Listen to this work with synchronized videocommentary at http://youtu.be/3-g6RnqQRQY

 

Back to the gravitational recital programmes