Author: Francesco Di Fiore
A Quiet Madness
Ore Diciotto In Punto
Con Giovanni Sollima, GliArchiEnsemble, Oriana Civile
Concerto Ostinato
Zefir Records presents Concerto Ostinato, new album with three concerti for harpsichord, guitar, piano and orchestra. Steven Devine (harpsichord), Lapo Vannucci (guitar) e Luca Torrigiani (piano). Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Gutter conductor. Available from June in Europe and from July in USA e Canada.
Concerto Ostinato
Harpsichord and orchestra
Guitar and orchestra
Guitar, piano and string orchestra
Quattro Canti for guitar and orchestra: new video
Quattro Canti, as the title suggests, is a guitar concerto divided into four movements. However this is not the only interpretation, as happens in my other works.
Who knows Palermo will surely guess my intention to describe musically the heart of my city, ideally placed at Quattro Canti (“Four Corners”, but also “Four Songs”), a monumental crossroads become one of the most characteristic symbols of Palermo.
Two possible interpretations though: living the music experience becoming carried away by the flow of the four movements leaded by the guitar song or ideally standing in the center of Palermo at Quattro Canti, between Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele and from there watching the soul of the city.
I wanted to represent musically four images of the city seen from this precise privileged position.
Quattro Canti is part of a bigger project called Concerto Trilogy, a collection of three concerti: for guitar and orchestra, for piano and orchestra and a “double concerto” for guitar, piano and orchestra, all composed for guitarist Lapo Vannucci and pianist Luca Torrigiani.
The complete project was premiered December 4, 2016 in Bacau, Romania, with the Bacau Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robert Gutter. A CD of the Concerto Trilogy will be released next year, in the meantime please enjoy a live recording of Quattro Canti.
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QUATTRO CANTI - 1. Al Qsar - Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
QUATTRO CANTI - 2. Canto del sole - Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
QUATTRO CANTI - 3. Don Juan Fernandez Pacheco de Villena y Ascalon - Concerto Guitar and Orchestra
QUATTRO CANTI - 4. Porta Felice - Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
Farewell Meu Amor
“Farewell Meu Amor”, American movie directed by Ekwa Msangi, was recently premiered at Lincoln Center in New York. A story of immigrants, a poignant story of the end of a love. Francesco wrote the original soundtrack and on the website of the film farewellmeuamorfilm.com as well as all news and future screenings you can also listen to the track “Farewell”, excerpt from the OST of the film.
Quattro Canti World Première | Press Release
A NEW GUITAR CONCERTO IS BORN
World Première
Quattro Canti by Francesco Di Fiore
Italian guitarist Lapo Vannucci, with Bulgarian Sinfonietta Vidin Orchestra conducted by American conductor Robert Gutter will perform the World Première of Quattro Canti, the new guitar concreto by Italian composer Francesco Di Fiore, next June 2 at 7:00pm in Sinfonietta Vidin Concert Hall, Vidin, Bulgaria.
“Quattro Canti, as the title suggests, is a guitar concerto divided into four movements. However this is not the only interpretation, as happens in my other works.” says the author Francesco Di Fiore.
“Who knows Palermo will surely guess my intention to describe musically the heart of my city, ideally placed at Quattro Canti (“Four Corners”, but also “Four Songs”), a monumental crossroads become one of the most characteristic symbols of Palermo.
Two possible interpretations though: living the music experience becoming carried away by the flow of the four movements leaded by the guitar song or ideally standing in the center of Palermo at Quattro Canti, between Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele and from there watching the soul of the city.
I wanted to represent musically four images of the city seen from this precise privileged position.”
This is the story behind Quattro Canti, composed in 2015 by Francesco Di Fiore for guitarist Lapo Vannucci, to whom this work is dedicated.
Francesco Di Fiore was born in Palermo, the city of the quoted “monumental crossroads” Quattro Canti. The commission (by guitarist Lapo Vannucci) of a new guitar concerto, which gladly is going to nourish quite a narrow repertoire of this genre, gave this “musician” of post-modern post-minimalist music the possibility to reconnect to his hometown, from where he and his music were quite missing for years, while touring instead the rest of Europe, America and China.
The movements of the concert tell about an iconic Palermo:
- Al Qasr, this is the Arabic name of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Cassaro for the people of Palermo, the historical home of the Urban dynamic and carefree social life as well as a place of dramatic events that have marked the history of the city.
- Teatro del Sole (The Theatre of the Sun) is one of the names of the “Four Corners”: at any time of day the sun is there, to observe and protect it. Canto del Sole (The Song of the Sun) is a slow movement, is a hymn and a prayer, a tribute to that beautiful light that makes look so beautiful every single stone in the city.
