Events – Page 2 – FirenzeOnStage

Sergio Tiempo

Program

Chopin:
Prelude Op.28, no.3 in G Major
Etude Op.10, no.6 in e♭ minor
Etude Op.25, no. 1 in A♭ Major
Prelude Op.28, no.15 in D♭ Major
Prelude Op.28, no. 16 in b♭ minor
Sonata no. 3 in b minor

—interval—

Moises Moleiro: Joropo
Piazzolla/Tiempo: Muerte del Angel
Jobim/Tiempo: Retrato em Branco e Preto
Piazzolla/Tiempo: Fuga y Misterio
Villa Lobos:
A Prole do Bebe
Branquinha
Moreninha
O Polichinelo
A Pobrezinha
Ginastera: Malambo

Sergio Tiempo – Piano

Whether you consult the New York Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung or Limelight Magazine, it is hard to find a review of Sergio Tiempo that does not highlight the virtuosity of his playing. Yet his technical prowess is rendered almost irrelevant by the individuality of Tiempo’s interpretations and by the depth of his understanding and insight into the repertoire he plays, from Brahms to Villa-Lobos, from Beethoven to Ginastera. Utilising the full arsenal of expression at his disposal, from a “sound [so big] you might have thought his piano was amplified” (Philadelphia Explorer) to “a seductive pianissimo” (Berliner Morgenpost) and “whispering phrases” (New York Classical Review), both “percussive” and “sparkling and crystalline” (Frankfurter Rundschau), he lets the listener in on what he sees in a piece of music. Both audacious and nuanced, his playing exposes the composer’s ideas as he recognises them. If his choices seem daring, then that is a risk that pays off. It is easy to set Tiempo’s interpretations apart from any other and the results are “scintillating” (New York Times) performances, presented with incredible stage presence and charisma.

A career that started more than 35 years ago, when Tiempo made his professional debut at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw at the age of 14, has seen him perform with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo and Berliner Philharmoniker in the past five years alone.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Tiempo began his piano studies with his mother, Lyl Tiempo. He pays tribute to her, and some of his closest musical relations and influences, in his new album ‘Hommage’ (September 2023, Avanti). Among them are his sister and regular recital partner Karin Lechner, with whom he recorded Tango Rhapsody for two pianos and orchestra, written for the duo and the RSI Lugano by Argentinean composer Federico Jusid; Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire, both of whom entered his life as family friends long before they became teachers and companions of his musical journey; Alan Weiss, a life-long friend and one of his earliest teachers; Mischa Maisky, who, aside from his sister Karin, became Tiempo’s first chamber music partner and with whom he recorded several discs for Deutsche Grammophon. Other recordings have included Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit and three Chopin Nocturnes for ‘Martha Argerich Presents’ on EMI, as well as his disc ‘Legacy’, released on Avanti in January 2018.

It is this rich environment of musical minds, driven as much by compassionate generosity as by uncompromisingly demanding artistry, that shaped Tiempo more than anything, and from where he went on to Fondazione per il Pianoforte in Como, Italy, where he worked with Dimitri Bashkirov, Fou Tsong, Murray Perahia and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

He has performed with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Marin Alsop, Myung Whun Chung, Sir Mark Elder, Christoph Eschenbach, Thierry Fischer, Emmanuel Krivine, Ken-David Masur, Ludovic Morlot, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Alondra de la Parra, Rafael Payare, Alexander Prior, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Xian Zhang, and, maybe most of all, with his fellow countryman and friend Gustavo Dudamel. With him, notable performances include the world premiere of Esteban Benzecry’s new piano concerto Universos Infinitos with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, followed by performances of the work at the Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic. Among their many shared performances of Ginastera’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is Tiempo’s recent debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Strong relationships connect him especially to the L.A. Philharmonic and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, where he was Artist in Residence in 2018.

Orchestral repertoire in recent season has also included Beethoven Triple Concerto (L.A.), Chopin 1 (L.A., Philadelphia), Grieg (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE Madrid, Queensland), Prokofiev 1 (LA), Ravel (Taiwan National Symphony, Boston), Rachmaninov 3 (Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Liverpool, Stavanger, St Petersburg), Rachmaninov Paganini Variations (Frankfurt) and Tchaikovsky 1 (L.A., Sao Paulo, Queensland).

As a recitalist, he has appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s International Piano Series, Konzerthaus Wien, Wigmore Hall, Berliner Philharmonie and Edinburgh International Festival, at Klavier Festival Ruhr, at the George Enescu Festival, the Martha Argerich Festivals in Lugano and at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Warsaw Chopin Festival, Brussels Chopin Days, Music Days in Lisbon, and recital tours across China, Korea, Italy, and North and South America.

