DUO GAZZANA
The Gazzana sisters, violinist Natascia and pianist Raffaella, are so close in both art and life they could pass for twins. While Italian by birth as well as in their culture, tastes and early training, the Duo received an international musical education with world- class musicians such a Bruno Canino, Ruggiero Ricci, Yehudi Menhuin, Corrado Romano, Piero Farulli, Pierre Amoyal. Both sisters love nourishing their passion for arts, cinema, reading, travel and languages. In fact both graduated with extra-musical degrees from “La Sapienza” University of Rome; Natascia in visual arts, Raffaella in Italian literature. Wherever they performed, from Milan to Seoul, from Rome to Hong Kong, from Paris to Singapore, from Oslo to Zurich, from Stockholm to Cape Town, from Wellington to Berlin, Duo Gazzana has been praised for versatility in performing music from diverse periods, for their stage presence and innate talent for establishing a good feeling with the public. It was with great honour the Duo performed for HRH The Prince of Wales during his ofUicial visit to Italy for the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Sir William Walton. Duo Gazzana were named “Ambassadors of the City of Florence” and “Government guest” of Japan for important celebrations in international relations between Italy and Japan. Duo Gazzana had the honour to perform a gala concert in the capital of Myanmar, for State Counsellor and Nobel Peace Prize Aung San Suu Kyi. The duo made their debut in New York and Tokyo. Recently the duo toured China and performed their maiden concert in Moscow – a multimedia concert dedicated to Tarkovsky. Duo Gazzana’s wide repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary music. The duo have a passion for exploring uncharted musical territories and often seek out areas which are disparate culturally and historically. While their programs contain a common thread linking the works of different composers, they maintain a deeply rooted connection to Uinest and original aspects of the Italian musical identity: a sense of ‘cantabilità’, of melody, and of beauty. With exceptionally rigorous and faithful interpretation, Duo Gazzana highlights the enchantment of the music and the pleasure of listening, and strives to bring their audiences closer to works that might appear difUicult or esoteric.
Works have been dedicated to the duo by Valentin Silvestrov (Ukraine), Đặng Hữu Phúc (Vietnam), Fabio Maffei (Switzerland) and Tõnu Kõrvits (Estonia), Bruno Canino (Italy).
Duo Gazzana is the Uirst Italian chamber group to record for the prestigious German label ECM Records and their 2014 recording, with pieces by Poulenc, Walton, Dallapiccola, Silvestrov and Schnittke, received great international acclaim and was among the ‘Sunday Times’ 10 best CDs. Their subsequent recording, with music by Ravel, Franck, Ligeti and Messiaen, was released in 2018 and was nominated by both the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) and Opus Klassik in Berlin. The duo’s new album Uinds them venturing back to the 19. century for impassioned interpretations of Robert Schumann’s sonata op. 105 and Edvard Grieg’s sonata op.45, while premiere recordings of Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits’ ‘Stalker Suite’ and ‘Notturni’ make up the modern part of the programme – the pieces were composed explicitly for the Gazzanas. In an early rave-review of the album, ‘Die Zeit’ and SWR’s Christine Lemke-Matwey noted that “one can hear how intimately the duo identiUies with the music” and that with them “it’s not just about virtuosity or euphony, but about intuition, penetrating the score and becoming one with the music.”