It is impossible to ascertain why Bach grouped his Concerts à plusieurs instruments into a single collection, or what hopes he harboured in dedicating and presenting them to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, in March 1721. This is one of the many mysteries in Bach’s biography. There is no doubt, however, that all six concertos are different worlds of sound in their own right, and that what unites them is their singular diversity. So much so that the composer seems to be exploring every possibility of the “concerto” form, going so far as to draw up a sort of systematic demonstrative catalogue. Italian style, French taste, German severity, polyphony and homophony, church and chamber style alternate here in unprecedented timbral mixtures: with over thirty years of international experience, the Zefiro Ensemble will artfully recreate them.

The Programme

The sacred and the profane are intimately intertwined in the five miniatures Britten composed at various times during his career, between 1947 and 1974, based on ancient poems as well as contemporary works by Edith Sitwell and T.S. Eliot. All written for performance by tenor Peter Pears, they are now entrusted to Ian Bostridge, with pianist Julius Drake one of the most authoritative interpreters of Britten’s Canticles. Especially worth noticing are the amorous and nostalgic tones of My beloved is mine—a meditation on a poem by the XVII-century poet Francis Quarles, itself inspired by the Song of Solomon; and the astonished pain of Abraham and Isaac—a father, a son, and a sacrifice. The theatricality of these works comes from the very composer of Billy Budd and The Turn of the Screw, but the dramatic action gets sublimated here in the scoring for solo voices and just a few instruments.

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Pier Paolo Pasolini’s first musical love were Bach’s Solo violin works, which the Slovenian violinist Pina Kalc introduced to him during her stay in Friuli, in 1943. Pasolini even briefly considered the idea of learning the violin, but desisted. His passion, though, resulted in the Studies on Bach’s Style, a musicological work inspired by the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin BWV 1001-1006, and left unfinished. Pasolini, however, leaked his fascination with Bach into his films, from Accattone to The Gospel according to St Matthew. The “Unaccompanied works” are the other side of Bach: not the rigorous organist, but the sensual, refined master of the bow who could infuse his “voice” with both light and shadow, abstract thought and the materiality of speech. Flesh and heaven, as Pasolini termed it.

The Programme

A male narrator and a soprano, in stereo, and a solo cello offering the incipits of Bach’s six Suites for cello, piano and orchestra. This is how one of the most prominent contemporary composers, Azio Corghi, has imagined the “impossible” encounter between Bach and one of the greatest Italian intellectuals. This symphonic-poetic work evokes Pasolini’s life and thought, starting from his early infatuation with music, which came with the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. The title stems from Pasolini’s brilliant definition of Bach’s struggle «between Flesh and Heaven», corporeal matter versus sublime spirit, which contributed a new key for the interpretation of the Kantor’s music (also in his films).

The Programme

The quintet formation always best expressed Piazzolla’s approach. In 1960, undaunted by the limited number of musicians, he put together his first ensemble: the five soloists could easily interpret the electric vitality of Buenos Aires, with a melodic and harmonic flexibility unknown to more imposing orchestras. Violin, guitar, double bass, piano and the main voice of the tango, the heart-wrenching bandoneón, is the line-up chosen by the Astor Piazzolla Foundation for its “Quinteto”, formed with the objective of bringing the composer’s legacy around the world. For over 20 years now, it has been offering original arrangements from his vast repertoire, in a permanent laboratory projecting into the future a musical legacy that seemed unrepeatable.

The Programme

Masterpieces are usually born from personal and artistic tribulations. 1779 was a black year for Mozart: his mother died, the appointments he hoped to obtain in Mannheim and Paris came to nothing. He had to go back to the “prison” of Salzburg, where he “had to play for the chairs”. His transition to adulthood, however, came with the Sinfonia Concertante for two solo instruments, where hope for the future (the sparkling lines of the violin) dialogues with the dark, meditative tones of the viola. Dvořák, too, at almost 50, was trying to achieve his own identity, leaving the Germanic tradition behind to embrace the Bohemian folklore. “Don’t laugh at me. I am not only a musician, I am a poet”, he claimed in 1889 on publishing his Symphony no.8, composed through images, with an initial long, melancholy movement to open up his memory box.

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“I am mortally wounded, so I dedicate this evening not to the dead, but to those who were wounded in the horrible massacre.” Forty years ago, on the first commemoration of the Bologna train-station bombing, Carmelo Bene performed his memorable Lectura Dantis from the top of the Asinelli tower, to a city that was still licking its wounds, and to a massive crowd, akin to a rock-concert audience. It takes much courage to revive it today—the courage of Arto Lindsay, cultural stirrer and language disruptor, who outdid the punk culture from left, inventing a rigorously illiterate grammar for the guitar, through which he wreaks havoc on the slick lines of Brazilian samba, and breaths new life into a chapter of Italian history.

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Tosca and the Roma Sinfonietta pay homage to Ennio Morricone with a monographic concert on the first anniversary of his death. The programme is inspired by the album Focus, which Morricone composed for the Portuguese singer Dulce Pontes, featuring songs and new arrangements from his most famous soundtracks. The Roman composer also wrote for Tosca, contributing songs for her album Incontri e passaggi, and collaborated with the Roma Sinfonietta over the course of fifteen years, recording and conducting around the world. Paolo Silvestri, jazzman, multi-skilled musician and composer for film and stage, will be on the podium conducting such prominent soloists as saxophonist Javier Girotto.

The Programme