
Giovanni Bellucci (born Rome, 31 August 1965) is an Italian pianist.
After having inadvertently discovered the piano, when he was already fourteen, he started studying at the
Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome under the direction of Franco Medori. After having taken his degree ''summa cum laude'' and honourable mention, he was awarded a "Master" at the Accademia Pianistica in Imola.
As a result, he could subsequently claim amongst his contacts artists of the stature of
Paul Badura-Skoda
Paul Badura-Skoda (6 October 1927 – 25 September 2019) was an Austrian pianist.
Career
A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed w ...
,
Alfred Brendel
Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931) is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven.
Biography
Brendel was born in Wizemberk, Czechoslovakia ...
,
Murray Perahia
Murray David Perahia ( ; born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He has been considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. ...
, and
Maurizio Pollini
Maurizio Pollini (5 January 1942 – 23 March 2024) was an Italian pianist and conductor. He was known for performances of Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, and the Second Viennese School, among others. He championed works by contemporary composers ...
.
His recording of Franz Liszt's Paraphrases of Verdi and Bellini operas was included in ''
Diapason'' magazine's selection of the all-time top 10 Liszt recordings. Apart from Bellucci, the music critic
Alain Lompech Alain Lompech (born 29 August 1954 in Paris) is a French journalist, music critic, writer and radio producer.
Biography
After studying music (solfeggio, piano, harmony, analysis), Lompech became music critic at the monthly '' Diapason'', of which ...
only took into consideration artists such as Martha Argerich, Claudio Arrau, Aldo Ciccolini, Gyorgy Cziffra, Wilhelm Kempff, and Krystian Zimerman. For the British magazine ''Gramophone'', Bellucci is an artist born into the great Italian tradition and brought up to it – a tradition historically represented by Busoni, Zecchi, Michelangeli, Ciani, Pollini.
"He takes us back to the
golden age of the piano
The Golden Age of the Piano refers to a "golden age" extending from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century during which composing and performance on the piano achieved notable heights; or to the decades between roughly 1890 and 1920, ...
", declared the daily ''
Le Monde
(; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'' in highlighting Bellucci's success in the World Piano Masters Competition in Montecarlo 1996 – the last in a lengthy series of successes in international competitions (from the
Queen Elisabeth in Brussels to the "Prague Spring", from the RAI "Casella" to the "C. Kahn" in Paris, from the "Busoni" to the "Franz Liszt"). In 2005, he received the award "Recital of the year" after his first concert tour in Australia.
All his CDs, published by Decca, Warner Classics, Accord-Universal, Opus 106, Assai, and Danacord, have been awarded by specialist publications: "Choc de l'année" by the Classical magazine ''Répertoire'' and "CHOC" of ''
Le Monde de la musique
''Le Monde de la musique'' was a French monthly musical magazine published from 1978 to 2009 with a circulation of 20,000 copies in 2008.
It was founded in 1978 by ''Le Monde'' and ''Télérama'' at the initiative of Jean-Michel Croissandeau, in c ...
'' in France, UK ''Gramophone''s "Editor's choice", "5 Stars" from Musica, "5 stars" from the ''
BBC Music Magazine
''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music.
The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...
'', "Cd exceptionnel" from ''Répertoire'', "ffff" from ''Télérama'', "Best Cd" from the magazine ''Suono'', etc.
The recording company Universal has published the complete Hungarian Rhapsodies S. 244 by Franz Liszt (with a double CD including a rare work, such as the Romanian Rhapsody S. 242) and the CD ''Chopin Métamorphoses'',
Chopin Métamorphoses
/ref> where Bellucci played some works as world premiere, like the Concerto No. 1 by Chopin/Tausig and the Polonaise, Op. 53 "Heroic" by Chopin/Busoni.
Discography
* ''Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas'' Vol. I, 2017, Brilliant Classics
* ''Franz Liszt: Les 19 Rhapsodies Hongroises – Rhapsodie Roumaine'', 2011, Accord Universal
* ''Chopin Métamorphoses'', 2010, Accord Universal
* ''Olivier Greif: Works'', 2010, Accord Universal
* ''Rarities of Piano Music, from the Husum Festival, Works by Busoni'', 2010, Danacord
* ''Franz Liszt: Paraphrases d'opéras de Bellini e Verdi'', 2009, Warner Classics
* ''Beethoven Klaviersonaten und Symphonien'' Vol. I, 2009, Warner Classics
* ''Beethoven Klaviersonaten und Symphonien'' Vol. II, 2009, Warner Classics
* ''Beethoven Klaviersonaten und Symphonien'' Vol. III, 2009, Warner Classics
* ''60 years of the International Competition Prague Spring'', 2008, Ceski Rozhlas
* ''Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique'' Piano transcription by Franz Liszt, 2006, Decca
* ''Franz Liszt. Oeuvres pour piano et orchestre et pour piano solo'', 2006, Accord Universal
* ''Rarities of Piano Music, from the Husum Festival, Works by Liszt and Gottschalk '', 2002, Danacord
* ''Editor's choice. The 10 best CDs of the month'', 2000, Gramophone
* ''Franz Liszt/Ferruccio Busoni: Fantaisie et fugue Ad nos ad salutarem undam – Beethoven Sonate n. 29 Hammerklavier'', 1999, Assai
* ''Tchaikowski Piano Concerto n.1'', 1995, RGIP
* ''Concorso Opera Prima Philips'', 1991, Philips
References
Further reading
Carter Chris Humphray "Giovanni Bellucci, piano. Liszt: Paraphrases d'opéras", ''Classique News'', September 2009, French
Hugo Shirley, "Beethoven: Piano Sonatas and Symphonies, Giovanni Bellucci", ''Musical Criticism'', April 2009, English
"Music: Bellucci in the top 10 of the best worldwide musicians", ''Adnkronos'', 2004, Italian
External links
Giovanni Bellucci website
Biographical information
Radio France
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellucci, Giovanni
Italian male classical pianists
Italian male pianists
1965 births
Living people
21st-century Italian classical pianists
21st-century Italian male musicians