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Sunday 27th February 2005
Villa Antica 7.30pm |
Arkè String Project
Carlo Cantini violin
Valentino Corvino violin
Sandro Di Paolo alto
Piero Salvatori cello
Stefano Dall’Ora doublebass
The musicians of Asp met in 1996 when they were drawn together by their mutual interpretation and feeling towards music. This affinity lead them to follow a common path with great enthusiasm.
Their principal aim is to travel, without prejudice, within different musical genres and attempt to highlight the various qualities present in each form of musical expression. The ideal area for this kind of research is the music of the 20th century as it offers an extremely vast repertoire ranging from pop to ethnic and jazz to avant-garde music. The Asp repertoire includes classical pieces, original arrangements of jazz and pop pieces and original compositions.
To this day Asp has performed concerts for important classical and jazz festivals all around Europe and Japan, they have performed for national television and have collaborated with internationally renowned classical, jazz and rock musicians such as Josè Cura, Lucio Dalla, Samuele Bersani and Tullio De Piscopo, obtaining great success for both concerts and musical recordings.
Their artistic flare has not only been limited to the musical field but has extended to collaborations with artists belonging to other disciplines: Theatre, Dance and Visual Arts with the creation of original productions.
Together with the famous Italian pop singer Antonella Ruggiero, Asp is the protagonist in the project “Sacrarmonia” which merges sacred, classic, ethnic and pop music. This project is receiving great success throughout Italy and was recorded for Sony Music as “Luna crescente” in December 2001.
With Antonella Ruggiero the Asp is also touring with the concerto “Quattro passi per Broadway”, dedicated to the USA Musical, already performed for very important Italian music promoters and venues such as Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Comunale di Modena etc.
The successful debut at the 2003 Vignola Jazz Festival, Settimane Musicali di Merano, Festival del Mediterraneo di Genova, of a new project which sees Asp perform with the renowned Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu has brought to life with great success the concert “A Journey in our World” where Asp and Trilok Gurtus’ original music blend with great success and foresees a forthcoming CD.
The 2004 saw the Asp for the first time in Marocco, Estonia, at the Umbria Jazz with the renound jazz pianist Enrico Pierannunzi and in September the label Egea produced theyr first solo CD “Acquario” with the pianist Stefano Bollani and the clarinetto player Gabriele Mirabassi as guest stars. They also performed with Rita Marcotulli a new project wich will be distibuted by Egea in 2005.
Asp performs with both classical and electric instruments, in the latter case they use CANTINI SOLID STRINGS (four completely electric instruments projected by the violinist Carlo Cantini). These instruments allow the exploration and search for new sounds used in compositions and arrangements for a modern conception of the string quartet. |
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Sunday 12 September 2004
Villa Antica |
In 1980 at the age of 20, Cecilia Gasdia won the first prize in the “New Voices for Opera” Competition dedicated to Maria Callas. She subsequently made her debut in Florence in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, but real fame was hers when, at last minute, she was called to the Scala in Milan to replace Montserrat Caballé in the title role of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena: the sensational success of the evening brought Cecilia Gasdia to the attention of orchestra conductors and directors all over the world.
In the 80’s Cecilia Gasdia at the Teatro Comunale in Florence made her debut in different roles: Violetta in a new production of La Traviata under the direction of Franco Zefirelli and conducted by Carlos Kleiber; Nannetta in a production of Falstaff conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini; Anne Truelove in The Rake’s Progress directed by Ken Russel and conducted by Riccardo Chailly, furthermore she appeared in Paris in Rossini’s Moise, Verdi’s Jérusalem and La Traviata, this last opera conducted by Zubin Metha.
She subsequently made her debut in the United States in Rigoletto in Philadelphia and New York with Riccardo Muti, with whom she had sung before Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Edinburg Festival.
