CellistMarioBrunelloembracesBach’srepertoireinapictorialodysseyattheNationalGallery

LUNCHTIMECONCERTS:Thurs14September,Tues24OctoberandThurs7Decemberat1pm

CellistMario Brunello, former first prizewinner of the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1986, embarks on aseriesoflunchtimeconcertsattheNationalGalleryfrom14Septemberto7December,witharthistorianGuidoBeltramini,directoroftheAndreaPalladioInternationalCentreforArchitecturalStudies.Choosingthree paintings by Botticini, Holbein and Conegliano at the National Gallery, Brunello has devised threeprogrammestoexplorethreeindividualthemes-resonance,enigmaanddistance.Forthesecondconcerton24October,BrunelloexplorestheideaofanenigmaattheheartofHolbein’sAmbassadors–theskullplacedbetweentheAmbassadorsonlyvisiblefromcertainangles–throughBach’sPartitaNo.2forviolinbutonavioloncellopiccolo.

Brunello has specifically not chosen historical or anecdotal references from the paintings to devise theconcertprogrammes.Insteadhehaschosenamorephilosophicalapproach,whichextendshisquestforathirddimension.TheopeningconcertinparticularpicksuponthevortexintheAssumptionoftheVirginwith the heavenly bodies assembled in concentric rings. Choosing the theme of resonance, Brunellomarries this heavenly vortex with the circular structure in Bach’s Suite No. 6 in particular the Prelude,SarabandeandjoyousgarlandofchantsintheGavotteandGigue.ContemporarymusicthroughSollima’sConcertoRotondocontinuesthesphericaltheme.

The idea of a third dimension has been at the heart ofMario Brunello’s fascinationwith silence as thedichotomyofmusic. Hehas searched for this lost dimension in everyday life throughhisSoundsof theDolomites Festivalandhis bookSilence. ForBrunello, silence is farmore thana void - it canbe tense,charged,emotionallyprovocative,reflectingtheaudience'svoicelessanticipationas inaconcerthall.Thesilenceinaconcerthalloroutsideonamountaintopcreatesverydifferentcontextsforlisteningtomusic.AsMarioexplains,“Thesearchforsilencehighlightsthesounds.Itenhancesthem.Silenceisanimportantelement in makingmusic three-dimensional. Music usually passes in front of us like a two-dimensionalstrip.Youhavetime,andyouhavesound.Buttheelementgivingdepthtothesetwoelementsissilence.Iwouldliketotryandachieveathree-dimensionalformoflisteningtomusic.”

Thursday14September2017at1pm-Room57

RESONANCE

TheAssumptionoftheVirgin(probablyabout1475-6)byFrancescoBotticini

J.S.Bach CelloSuiten6inDmajorBWV1012

G.Sollima ConcertoRotondo,violoncelloandliveelectronics

G.Colombi Ciaccona,violoncelloandloop

TheseriesbeginswithResonance.BrunellohaschosenworkswhichmirrorthecircularpantheonofBotticini’sAssumptionoftheVirginwhichwaspaintedbetween1475and1477.Colombi’sChaconne,theearliestknownmanuscriptforthecello,issphericalinformwiththesamephrasereturningtothebeginning.ThereisanEasternqualitytowhirlingsoundsinSollima’scontemporarypieceConcertoRotondo.

Colombi-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=basXE93SfPs

BotticiniwasapainterinthesecondhalfoftheFlorentineQuattrocento.InBotticini’spainting,theangelsare arranged in concentric circles. At the edges of the painting, the heavenly figures continue in thestrongly foreshortened view: we only see half of the last circle. What inspired Botticini to invent thisextraordinaryvortex,whichradicallychangestheneatstraightrowsofthecelestialhierarchyseeninearlydepictionsofheaven?ThehugedomefortheDuomoinFlorencehadbeencompletedsomefifteenyearspreviously.TheBrunelleschiDomewasanunprecedentedspacethatevenrivalledthePantheoninRomeintermsofsize.Inadditiontorotatinghalfsphereshangingfromthehighrooftrussesofthechurch,thestagesetincludedGodandChristwithconcentricrowsofsingingangels.