- The Spanish viceroy Don Juan Fernandez Pacheco de Villena y Ascalon wanted Palermo having this monument and the third movement is a tribute to a nobleman who I imagine very proud and elegant.
- Watching the sea from the Quattro Canti is impossible without seeing Porta Felice (The Happy Door). It is the entrance to the sea, the symbol of the beginning of a journey, it is a symbol of freedom, image of happiness.
Quattro Canti guitar concerto is part of Francesco Di Fiore’s The Concerto Trilogy, along with Tre Paesaggi (“Three Landscapes”), double concerto for guitar, piano and orchestra, premiered last January in Romania (HERE you can listen to a fragment), that will be performed again on June 2 in Vidin by Lapo Vannucci and Luca Torrigiani, and Concerto Ostinato, a piano concerto to be premiered by the end of 2016.
Read more about Quattro Canti concerto and Francesco Di Fiore HERE.
Listen to Francesco Di Fiore past works HERE.
Details of WORLD PREMIÈRE:
- Title: Quattro Canti
- Genre: Guitar concerto
- Kind: World Première
- Composer: Francesco Di Fiore
- Soloist: Lapo Vannucci, guitar
- Conductor: Robert Gutter
- Venue: Sinfonietta Vidin Concert Hall, 4, Gradinska str., Vidin, Bulgaria
- Date and time: June 2, 2016 at 7:00pm
“Quattro Canti” guitar concerto World Première
QUATTRO CANTI (Four Songs) for guitar and orchestra, dedicated to guitarist Lapo Vannucci, will be premiered next June 2 in Vidin, Bulgaria. Lapo Vannucci (guitar) with the Vidin Symphony Orchestra directed by Robert Gutter.
Quattro Canti for guitar and orchestra is part of the “Concerto Trilogy” composed for guitarist Lapo Vannucci and pianist Luca Torrigiani.
The trilogy consists of a concerto for guitar and orchestra, a concerto for piano and orchestra and a “Double Concerto” for guitar, piano and orchestra. The three concerts still retain their own autonomy and can of course be performed separately.
Quattro Canti, as the title suggests, is a guitar concerto divided into four movements. However this is not the only interpretation, as happens in my other works.
Who knows Palermo will surely guess my intention to describe musically the heart of my city, ideally placed at Quattro Canti (“Four Corners”), a monumental crossroads become one of the most characteristic symbols of Palermo.
Two possible interpretations though: living the music experience becoming carried away by the flow of the four movements leaded by the guitar song or ideally standing in the center of Palermo at Quattro Canti, between Via Maqueda and Corso Vittorio Emanuele and from there watching the soul of the city.
I wanted to represent musically four images of the city seen from this precise privileged position.
1. Al Qasr, this is the Arabic name of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Cassaro for the people of Palermo, the historical home of the Urban dynamic and carefree social life as well as a place of dramatic events that have marked the history of the city.
2. Teatro del Sole (The Theatre of the Sun) is one of the names of the “Four Corners”: at any time of day the sun is there, to observe and protect it. Canto del Sole (The Song of the Sun) is a slow movement, is a hymn and a prayer, a tribute to that beautiful light that makes look so beautiful every single stone in the city.
3. The Spanish viceroy Don Juan Fernandez Pacheco de Villena y Ascalon wanted Palermo having this monument and the third movement is a tribute to a nobleman who I imagine very proud and elegant.
4. Watching the sea from the Quattro Canti is impossible without seeing Porta Felice (The Happy Door). It is the entrance to the sea, the symbol of the beginning of a journey, it is a symbol of freedom, image of happiness.
The Concerto Trilogy
Francesco just finished his new Pianoconcerto, the Concerto Trilogy is now complete with this third section. The project consists of two solo concertos, for piano and for guitar and orchestra, and a double concerto, already premiered in 2015, for guitar, piano and orchestra. The soloists, who also commissioned the project, are guitarist Lapo Vannucci and pianist Luca Torrigiani. The premiere of the new solo concertos is scheduled for June 2016.
The complete program:
Tre Paesaggi (Three Landscapes) for guitar, piano and orchestra:
1. Alba (Sunrise) – 2. Vette (Peaks) – 3. Maestrale (Mistral)
Quattro Canti (Four Songs) for guitar and orchestra:
1. Al Qasr – 2. Canto del Sole (The song of the Sun) – 3. Don Juan Fernandez Pacheco de Villena y Ascalon – 4. Porta Felice (The Happy Door)
Concerto Ostinato for piano and orchestra:
1. Prologo – 2. Bergamasca – 3. Passacaglia – 4. Intermezzo – 5. Epilogo – 6. Finale.
