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CONCERTO FINALE
Antonio Pappano and Stefano Bollani with theAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra are the stars of the final Concert. It is a varied program and original in its layout: from the dense and sometimes overwhelming sonorities of Arnold Schoenberg's symphonic poem Pelleas und Melisande (1903) to Franz Lehár's scintillating but at the same time poignant Gold und Silber Walt z (1902), to arrive at the explosive and impervious score of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (1924).
It may seem far-fetched, to all at first, to juxtapose two such distant figures of musicians: Schoenberg the inventor of twelve-tone music and thus the putative father of modern music tout-court and Gershwin the brilliant composer of musicals and the jazzy Rhapsody in Blue. Instead, the two, after Schoenberg's arrival in the U.S. in 1933, became close friends, hung out together and did not fail to pay tribute to each other. There is a short film, as well as an oil portrait, made by Gershwin himself and dedicated to Schoenberg filmed in various daily activities; while Schoenberg does not fail to write an impassioned tribute to the young American composer on the occasion of his untimely death. It is a defense of Gershwin sketched as a "serious" musician where, in this quality, Schoenberg sees the natural ability of his American colleague to create something absolutely new and accomplished, expressive, original: "I am not speaking as a music theorist, nor even as a critic, and so I am not obliged to to say whether history will want to consider Gershwin a kind of Johann Strauss or Debussy, Offenbach or Brahms, Lehár or Puccini. But I do know that he is an artist and a composer: that he has expressed musical ideas and these are new just as the way he expressed them is new." And again, "His melodies are not produced from mixtures or even from an artificial construction but are accomplished units and therefore cannot be reduced to pieces."
Gershwin, perhaps because of his Jewish background, was an active participant in the aid Schoenberg received so that he could leave Europe as a result of Nazi racial persecution. Schoenberg to in turn often went to hear performances of Gershwin's music once he took up residence in the United States.
It will be worth noting, therefore, that the inventor of serial music, the Viennese Schoenberg, was a man and musician who lived to deeply the musical experience of his city, and if in his Pelleas und Melisande, a great youthful symphonic poem to the composition of which he was encouraged from Richard Strauss, he still appears tied to a paludated tradition, he was at the same time a devotee of that "high" consumer music consisting of the waltzes, polkas and melodies of the Strauss family of which he in fact made transcriptions for small ensembles. And also of Lehar....
Here the subtle knots of this program become clear with historical evidence and equally subtle and dense plots of considerations not only on a glimpse of music history spanning the early part of the 20th century but also on music itself, without barriers and without labels, without styles or programs, which nevertheless brings together such different musicians only on the basis of its intrinsic quality.
Antonio Pappano director
**Stefano Bollani **pianoforte
Orchestra of theAccademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
program
Arnold Schoenberg Pelleas und Melisande
Franz Lehár Gold und Silber Waltz
George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Spoleto 59 Festival of 2Mondi Committee
production Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Sir Antonio Pappano has been Music Director of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia since October 1, 2005; he had already become Music Director of London's Covent Garden in September 2002. Born in London in 1959 to Italian parents, he studied piano, composition and conducting in the USA. In the past, he has filled other prestigious positions: in 1990 he was named Music Director of Den Norske Opera of Oslo, the theater where he made his international debut, and from 1991 to 2002 he carried out the same role at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. Pappano is in demand as an opera conductor at the highest international level, including with the Metropolitan Opera New York, the State Operas of Vienna and Berlin, the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Théâtre du Châtelet and the Teatro alla Scala.Sir Antonio Pappano has conducted many of the world's major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk and London Symphony.Sir Antonio Pappano records extensively for Warner Classics and has made several recordings with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chorus. Among his latest recordings are Verdi's Aida, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto no. 1 and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no. 2 with Beatrice Rana at the piano, Nessun Dorma, The Puccini Album with Jonas Kaufmann, Schumann's Symphonies No.2 and No.4 (ICA Classics), the CD Anna Netrebko. Verismo (DG), Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 and The Carnival of the Animals with Martha Argerich, the Bernstein's Symphonies, Verdi's Otello (with Kaufmann) and Strauss Ein Heldenleben.His awards and honors include: in 2012 he was created to Cavaliere di Gran Croce of the Republic of Italy, and to Knight of the British Empire for his services to music, and in 2015 he was named the 100th recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society's Gold Medal, the body's highest honor.In March 2021 he was announced as the next Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (Designate from 2023/24).
