Paolo Restani | |
---|---|
Born | La Spezia, Italy | 2 August 1967
Genres | Classical |
Occupation(s) | Pianist |
Years active | 1983–present |
Website | paolorestani.com |
Paolo Restani (born 2 August 1967, La Spezia) is an Italian classical pianist.
Piano-pupil of Vincenzo Vitale (a renowned representative of the Naples piano-school) since 1984, in the following he perfected his interpretative manner with Gerhard Oppitz at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, Peter Lang at Mozarteum Salzburg, Gustav Kuhn, Piero Rattalino, Aldo Ciccolini, Nikita Magaloff and Vladimir Ashkenazy. [1] In addition he studied composition with Paolo Arcà and Bruno Bettinelli.[ citation needed ]
After his debut in 1983 in recital at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, he was invited to the most prestigious theatres in Italy. Among several successes in this period, a standout one was the concert at Sala Verdi in Milan for the Serate Musicali when, in January 1987, he was invited to replace Alexis Weissenberg with only a few hours notice, and he performed a programme including the Eroica Variations by Beethoven and the 12 Etudes d’Exécution transcendante by Liszt.[ citation needed ]
During his almost thirty-year international concert career, his own solo-participations with European, American and Australian orchestras are innumerable. Among the conductors: Roberto Abbado, Gerd Albrecht, Piero Bellugi, Christian Benda, Yoram David, Vladimir Delman, Claus Peter Flor, Heiko Mathias Forster, Lu Jia, Lothar Koenigs, Gerard Korsten, Julian Kavatchev, Gustav Kuhn, Uroš Lajovic, Yoel Levi, John Nelson, John Neschling, Gunter Neuhold, Daniel Oren, Massimo Pradella, Donato Renzetti. Under the baton of Riccardo Muti he appeared in June 2004 with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala in Liszt's Second Piano Concerto and, in 2008, again conducted by Muti, he was soloist in the symphonic production of Lélio ou Le Retour à la Vie op. 14b by Berlioz together with Gérard Depardieu, the Orchestra Luigi Cherubini, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor.[ citation needed ]
Recitals of recent seasons include the following events: Carnegie Hall in New York, Grosser Musikvereinsaal in Vienna, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Prinzregententheater in Münich, Rheingoldhalle in Mainz, New Congress-Hall in Innsbruck, International Performing Arts Centre in Moscow, Great Hall of the Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, Colon and Coliseo Theatres in Buenos Aires, London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Istanbul, Beirut, Santiago in Chile, Montevideo, Dubai, Kuwait City, Manama. In Italy: Milan (Teatro alla Scala, Auditorium La Verdi), Rome (Quirinale, Auditorium del Parco della Musica, Teatro dell’Opera, Auditorium di Via della Conciliazione, Teatro Sistina), Neaple (Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Augusteo, Politeama), Venice (Teatro La Fenice), Trieste (Teatro Verdi), Verona (Arena), Bologna (Teatro Comunale), Florence (Teatro Comunale, Teatro della Pergola), Turin (Teatro Regio, Auditorium RAI), Bari (Teatro Petruzzelli), Genoa (Teatro Carlo Felice), Palermo (Politeama).[ citation needed ] Prestigious musical festivals, where he is regularly invited, include: Flanders Festival, Martha Argerich Festival in Buenos Aires, London Hatchlands Music Festival, Istanbul Recitals, Al Bustan Festival in Beirut, Ljubljana Festival, Jornadas Internacionales de Piano in Oviedo, Asturias Festival, Ravenna Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Festival MITO in Milan, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Settembre Musica in Turin, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli International Piano Festival in Brescia and Bergamo, Festival Verdi in Parma, Festival Uto Ughi per Roma, Panatenee Pompeiane, Festival Romaeuropa, Todi Arte Festival, Ravello Festival. In January 2008, at the invitation of Yuri Temirkanov, he participated in the XVII International Festival Christmas Musical Meeting in Palmira of the North in Saint Petersburg.[ citation needed ]
Among the various international appreciations he has been awarded, are to be pointed out those gained in South America (where he plays every year): in 2005 the Association of Argentina Critics recognized him as the best interpreter of the year, and in 2011, with the Quartetto d’archi della Scala as the best ensemble.[ citation needed ]
Beside his piano soloist activity, Paolo Restani dedicates himself to chamber music and theatre performances. Among his partners: Carla Fracci, Sylvie Guillelme, Laurent Hilaire, Enrico Maria Salerno, Simona Marchini, [2] Mariano Rigillo, Gottfried Wagner. In partnership with Chiara Muti, in the last seasons, he created three original musical plays on the life of Mozart, on the relationships between Richard Wagner and Ludwig II, on Rachmaninov and Gogol.[ citation needed ] His extensive repertoire ranges from Bach to present-day composers. His particular preference for the Romantic and 19th-century repertoire makes him associated with most works by Field, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, and Casella. Of particular note is his predilection for the music of Liszt, of which he is considered one of the most authoritative interpreters.[3][ citation needed ]
Riccardo Muti is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.
Dino Ciani was an Italian pianist.
Fabio Vacchi is an Italian composer.
Francesco De Angelis is an Italian violinist, both leader and soloist of the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala and Filarmonica della Scala. He is internationally acclaimed as one of the major talented musician by critics and public alike. The peculiarity of his performances is an unmistakable romantic sound blended with the bel canto style and with the rigour of the middle-European instrumental tradition.
Roberto Abbado is an Italian opera and symphonic music conductor. Currently he is an Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed music director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester.
Roberto Prosseda is an Italian classical pianist.
Horacio Lavandera is an Argentine pianist, currently residing in Madrid, Spain. As its youngest competitor at the age of sixteen, he won the International Piano Competition Umberto Micheli, held at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire and in Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He has been invited to perform as a soloist with prestigious orchestras, as well as to offer recitals in America, Europe, and Asia.
The Quartetto Italiano was a string quartet founded in Reggio Emilia in 1945. They made their debut in 1945 in Carpi when all four players were still in their early 20s. They were originally named Nuovo Quartetto Italiano before dropping the "Nuovo" tag in 1951. They are particularly noted for their recording of the complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets, made between 1967 and 1975. The quartet disbanded in 1980.
Nicola Campogrande is an Italian composer and music journalist. He is the artistic director of the MITO SettembreMusica festival. He writes for the newspaper Corriere della Sera. His music is published exclusively by Breitkopf & Härtel.
Francesco Nicolosi is an Italian pianist.
Carlo Colombara is an Italian operatic bass. He has sung leading roles in many major opera houses including Teatro alla Scala ; the Vienna State Opera ; the Real Teatro di San Carlo ; the Arena di Verona ; the Royal Opera House, and the Metropolitan Opera.
Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz is a Norwegian-Italian operatic soprano.
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanovsky is a Ukrainian-born classical pianist resident in Italy. Romanovsky self-identifies as Russian while performing in Russia, and in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
Gloria Campaner is an Italian pianist. She was born in Jesolo (Venice), Italy in 1986.
Anna Borysivna Fedorova is a Ukrainian concert pianist. Fedorova performs as soloist, chamber musician and with symphony orchestras in the major concert halls of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Ukraine, Poland, the US, Mexico, Argentina, and parts of Asia. Fedorova is a David Young Piano Prize Holder supported by a Soiree d'Or Award and Keyboard Trust.
Vanessa Benelli Mosell is an Italian pianist and conductor.
Massimo Di Gesu is an Italian composer, born in 1970.
Mariangela Vacatello is an Italian classical concert pianist from Naples.
Costantino Catena is an Italian classical pianist.