Cecilia Gasdia is one of the most internationally appreciated singers of Rossini’s work, and her repertoire includes fourteen roles of this talented composer; the collaboration with Rossini Festival in Pesaro, which began in 1983 with Mosè in Egitto, has continued over the years with Le Comte Ory, Il Viaggio a Reims conducted by Claudio Abbado of which a highly successful record was made by DG, Maometto II, Otello and Semiramide.
In June 1994, Cecilia Gasdia took part in an extraordinary concert in the Sarajevo National Library conducted by Zubin Metha, performing Mozart’s Requiem alongside José Carreras and Ruggero Raimondi. The concert, dedicated to the victims of the tragedy of ex-Yugoslavia, was broadcast by more than 30 television networks all round the world.
Amongst her most important engagements of the 1997-98 season we underline the production of Orfeo by C. Monteverdi at the Athens Concert Hall, staged by Pierluigi Pizzi and conducted by Claudio Scimone, Un giorno di regno by G. Verdi at the Teatro Regio in Parma, Orfeo by C. Monteverdi in a production of the Teatro Comunale in Florence, Giulio Cesare by G.F. Handel at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, L’Amico Fritz by P. Mascagni at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
During the season 1998-99 she was busy with production of Il barbiere di Siviglia at the New National Theatre Tokyo, of L’Amico Fritz at the Teatro Bellini in Catania, a series of concerts with Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in Genoa and other Ligurian theatres, in a long series of concerts all over Italy with Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti, with a production of Orfeo by A. Sartorio at the Teatro in Fano/Italy conducted by Alberto Zedda, with The merry widow at the Arena of Verona (in summer 1999).
Amongst her most important engagements of the 2000 season we underline the production of I Pagliacci by Leoncavallo at the Teatro Bellini in Catania conducted by Daniel Oren, of Le jongleur de Notre Dame by J. Massenet conducted by G. Gelmetti at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, of Mosè in Egitto by G. Rossini under the direction of Pierluigi Pizzi and conducted by Claudio Scimone at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona.
In January 2001 she met with a personal success in L’Amico Fritz with Andrea Bocelli at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. In March-April she was joining Andrea Bocelli on US Spring Tour, eight concerts in USA and Canada winning american public’s heart and in june she appeared in a Gala Concert with Andrea Bocelli in Pisa for the reopening of the Tower of Pisa.
August 2001 she met a great success in Otello at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste with Josè Cura and an entusiastic success in Edinburgh at Edinburgh International Festival with Armida by Rossini.
In february and march 2002 Cecilia Gasdia sang Pagliacci by Leoncavallo at the Teatro Filarmonico- Arena of Verona Foundation and in april 2002 she debutted Tosca by Puccini at the Opera Theatre in Cairo with a great personal success.
Next may she will sing The merry widow at Opera Theatre in Rome.
During 2003 she sing for Fondazione Gulbekian in Lisbona and she is the artistic witness in the world for the 25th Anniversari of the Pontificate of John Paul II singing in Rome, Strasburg, Monaco di Baviera, Buenos Aires, Rabat.
She is also an appreciated performer of refined piano Recitals and symphonic-vocal compositions. She is in particular in close and continuous cooperation (since the beginning of the career) with Claudio Scimone and I Solisti Veneti including an intense recording activity.
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Wednesday 18 February 2004
Villa Antica |
Another important date on the agenda is the opening event during which, on 18 February at 6.30 pm, there will be an extraordinary concert by the sophisticated Italian songwriter, GINO PAOLI.
(Concert with invitation. Please confirm if you will be present)
There aren’t many Italian songwriters whose songs continue to be world famous after forty years, whether in orchestral versions or treated by internationally famous singers as though they were their own. But Gino Paoli is one of those Italian songwriters and it was when Mina’s recording of his song “Il Cielo In Una Stanza” (“The Sky In A Room”) sold seven million copies that his music started to be reckoned with as a world force.
