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 Original and Transcribed Piano Music for the Left Hand A question arising rather naturally when one considers the piano repertoire for the left hand alone is “why should one play with one hand instead of two?”. A first reason may be mere virtuosity, or even “showing off”, a more refined and artistic reason may be that of voluntarily and deliberately choosing heavy limitations, in the belief that true art may (and at times must) arise precisely from cogent boundaries. Still another reason may be very objective and also rather saddening: there are pianists who lost (or perhaps never had) the use of one of their hands, and who nevertheless wish to play. There may be a number of reasons, and the works played by Giovanni Nesi on this Da Vinci Classics album represent a variety of answers to this question. |
 Bach - Works for piano left hand Giovanni Nesi’s new album focusses on the music of Bach but from a slightly different angle, using Brahms’ famous transcription for piano left hand of the chaconne from the second violin partita as a starting point. Nesi himself has transcribed two of the cello suites for the same medium and has included some of the Paul Wittgenstein arrangements of Bach’s music. Also included is a new work by contemporary Italian composer Claudio Sanna, Chaconne, which is heavily influenced by the music of the great master. |
 Zipoli - Complete Suites and Partitas Domenico Zipoli, an Italian Jesuit composer of the Baroque era, is justly celebrated for the liturgical music he produced in South America. Less familiar, although popular at the time, are the secular works he composed in Italy in the early 18th century. His collection ‘Sonate d’intavolatura’, charming and tuneful in style, contains both suites and partitas for keyboard. Giovanni Nesi gives world premiere performances of these works on the modern piano. |
 Pilati - Suite per pianoforte e archi, Bagatelle per pianoforte - Giovanni Nesi La carriera musicale di Mario Pilati è stata fulminea: una rapida ascesa, troppo presto troncata dalla malattia e da una morte prematura. Così Alfredo Sangiorgi, compagno di Conservatorio, ricorda gli anni di studio del giovane Pilati: «Mario Pilati non ebbe giovinezza, i suoi anni di adolescenza li trascorse fra i libri: avido di imparare, col suo ingegno vivace assimilava quanto più poteva.
Sin da quegli anni giovanili la sua cultura era formidabile e non soltanto quella musicale. Su tutto ragionava con una posatezza da adulto: pronto, arguto, brillante nel conversare e nello scrivere, il suo pensiero risultava sempre chiaro e deciso; a scuola precedeva tutto e tutti». |