PICCOLO CONCERTOS

Nicola Mazzanti & Alessandro Visintini

Haydn Orchestra of

Bolzano and Trento

Marco Angius conducto

r

PICCOLO CONCERTOS

LOWELL LIEBERMANN b.1961Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra Op.50 1. I. Andante comodo – Allegro –

Tempo primo 9’432. II. Adagio 10’543. III. Presto 4’15Nicola Mazzanti Keefe piccolo

CARLO GALANTE b.19594. Gli Usignoli dell’Imperatore –

Piccolo concerto per 2 ottavini, percussioni e

orchestra d'archi 15’32Alessandro Visintini & Nicola Mazzanti Nagahara MiniDomenico Cagnacci percussion

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791Oboe quartet in F K.370/368b, arranged for piccolo 5. I. Allegro 6’306. II. Adagio 2’387. III. Rondeau – Allegro 4’11Alessandro Visintini Nagahara MiniStefano Ferrario violinGabriele Marangoni violaAlejandro Biancotti cello

ALESSANDRO CAVICCHI b.19578. As night progresses –

for two Minis & orchestra 11’41Nicola Mazzanti & Alessandro Visintini Nagahara Mini

Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and TrentoMarco Angius conductor

Total time: 65’45Recording: 30 October - 3 November 2015, Haydn Orchestra Auditorium, Bolzano/Bozen, ItalyRecording Engineer: Matteo CostaCover: Landscape at Ceret, by Juan Grisp & © 2016 Brilliant Classics

This recording is inspired by the conviction that the piccolo, which is the smallest member of the flute family, can be more than just a voice in the orchestra. Like other instruments, it also lends itself to solo performance, because it is endowed with the ability to communicate, captivate, move and seduce. Much has changed since the days when the role of the piccolo was largely relegated to the sphere of military bands or the need to conjure up the sound of birdsong. During the course of the twentieth century important composers such as Strauss, Mahler and Shostakovich considerably widened its expressive scope, thereby demanding of the performer the technical skills necessary for producing new colours, timbres and dynamics. The past 40 years have also seen an increasing number of solo compositions for the piccolo, and in this album our aim has been to provide listeners with an overview of the new expressive reach of the instrument, within the framework of traditional musical notation.

Lowell Liebermann: Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra Op. 50This work is arguably the most representative of the new developments in composition for the piccolo, to the extent that it has become parte of the repertoire of any serious piccolo player. Liebermann, who was born in New York in 1961 and studied at the Julliard School, is an eclectic composer who mixes polytonality and stylistic traits of different origins within what is essentially a traditional framework. In his Concerto for Piccolo he takes on the seminal challenge of expanding the chromatic potential of the instrument by focusing on its more recondite hues. To this end he emphasizes not so much the virtuoso effects and brilliance of the instrument as the sweetly intimate sound of its lower octaves. Liebermann’s music often reveals a hint of romanticism deriving from his use of curiously changeable harmonies. This is the salient feature of the first two of the three movements. Unhurried as it is, the motif that opens the concerto is unsettling and mysterious in a way that leaves a strong impression on the listener. Constructed in 5/4 time, it is based on incomplete, plaintive quintuplets. With constantly increasing virtuoso skill, the central Allegro continues the celebration of the number 5 with five variations on the same harmonic base. The return to the initial subject brings the movement to a close with the melody in the third octave, which is highly unusual and extremely demanding for the piccolo. Slightly longer than the opening movement,

the Adagio is the expressive heart of the work, a compendium of every possible timbre that can be obtained from the instrument. In the taxing cadenza, Liebermann also puts the onomatopoeic potential of the piccolo to good use. The final movement is a Presto of astounding bravura, comprising echoes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, the Eroica, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. As such, it is also a homage to Dmitri Shostakovich, who included the same Mozartian theme in his Violin Concerto No. 2. As for the third citation, it derives from Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, a piece which piccolo players find as daunting as certain of Shostakovich’s solo passages.

Carlo Galante: Gli Usignoli dell’Imperatore – piccolo concerto for two piccolos, percussion and string orchestraThere’s a famous fable that tells the tale of a distant emperor who falls deeply in love with the enchanting voice of a nightingale living in the park surrounding his palace. Not content with that wonderful sound, however, he also has a clockwork nightingale built whose song he ultimately prefers to the original.