Another of Paoli’s songs says that the sea wears away words of love like it wears away stones. It certainly never did that with his own; quite the reverse, in fact. Gino was born by the sea (in Monfalcone in 1934) and has nearly always lived close to it (in Genoa), which is maybe why his own music and lyrics have flooded through Europe, the Americas and Japan.
Paoli discovered and launched other artists, such as Lucio Dalla, a jazz clarinet player, or the refractory Fabrizio De André who sang with Gino at the Press Club in Genoa only after Paoli had used physical force to get him up on stage. Paoli’s songs were now snapped up by the most unlikely sorts of artists; there were Italian stars of the 1950’s like Claudio Villa, Carla Boni, Jula De Palma or Joe Sentieri, opera singers such as Anna Moffo, actresses like Lea Massari or Catherine Spaak and big names in Italian pop music of the 1960’s such as Umberto Bindi, Luigi Tenco, Rita Pavone, Gianni Morandi, Pino Donaggio, Tony Renis or Tony Dallara. Later on, other Italian pop stars like Patty Pravo, Donatella Rettore, Zucchero, Franco Battiato and Loredana Berté covered songs by Paoli, as did the internationally famous Chet Baker, Gilbert Bécaud, Paul Anka, Dean Martin, Marino Barreto, Antonio Prieto, Dalida, Udo Jurgens, Richard Anthony, Helen Reddy or Barrière himself |
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Wednesday, September 10th 2003
Villa Antica |
There once was a little orchestra from San Remo that exhibited in expensive hotels, in a coming of age style for Italy in the 20'': jazz.
Exactly seventy-five years after the foundation of the Red Cat the New Red Cat is born resurrected by the great grandson of one of the members of the first band
It isn't just a coincidence that the consecration on the national level comes from the show "Zelig", where the bran participated with much success: the irony and the easiness are the main conductor with which the nine members of the band reread the great classics of jazz.
In the show "Vecchia America", the vocalist Johanna Rimmel expresses herself in the great classics of the "Anni Ruggenti", simulating the great black voices of the past such as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
Freddy Colt - piano, mandolino
Joanna Rimmer - vocalist
Sergio Caputo - violin
Simone Giacon - clarinet
Andrea De Martini - tenor sax
Gianni Martini - accordion
Max Ormea - guitar, banjo
Giuliano Raimondo - double bass , bass - tuba
Enzo Cioffi - drums |
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Tuesday 18 February 2003 at 6.30pm
Villa Antica |
Gustavo Gancedo was born in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1968. In this country, he developed his professional activity as a guitarist, composer and arrenger, in argentinian popular music, until 1991, when he decides to settle in Paris.
There, he worked in association with various argentinian groups and artists, until the creation, in 1998,of his own ensemble: a Tango Septet, integrating argentinian and European musicians .
Original arrangements, talented soloists, along with a perfect sound balance, give this ensemble a striking and original touch, throughout a repertoire which revives great tango classics and launches into new compositions.
Renewing the genre thanks to such an innovating formula, this septet has undoubtly win its place among its elders.
Gustavo Gancedo - guitar and direction
Juanjo Mosalini - bandoneon
Stephane Rullière - first violin
Michael Gneist - second violin
Ludovic Michel - viola
Lionel Allemand - cello
Roberto Tormo - double bass |
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Thursday 12 September 2002
Villa Antica |
The Shirt Avenue week opening event will take place on 12 September at 6.30 p.m. in Villa Antica, where the acclaimed musician, Ludovico Einaudi will perform for an audience of entrepreneurs, journalists, politicians and the trade.
Ludovico Einaudi graduated from the Conservatorio G. Verdi of Milan with Azio Corghi and then went on to further his studies in composition with Luciano Berio. He assisted Berio with various musical and theatrical projects, and in 1982 was awarded a grant to participate in the Tanglewood Festival (USA).
