The 13th Cucinelli Foundation Musical Season’s opening concert is a dedication to the early Romanticism. Two “young” but mature composers will bring to life two works of great musical depth. Schubert’s Fifth Symphony, that is considered his most Mozartian work, dates back to 1816; Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is from 1829/30. The composers took part in the first executions of their works, Schubert played the violin in the orchestra, while Chopin performed in a solo role at the piano. On November 13th we will have the opportunity to listen to the pianist Andrea Lucchesini performing on the stage of Cucinelli Theatre. For the occasion he will be accompanied by Perugia Chamber Orchestra, directed by Fabio Maestri.
After two event cancellations due to the pandemic, finally on December 4th we will enjoy the performance of a real star of international pianism: Alexander Malofeev, young winner of the eighth International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2014 and of the Grand Piano Competition in 2016. The Russian talent will perform the famous Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and will devote the rest of his program to the great Soviet piano school, playing the Piano Sonata No. 4 by the misunderstood Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg, Scriabin’s 5 Preludes Op. 16 and 2 Impromptus Op. 12 and Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-tableaux Op. 33.
The third concert of the Season is entirely dedicated to the accordion, and it is scheduled for Sunday January 15th, 2023. The famous young Umbrian musician Samuele Telari will elegantly perform intense transcriptions of two musical staples for piano of the XIX and XX centuries: the 11 pieces from Ligeti’s work Musica Ricercata (composed between 1951 and 1953) and Musorgskij’s well-known Pictures at an Exhibition, composed in 1874 and whose titles and style have been inspired by Victor Hartmann’s paintings.
Beethoven in Vermont, the musical and theatrical performance written and directed by Maria Letizia Compatangelo, will be on stage on February 26th, 2023. The Metamorphoses Trio will perform as the Busch brothers – the violinist Adolf (Mauro Loguercio) and the cellist Hermann (Francesco Pepicelli) – and the pianist Rudolf Serkin (Angelo Pepicelli) in the midst of preparations for the opening of Marlboro Festival’s first edition in 1951. The trio will discuss the program of the opening concert and eventually agree on performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s music. They think this choice is “a bet that summarizes their artistic bond and their lives, from the rejection of Nazism to the voluntary exile in the United States”. However, it is also the affirmation of the ideals of dialogue and brotherhood among peoples: these values have been universally recognized in the German composer’s work.
Originally created as a concert of solo violin for Cucinelli Theatre Season, the show of March 3rd, 2023 has been co-produced with Perugia Classical Music Foundation; its protagonist will be the exceptional young Italian violinist Giuseppe Gibboni, winner of the 56th edition of the prestigious Paganini Competition (2021). On the stage of Morlacchi Theatre, Gibboni musical talent will be accompanied by Enrico Bronzi, directing the Perugia Chamber Orchestra. The program includes Paganini’s Concerto No.1 and Schubert’s Symphony No. 6. The last concert of the Season on March 26th, 2023 will be a revision of Bach’s genius music and will take place in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Perugia. The program includes the Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 140 Cantata, whose material has been reused by Lipsia’s Kantor for the organ version of the chorale (BWV 645). The reconstruction of the concert for organ and orchestra BWV 1059a is an established practice in the musicological research. The material, only left in 9-bar fragments, has been used by Bach for his two Symphonies and the Aria Gott hat alles wohlgemacht of the BWV 35 Geist und Seele wird verwirret Cantata. The Mass BWV 235, last work in the program, has been composed reusing material from the Cantatas BWV 87, 102 and 187. The protagonists of the concert will be the solos Lucia Casagrande Raffi, soprano – Lucia Napoli, mezzo-soprano – Luca Cervoni, tenor – Mauro Borgioni, bass. The chorus will be performed by Solomeo’s Canticum Novum Chamber Choir. The Umbrian orchestra with original instruments Accademia Hermans will be directed bythe organ, which will also play a solo role.
The cultural activity of Cucinelli Foundation will then go on with Lectures on music, whose speaker will be Silvia Paparelli. The program will be announced along with the 2022 edition of Storie, Musica e Parole in circolo (reading-concerts) and the 2023 edition of Antiqua Vox. Antiqua Vox will include organ concerts to rediscover the organ heritage and enhance the value of Adamo Rossi’s instrument, which has been restored and is now kept in Saint Bartholomew Church in Solomeo (PG).
Fabio Ciofini, Art Director