Galante’s concerto mirrors this folktale, though not literally. Since music is the quintessential abstract art, it cannot tell a story as such. Yet it is certainly able to evoke different worlds and atmospheres in powerful terms. Two details pertaining to the narration made a particular impression on me: first and foremost, the classical pairing of the song of the nightingale with the silvery, sharp, penetrating voice of the piccolo; and secondly, the clash between what is “natural” and what is “artificial”, in other words the conflict between the concepts of “animation” and what is “inanimate”, which is the symbolic focus of the tale itself.

The voice of the piccolo undergoes numerous transformations, turning into the brilliant, hard artificiality of a musical box, and then softening as it returns to innate melodiousness. This change is emphasized by the use of the glockenspiel, followed by the softer tones of the strings. The concerto is not classical in form, in that it is made up of only two movements. The first part is slow and expressive, leading into a contrastingly lively second section full of kinetic energy in which the insistent rhythm sometimes gives way to echoes of the lyricism of the first part. The fundamental balance between the harder, more abstract musical figures and the softer, melodious passages suddenly

dissolves towards the end of the piece, with a sequence of violent notes on the drum that seem to tear the sound fabric of the concerto apart. At this point the music is reduced to an empty design that soon dissolves in the pizzicato murmur of the strings. (Carlo Galante)

Alessandro Cavicchi: As night progresses for 2 Mini and orchestraThis piece was commissioned by the Nagahara Flutes of Boston, who developed the Nagahara Mini as an instrument. Akin in interior structure to the flute, the Mini provides piccolo players with three extra notes in the lower register. I had already written for this instrument and piano (“To B or not to B?”), a piece that was presented by Nicola Mazzanti in August 2014 in Chicago, within the framework of the NFA Convention. It was the first ever piece written for the Mini, and it gave rise to this latter commission.

The title “As night progresses” is intended as a homage to progressive rock, which I believe to be one of the most meaningful musical phenomena of the non-classic sphere. The piece consists of three main sections: more lively the first and last, which contain rhythmic and harmonic elements that can be considered elaborations of the impact made by prog on my musical formation; and a central section, dedicated to the melodious, expressive potential of the Mini and orchestra, in which the harmonies developed are closer to the variegated world of jazz-ballads. In actual fact the incipit of the piece, which is really the main subject, derives from a series consisting of a few bars conceived for flute and piano that had been bubbling quietly on the back burner since 2009. Perhaps they were just waiting for the creation of the right instrument… (Alessandro Cavicchi)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Oboe quartet in F K.370/368b, arranged for piccoloI my activity as a piccolo player I often think about the need for new works and an expanded repertoire that could do justice to both instrument and performer.

The present recording, which is largely devoted to works written ad hoc for the instrument, also comprises the most important existing concerto for piccolo solo. However, I felt it would also gain in scope with the addition of my own transcription of

L’idea che ha mosso la registrazione di questo album è che l’ottavino, la taglia piccola del flauto non sia solo una voce orchestrale ma pure una voce solistica, uno strumento che, al pari di tutti gli altri possa comunicare, affascinare, emozionare, sedurre. Dal primo uso in orchestra tipicamente “militare” o “ornitologico”, l’ottavino nel corso del XX secolo per merito di grandi compositori come Strauss, Mahler, Shostakovich ha iniziato un percorso sempre più espressivo, allargando le possibilità strumentali e richiedendo all’interprete una sempre maggiore capacità di gestione di nuovi colori, timbri e dinamiche. Negli ultimi 40 anni poi stiamo assistendo ad una sempre maggiore produzione solistica per questo strumento. In questo album abbiamo presentato quasi una panoramica delle nuove possibilità espressive (pur rimanendo nel campo della notazione tradizionale) dell’ottavino.

Lowell Liebermann: Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra Op.50Il concerto per piccolo e orchestra Op.50 di Lowell Liebermann è forse l’opera che più rappresenta questo percorso ed è entrata a far parte del repertorio di chiunque si sia dedicato seriamente all’ottavino. Liebermann, compositore nato a New York nel 1961 e studente della Jilliard School, è eclettico e, pur rimanendo spesso in una struttura tradizionale, mischia politonalità e stilemi di altri autori.Il suo Concerto per ottavino affronta lo sfida più importante: utilizzare in un concerto solistico i colori meno celebrati del piccolo. Liebermann ha deciso di sottolineare non tanto il virtuosismo e la brillantezza quanto la tenerezza e il suono intimo delle ottave più basse.La musica di Liebermann spesso ha un sapore dolce e romantico che fa molto uso di armonie inaspettatamente mutevoli. Questa è la caratteristica predominante dei primi due dei tre movimenti. L’inquietante e misterioso motivo che apre il concerto,in un comodo tempo, è forse la cosa che rimane più impressa all’ascoltatore. Costruito in 5/4, si avvale di elegiache quintine incomplete. L’Allegro centrale continua la celebrazione del numero 5 con cinque variazioni sulla stessa base armonica utilizzando un virtuosismo sempre cresscente. Il ritorno del tema iniziale fa chiudere il movimento con la melodia in terza ottava, una difficoltà estrema e assolutamente inusuale per il piccolo.Il movimento Adagio è leggermente più lungo del movimento di apertura ed. È il cuore