Tuesday24October2017at1pm-Room4

ENIGMA

TheAmbassadors(1533)byHansHolbeintheYounger

H.I.F.Biber “Passacaglia”fromMysterySonatas

J.S.Bach Allemande,Partitan.2indminorBWV1004

B.A.Zimmermann Fourshortstudiesn.1

J.S.Bach Courante,Partitan.2indminorBWV1004

B.A.Zimmermann Fourshortstudiesn.2

J.S.Bach Sarabande,Partitan.2indminorBWV1004

B.A.Zimmermann Fourshortstudiesn.3

J.S.Bach Gigue,Partitan.2indminorBWV1004

B.A.Zimmermann Fourshortstudiesn.4

J.S.Bach “Ciaccona”,Partitan.2inDminorBWV1004

Brunello,whowillbeperformingtheprogrammeontheVioloncelloPiccolo,haschosentoexploretheideaofenigmasinmusicwithBach’sChaconneinPartitaNo.2,whichconcealsmelodiesofBach’schorales.

MarioBrunello,whonormallyperformsonaMagginicellofrom17thCentury,hasspent30yearsexploringthe Bach Cello Suites, deconstructing them and re-imagining them through the prism of multi-mediapresentationsandevenperformingtheminadesertandamountainsummitathisannual festival intheDolomites. Now he has expanded his Bach odyssey to the violin repertoire – performing Bach’s ViolinPartitasandSonatasona smaller cellowithanextended range. Thevioloncellopiccolohas5 stringsasopposedtothe4onthecelloandviolin.Thecello’ssmallerprototypeisanoctavebelowaviolinandhasalargerrangethananormalcello.Brunello’scopyofanAmativioloncellopiccoloincorporatesanadditionalEstring,asfoundonaviolin.HeisexploringBach’scompleteviolinmasterworksinaseriesofconcertsinVeniceattheSqueroatFondazioneCiniandtheNationalGalleryconcerton24OctoberisanopportunitytolistentoatleastoneViolinPartita.

DemonstrationoftheVioloncelloPiccolo:https://youtu.be/u9xcrwwQNiA

Thursday7December2017at1pm-Rooms61and60

DISTANCE

TheIncredulityofSaintThomas(c.1502-4)byGiovanniBattistaCimadaConegliano

J.S.Bach Suiten.5inCminorBWV1011

J.Cage 4,33

M.Weinberg Sonatan.1op72

Brunello was particularly taken by the depiction of Christ in a simpleundecorated chapel with windows on a beautiful landscape behind, and thecontrastofbeingontheinsideorisolatedontheoutside.Bach’s5thSuiteisvery

different from theothers- inparticular its abstract Sarabandewith its absenceofharmony. AsBrunelloexplains,“IchoseWeinberg’sSonataNo,1becauseofWeinberg’spersonalstoryasanoutcastfromsocietyasaJewandalsohisself-inflictedisolationduringthecommunistera”.

MarioBRUNELLO

“MarioBrunelloisatonewithhisinstrument,aMagginicellofrom1600.Hismasteryofthecelloiseffortlessandpassionate,releasingboththedarkmoaningandthetreblepitchedjubileewithangelictones.”

MonikaWiller,WestfalenPost–KLAVIERFESTIVALRUHR(05/2017)

ExpressivefreedomarisesnaturallywheneverMarioBrunellomakesmusic. It flowsfromhisopennesstoeveryemotion,givinglifetointerpretationsofstrikinghonestyandindividuality.TheItaliancellist,equallyat home as concerto soloist, chamber musician and originator of pioneering projects, has captivatedaudiences worldwide and attracted international critical acclaim. His artistry has been praised byGramophoneforits‘greatspirit’anddescribedas‘intenseandpassionate’byTheStrad.

MarioBrunellowasbornin1960atCastelfrancoVenetoinnorthernItaly.Thesurroundingcountrysideandnature of the Treviso region have proved enduring inspirations for the cellist’s music-making, touchingeverythingfromhisfeelingforrubatotohisfascinationwiththeinterdependenceofsoundandsilence.Heis particularly drawn to mountains and deserts for the meditative stillness of these remote places. AsartisticdirectorofISuonidelleDolomitisince1994,BrunellohasinventedperformancesinthepeaksandvalleysoftheDolomites,someatanaltitudeofover2,000meters.

