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AN EVENING WITH
PIETRO DE MARIA
FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER 2022
7:30PM
VICTORIA CONCERT HALL
“A poet of sound and a keyboard-wizard.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
“He is a true virtuoso, meaning that he has the pianistic resources to do anything he wants to, not that he advertises his technique.” (Boston Globe)
Twelve years since his sensational, sold-out all-Chopin recital at the Singapore International Piano Festival in 2010, the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth, Italian pianist Pietro de Maria makes a long overdue return to Singapore. He presents a highly-attractive programme: a thoughtfully curated selection comprising Muzio Clementi, Beethoven, Liszt and Pletnev’s virtuoso transcriptions of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker suite.
Winner of First Prize at several competitions in the 1990s, including the Dino Ciani – Teatro La Scala in Milan (1990) and the Géza Anda in Zurich (1994), and of the Critic’s Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1990), Pietro De Maria has had an established presence on the concert circuit in the most prestigious venues and festivals throughout Europe and North America for decades. Lauded for his ability to shape the biggest of passages with lyricism, his extraordinary touch and virtuosity of highly-concentrated precision have led more than several critics to liken him to the young Pollini. His repertory ranges from Bach to Ligeti and he is the first Italian pianist to have played Chopin’s complete piano works in six public concerts, and made studio recordings for Decca of all of them, and Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Goldberg Variations, all to great international acclaim.
PROGRAMME
CLEMENTI – Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25 No. 5
BEETHOVEN – Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
TCHAIKOVSKY-PLETNEV – Selections from the “Nutcracker” Suite
LISZT –
Soirées de Vienne No. 6 in A minor, S. 427
Petrarca Sonnet No. 104, from Années de pèlerinage II, S. 161
Étude No. 3 in G-sharp minor “La Campanella”, from Grandes études de Paganini, S. 141
(Programme subject to change at the artist's discretion)
PIETRO DE MARIA, piano
“The Géza Anda competition struck gold when they gave the first prize to De Maria in 1994. His playing shows a combination of character and integrity that always allows Bach his own voice, investing it with an abiding beauty and infinite variety. These records should be in every serious music lover's collection.” (Bryce Morrison, International Piano)
After receiving the Critics' Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1990), Pietro De Maria won First Prize in other prestigious international piano competitions, such as the Dino Ciani - Teatro La Scala in Milan (1990), the Géza Anda in Zurich (1994), and the Mendelssohn Award in Hamburg (1997).
An active concert pianist, he has played as soloist with the best known orchestras, with conductors of the stature of Roberto Abbado, Gary Bertini, Myung-Whun Chung, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniele Gatti, Alan Gilbert, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Ton Koopman, Michele Mariotti, Ingo Metzmacher, Gianandrea Noseda, Corrado Rovaris, Kwamé Ryan, Yutaka Sado and Sándor Végh.
Born in Venice in 1967, De Maria studied piano with Giorgio Vianello and Gino Gorini. Revealing a precocious talent, he won First Prize at the Alfred Cortot International Piano Competition in Milan at the age of 13. He graduated from the Conservatory of Venice and continued his studies with Maria Tipo at the Conservatory of Geneva, where he obtained the Premier Prix de Virtuosité with the highest honours in 1988.
His repertory ranges from Bach to Ligeti and he is the first Italian pianist to have played Chopin’s complete piano works in six public concerts. More recently, he has been focusing on Bach, presenting both books of The Well-Tempered Clavier as well as the Goldberg Variations in his concerts.
He has recorded Chopin’s complete piano works, The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations for Decca, receiving important acknowledgments from international publications of prestige such as Diapason, International Piano, MusicWeb-International and Pianiste.
De Maria has also recorded three Sonatas by Clementi for Naxos, a live recital at the Miami International Piano Festival for VAI Audio, Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano with Enrico Dindo for Decca and a CD with selected piano works by Fano for Brilliant Classics.
Pietro De Maria is member of the Academy of Santa Cecilia and teaches at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. He is a member of the Scuola di Maria Tipo teaching team organized by the Academy of Music in Pinerolo.
THE ARTIST