Mozart’s oboe quartet, a gem of a piece that has never previously been recorded with the piccolo, despite the fact that the lively, virtuoso score is particularly well suited to the instrument. I believe the outcome to be extremely interesting for piccolo players intent on broadening the available repertoire and enjoying themselves as they make music together. (Alessandro Visintini)

The smallest member of the flute family, the piccolo first appeared in certain works by Jean Philippe Rameau in the first half of the 1700s. It was only at the beginning of the 1800s, however, that use of the instrument began to spread, culminating in a permanent place within the orchestra.

In construction the piccolo initially followed along the lines of earlier flutes, and it was only towards the end of the 1800s that the Boehm bore mechanism was introduced, becoming standard during the following century. Though present-day piccolos are still built with the Boehm bore, they have maintained the pipe structure of the flute of the pre-Boehm era. Largely built in wood, the head is cylindrical, whereas the body is conical, and the lowest note is D.

What is different about the instrument used for this recording is the fact that the pipe mirrors that of modern flutes, with a cylindrical body, a truncated cone head and a complete mechanism extended to low B. To achieve this has meant opting for greater thickness of wood and redesigning the construction. The outcome is an instrument with far more harmonics, greater homogeneity of timbre and improved performance potential.

To play an instrument of this sort suggests not only rethinking the role of the piccolo within the orchestra, but also new perceptions of its possible role as a solo instrument. It is thus essential to expand the specific repertoire for the instrument, and adapt existing works written for other instruments that can at last now also be performed on the piccolo.© Nicola MazzantiTranslated by Kate Singleton

della prima parte è rievocato, ma con discrezione. Il sostanziale equilibrio tra figure musicali più dure e astratte con altre morbide e cantabili si spezza drammaticamente quasi alla fine del brano con una sequenza di violenti battiti della gran cassa che sembrano letteralmente spezzare il tessuto sonoro del concerto; la musica ormai svuotata diventa, nelle ultime battute, puro disegno per poi spegnersi rapidamente nel brusio pizzicato degli archi. (Carlo Galante)

Alessandro Cavicchi: As night progresses per 2 Mini e orchestraQuesto brano è stato commissionato dalla Nagahara Flutes di Boston, ideatrice dello strumento (il Nagahara Mini) che, con una struttura interna identica al flauto, permette agli ottavini di avere tre note in più a disposizione nel registro basso. La commissione è scaturita dall’ascolto del primo brano da me scritto per questo strumento e pianoforte (To B or not to B?) presentato da Nicola Mazzanti nell’agosto 2014 a Chicago all’interno della Convention della NFA. Si trattava, in effetti, del primo brano mai scritto in assoluto per Mini.

Il titolo As night progress vuole omaggiare una delle stagioni musicali per me più significative nel mondo extra-colto, il progressive-rock. E quindi nel brano, sostanzialmente tripartito, le due sezioni esterne, più movimentate, contengono spunti ritmici e armonici che possono considerarsi elaborazioni di ciò che il prog- ha lasciato nella mia formazione musicale. La parte centrale, dedicata alla cantabilità ed espressività del Mini e dell’orchestra, si sviluppa invece su armonie più legate al mondo variegato delle jazz-ballad. E pensare che l’incipit del brano, in pratica il tema principale, risale ad una serie di poche battute, concepite per flauto e pianoforte, rimaste nel cassetto dall’estate 2009: forse attendevano la creazione dello strumento giusto… (Alessandro Cavicchi)

Wolfagang Amadeus Mozart: Oboe quartet in F K.370/368b, arranged for piccoloSpesso, nella mia attività di ottavinista, mi sono fermato a pensare alla necessità di repertori nuovi che possano rendere giustizia a strumento e strumentista.