Boris Giltburg

Titans of the Piano Across Time

Fryderyk Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Towering Bb Minor Sonatas.

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) revered and performed Fryderyk Chopin’s “Funeral March” Sonata in his performances, and went on to create a mirror of this sonata in his own magnificent sonata in the same key. Played by International piano superstar, Boris Giltburg, this promises to be an evening that takes us traveling through time.

Boris Giltburg, Piano

Boris Giltburg is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling interpreter. Critics have praised his “singing line, variety of touch and broad dynamic palette capable of great surges of energy” (Washington Post) as well as his impassioned, narrative-driven approach to performance.

Giltburg regularly plays recitals in the world’s most prestigious halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ Bozar, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, London’s Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Prague’s Rudolfinum and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Throughout the 2024/25 season, he embarks on a series of eight concerts performing the entire cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas at the Wigmore Hall, all of which will be live-streamed.

Giltburg is widely recognized as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov: “His originality stems from a convergence of heart and mind, served by immaculate technique and motivated by a deep and abiding love for one of the 20th century’s greatest composer- pianists.” (Gramophone). To celebrate Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversary in 2023, Giltburg released the last disc in his acclaimed Rachmaninov concerto cycle which received a Choc de Classica award and a 5* review in The Times. In recent years Giltburg has engaged in a series of in-depth explorations of other major composers, including Ravel (performing solo works at Bozar, Flagey, the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw and the Wigmore Hall, and concerti with the Orchestre National de France, Brussels Philharmonic and Residentie Orkest) and most recently Chopin, including three recitals at the Wigmore Hall last season.

This season’s Beethoven cycle continues such an exploration as, in 2020 to celebrate the Beethoven anniversary, Giltburg embarked upon a unique project to record and film all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas across the year: “these interpretations are enormously pleasurable and at times revelatory… Giltburg’s pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven” (five stars, BBC Music Magazine). He also recorded the complete concerti with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, appeared in the BBC TV series Being Beethoven.

Giltburg’s list of orchestral collaborators includes the Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Oslo Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra and Santa Cecilia di Roma. In the 2024/25 season, Giltburg explores concerti by a range of composers: he performs Rachmaninov with the Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony and Gulbenkian Orchestra, Prokofiev with Belgian National and Stavanger Symphony, Tchaikovsky with London Philharmonic, Mozart with Hamburger Symphoniker, Shostakovich with Enescu Philharmonic, Bartók with Teatro Colon, and Grieg with Dresden Philharmonic.

Giltburg is a consummate recording artist and has been exclusive to Naxos since 2015, winning the Opus Klassik Award for Best Soloist Recording for Rachmaninov concerti and Etudes Tableaux; a Diapason d’Or for Shostakovich concerti and his own arrangement of Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet; and a Choc de Classica Award for Rachmaninov concerti. He also won a Gramophone Award for the Dvořák Piano Quintet on Supraphon with the Pavel Haas Quartet, as well as a Diapason d’Or and Choc de Classica for their joint release of the Brahms Piano Quintet.

Giltburg feels a strong need to engage audiences beyond the concert hall. His blog “Classical Music for All” is aimed at a non-specialist audience, which he complements with articles in publications such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian, The Times and Fono Forum.

Paganini – A New Musical Play

December 12th – Performed in English
December 13th – Performed in Italian

A new musical play featuring violin virtuoso PHILIPPE QUINT in the role of PAGANINI
And Hershey Felder in the role of an only friend and piano accompanist.

Featuring Paganini’s most famous compositions played live.

Written by Hershey Felder

Phillipe Quint (Paganini)

Hailed by the UK’s Daily Telegraph for his “searingly poetic lyricism”, Philippe Quint has established himself as one of America’s preeminent violinists, enchanting audiences through his performances that seamlessly blend consummate musicianship with “breadth of tone and passion” The New York Times

With multiple Grammy Award nominations to his name, Quint is celebrated for his distinctive approach to classical core repertoire, advocacy for contemporary music, rekindling of neglected repertoire, and original multimedia story-telling programs including : The Muse, Homage to J.S.Bach, Charlie Chaplin’s Smile and The Legend of Astor Piazzolla with his Quint Quintet and members of the Joffrey Ballet. Quint has soloed with some of the world’s finest orchestras across the globe including the London Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Rhapsody and the Blues

Featuring International Trumpet Virtuoso Jens Lindemann and
The FIRENZE ALL STAR JAZZ BAND

Music of Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Miller and more!