His early works, chamber and symphonic compositions, have been performed at some of the major musical institutions throughout the world, including the Teatro alla Scala, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Tanglewood Festival, the IRCAM of Paris, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (USA), Settembre Musica, the UCLA Centre for Performing Arts, the Budapest Music Festival and the Queen Elizabeth Hall of London.
In the 80’s, Einaudi began his search for a new language, a language capable of absorbing the spontaneity, the emotional charge and the sound impact of different cultures and musical influences; at the same time he started to compose for the cinema, the theatre, videos and dance. In 1988 he composed Time Out, a multimedia show conceived in collaboration with Andrea De Carlo who wrote the scripts, and performed by the American company ISO Dance Theatre with great success in Italy, the USA and Japan. After Time Out, he extended his experience with the world of dance by composing The Wild Man (1990) for the Oregon Dance Company and The Emperor (1991) for the ISO Dance Theatre, which premiered at the Lincoln Centre of New York, and was then performed in Tokyo and Israel.
In 1992 he published Stanze, a sixteen piece cycle for the harp. Einaudi’s latest work is Salgari, commissioned by the Arena di Verona and inspired by the life and works of the Veronese writer, with texts chosen by Andrea De Carlo, choreography by Daniel Ezralow, sets and projections by Jerome Sirlin.
Einaudi recently created the Einaudi Electric Ensemble, a quintet in which he himself plays the piano and which performs a repertoire of the composer’s music.
Apart from being a musician with solid cultural background and training, his unforgettable soundtracks are turning Einaudi into a rising star in the local cinema industry. He composed the scores for films directed by Andrea De Carlo (Treno di panna) and Dominick Tambasco (Giorni dispari), and has recently completed the score for Giuseppe Piccioni’s Fuori dal mondo, where he competently moulded an elegant mixture of minimalist and ethnic music to harmonise with the perfection of the mood and situations of Piccioni’s masterpiece.
Einaudi’s music has been performed at some of the world’s greatest musical institutions such as the Teatro alla Scala of Milan, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Tanglewood Festival, the Lincoln Center of New York, the Queen Elisabeth Hall of London and the Center for Performing Arts of Los Angeles.
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| The concert will be followed by dinner in the halls of the Villa Antica. |
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Saturday, 16 February 2002
Villa Antica |
| The event that inaugurated Shirt Avenue & Tie Boulevard took place on 16 February at Villa Antica. This event was a concert performance by I SOLISTI VENETI, directed by Claudio Scimone, before an audience of businessmen, journalists, public authorities, and trade people. Considered by the public and the critics to be one of the most active and finest orchestras worldwide, I SOLISTI VENETI have cemented a reputation as an orchestra with an international reach with their concerts and recordings as well as the great variety of cultural and artistic initiatives they have taken part in. The Group, founded in Padua in 1959, has given more than 4,000 concerts in more than 50 countries in Europe, United States, Japan, Australia, Russia and Latin America. They appear regularly at leading Festivals around the world, including the Salzburg Festival, where they have been regular guests since 1965. They have been awarded the most important prizes worldwide for their concert and recording work such as the Gran Prix du Disque de l’Acadèmie Charles Cros in Paris, the Grammy Award in Los Angeles, the Gran Prix de l’Acadèmie du Disque Lyrique, the Elisabeth Memorial Medal in London, the Cecilia Award by Belgian critics and the Italian Recording Critics Award. They have also received the gold medal for merits in education, art and culture from the Italian Republic and celebrations for their 25th anniversary were attended by the President of the Italian Republic. Their repertoire spans from 18th century music to the greatest masterpieces of all times such as “Missa Solemnis” by Beethoven, Requiem and Mass in C minor by Mozart, “Stabat Mater” by Rossini. Numerous composers have dedicated their music to I SOLISTI VENETI, creating new literature for 11, 12 or 13 solo strings: Sylvano Bussotti, Franco Donatoni, Riccardo Malipiero, Marius Constant, Christobal Halffter, Luis De Pablo. |
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