All’interno di questa incisione, oltre ai brani scritti appositamente per l’occasione ed al principale concerto del repertorio solistico per ottavino, ho voluto inserire come mio

espressivo dell’opera, e utilizza davvero ogni possibilità timbrica dell’ottavino. L’aspetto onomatopeico, al quale Liebermann non si sottrae, e utilizzato nella difficile cadenzaIl movimento finale, Il terzo movimento, Presto, è il momento di bravura atteso. Costruito con citazioni dalla Sinfonia Eroica di Beethoven e dalla Sinfonia n. 40 di Mozart, è anche un omaggio a Dmitri Shostakovich, che ha citato lo stesso tema mozartiano nel suo Secondo Concerto per violino. La terza citazione, però, è presa da Stars and Stripes Forever di Sousa, un brano che al pari degli assolo di Shostakovich, è tra i più temuti dagli ottavinisti.

Carlo Galante: Gli Usignoli dell’Imperatore - piccolo concerto per 2 ottavini, percussioni e orchestra d’archiIn una famosa fiaba si racconta di un remoto imperatore perdutamente innamorato dell’incantevole voce dell’usignolo che vive nel parco del suo palazzo, ma l’imperatore, non pago di quell’incanto sonoro, si fa costruire un usignolo meccanico la cui voce incomparabile finirà per essere preferita a quella del suo sosia naturale.

La suggestione letteraria di questa fiaba è l’origine della scrittura di questo concerto; certo, non in senso letterale, la musica, arte astratta per eccellenza, non è in grado di raccontare una storia, è capace però di evocarla in maniera potente. Due particolari, riconducibili allo svolgersi della trama, mi hanno particolarmente colpito: il primo, più evidente, è l’accostamento classico della voce dell’usignolo con quella nitida, argentina, sopracuta e penetrante dell’ottavino. Il secondo, forse è più sottile, e lo scontro evocato simbolicamente dalla fiaba tra ciò che è “naturale” con ciò che è “artificiale”, o meglio tra il concetto di “animato” con il suo contrario “inanimato”.

La voce degli ottavini si trasforma di volta in volta nella brillante e artificiale durezza di un carillon, complice anche l’accostamento con la sonorità tintinnante del glockenspiel, per poi rapidamente ammorbidirsi e ritrovare la sua innata e nitida cantabilità, alla quale la compagine degli archi aggiunge e regala ombre e qualche inquietudine. Il concerto non ha una forma classica; si costituisce di due soli movimenti: a una prima parte lenta (espressivo) ne segue un’altra, senza soluzione di continuità, dal carattere opposto, assai vivace e marcata. L’energia cinetica di questo secondo movimento incontra, nel suo implacabile percorso ritmico, alcune soste, il cui lirismo

Born in 1960 in Bolzano, Alessandro Visintini studied flute with Luigi Palmisano in the Bolzano Conservatoire, graduating in 1978. In 2007 he was awarded a first class honours degree in Music at Trento Conservatoire, where he studied under Emilio Galante.

He has also studied with Arrigo Tassinari, Christian Lardé, Irena Grafenauer, Aurèle Nicolet, Andreas Blau, Peter Lukas Graf, Davide Formisano and Thies Roorda.

Finalist in numerous competitions for the role of first solo flute and piccolo in many orchestras (Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Orchestra Rai in Rome, Opera House in Genoa, Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan), in 1978 he was appointed piccolo and tutti flute in the Orchestra Sinfonica “Haydn” di Bolzano e Trento, performing in over 5000 concerts, and also playing principal flute and piccolo solo.

He has played under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Othmar Suitner, Gustav Kuhn, Helmuth Rilling, Neville Marriner, Jeffrey Tate, Yves Abel, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Claudio Scimone, Alberto Zedda, Daniel Oren. He has toured throughout Italy (Rome, Milan, Venice, Verona, Palermo, Padua, Catania) and abroad (USA, Japan, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Holland), playing in famous concert halls such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Vigado in Budapest, the Great Hall at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, the Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg and Bunkamura Theatre in Tokyo.

He has also played in many video and audio recordings, and has taught the flute at the Music School of South Tyrol and Trento Conservatory of Music.

contributo personale il quartetto per oboe di Mozart, piccolo capolavoro mai inciso con l’ottavino, ma che presenta una scrittura brillante e virtuosistica assolutamente adatta al nostro strumento. Il risultato mi sembra estremamente interessante e stimolante per gli ottavinisti che siano interessati ad ampliare il repertorio a disposizione ed a divertirsi facendo musica assieme. (Alessandro Visintini)

L’ottavino, chiamato anche flauto piccolo, è la più piccola taglia del flauto traverso.Le prime tracce dell’uso di flauti traversi all’ottava si trova in alcune opere di Jean Philippe Rameau nella prima metà del Settecento, ma lo strumento inizia a diffondersi, e quindi ad avere un posto stabile in orchestra, solo all’inizio dell’800.