ARTISTS:

International Trumpet Virtuoso Jens Lindemann With Guest Stars

Andrea Tofanelli – Trumpet
Hershey Felder – Piano

And the FIRENZE ALL STAR JAZZ BAND
- Andrea Tofanelli – trumpet / tromba
- Federico Trufelli – trumpet / tromba
- Francesco Cecchetti – trumpet / tromba
- Francesco Cangi – trombone
- Marcello Angeli – trombone
- Renzo Telloli – alto sax / sax contralto
- Michele Tino – alto sax / sax contralto
- Luca Signorini – tenor sax / sax tenore
- Dario Cecchini – baritone sax / sax baritono
- Antonino Siringo – piano / pianoforte
- Guido Zorn – acustic bass / contrabbasso
- Michele Vannucci – drums / batteria

Featuring a brand new big band arrangement of George Gershwin’s iconic “Rhapsody in Blue” which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

“Jens Lindemann gave a sizzling, high energy performance in the American premiere of the trumpet concerto ‘Dreaming of the Masters’ at Carnegie Hall”
-New York Times

Jens Lindemann

As the first classical brass soloist to ever receive the Order of Canada, Jens Lindemann is hailed as one of the most celebrated artists in his instrument’s history and was recently named “International Brass Personality of the Year” (Brass Herald). Jens has played both jazz and classical in every major concert venue in the world: from the Philharmonics of New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Moscow and Tokyo to Carnegie Hall and even the Great Wall of China. His career has ranged from appearing internationally as an orchestral soloist, being featured at the 2010 Olympics for an audience of 2 billion people, national anthems at the Rose Bowl and for the San Francisco Giants on Memorial Day, performing at London’s ‘Last Night of the Proms’, recording with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to playing lead trumpet with the renowned Canadian Brass and a solo Command Performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Jens has also won major awards ranging from Grammy and Juno nominations to winning he prestigious Echo Klassik in Germany and British Bandsman 2011 Solo CD of the year as well as receiving several honorary doctorates.

Classically trained at the renowned Juilliard School in New York and McGill University in Montreal, Jens’ proven ability to perform as a diverse artist places him at the front of a new generation of musicians. He has performed as soloist and recording artist with classical stars such as Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Angel Romero, Pinchas Zukerman, Doc Severinsen, Charles Dutoit, Gerard Schwarz, Eiji Oue, Bramwell Tovey, Kent Nagano, Lior Shambadal, Boris Brott and Jukka Pekka Saraste. Having recorded for BMG, EMI, CBC and the BBC, Jens is helping to redefine the idea of the concert artist by transcending stylistic genres and the very stereotype of his instrument by performing with “impeccable attacks, agility and amazing smoothness” (The Clarin, Buenos Aires).

A prodigious talent, Jens Lindemann performed as a soloist with orchestras and won accolades at numerous festivals while still in his teens. A prizewinner at numerous jazz and classical competitions including the prestigious ARD in Munich, Jens also placed first, by unanimous juries, at both the Prague and Ellsworth Smith (Florida) International Trumpet Competitions in 1992. Since then, he has performed solos with orchestras including, the
London Symphony, Berlin, Philadelphia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Beijing, Bayersicher Rundfunk, Buenos Aires Chamber, Atlanta, Washington, Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Montreal, Toronto, National Arts Centre, Vancouver, Warsaw, Mexico City, Costa Rica, Bogota, Welsh Chamber, I Musici de Montreal, St. Louis, and Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center.

Heralded internationally as an outstanding artist, critics have stated: “He played with golden timbre and virtuosic flair” (New York Times)“, “a world-class talent” (Los Angeles Times), “it was one of the most memorable recitals in International Trumpet Guild history” (ITG), “performed brilliantly in the North American premiere of Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Concerto with the Toronto Symphony” (Toronto Star), and “he gave the virtuoso highlight of the evening with the Montreal Symphony”.

Based in Los Angeles as Professor with High Distinction at UCLA, Jens is also director of the summer brass program at the Banff Centre in Canada. Jens Lindemann is an international Yamaha artist playing exclusively on 24K gold plated instruments.

I Found My Horn – A Musical Play

Written By Jonathan Guy Lewis and Jasper Rees,
Directed by Harry Burton
Based on Rees’ best selling memoir “I Found My Horn.”

I FOUND MY HORN, musical one man play based on the best selling book by International Journalist JASPER REES and written by JONATHAN GUY LEWIS and JASPER REES, starring JONATHAN as JASPER. The result of a mid-life crisis is that a man finds the French Horn of his youth, and confronts his entire life as he tries to make music once again.