Brunello’s 2017-18 season highlights include Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Myung-Whun Chung at theTeatroallaScala,atourofJapanwithAkikoSuwanaiandBorisBerezovsky,andSchumann’sCelloConcertowith Vasily Petrenko at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Gustavo Gimeno and the RAIOrchestra in Turin. He is set to return to NHK Tokyo to perform Schnittke’s Cello Concerto No. 1 withTadaakiOtaka, andwill give theworldpremiereof Justė Janulytė’sMidnight Sun for celloandorchestrawith the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra at the 2017 Vilnius Festival. Brunello’s forthcomingschedulealsoincludesareturntoYerevantoperformMansurian’sCelloConcertwiththeStateOrchestraofArmenia.HewilljoinKremerataBalticainthedualroleofsoloistandconductor,andexploreJ.S.Bach’sCelloSuitesandSoloSonatasandPartitas(thelatteroncellopiccolo)inrecitalsinLondon,Venice,FlorenceandBologna.

Thebreakthrough inhis career came in1986whenhebecame the first andonly Italianever towin thecoveted InternationalTchaikovskyCompetition inMoscow.HissuccesswasbuiltonstudieswithAdrianoVendramelli at the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia and with Antonio Janigro,among the last century’s finest cello teachers. Brunello’s heartfelt playing has won the admiration ofleadingconductors,AntonioPappano,ValeryGergiev,ClaudioAbbado,SemyonBychkov,RiccardoChailly,DanieleGatti,VladimirJurowski,RiccardoMuti,YuriTemirkanovandMyung-WhunChungamongthem.

Hehasperformedasconcertosoloistwithmanyoftheworld’sforemostensembles,includingtheLondonPhilharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, the RoyalPhilharmonic and Munich Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique deRadio-FranceandDeutschesSinfonieOrchesterBerlin,theMahlerChamberOrchestra,SaintPaulChamberOrchestra and NHK Symphony Tokyo, and the Filarmonica della Scala and Accademia di Santa Cecilia.Claudio Abbado invited Brunello to perform as soloist with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and MozartOrchestraonseveraloccasions.

OverthepastthreedecadesMarioBrunellohasforgedaseriesoffruitfulchambermusicpartnerships.HehasoftenworkedwithGidonKremer,Frank-PeterZimmermann,IsabelleFaust,VadimRepin,YuriBashmet,MarthaArgerich,MaurizioPollini,BorodinQuartet,AlbanBergQuartet and cultivateda long-lastingduocollaborationwiththepianistAndreaLucchesini.AttheinvitationofGidonKremer,BrunelloishonouredtoberesidentartistofKremerataBaltica,withwhomhecollaboratesassoloistandconductor.

Hisall-encompassingartisticpassionsandinnatecuriosityhavegeneratedspecialprojectsthatcrossgenresand disciplines, such asmusical theatre with Alessandro Baricco andMarco Paolini, collaborations withsinger-songwritersVinicioCapossela andGianmaria Testa, and jazz concertswithUri Caine, Paolo Fresu,JohnSurmanandNormaWinstone.ManyofhismostinnovativeprojectswerebornatAntiruggine(‘rust-proofing’), a former Castelfranco Veneto iron foundry transformed by Brunello into a laboratory forexploring creativedialogueswith literature,philosophy, science, visual arts andmultimedia (link), andatArteSella,auniqueopen-airmuseumofnaturalart,ofwhosemusicseasonheisartisticdirector.

Thecellisthasembracednewaudienceswithhisfreshapproachestocommunicationanddeterminationtotakeartisticrisks.BachhasheldBrunello’sfullattentionandartisticresearchformanyyears,leadinghimtomake two recordings of the composer’s Six Cello Suites. He plans to tour his unique three-concertprogramme in 2018-19 comprising Bach’s Suites for solo cello and Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin,performing the former on his cherishedMaggini cello, built around 1600, and the latter on violoncellopiccolo,onwhichBrunellowillalsoplayBachandVivaldicompositionsfortwoviolinswithviolinistGiulianoCarmignola.

ThewiderangeofMarioBrunello’sinterestsisreflectedinhissubstantialdiscography.TheBrunelloSeries,on the EGEA label, includes Odusia, amusical odyssey throughMediterranean culture; Violoncello and,completewithworksforsolocello,celloandchoir,andcelloandelectronics;Tavener’sTheProtectingVeilwith Kremerata Baltica; Vivaldi’s Cello Concertos; and a double-disc set of Bach’s Cello Suites (whichreceivedtheprestigiousItalianCritics’Award2010).HismanyotheroutstandingalbumsincluderecordingsofBeethoven’sTripleConcertowithClaudioAbbadoforDeutscheGrammophon,Dvořák’sCelloConcertowith Antonio Pappano for Warner Classics, and a live video recording from the Salle Pleyel in Paris ofShostakovich’sCelloConcertoNo.2withValeryGergiev.

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