Fino a tutto l’800 l’ottavino mantenne la costruzione del flauti precedenti, e solo alla fine del secolo si iniziò a costruirlo con la meccanica Boehm, che comunque diventerà lo standard solo durante il ‘900. Gli ottavini attuali, sebbene siano costruiti col sistema Boehm, hanno mantenuto la struttura del tubo del flauto precedente la riforma di Boehm. La testata infatti è cilindrica mentre il corpo è conico a chiudere con nota più bassa il re. La costruzione è quasi esclusivamente in legno.

La novità dello strumento utilizzato in questa registrazione è la costruzione del tubo alla stessa maniera dei flauti moderni, con corpo cilindrico, testata a tronco di cono (o curve assai più complesse), meccanica completa ed estensione fino al si basso. Per ottenere ciò si è utilizzato uno spessore del legno molto maggiore e si è dovuta ripensare completamente la costruzione.

Il risultato è uno strumento con molti più armonici, omogeneità di timbro e facilità di emissione come mai prima.

Avere fra le mani uno strumento simile permette di ripensare il ruolo dell’ottavino in orchestra ma anche di inserirlo fra gli strumenti degni di avere una vita artistica propria.

Da qui la necessità di avere opere scritte appositamente, che possano valorizzare le caratteristiche ampliate, ma anche di “rubare” ad altri strumenti opere che oggi si può finalmente pensare di eseguire anche con l’ottavino.© Nicola Mazzanti

master classes for flute associations and music schools in Italy and abroad. He has released three solo albums. His website is a regular destination for dedicated piccolo players. His book “The Mazzanti Method” for piccolo, published in 2014 by Theodore Presser, has been welcomed as a milestone in the teaching of this instrument.

Mr. Mazzanti is a 1982 graduate of the “Luigi Cherubini” Conservatoire in Florence, where he studied with Sergio Giambi. He later took lessons or participated in master classes given by James Galway, Aurèle Nicolet, Raymond Guiot, Emmanuel Pahud and Mario Ancillotti. In 1986, he earned an additional degree in Music History with Honours from D.A.M.S. (University of Arts and Music).

The Haydn Orchestra was founded in 1960 by the provincial government and local authorities of Trento and Bolzano. It has performed in principal Italian concert venues and has participated in numerous international festivals, including the Haydn Festival in Esterháza, the Bregenz Festival, the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Festival in Brescia and Bergamo, the Mozart Festival in Rovereto, the Settimane musicali Gustav Mahler in Dobbiaco, the Antonio Pedrotti Competition for Conductors in Trento, the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl and the Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in Bolzano.

The Haydn Orchestra has toured in the United States, Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. In its nearly fifty-year-long history, it has performed a vast number of works across all musical genres, ranging from Baroque to contemporary composers, including Dallapiccola, Nono, Berio and Donatoni, who entrusted it with the first performance of their works. The orchestra has devoted particular attention to an often neglected repertoire, also promoting the rediscovery of precious long-forgotten manuscripts, such as the Dixit Dominus by Domenico Cimarosa, performed for the first time in the modern era at the Thirtieth Festival of Sacred Music in Bolzano/Trento, or the Messe solennelle by Hector Berlioz, of which it gave the first modern-day performance. The orchestra has appeared with many great conductors, including Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti, and collaborated with distinguished soloists.

In 2003 Gustav Kuhn was appointed artistic director of the orchestra. Under his direction the Haydn Orchestra performed all nine Beethoven symphonies in the

Nicola Mazzanti currently serves as Solo Piccolo in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra, a position he has held since 1988. Many composers have written pieces for him, for piccolo and piano or orchestral concerts. His name is associated with many premières. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as “I Pomeriggi Musicali”

of Milan, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, the Florence Symphony Orchestra and Akronos of Prato.