“A WRYLY FUNNY, INFINITELY TOUCHING account of the joys and hazards of making music and confronting one’s private demons. Spectacular!” – Michael Billington, The Guardian

“This musical show provides what’s need in such dark days: the occasional lift out of the humdrum and a shot of pure joy. LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY!” – Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph

“This is A GEM. VIRTUOSO ACTING full of humour, and a passion for music. Lewis fills the house with the feeling that if music be the food of love, it must also be the food of life.” – John Peter, The Sunday Times

Jonathan Guy Lewis

(Playwright/Jasper)

Jonathan Guy Lewis has worked extensively as an actor, writer, director, teacher, mentor and coach for over thirty years and has won a number of awards for his work. An ex-army scholar, he has a degree from Exeter University in Politics & Society and is a graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Whilst there he adapted and performed a highly acclaimed one-man musical, ‘Skylark’, which he subsequently performed with the National Student Theatre Company. After leaving Drama School he worked in Repertory Theatres up and down the country, including Harrogate, Colchester, Leeds, York. Plays included ‘She Stoops to Conquer’, ‘Colours’, ‘London Assurance’, ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’, ‘How The other Half Loves’. He then joined the NT and was in the production of ‘Peer Gynt’ directed by Declan Donnellan as well as helping to develop a number of projects at the NT Studio. He went on to play Gerald Croft in Stephen Daldry’s highly acclaimed production of ‘An Inspector Calls’ at The Aldwych Theatre in The West End. He toured the US with a production of ‘Hamlet’ and appeared in Derby Playhouse and Hampstead Theatre’s European premiere of Andrew Bovell’s ‘Speaking in Tongues’ as well as Neil Simon’s ‘Gingerbread Lady’ with Lesley Joseph. Another highlight was acting alongside Rob Lowe and Suranne Jones in the West End premiere of Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway hit which subsequently became the movie ‘A Few Good Men’ at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He also starred in Ayckbourn’s ‘Absent Friends’ at Watford Palace, and ‘Protest’, ‘Mountain Hotel’, and ‘Green Wash’, all at the Orange Tree in Richmond as well as ‘Myth, Propaganda, and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America’, by the Australian playwright Stephen Sewell. Further productions at Hampstead include ‘Alphabetical Order’ and ‘Elephants’, and ‘Perfect Pitch’ at The Soho Theatre. Since then, he has played Eddie Carbone in a National Tour of ‘A View from The Bridge’ for The Touring Consortium, directed by Steve Unwin. And Dr John Hall in Peter Whelan’s ‘The Herbal Bed’, directed by James Dacre, originating in Northampton and then a UK tour. He also starred in a production of his play, ‘The Be All & End All’ at York Theatre Royal and on tour. It was directed by Damian Cruden.

Back in the late 90’s, his regular television roles made him a familiar face on the small screen. They included Sgt Chris McCleod in ‘Soldier, Soldier’, and Station Officer Chris Hammond in ‘London’s Burning’, both for ITV. Whilst starring as Ian Bentley inCoronation Street, over twenty million viewers tuned in to see bride-to-be, Sharon’s (Tracie Bennett) attack on Ian at the alter! He was then seen as Ray Winstone’s brother-in-law in the series for Granada, ‘Vincent’. Other television credits include, ‘Skins Redux’, ‘Endeavour’, ‘Desperados’, ‘Silent Witness’, ‘Sea Of Souls’, ‘Holby’, ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Casualty’, ‘Inspector Morse’, ‘Peak Practice’, and ‘The Governor’. His most recent television appearance will be in the forthcoming reboot of the classic UK detective series Bergerac.

His first play as a writer was ‘Our Boys’. Based on his own experiences of being invalided out of the military, it won The Writers’ Guild Award for Best New Fringe Play, and he was named as the TAPS new Television Writer of The Year, as well as being nominated for The Lloyds Bank Playwright of The Year. His other work includes ‘A Comedy of Arias’ at The Pleasance, Edinburgh and as part of ‘A Pick Of The Fringe’ season at The New Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End, as well as his own play ‘All Mouth’ at The Menier Chocolate Factory. He wrote and directed ‘Pitch Perfect’ at Soho Theatre, and again at Tristan Bates, and a further production at The Tabard, as well as writing and performing in ‘My First Trainers’, also at The Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden. He has also freely adapted a German play, ‘Rock and A Hard Place’, which he directed at The Tristan Bates Theatre and at the Brighton Fringe Festival. More recently he co-wrote ‘I Found My Horn’ which he has performed all over the world – from London’s Hampstead Theatre and The West End to theatres and festivals in Buxton, Bridport, Ludlow, and in Copenhagen, Lisbon, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Bangalore, Zurich, Toronto, New York, LA and The Laguna Beach Playhouse. He has also directed ‘The Club’ by David Williamson and Chris England’s hit, ‘Breakfast with Johnny Wilkinson’ also at The Menier Chocloate Factory and at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as Chris England’s comedy ‘Twitstorm’ at The Park Theatre. He has also written for television, including primetime dramas for Granada, Carlton, LWT, Pearson and The BBC as well as writing and directing a number of short films.