Inizia a studiare pianoforte a 6 anni ed esordisce professionalmente a 15. Dopo il diploma di conservatorio conseguito a Firenze nel 1993 – e una breve esperienza come turnista nel mondo del pop con Raf e Jovanotti fra gli altri – si afferma nel jazz, suonando su palchi come la Town Hall di New York, la Scala di Milano e Umbria Jazz. Fondamentale è la collaborazione, iniziata nel 1996 e mai interrotta, con Enrico Rava, al fianco del quale tiene centinaia di concerti e incide 13 dischi. I più recenti: Tati (2005),_ The Third Man _(2007) e _New York Days _(2008). Nel corso della carriera collabora con musicisti come Pat Metheny, Gato Barbieri, Richard Galliano, Sol Gabetta, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso e Chick Corea, con cui realizza il disco live Orvieto (2011). Nel 1998, alla guida del gruppo L’Orchestra del Titanic, omaggia la musica italiana degli anni ’30 e ’40 con Abbassa la tua radio, disco-spettacolo a cui collaborano Peppe Servillo, Irene Grandi, Marco Parente, Barbara Casini, Roberto Gatto. Particolarmente fuori dai canoni risultano poi lavori come La gnosi delle fanfole, insieme al cantautore Massimo Altomare su testi di Fosco Maraini (1998), Cantata dei Pastori Immobili, Oratorio musicale per quattro voci, realizzato su testi di David Riondino (2004) e il disco di canzoni scandinave Gleda (2005). Come produttore artistico e arrangiatore lavora inoltre al disco di Bodo Rondelli _Disperati intellettuali ubriaconi _(2002), vincendo il premio Ciampi. Tra il 2002 il 2006 incide quatto dischi per l’etichetta francese Label Bleu: Les Fleures Bleues, Smat Smat, Concertone e I Visionari. Il 2006 è anche l’anno di Piano Solo (disco dell’anno per «Musica Jazz»). Nel 2007 esce BollaniCarioca, disco realizzato insieme a grandissimi artisti brasiliani: a dicembre è il secondo musicista, dopo Antonio Carlos Jobim, a suonare un piano a coda in una favela di Rio de Janeiro. Sempre nel 2007 vince lo European Jazz Preis e viene inserito dalla rivista americana «Allaboutjazz» nell’elenco dei cinque migliori musicisti dell’anno insieme a Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus e Sonny Rollins. Tra le produzioni più recenti: Big Band (2013); Joy In Spite of Everything (2014); _Sheik Yer Zappa _(2014), live dedicato a Frank Zappa; Arrivano gli alieni (2015), in cui si cimenta per la prima volta come cantautore; Napoli Trip (2016), con Daniele Sepe, Manu Katché e Jan Bang fra gli altri. Presta inoltre il suo piano ad artisti del pop-rock italiano tra cui Irene Grandi, con cui firma l’album Irene Grandi e Stefano Bollani (2012). In ambito classico si esibisce come solista con orchestre sinfoniche (Gewandhaus di Lipsia, Concertgebouw di Amsterdam, Orchestre de Paris, Filarmonica della Scala di Milano, Santa Cecilia di Roma, Toronto Symphony Orchestra) al fianco di direttori come Zubin Mehta, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano e soprattutto Riccardo Chailly, con cui incide Rhapsody in Blue e Concerto in Fa di Gershwin in un cd (2010) che vince il Disco di Platino con più di 70.000 copie vendute. Seguono il Concerto in Sol di Maurice Ravel (2012) e nel 2013 un DVD live registrato alla Scala di Milano con il Concerto in Fa. La sua voglia di sperimentazione sconfina nel mondo dell’editoria. Nel 2006, per Baldini Castoldi Dalai, pubblica il romanzo La sindrome di Brontolo, cui seguono Parliamo di musica (2013) e Il monello, il guru, l’alchimista e altre storie di musicisti (2015), entrambi editi da