Mazzanti performs frequently as both a flute and piccolo soloist and in chamber ensembles in Italy and abroad. In advocating the role of the piccolo as a solo instrument, he performed at the 2003 Vienna Flute Festival, the 2005 National Flute Association Convention in San Diego, California, the 2009 Convention in New York, that of 2013 in New Orleans, the 2006 International Convention of the British Flute Society, the first International Piccolo Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska (USA) in 2007, the 2009 Serbian Flute Festival in Belgrade, in the 2011 and 2012 Iowa Piccolo Intensive, in the 2011 First European Piccolo Festival in Slovenia, and in several Italian Flute Conventions. In 2011 and 2012 he toured in USA (California, Michigan and Iowa) teaching and playing recitals. Sir James Galway has invited him to perform at his master classes in Weggis (Switzerland) every year since 2008.

Since 2001, he has held annual piccolo courses at the “MusicArea” association in Florence and at the Italian Flute Academy in Rome. Since 2009 he has taught piccolo at the Hochshule in Luzern, since 2011 at the Music Conservatoire in Lugano (Switzerland) and since 2013 at the “Verdi” Conservatoire in Milan. He is frequently invited to give

He founded and is the Music Director of the ensemble Algoritmo (Amadeus Prize 2007 for the best recording of the year for Mixtim by Ivan Fedele recorded by Stradivarius). Since 2008 he has worked closely with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where in 2011 he conducted a new production of The Cunning Little Vixen by Jánácek. He was Antonio Pappano’s assistant for the recording of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell (Emi Records 2011). He holds master classes in conducting at the Music Conservatoire in Lugano.

Marco Angius is the author of Come avvicinare il silenzio, a study of Salvatore Sciarrino’s compositions (RAI ERI 2007), Ali di Cantor (The music of Ivan Fedele, Suvini Zerboni 2012), as well as of several works translated into different languages (Electa, Salzburger Festspiele, l’Harmattan). He has recorded for many labels: Euroarts (Sciarrino Luci mie traditrici), Neos, Stradivarius, Die Schachtel, RAI Trade, Vdm Records.

Since 2011 he has been artistic coordinator of the Ensemble Accademia Teatro alla Scala, where he conducts works from the contemporary as well as the operatic repertoire. Recent productions include Jakob Lenz by Wolfgang Rihm, Maderna’s Don Perlimplin at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Sciarrino’s Aspern (Venice, La Fenice), Battistelli’s L’imbalsamatore (Milano Musica/Accademia Teatro alla Scala).

season 2005/06. This cycle has also been recorded by col legno classics, meeting with widespread critical and public acclaim. In December 2007, this success was confirmed in Salzburg, where the orchestra performed the symphonies again. In summer 2006 the Haydn Orchestra debuted with Torvaldo e Dorliska at the 27th Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where it was invited again in 2007 to perform in productions of La gazza ladra, which was awarded the French Diapason d’or prize, Turco in Italia, Edipo a Colono and Le nozze di Teti e Peleo. In August, 2008, the Haydn Orchestra performed Maometto II and L’equivoco stravagante in Pesaro while in September it inaugurated the 63rd Sagra Musicale Umbra Festival in Perugia with Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, conducted by Gustav Kuhn.

In December, 2008, the Orchestra was again invited to Salzburg to perform the four Brahms symphonies, the Missa solemnis and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Mozarteum, conducted by Gustav Kuhn. In August, 2009, the Orchestra performed La scala di seta and Il viaggio a Reims in Pesaro during the 30th Rossini Opera Festival.

The Haydn Orchestra has a busy recording schedule for Agora, Arts, col legno classics, cpo, Dynamic, Multigram, Naxos, RCA, Universal, VMC Classics and Zecchini, and has also appeared several times on RAI (the Italian State Broadcasting Corporation), both the radio and the TV channels.

Marco Angius met with critical acclaim conducting the world première of Studi per l’intonazione del mare by Salvatore Sciarrino in 2000. He has appeared as guest conductor with Ensemble Intercontemporain (Agora 2012), Tokyo Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra Teatro La Fenice, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Comunale of Bologna, Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi of Milan, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, I Pomeriggi Musicali, Muziekgebouw/Bimhuis in Amsterdam (Gaudeamus Music Week), Luxembourg Philharmonie and deSingel of Antwerp, the Hermes Ensemble, Biennale Musica of Venezia, Ars Musica of Brussels, Milano Musica, MI.TO. Festival, Warsaw Autumn, Filature of Mulhouse, Teatro Lirico of Cagliari, Romaeuropa Festival, Traiettorie of Parma, Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Teatro Lirico of Spoleto (Orpheus Price 2007), Orchestra Sinfonica of Lecce.

Thanks to:Daniele Spini – Artistic Director of the Haydn Orchestra

Fondazione Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento