MOZART: Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat major, K. 452
DANZI: Quintet for Piano and Winds in D minor, Op. 41
BEETHOVEN: Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat major, Op. 16
Marco Gironi, oboe
Vincenzo Paci, clarinet
Marco Giani, bassoon
Loris Antiga, horn
Massimiliano Ferrati is one of the most highly regarded pianists of his generation, known for his remarkable musicianship, technical strength and the charisma of his interpretations. He was unanimously awarded the Grand Prix at the Rina Sala Gallo Competition in Monza and received the Bronze Medal and the Elfriede Yuki Foundation Special Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv.
His many other distinctions include prizes at the Guardian AXA International Piano Competition in Dublin, the Esther Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Canada, the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, where he also received the special prize for the best performance of a work by Busoni, the Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition in Terni, where he received the special prize for the best performance of Casagrande’s I segni dello zodiaco, and the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, where he received the special prize for the best performance of a work by a Russian composer.
He has performed concerts and recitals at major theatres and concert halls in Italy and abroad.
Throughout his career, he has combined his solo activity with a deep passion for chamber music, collaborating with leading artists including David Garrett, Danilo Rossi, Alessandro Carbonare, Sergey Ostrovsky, Stefano Furini, Jacopo Francini, Fabio Paggioro, Luca De Muro, Daniele Roccato and Davide Simoncini, as well as ensembles including the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Aviv String Quartet, the String Quartet of Teatro San Carlo in Naples, I Solisti dell’Orchestra d’Archi Italiana, Trio Rachmaninoff and TrioLogìa.
Marco Gironi, oboe, studied at the Florence Conservatory, graduating in oboe in 1988 at the age of 17. He continued his studies with Hansjörg Schellenberger at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and attended Pietro Borgonovo’s courses at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole. He later further developed his knowledge of the oboe and orchestral repertoire with Carlo Romano and Paolo Pollastri.
Winner of numerous auditions, from a very young age he collaborated with some of Italy’s leading orchestras, including the RAI orchestras of Rome and Turin, Orchestra della Toscana, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra Filarmonia Veneta and the Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
In 1995, he won a competition to join the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, where he served as Principal Oboe for two years. From 1997 to 2020, he was Principal Oboe of the Orchestra of Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with which he also appeared several times as a soloist in works by Maderna, Marcello, Mozart, Haydn, Bach and Strauss.
Since 2019, he has held a permanent teaching position in oboe, first at the G. Puccini Conservatory in La Spezia and then at the A. Pedrollo Conservatory in Vicenza. He currently holds the chair of oboe at the A. Steffani Conservatory in Castelfranco Veneto.
His recordings include releases for BMG, Materiali Sonori, Ricordi and Dynamic.
Vincenzo Paci, clarinet, graduated with the highest marks from the Palermo Conservatory under Maestro Di Noto. He subsequently expanded and refined his instrumental training with V. Mariozzi, A. Marriner and Sabine Meyer, who recognised his technical qualities and musical expressiveness.
As Principal Clarinet of the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, he toured extensively throughout Italy and Europe and made recordings for RAI, Hungarian Radio and the European Broadcasting Union. He qualified for Principal Clarinet positions with the orchestras of Teatro Regio in Turin, Arena di Verona, Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée and the European Union Youth Orchestra, and has collaborated with the Orchestre National de France in Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, I Solisti Veneti, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Teatro Bellini in Catania and Teatro Massimo in Palermo.
Since 1997, he has been Principal Clarinet of the Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He has performed under conductors including Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Georges Prêtre, Yuri Temirkanov, Myung-Whun Chung, Valery Gergiev, John Eliot Gardiner, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Carlo Maria Giulini, Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Salvatore Accardo and Luciano Berio.
He was invited by Sabine Meyer to perform at the 6th Lübecker Klarinettennacht, where he received great acclaim from both audiences and critics. Alongside his extensive concert activity as a recitalist and with the ensemble I Virtuosi della Fenice, he also teaches numerous masterclasses.
He has recorded for Rai Radio 3, Sky Classica and Dynamic.
Marco Giani, bassoon, graduated with the highest marks from the Turin Conservatory under Maestro G. Dellavalle and later continued his studies with S. Azzolini.
He has collaborated with some of Italy’s leading opera and symphony orchestras, including those of Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the RAI Orchestra in Turin, Orchestra Mozart in Bologna, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and I Solisti Veneti, as well as international symphony orchestras including the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.
He has performed under distinguished conductors including V. Gergiev, R. Muti, M. W. Chung, Sir J. E. Gardiner, C. Abbado, R. Chailly, L. Maazel, D. Harding and E. Inbal.
As a soloist, he has performed the major Baroque and Classical concertos written for bassoon, including works by A. Vivaldi, C. P. E. Bach, W. A. Mozart and C. M. Weber.
Since 2008, he has served as Principal Bassoon of Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
Loris Antiga, horn, is one of Italy’s leading horn players. He has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and was selected by Claudio Abbado for the Orchestra Mozart project.
After completing his studies in Italy with Maestro Guido Corti, he continued his training in Chicago with Dale Clevenger and Arnold Jacobs. He has performed as Principal Horn with Teatro alla Scala and the Filarmonica della Scala, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Ensemble Modern, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and has collaborated with major Italian opera and symphonic institutions.
Since 2001, he has been a permanent member of the Orchestra of Gran Teatro La Fenice. He has performed under conductors including R. Muti, S. Bychkov, A. Pappano, V. Gergiev, J. E. Gardiner, C. Thielemann, F. Luisi, Z. Mehta, D. Barenboim and B. Haitink.
He is a founding member of Brassoperà, with which he has recorded for Summit Records. Deeply committed to chamber music, he has been invited to numerous festivals in cities including Lyon, Pisa, Stresa, Lugano and Ravello.
He regularly gives masterclasses in countries including Japan, Brazil, the United States, China and Spain, and is frequently invited to perform as a soloist in Japan and the United States. Loris Antiga is a Paxman Artist.