Jasper Rees

(Playwright) Jasper Rees is a journalist who has written regularly for many newspapers and magazines, principally about arts, books and entertainment. On Saturdays in the 1990s he moonlighted as a football reporter, culminating in his first book, a biography of Arsène Wenger. His next book, Blizzard: Race to the Pole, was about the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. I Found My Horn: One Man’s Struggle with the Orchestra’s Most Difficult Instrument (published as A Devil to Play in the US) was followed by Bred of Heaven: One Man’s Quest to Reclaim His Welsh Roots. Both were abridged as a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. More recently he wrote Let’s Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood, and edited an anthology of her archival treasures in Victoria Wood Unseen on TV. He is also the biographer of Florence Foster Jenkins. The stage version of I Found My Horn, co-adapted with Jonathan Guy Lewis, is his only play.

Harry Burton

(Director)

Harry Burton is an actor, director, teacher, coach, writer and film-maker. As an actor he has played many Shakespearean roles at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park. He created roles in theatrical world premieres by Noël Coward & Harold Pinter. As a director his West End revival of Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter won many awards. His West End directing credits also include the world première of Barking in Essex by Clive Exton. On TV he directed the acclaimed Channel 4 documentary Working With Pinter. He also co-produced the Emmy-winning documentary A Thousand Years of Joy, about the late American poet, mythologist and activist Robert Bly. Last year his London production of I Found My Horn transferred from the White Bear Theatre to Riverside Studios. Harry regularly directs and teaches internationally at various universities and drama schools. His recent acting work includes Bob Marley: One Love and FBI International. Harry lives in London with his wife, and has recently become a grandfather for the first time.

Francesco Libetta

Program:

F. Liszt (1811-1886), C. F. Gounod (1818-1893)
- Valse de l’Opéra Faust de Gounod À Monsieur le Baron Alexis des Michels
F. F. Chopin (1810-1849)
- Etudes op. 25 n. 1, 2, 5, 8, 12. à Madame la Comtesse d’Agoult
- Berceuse op. 57. à Mademoiselle Elise Gavard
- Valzer
  - op. 64 n. 1. à Madame la Comtesse Delphine Potocka
  - op. 64 n. 2. à Madame la Baronne Nathaniel de Rothschild
  - op. 64 n. 3. à Madamoiselle la Comtesse Catherine Branicka
- Scherzo op. 31. à Mademoiselle la Comtesse Adèle de Fürstenstein
van Beethoven (1770-1827)
- Sonata Op. 109. dem Fräulein Maximiliana Brentano gewidmet
Ravel (1875-1935)
- Jeux d’eau. à mon cher Maitre Gabriel Fauré
- La Valse. à Misia Sert

Francesco Libetta

For the New York Times Libetta is “Poet-aristocrat with the profile and carriage of a Renaissance prince,” while for Le Monde de la Musique “l’éritier des Moritz Rosenthal, des Busoni et des Godowsky,” and for Corriere della Sera “a lordliness we thought lost in the archives of piano performance.” D’Avalos dedicated all his solo piano pieces to him, and Paolo Isotta called him “the greatest living pianist.” He has made piano integrals of Beethoven, Händel, Chopin, Godowsky, Paisiello, Bosso; he has released recordings of Schumann, Liszt, Ligeti, Ravel, Debussy. His recordings are multi-awarded by Diapason, Le Monde de la Musique, Classique, Amadeus among many others. He has collaborated with conductors such as Pappano, Andreae, Mandeal and artists such as Sollima, Caterina Antonacci, Devia, Italian actors such as Boni, Laurito, Preziosi, Marchini, dancers such as Carla Fracci and founded the dance group Corerofonie. After studying composition with Marinuzzi in Rome and Castérède in Paris, he wrote music for theater, cinema, acousmatic, chamber, symphonic, and the opera L’Assedio di Otranto, staged in Puglia and Rome and published on CD. “Libetta composer is poet doctus,” Isotta wrote, enshrining the profile of one of the world’s most esteemed and versatile Italian artists, from conducting to working as a musical essayist, director of visual art and in turn starring in documentaries by Monsaingeon and Battiato, after teaching at the Miami Piano Festival and now in Martina Franca with the Grassi Foundation, Libetta is Steinway Artist.