Sofia Gubaidulina, Appen 2014

It might be said to be the sign of fate, when composers and  interpreters have the opportunity to happily interact. Such a unique and  rare occurrence usually brings to a rich creative collaboration. 

I met  the renowed Italian pianist, Alice Di Piazza, on the occasion of her  concert performance of my « Introitus », and soon realised that was one of  those rare occurrences. Because of its instrumental arrangement,  « Introitus » requests an uncommon aptitude on the part of the soloist and  Alice was clearly able to display it. The piece is not intended to  primarily solicit virtuosity from the orchestra and the soloist; I  aimed, instead, at a deeply contemplative composition, to be arranged  within a distinctive acoustic texture to  be shared by the pianist and  the orchestra.

 Alice succeded in expressing this piece’s musical  singularity in a way that I found extremely convincing. She was able to  grasp both the form and the content of my piece, and performed it with  an unusual expressive intensity and spotless execution, taking on and  overcoming the challenging construction of  my « Introitus ».

Alice’s  unique, creative, and original talent was to combine technical  perfection and artistic virtuosity with meaning and willpower.

 After  « Introiutus », Alice played another piece of mine, « La Chaconne » for solo  piano. To me that was a revelation! The incredible power of her  technical mastery fully revealed her ability to develop tragic  expressiveness. 

Thus we might say, without exaggerating, that Alice is a  highly talented pianist with a strong personality and a genuine  relation with life and art. I am sure that an artist of such profundity  and calibre will be received by the public as a true gift.