Mondadori. Come personaggio, con il nome di Paperefano Bolletta, compare sul settimanale Topolino, di cui è anche nominato Ambasciatore. Per la radio è ideatore e conduttore, con David Riondino e Mirko Guerrini, della trasmissione Dottor Djembè (Radio Rai 3, 2006-2012), da cui nascono anche il libro Lo Zibaldone del Dottor Djembè (2008) e lo speciale tv Buonasera Dottor Djembè (Rai 3, 2010). Dal 2009 sue sono le sigle del palinsesto di Radio Rai 3. A teatro collabora, tra gli altri, con Claudio Bisio, Maurizio Crozza, Giuseppe Battiston, Marco Baliani, la Banda Osiris, e scrive le musiche per tre spettacoli di Lella Costa (Alice, una meraviglia di paese, Amleto e Ragazze) e per l’Antigone di Cristina Pezzoli. Membro onorario del Collegio Italiano di Patafisica, è co-autore e attore nello spettacolo La Regina Dada, realizzato insieme a Valentina Cenni nel 2016. In televisione è ospite fisso di Renzo Arbore nel programma Meno siamo meglio stiamo (Rai 1, 2005) e ideatore, autore e conduttore delle due edizioni di Sostiene Bollani (Rai 3, 2011 e 2013), con cui porta la musica jazz sul piccolo schermo. Il suo progetto più recente è L’importante è avere un piano (Rai 1, 2016): sette appuntamenti in seconda serata su Rai1 con ospiti, improvvisazioni e musica dal vivo.
The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was the first orchestra in Italy to devote itself exclusively to the symphonic repertoire, giving premieres of major masterpieces of the 1900s, such as Respighi's Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome. Founded in 1908, the Orchestra has been conducted by some of the major musical figures of the 20th century: from Mahler, Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Strauss, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Hindemith, Toscanini, Furtwängler, De Sabata, Karajan and Abbado to the most impressive performers of our day including Gergiev, Thielemann, Dudamel, Temirkanov while Bernardino Molinari, Franco Ferrara, Fernando Previtali, Igor Markevitch, Thomas Schippers, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniele Gatti, and Myung-Whun Chung have been its Music Directors. Leonard Bernstein was Honorary President from 1983 to 1990. With Sir Antonio Pappano in the role of Music Director since 2005, the stature of the Orchestra has enjoyed extraordinary success, building an international reputation for itself. With Pappano at the helm, the Orchestra has appeared at some of the major music festivals including the Proms in London, White Nights in St. Petersburg, Lucerne Festival, Salzburg Festival and has performed in some of the world's best-known venues, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall in London, Salle Pleyel in Paris, La Scala in Milan, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Semperoper in Dresden, Carnegie Hall in New York.Santa Cecilia Orchestra records extensively for Warner Classic. Recent releases, under Pappano, include Nessun Dorma, The Puccini Album with tenor Jonas Kaufmann (Best Classical Music Recordings of 2015 for The New York Times), which made the world charts, Schumann's Symphonies no. 2 and no. 4, Elgar's Symphony no. 1 (ICA Classics), the CD "Anna Netrebko. Verismo" (DGG), Le Carnaval des Animaux with Martha Argerich, the Bernstein's Symphonies (Warner Classics), Verdi's Otello with Jonas Kaufmann (Sony Classical), Tudor Queens with Diana Damrau (Warner Classics) and Strauss: Ein Heldenleben/Burleske with Bertrand Chamayou (Warner Classics).